Spend time in prayer and silence with God, asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the one doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming he himself is God. Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I used to tell you about this? And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the One now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of His coming.
– 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Devotion
Paul writes his second letter to the Thessalonians to clear up some confusion concerning his teachings about the return of Christ for His bride and His second coming. In his introduction, Paul again referred to their faith and their love, but not to their hope. The dilemma now threatening them was to be found in this matter about the second coming. A false report had been circulated that Christ had already returned for His bride. Therefore, some of the Thessalonian believers had stopped working and were living in despair as if all hope were lost. Paul warns them to not be deceived. The Second Coming of Christ cannot happen until the anti-christ is revealed. This physical personification of evil is currently being restrained from revealing himself. Then Paul encourages his readers to not be dismayed because Jesus will destroy the anti-christ with the splendor of His second coming. Do not be discouraged! Jesus wins!
The Big Question
When you look at everything that is wrong with the world today, do you get discouraged? How does one keep a positive attitude in a world that is spinning out of control spiritually? Does it encourage you to know that in the end Jesus wins? If you are discouraged today, I would challenge you to “skip to the end” of the book. Read Revelation chapters twenty-one and twenty-two. Jesus is going to make everything new!
Conclude your time in prayer and silence, reflecting on what God revealed to you today.