Episode 119 – Children of the Light. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word With Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. This is episode 119, Children of the Light. Last week we talked about the hope that Christians find in death. This week we are going to talk about the coming of our King back to planet Earth. That’s super exciting, Sharon.

Sharon:

It is. You know, I can remember back in high school on a really dreary day where I did not want to be in high school.

Nicole:
We all have a few of those days, don’t we?

Sharon:

I was standing in the cafeteria line with my tray, you know, just kind of plodding, thinking about geometry after lunch or something equally dismal and I started thinking about the rapture, you know, and thinking, wouldn’t this be a great time for the rapture? My tray would fall to the ground. I’d never have to face geometry.

Nicole:
Please Jesus come now.

Sharon:

And up I would go into the sky. And honestly, I was so caught up in the moment, I was expecting it almost. It was really a happy moment.

Nicole:
Sharon’s standing in line with her eyes closed, just like, Hey, go over there, get your sloppy joe.

Sharon:

Take me now. Yeah. So, but it was really fun, ’cause I had just recently seen the old Left Behind movie. There’s been a new Left Behind movie since then. There’s been new Left Behind things. But it’s such a wild concept if this is the way it happens, that the Christians are caught up and the non-Christians are like, why are there all these empty cafeteria trays? Right?

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

So, but it really lifted the mood for a short period of time that day.

Nicole:
That’s great. Oh my goodness.

Sharon:
Oh my goodness. So did you ever read the Left Behind series or watch the movie?

Nicole:

I watched the newer Kirk Cameron one, and I think I read one or two of the books. But it’s very fascinating to pursue that whole thought, that whole, like, Hey, what happens after the rapture? Because we don’t often think about that.

Sharon:
No, we’ll be gone.

Nicole:

We’ll be gone, but what’s gonna happen afterward? And I think the part that always kind of terrified me is like, will I be the one left behind thinking I should’ve been raptured. Like, please Lord, am I saved? I’m saved. You love me, I’ve talked to you.

Sharon: Yes, yes.

Nicole:
But just in case, please save me. I don’t wanna be left behind.

Sharon:

I wanna be, when the two women are doing whatever they’re doing, I wanna be the woman that gets taken.

Nicole:
Yes, exactly. But as, as a child, I was like, oh, no, am I really saved? So it was a kind of a funny,—

Sharon:

And it can be scary too, and we may not completely understand it anyways, so who knows? I keep remembering that the Jewish people thought they knew how Messiah was gonna come the first time, as a warrior.

Nicole:
Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Sharon:

And even though Isaiah in Isaiah 53 told them very clearly, he’d come as a suffering servant they kind of focused on the parts of scripture that said he came as a warrior, which he will do the second time. So I’m like, okay. So don’t get too solidified in what you think Sharon Gamble. The main thing is, you know the Lord.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
And the Lord loves you and you love him, and

Nicole:
And at some point,—

Sharon:
So be ready for whatever.

Nicole:

Right. Right. No, that’s a good point, ’cause they missed, so many of them missed the Messiah when he came (Sharon: Right) ’cause they were looking for the wrong version of him.

Sharon:
Exactly. And that’s,

Nicole:
We don’t wanna do that.

Sharon:

No, we do not wanna do that. So, all right, well, let’s divide,…. divide? Let’s dive into this passage. Way back when Paul was walking miles and miles sharing the gospel and bringing it to the Gentiles, Christians were watching for Jesus’ return 2000 years ago.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:

Just like I was in high school. I don’t think we’re ever supposed to lose that sense of anticipation. Ever. God wants us to live with that. ’cause one day he really will return and we wanna be ready. Mm.

Speaker 2: Speaker 3:

Jesus spoke of this to his disciples warning and encouraging them to always be ready. So let’s start there with what Jesus said before we go to our passage.

Nicole:
Okay. So we’re gonna read from Mark 13:32-37. And I’ll start and you can do the other verses.

Sharon: Okay.

Nicole:

“But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Sharon:
“Be on guard. Be alert. You do not know when that time will come.”

Nicole:

“It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge each with their assigned tasks and tells the one at the door to keep watch.”

Sharon:

“Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back, whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.”

