“We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5b-6).

The whole idea of going along to get along is refuted here.  But this does not mean that we are to be contentious either.  What it means is that we live lives that are awake and aware.  Pay attention to what is happening around you.  Be guided by what the Lord says and do not sluff off what the world is saying when it contradicts the things of the Lord.  Be awake and be on the alert that you may not be overcome by the adversary.

Lord, first of all keep me from being indifferent, slumbering, or unmindful of the things that are happening around me.  I know that many ignore what is inconvenient.  Help me to not be one of those.  Lead me in all sobriety to be alert and awake but not contentious.  Help me to see the signs of the age and live according to all that You have spoken.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of truth.

Lord Jesus, You are the truth.  Your word is truth.  Guide me always to be aware and willing to see even when I would rather not.  You knew exactly what was happening around You and You have taught us to also be aware.  Let my hope be based upon You and not upon the circumstances of this world.  Lead me in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life that I may fulfill all that You intend.  Amen. 

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5a).

Light always overtakes darkness.  Yet, in this age there are times of twilight when darkness seems to prevail.  Do not be led by the wickedness of this world, the darkness that proclaims itself as light.  Walk humbly in the light of Christ which is always shining and cannot be darkened.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

Lord, You have already won the war, but the battle against evil in this age rages on.  Guide me, O Lord, in the way You know I need to go and then show me the direction into which I need to head.  Lord, You have been unfolding all that is happening so that Your will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Guide me that I would be one who does Your will.  Let me never be a child of darkness again.

Lord Jesus, You are the light that shines in the darkness.  You are the Word made flesh.  You are the bright and morning star.  You have come so that all who look to You would receive grace upon grace and mercy upon mercy to walk as children of the Heavenly Father.  Lead me now and always to be guided by You in the way of truth.  Help me to see through the darkness of this age and walk in Your light.  Amen.

“While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

In these things, there are those which happen over and over again as well as those which happen time and again in this age.  People felt secure and safe in the Roman Empire.  It fell.  This will happen time and again.  This world is constantly changing.  The world to come is eternal.  Live the life you have been given, but do not put your trust in this age; keep it in the Lord who is forever.

Lord, help me to not live just for myself, but to live the life You have given me for others too.  Guide me in Your goodness so that I would now and always live according to the promises You have given me.  Guide me to learn each day what You would have me learn, knowing that You are always with me.  Open my ears to hear Your Word spoken and then bring my heart to the place where I willingly obey.

Lord Jesus, all these things You modeled.  You did not just tell us what to do, You did it Yourself.  In Your example, guide me this day to put into practice those things which You have modeled.  Let me not be so concerned with what tomorrow will bring as much as doing what You give me to do today.  Guide me always, Lord, in the eternal way that I may journey into eternity with You.  Amen.

“For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

The end will come.  It will come for us all, but it will probably come for you and me before that Day of the Lord.  But it will come.  The end of this age.  We who have been given the gift of grace do not hope in vain, for we know that having been united with Christ in His death on the cross means we are united with Him in His resurrection.  Know these things and live both with hope and without anxiety.

Lead me to see both how short this life is and also that what You have promised is more assured than what I know of this life.  Guide me to live knowing these things and being prepared for Your coming.  Help me to do this not in fear, but in joy, for what You have promised is before all and for those of us who love You, it will be good.

Lord Jesus, guide me in the way of everlasting life.  Help me on the upward journey, modeling my life after You.  Show me today and each day You give me before my end in this age how to  become what You are making of me.  Lead me, O Lord, to know that in You alone is all hope and the glory of an eternal future.  Amen.  

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you”(1 Thessalonians 5:1).

How many epics have been written about the end of times, what will happen and the scenarios for these things?  Yet, time has marched on and they have not come to pass.  Is the Word unsure?  May it never be.  We are told time and again not to needlessly speculate, and yet we do.  Come then and live in the faith and hope that you have been given in the salvation of Christ, trusting in His timing of all things.

Lord, lead me away from idle speculation and into the life You have promised by grace through faith.  Guide me, O Lord, away from building my hope on anything less than You.  You are the One who has saved us and in You is our hope.  Let that be enough for me.  There is much that needs to be done if I am to be prepared to spend eternity with You.  Help me focus upon these things.

Lord Jesus, You are the way, truth, and life.  Whether I know the future sequence of events or not really does not matter.  Keep me from any kind of pride that would hinder my walking with You all the days of my life.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of truth.  Your Word is truth.  Help me focus upon what I know, that which You have spoken, and leave the rest to settle where it will.  Your grace is sufficient, O Lord!  Amen.

“Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).

