2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and, in his grace, gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the blessings you have given us. We often focus on this life; we worry about tomorrow and fret over what happened yesterday. Your gift brings us back to this moment to care for our most basic need—us to be saved from our sins. And your salvation takes care of our eternity. Without our faith, we might be able to do something nice for others, but even those things are tainted with sinful desires. “What can I get out of this deal for myself?” On our own, we navel-gaze, always being focused on ourselves. To remedy that, you sent your Son. And he focused on your will and us. Paul tells us in Philippians 2: 6 – 8, “Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” Jesus took our punishment and all we deserve upon himself and gave us his righteousness in return. Our sins are paid for in full, and our hope now rests in eternal life. You delivered this gift to us through your Spirit, who created faith in us to believe in our Savior. Therefore, only because of Jesus’ sake can we do any good work or say any good word. Thank you—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—for all you have done to make salvation our new reality.
May we hold you to your promise that you will start a good work and word in us. Will you please send us your Spirit to give us the courage to share our salvational hope with those who do not know you? So that their hearts will be encouraged by knowing your love and mercy for them. Amen.
Written through Pastor Roger Emmons
God’s love and grace are for you. Christ died and rose to defeat sin and death for you; this blessing is delivered to you by the Spirit through faith in your Savior—Jesus.