Nicole:
“If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

Sharon:

“What I say to you, I say to everyone, watch.” Okay, so that’s from the mouth of Jesus. We’re to watch. We’re to look. Even Jesus as a man didn’t know when he’d be coming back, and neither do we. But his message was clear . Yeah. We’ve got to watch for his return and eagerly await him. Let’s not be caught sleeping like, nah, you know, whatever.

Nicole:
Someday he’ll be back. But, whatever,

Sharon:
It’s been 2000 years. Yeah. Or ignoring the one who comes again. So we need to really keep anticipating.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
And live in that happy place.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

All right. So now we’re gonna move on to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Remember, they’re fairly new Christians and he’s encouraging them to remain faithful in troubled times. So these words in the letter are to encourage and strengthen them. So they’re gonna do the same for us when we read and listen today, I’ll start with verse one. “Now, concerning—(I don’t think I said this, 1 Thessalonians 5:1).

Nicole: Perfect.

Sharon:

“Now, concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you.”

Nicole:

“For, you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.+

Sharon:

“When people are saying everything is peaceful and secure, then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.”

Nicole:

“But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters. And you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief.

Sharon:
“For you are all children of the light and of the day. We don’t belong to darkness and night.”

Nicole:
“So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.”

Sharon:
“Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk.”

Nicole:

“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet, the confidence of our salvation.”

Sharon:
“For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.”

Nicole:
“Christ died for us. So that whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.”

Sharon:

“So encourage each other and build each other up just as you are already doing.” There he goes again. I just so love Paul. All right. Well, let’s examine each verse. And I’m gonna start with verse one, and we’ll talk through them. Now, says Paul, concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you, Oh, he’s about to.

Nicole:
Right. Disregard this letter.

Sharon:

I’m noticing that. But I think what he’s saying is, this was part of the first instructions I gave you. This was so important that when Paul talked to new believers, he wanted to mention it. And it makes sense to me. Jesus had just ascended into heaven a few decades before. Right?

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

And everybody’s like, well, when’s he coming back? When’s he coming back? And those that knew him, had seen him?

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:
I mean, we are not yearning like they yearned. ”Cause we never got to touch him.

Nicole: No. Right.

Sharon:
We never got to see his face and his body like they did.

Nicole:
That must have been really hard for them.

Sharon:
Oh, so hard.

Nicole:

I never thought about that.

Sharon: So hard.

Nicole:
Those that had actually seen, like when is it? Now is he coming back?

Sharon:
Is it now? Yeah. I mean, we’ve had to live without you for two years now, Lord.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
I mean, they had no idea that we’d still be, is it now, 2000 years later?

Nicole:
Wow. That’s crazy.

Sharon:
Because as Peter said, I think, ‘a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day with the Lord’.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
You know, time is like a blink for him.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
But, thousands of years seem long to us.

Nicole:
Yes, it does.

Sharon:

Just saying. So anyways, it’s not new news. It’s something that they were taught. And I think it’s important for us to think of that when we talk to believers, new believers too. This is an important part of our whole faith and creed. He’s coming again. And they should have known that first, even though he is about to repeat it.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
And maybe add more to it or whatever. So.

Nicole:

Well, that’s good. So verse two says, “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night.” I think this is a really great analogy that he used.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
It’s very relatable. ‘Cause no one ever expects, you know, a thief in the night.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:

And there’s no prep. You have no idea, you’re totally unprepared. And it’s not a, it’s never, it’s funny, he would use this. It’s not a pleasant thing to have a thief come in the night.

Sharon:
It’s a shock.

Nicole:

It’s a shock. Right. You wake up and your stuff is gone, or you catch him in your house and you’re terrified. And it’s, Christ’s return is a good thing. But it’s funny that he, if you’re unprepared, it becomes almost like a terrifying shock

Sharon:
Oh, it sure would if you were unprepared.

Nicole:
Right. So I think it’s a great analogy that he picked for that.

Sharon:

Yes. And it will be jarring because the supernatural is going to enter the natural world. And, you know, we talk about angels, but right now we don’t see them.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

Right? And we talk about Jesus, but we haven’t seen him. And people don’t appear from the clouds. And trumpets don’t sound

Nicole:
Not every day.

Sharon:
No. So it will be a shock, like a thief in the night.