What is the comfort?  That none of those who trust in the salvation of the Lord will be left out of the resurrection.  We shall all be caught up with the Lord forever.  Take comfort that you are not alone, nor forgotten, ever!  The Lord has given you promises that are sure and eternal.  Be comforted and comfort others with the comfort you yourself have received from the Lord.

Lord, I know there are all kinds of systems built around the idea of some being left behind and others being resurrected.  Lord, I do not know these things and although others may take comfort from these words, help me take comfort from the promise You have given throughout the ages that all who remain in You now will be with You in eternity.  Help me accept the comfort I know is true even if I have other ideas that comfort me as well.

Lord Jesus, it boils down to the truth that all things are in Your hands.  Help me to trust Your Word, for Your never-failing Word endures forever.  You have spoken promises to all who believe and in those promises is the hope we have of life everlasting.  Guide me, O Lord, in the way of life that I may be led in Your salvation to prepare for the eternal life You have promised to all those who are faithful.  Amen.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Look and listen.  The voice of the Lord can even be heard by those whom we call dead, but whom Scripture says are asleep.  By whatever name, the Lord calls and creation listens.  In the beginning He spoke the word and it was as He spoke.  In whom then will you trust?  Will you trust yourself whose word is weak, or the One through whom all things came into being through His word?

Lord, forgive me when I am unwilling to believe.  Bring me to the place where I stop questioning everything and start living the life of faith that You have given me.  Who is more important?  You are more so than anyone else.  The question seems so silly and yet I often live as though this were a legitimate question.  Help me to have the right priorities and do things the way they ought to be done.

Lord Jesus, You came so that we might have life and have it abundantly.  Guide me this day to do what is right in Your sight.  Lead me according to the never-changing word which You have spoken.  In and through all things, help me to understand that in You is there hope and the eternal future our hearts were created to desire.  Teach me to love as You love and how to live according to Your word.  Amen.

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thesalonians 4:15).

Those who are asleep will not be left behind, nor meet the Lord later than those who are alive.  Sometimes we worry so much about things that will never be in our control.  The Lord has all of this handled.  Know that the Lord has given His promises and will not fail.  Be led by the One who made you and know that He will hold you always in His arms.  Alive here and now or asleep, He has redeemed you.

Come into the Lord’s presence and live as one who knows that He has done, is doing and will do all that He has promised.  Let your faith be guided not by what you can understand, but by what the Lord says.  He who made the heavens and earth also made you.  Who knows but that all of what we call creation was not made in order that we might have the opportunity to live in the presence of the Lord forever.

Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, the One through whom all things were made and in whom all things have their being, lead me fully into Your arms of grace and mercy.  Guide me according to Your goodness so that I would be led by all that You teach and know the goodness of the salvation You have purchased from the cross.  Show me how, O Lord, now and always to walk according to Your word.  Amen.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

Do you not know that you have been united with Christ?  You were united in His death in order to be united with Him in His resurrection.  You have also heard Jesus say that only the One who descends can ascend.  If we are united with Him then certainly we shall be resurrected with Him.  Come then and live in the true hope and blessed assurance which are yours in Christ.  Live knowing that He abides in you.

Lord, help me to abide in You as You abide in me.  Guide me in the way of everlasting life so that I would grow in wisdom and mature in assurance.  Lead me according to Thy Spirit in order that in all things I would learn to be gracious with others as You are gracious with me.  Help me learn how to put all these things together to become whom You are making me to be.

Lord Jesus, You have come to unite us with Yourself in order to infuse in us the godly life.  Help me today to apply these things willingly in my life and grow in Your goodness.  Lead me according to the Father’s will to live into the calling You have given me as I apply these precepts of which Paul spoke.  Through all things and by Your grace, help me to grow and mature so that I may live in the eternal hope which is mine in You.  Amen.

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

How many times have you heard at a funeral, “Now they are an angel.”  Instead of being some kind of condolence, it is a lie that refutes what Scripture says.  We are not, nor will we ever be, angels.  The world grieves because it does not know.  It will settle for a false assurance.  You know that we were created to live into the image of Christ and become a child of God.  Therefore, do not settle for these worldly and lesser things, but put on the mind of Christ.

Lord, I hear these things so many times that I begin to repeat them myself.  Help me to mind my own business, but also hold me fast to what is right and true.  You have spoken truth and any part of what another says that is not true is a lie.  Help me to hold fast to the truth so that I may live into the image of Christ.  Help me to hold fast to the truth that in You is absolute hope and a future.

Lord Jesus, You have come to set us free from the captivity of this age.  In You there is hope, so that we will not remain trapped in the impossible situation of being good while being a sinner.  Lead me, O Lord, in the way of true life so that I would trust in You alone and share with others the hope I have in You in order that they too may have the unalterable hope You give through grace in faith.  Amen.