DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 30 March 2025: The Shape of Steadfastness
KEY VERSE: “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure” (2 Thessalonians 1:4).
TEXT: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 (KJV)
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;
4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In tribute to perseverance, Winston Churchill, a two-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said, “The nose of the bulldog is slanted backward so he can continue to breathe without letting go.”
The church in Thessalonica had the tenacity of the bulldog as far as faith was concerned. Taught by Apostle Paul and his ministerial companions, this church was well grounded in the doctrines of Christ. In today’s Bible text, the apostle acknowledged their flourishing growth in the faith and their abounding mutual love, for which they felt bound to thank God. The faith and patience of this church shone brilliantly in the face of much persecution at the hands of the Jews and their countrymen. As such, they became a model of what God’s grace can do when effectively communicated to sincere and faithful hearts.
Paul and his fellow missionaries heard good testimonies from different places about the outstanding growth and steadfastness of the brethren in Thessalonica. They boasted of this church to believers in other locations. It is most gratifying to know, as believers, that our spiritual state gives encouragement, joy, and fulfilment to those who have laboured over us. This can only happen when we humbly embrace the grace of God as we apply our minds to the authentic word of God. We cannot hope to enjoy the Christian life or muster sufficient strength to withstand the slightest persecution when we rebel against our spiritual mentors and live in clear violation of God’s word.
It is clear from today’s text that a significant motivation for the perseverance of the Thessalonian Christians was the expectation of the second coming of Christ. If so, for them, it ought to be more for present-day Christians because the end is now nearer. It is dangerous to remain lukewarm, worldly-minded, or careless at this crucial hour. Will you, this moment, focus your mind and, through sincere prayer, appropriate the grace of God for a triumphant Christian life?
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
How far can your present stock of grace take you?
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Deuteronomy 31 – 34
Daily Manna 30 March 2025
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