Nicole:
Absolutely. Oh yeah.

Sharon:

You’re right. So, okay, verse three, “When people are saying everything is peaceful and secure, then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin”. I love this. And there’ll be no escape.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
You know, there isn’t.

Nicole:
Not when the pains start.

Sharon:

Nicole, it’s so funny, my friend Kathy, with her first baby the pains were so bad she got off the table and said, I’m not doing this.

Nicole: Oh, no.

Sharon:
And her husband and the doctor are looking at her like, well, yeah, you are.

Nicole:
There’s no stopping this train.

Sharon:
There is no escape.

Nicole:
There isn’t. And sometimes you’d wish there was one.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:

If you’ve ever been in labor, you understand that, so like, oh, I just don’t wanna do this anymore. Like, Ah! Oh no.

Sharon:

Right. Yeah. She’s the only one I know that tried to walk away from it. Yeah. So too funny. Only it wasn’t funny for her at the time at all. So basically, and I think here, he’s not talking to the Christians, but people are like, I’m fine. And then he comes and you can’t escape it.

Nicole: Oh, yeah.

Sharon:

Which is why last week, I’m so glad you prayed, ‘Today is the day of salvation’. This is why we have to have an urgency about telling people about Jesus, because there will be a day when it’s too late.

Nicole:
Right. There’s no going back.

Sharon:

And so we need to share the gospel. I can get lazy with that because I want like the perfect moment. I don’t wanna be pushy. But I’m feeling that urgency. People need to know and they need to not put it off. Because like a thief in the night, bam. Someday there won’t be another time to think about it. So wow. Okay.

Nicole:

Verse four, “But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters. And you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. So I love this.” We’ve been told to watch for this, so we will not be caught unaware.

Sharon: Right.

Nicole:

But I still think we get very lazy. At least I do. I’m not always thinking, oh, today’s the day. Like I don’t always wake up with that thought of eternity or today’s the day the Lord’s coming. Sometimes I’ll cry out out. Lord, take us today if it’s a particularly difficult day. But I don’t think… This is a good verse to remember. We’ve been warned.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole: We know.

Sharon:
It is coming.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
And hopefully it’s gonna be like, whoa, whoa. It’s here. It’s finally here. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:
Like the watch, I think it was in the other passage about the watcher standing by the door to watch for.

Sharon: Yes. Yes.

Nicole:
The master coming home,

Sharon:
The owner to come home.

Nicole:
I think that’s what he’s called us. We’re supposed to be watching and being ready.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
Like, okay. Watching the signs. Is he coming?

Sharon:
Right. Right. Yeah. And you want him to come with you doing what you’re supposed to do.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

Like, you know, the servants in the house not having, you know, I can imagine servants in the house thinking the master will be gone a long time. Just, you know, not cleaning things up.

Nicole:

We’ll do it right before he gets back. Break into like the good wine in the basement, the extra yummy cheese in the pantry.

Sharon:
Uhhuh. And then, uh oh. There he is.

Nicole:
And then take it easy. Right.

Sharon:

Exactly. Exactly. So okay, verse five. And this is where I pulled our title, ‘Children of the Light’ from, “For you, (you’re not in the dark about these things) For you are all children of the light and of the day”. Nicole, don’t you like being a child of the light?

Nicole:
That’s beautiful.

Sharon:

It’s a beautiful phrase. We do not belong to the darkness and the night. That’s ’cause we know, we’ve been enlightened, you know, dark. When it’s really dark, you stumble. You don’t know if somebody’s left something on the floor, you trip over it. My poor friend, um, broke her shoulder because someone had left something on the floor and she was just getting up in the middle of the night for something and she tripped over it, you know? You don’t see well, and everything— and then shapes look different in the night. You know, they look scary. They look like ghosty things sometimes because we don’t see them clearly. Everything’s fuzzy. We’re not there. We’re children of the light. We see clearly because God has opened up the knowledge of what’s gonna happen for us so we don’t have to stumble.

Nicole:
That’s right. That’s cool.

Sharon:
I know, we know the beginning from the end. So cheer up. That’s a really good thing to know. So

Nicole:

Nice. So then verse six, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded”. So I’m assuming when he says not asleep like the others, is he referring to the non-believers?

