20 Dec January 18th Daily Devotion

A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO THE  CHURCH AT THESSALONICA

HOW PAUL’S MINISTRY BEGAN IN THESSALONICA

Acts 17:1-9  When Paul and his companions  . . . came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. . . (he) went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas . . .  But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

Paul’s stay in Thessalonica was not very long. He was there only a matter of weeks.  However, he and those who came to faith in Jesus were bonded to one another through their shared faith in Jesus Christ.  After fleeing from the enemies of Jesus, Paul eventually ended up in Corinth from where he wrote this letter from which this new series of devotions will be drawn.  Paul loved the people because of the love they had for him and their commitment to Jesus in spite of the fact that this brought about harsh persecution upon them.

In the first two chapters Paul praises the Thessalonian Christians for their faithfulness to the Gospel.  In chapter three he thanks God that they have remained faithful to the doctrines he had taught them.  In chapter four he urged them to guard against sin and to do good to one another.  He addressed a question regarding the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and instructed them regarding the Parousia (end of time.) He ended the letter with directions regarding their attitudes toward other people.

Tomorrow’s devotion starts our devotional journey through this relatively short letter inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned by St. Paul.

Prayer:  Lord, bless my devotional journey through Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica applying its message to me in my daily life.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Almighty God, Your Word is cast Like seed into the ground;

Now let the dew of heav’n descend And righteous fruits abound.

Let not the sly satanic foe This holy seed remove,

But give it root in ev’ry heart To bring forth fruits of love.

Let not the world’s deceitful cares The rising plant destroy,

But let it yield a hundredfold The fruits of peace and joy.

So when the precious seed is sown, Life-giving grace bestow

That all whose souls the truth receive Its saving pow’r may know.

(LSB 577)