Sharon:
Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep.

Nicole:

Okay. So stay alert and be clearheaded. So be ready. We’re not to be clouded by hundreds of distractions around us each day, because I don’t think all of us are trying to avoid drinking during the day.

Sharon:
No, this is true.

Nicole:

I don’t think, I mean, some of us might struggle with it, but I don’t think that’s what he’s referring to. But I think it’s just the distractions. There’s so many distractions that can make us not clear-headed. We can be distracted with social media, with our phones, with trouble, with gossip, with food, with tv, you name it. Audio books, anything. Anything that keeps us away from God and not clearheaded we have to be careful with.

Sharon:
We have to be so careful. And yet another reason for being in the word every day.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
‘Cause it clears our head. We’ve seen light. Even if it’s a verse, just one verse pulls us back to God. So.

Nicole:

And if we start with him in the morning, he fills that longing, that place inside of us where we won’t look to fill

Sharon:
In other ways

Nicole:
With the distractions and make us—

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:
One good choice kind of starts the rest of the day off good.

Sharon:

It does. It’s so does. It does. Yeah. Verse seven, “Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk”. And he’s talking about it in a negative way. Not, I mean, he gave us night, we sleep during the night. It’s not like we’re not supposed to sleep.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
I think he’s talking again about the unbelievers, the people that don’t know him yet.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

So, and I see this, there’s two bad responses. There’s the sleep response and there’s the drunk response. So the drunk response is just that I just wanna be wicked.

Nicole:
Yeah, reveling in it.

Sharon:

You know, I don’t care. I just, you know, I’m just gonna live and party and whatever. And the sleep response is the dulling of the mind. The I don’t have to think about this. I don’t wanna think about this.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
What was, is it ‘Gone with the Wind’ where she always said, I’ll think about it tomorrow.

Nicole:
Yes. I love her. Right. I just, don’t wanna think about that today. Yes. I’ll think about that tomorrow.

Sharon:
That’s right. Just put it off. All the ugly thoughts. No.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

And, you know what, before we know Christ, we don’t wanna think about it. We don’t wanna talk about death.

Nicole: No.

Sharon:

We don’t wanna talk about what happens afterwards.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

We don’t wanna talk about the fact that there actually might be a God who loves us and cares about us, but who also holds us responsible for one thing, turning to him. You know?

Nicole:
That’s a good point.

Sharon:
So anyways, so there’s a little warning there.

Nicole:

All right. So verse eight says, “But let us live in the light, be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love and wearing as our helmet, the confidence of our salvation”. So this is really neat. I like this because this is a, it’s like an intentional ‘how to be clearheaded’. It’s a prescription. Yes. It’s like an easy to follow form. Like, okay, clearheaded, I wanna be clearheaded, I wanna be ready. God, how do I do it? Oh. But we are protected by the armor of faith and love. So God doesn’t just give us something really hard to do and say good luck. He’s like, I want you to live in the light and be clearheaded, but you are protected by my armor of faith and love. And then wearing as our helmet, the confidence of our salvation. So we’re protecting our head, our brain, with the confidence of our salvation with, if I die tomorrow, I’m with you.

Sharon:
I’m with you.

Nicole:

Which is what he’s talking about. Being ready for the return of Jesus. And that my confidence is in that when he comes back, I am ready because he has saved me. So that’s an important piece to all of this. Like, why do I wanna be ready and watch for him? Oh, I’m confident because I’m saved. I don’t have to fear his return.

Sharon:
Exactly. No, it’s an eager, happy thing.

Nicole:
So then I want to look for him.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
If I’m not confident in my salvation, if I don’t know him, I don’t know what to expect.

Sharon:
I wanna hide.

Nicole:

Right. What’s this thief gonna come and steal from? I don’t know. I don’t know him. He’s a thief. He’s an unknown person.

Sharon:
Yes. As opposed to your, he calls us friends.

Nicole:

My Jesus is coming back for me. You know? So it’s a different, it’s so amazing that we can have that confidence only through him.

Sharon:

Yep. Only by being children of the light. Yeah. Okay. Verse nine, “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.”

Nicole: Phew.

Sharon:

I know, this is such a cool verse. Because basically he ought to be angry with us. We ignore him. He tells us how to live and we go and do the opposite. We are defiant way more often than we ought to be. Or we’re careless. We are selfish. We are so many things that would make me not think he’d want us. But what did he do? He chose to save us.

Nicole: I know.

Speaker 3:

Not to pour out his anger on us. And the saving cost him because somebody had to pay that punishment ’cause we deserve it. And he took it so we didn’t have to that. That’s just stunning. It’s not like just Superman swooping in and with his big strong muscles saving, it’s him suffering. Saving us.

Nicole: Oh yeah.

Sharon: It’s huge.

Nicole:
It’s a sacrificial saving.

Sharon: Sacrificial saving.

Nicole:
He lost his most precious thing. His son.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
To save us.

Sharon:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:
That makes it a lot bigger.

Sharon:
A lot bigger cost. Some of the superheroes, you’re like, you’re just having fun. It’s not even hard.

Nicole:
They’re just showing off.

Sharon:

Yeah. But not for Jesus. Jesus said, I’ll take their sin on me. You hit me with all the wrath that is deserved for their sin. I’ll take it.

Nicole:
Oh, that’s so beautiful.

Sharon: Yeah. Ooh.

Nicole:

Oh, where am I? Verse 10, “Christ died for us so that whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever”. So first, kind of what you just said, his sacrifice, you know, his defeat of death with offering up his Son, Jesus died and then he defeated death. Death can’t hold us. It didn’t hold Jesus. And because of that, it won’t hold us so that we won’t be kept by death. We still have to experience

death, but it won’t hold us because we’re going to, whether we’re dead or alive, when he comes back, we’re all gonna be alive with him.

Sharon:
Yes. Paul has made that really clear the last couple of weeks.

Nicole:
Very clear. Yes.

Sharon:
Yeah. So, so good.

Nicole: Love that.

Sharon:

Yeah. And I love it says we can live with him, so that we can live with him forever. Why does he wanna do it? He wants us.

Nicole: Aw.

Sharon:
He died for us ’cause he actually wants us.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:

Which is what a lover does. A lover wants to be with his beloved. That’s why he did it. He really wants us with him him.

Nicole:
He really, really does love us, doesn’t he?

Sharon:

It’s so precious. So, all right. So verse 11, “So encourage each other (he said that so often) and build each other up just as you are already doing”. This is why we go to church. This is why we are in fellowship with other Christians. So we can build each other up, so we can encourage each other when we’re down, so that we can be reminded of the truths that we find in the light.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:
When we kind of get cloudy brained and it looks darkish.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

We need each other. We absolutely need each other. And so, even though Christians are not perfect and they can be annoying and they can let you down and do all the things, it’s still better to be with ’em than without ’em.

Nicole:
Yes, it’s so true.

Sharon:

Over and over and over again we need each other’s encouragement. So, and then I love that last little bit again, just as you already are doing. Paul again is like, okay, I’m telling you all this stuff, but it’s not ’cause you’re bad.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

You’re already doing it. I’m just encouraging you to do it more and more. And I’ve gotta remember that like you were saying with your children, I need to remember when I, if I’m saying something critical, but I do see you doing this. ‘Cause Paul’s really careful to do that over and over.

Nicole:

He is wonderful with seeing them and seeing where they’re at and acknowledging it while still encouraging them to be what God has called them to be.

Sharon: Absolutely.

Nicole:
I don’t think he had kids, but he would’ve been a good dad.

Sharon:
He would’ve been a good dad. Well, he had a ton of kids. They were spiritual children.

Nicole:
I guess he did. All the gentiles. All of us, I guess.

Sharon:

Exactly. Exactly. So, okay. Well, what was your favorite verse? We’ll start with you and why?

Nicole:

I know, this was hard. There was so much in here and I really enjoyed a lot of it, but I kept coming back to nine, “For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Not to pour out his anger on us”. There’s just, it’s so beautiful that he chose to save us through his Son. And then he didn’t pour out all his anger on us. And like you had said, you said it so well when you talked about this verse, we deserve so much of that.

Sharon: We do.

Nicole:

And his mercy, his mercy is so great in this verse. And I’m just kind of in awe of God again. Like, wow. You didn’t just like, oh, help me not sin anymore and give me heaven. You also saved me from pouring out your anger on me.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
I don’t know what that is, but that sounds pretty terrifying.

Sharon:
I don’t want it.

Nicole:
And I absolutely deserve that. So just wrapping my head around his love and mercy is like, Oh!

Sharon:
That’s beautiful.

Nicole:
Wow. Thanks. Thank you God.

Sharon:
It’s beautiful. He chose this.

Nicole:
Yes. And he chose his Son to save me. Horrible, terrible me. Like why?

Sharon:
‘Cause he wanted you with him.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
Nicole, he really does love us.

Nicole:
He does. I just, I can’t, I can’t fully grasp it. And I want to.

Sharon: I know.

Nicole:
He’s amazing.

Sharon:

He’s so beautiful. Yeah. And that’s why the Bible never gets old. You and I have been Christians for like forever. And yet we’re still like, wow, that is such a cool thing.

Nicole:

And this is the basics. Like God loves, for God so loved the world. Everyone knows that verse. And I still am wrestling with just how deep his love is. (Sharon: Yeah, yeah. Yeah) There’s so much to it.

Sharon:

Well, I chose the verse before it, verse eight, “For let us who live in the light be clearheaded. Protected by the armor of faith and love and wearing as our helmet, the confidence of our salvation”. And it brought me back to children of the light, the clearheaded. To be clearheaded we see clearly. And so we need to stay in the light of his word and of the truths that we’ve learned. And not walk away from those. I love that faith and love protect us.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

And I was thinking of the opposite. Doubt and bitterness and hate do the opposite of protecting. They make us vulnerable to attacks from the enemy.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

And Satan is prowling like a lion trying to attack us. So when we choose bitterness and hate, we’ve opened ourselves up. When we choose love that’s a protection.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:
Isn’t that neat?

Nicole:
That is neat.

Sharon:
I kind of really loved that. So.

Nicole: That’s cool.

Sharon:
I love it. And then the confidence of our salvation also protects us from the enemy.

Nicole: Oh, right.

Sharon:
When we really believe that we’re saved.

Sharon:
And we’re not like uh oh, you know, scared? The enemy’s, one of his favorite methods is fear.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
It torments us.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:
And we do not need to be afraid.

Nicole:
No. Because he can, if he’s like, oh, are you really saved? Just go, actually he does really love me.

Sharon:

Yes, yes.

Nicole:
‘Cause he says he does. And you can’t take me out of his hand.

Sharon:
That’s right. So we step into the light. Exactly.

Nicole:
Oh, I love it.

Sharon:

Yeah. So, okay. What did we learn about God? Well, I learned number one, he’ll return on his timetable. And I don’t get to know it

Nicole: Darn it.

Sharon: I know.

Nicole:
I’d really like to know a little bit.

Sharon:
Number two, he expects me to watch. And the more I love him, the more I will yearn for his return.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

You know, if he’s an abstraction,, you don’t yearn for an abstraction. The more I know him as my personal wonderful God who loves me, the more I want him.

Nicole:
That’s so true. Aw.

Sharon:

So just moving closer that way. And then number three, he chose to save us because he wants to be with us. It’s just such a happy thought.

Nicole:
That’s amazing.

Sharon:
I like that thought.

Nicole:
I love that.

Sharon:
Yeah. How about you? What did you learn about God from this passage?

Nicole:

I was thinking about how he calls us children of the light and of the day. And we don’t belong to the darkness and the night anymore and we did before. And you had described what it’s like to be in the darkness, but also there’s like a hiding I think like a festering wound or you’re hiding something in the dark in your sin, you’re just stuck in this place of darkness. And I love that God calls us forth to be children of light. Like he wants us out of that place and he’s so good to lead us there.

Sharon: Yes. Yes.

Nicole:

In his light. And it’s like, oh, it’s much better here, Lord. I thought I was wanting to be in the dark away from you and Oh, shame and hiding sins. But in you, there’s so much beautiful light and freedom, you know?

Sharon:
So much. Yeah.

Nicole:
It’s just nearly neat.

Sharon:
Yeah. When you were saying the hiding I was imagining sort of huddled in a corner of the darkness.

Nicole:
Oh, you’re never sprawled out enjoying the complete darkness. It’s always like a corner somewhere.

Sharon:

Yeah. Whereas in the light, you can stride, you can run, you can dance. You can do all kinds of things ’cause you can see. That’s so cool.

Nicole:

It is neat. And then his mercy again not to pour out his anger, which we deserve, but he gave us life instead. You know. That’s what a kind and giving God he is.

Sharon:
So kind. Oh my goodness. Yes. So, all right. Okay.

Nicole:
And then what did you learn about living wisely in trouble times, Sharon?

Sharon:

Well, I love that we are enlightened. That we know how it ends. And that I can go back to that when I’m dealing with whatever stressors I’m dealing with. But heaven, you know?

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

But there is heaven, That we shouldn’t be thrown off by troubles, is another thing I learned, that they happen. In fact, this morning I was studying Psalm 34. And I gotta read you verse 19, because it kind of fit. I did my Bible study first, and then I worked on this thing. And it says this, “the righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time”. Now that’s just such a cool truth because the righteous person does face many troubles. So can we just get that out of the way? You know, it was just stated like an obvious ‘duh’, a fact.

Nicole: Yeah.

Sharon:

The righteous person experience many troubles. But when does the Lord come to rescue them? Oh. Every time.

Nicole: Oh.

Sharon:

So there’s kinda like a rhythm to my life, you know? I have some easy days and I’m really grateful for them. And then the next trouble comes along. There it is again. You know, and I have to remember that the Lord rescues me every time.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:

Every time. And that changes the trouble. It’s almost like, okay, so what are you gonna do this time, Lord?

Nicole:

Right. As you come alongside me whatcha gonna talk to me about in this trouble?

Sharon:

Here’s another one. There’s an old Steve and Annie Chapman song where he sings, you know, ‘things are getting tough and the money’s tight’, you know, this kind of thing. Kind of this little twangy thing. And then the chorus is ‘things are looking good for a miracle’. And it’s just such a fun thing. Whoa. It’s really bad. Looking good for a miracle then.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:
But there’s an expectation that he does rescue us, so.

Nicole:
Oh, I love that.

Sharon:
So we’ve got that rhythm. So that’s kind of fun.

Nicole:
Such a good verse. I like that one.

Sharon:
How about you? What did you learn about living wisely in troubled times?

Nicole:

He’s such a marvelous God that we serve. And I think reading through this passage and seeing his plan for us and how he gives us the hope of him coming back, but also the plan, like, I am coming back, so don’t be caught unaware. Yeah. He doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own. So I can really trust him. ’cause he has my best interest at heart till the very, very end. And then to eternity.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:

And he doesn’t leave us just kind of hanging with all of him and all of what he is to figure out on our own. That even in that, he does walk with us and he tries to explain as much as he can without our minds exploding. What’s coming. Just like, what a marvelous God I have. I can rest in that, that he’s got me, that he’s got the future and I can trust him and daily look at him and say, okay, what’s today, ’cause you know what’s coming up.

Sharon: Yep.

Nicole:
And you know what’s coming up when you come back in return.

Sharon:
Exactly. And I can rest in that.

Nicole:
And I can trust you and rest in it.

Sharon:

Yes. I love it. Oh, that’s beautiful. Well, let’s pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that it’s living, Lord, just reading it even fresh right now with Nicole today, you show us new truths. Father, we are so honored that you wrote to us that we have in our possession, your living words. Help us never to take that lightly. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole:

Amen. Thanks for joining us on this journey through First Thessalonians. We’ve covered a lot of territory from suffering and persecution to blessings, advice, and end times. Wow. And the letter is actually pretty short, just five chapters. I love how Paul fits so much teaching into one letter. Speaking of letters, we’d love to hear from you. Write us at SweetSelah.org/podcast or donate at SweetSelah.org/donations. It costs a lot to run this podcast. We’d appreciate a donation no matter how small. Put podcast partner on the memo line and join our partners. We’ll send you a monthly newsletter catching you up on our own lives and what’s going on in the podcast. Join us next week for episode 120, Words of Wisdom. Until then, pick up your Bible and explore. It’s full of wisdom and light and truth. God’s living word written to you.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @SweetSelah.org. Thank you for joining us.