Apparently Paul wrote this second letter to the Thessalonians shortly after the first, primarily to correct some misinterpretations of the earlier letter. However, the focus on God’s will does not change beginning with Paul’s admonition in chapter 1, verse 11, that God, “may fulfill every good purpose of yours…” God’s will is that His children would allow Him to fulfill their lives.

 

The most basic definition of fulfill is to satisfy, but the Greek word used throughout the New Testament means to complete or to finish. There is no entity, person, or force in this world that can truly fulfill human beings except the triune God.

 

Hebrews 12:2 states, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith” (emphasis mine). Jesus is the Author, the Initiator, the Creator of our lives, and He wants to complete, to finish them as well. Believers often start with God but then refuse to allow Him to finish. 
 

God’s will is to complete you, to make you all He intended you to be from the beginning to the end. There is a well-known scene from a Tom Cruise movie where his character tells the woman in his life, “You complete me.” While God designed marriage for oneness and unity, He created people with a void that was never meant to be filled by another person, but by Him alone.

 

Our marriages, parenting, finances, vocations, hobbies, and even ministries develop places of severe discontent within us because we erroneously expect them to fulfill us when only God can. Sports Illustrated ran an article recently about how few NFL players truly enjoy their job. Those of us on the outside watch their ascent and assume they have “arrived” when they reach their dream football team, but in reality they are frustrated, tired, and extremely incomplete. 
 

We are all incomplete. While God easily uses each area of our lives to bless, encourage, and refresh us, the ultimate fulfillment must be in our relationship with Him.

In 2 Thessalonians 1, God teaches three ways to be fulfilled by Him.

Questions for further study:
In what area of your life are you most satisfied? Why? Least satisfied? Why?
In what areas do you feel incomplete or unfulfilled?

BE FULFILLED BY GOD THROUGH SPIRITUAL GROWTH (Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4)

Spiritual growth reveals the difference between one who merely allows God to begin their life and one who allows Him to finish. We must commit to the daily process involved in our relationship with God to experience the fulfillment available.

 

I am typically a high energy, very productive person. However, when my husband and I went away for a week to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, I developed an unexpected attachment to ease, comfort, and rest. Driving, teaching, cooking, cleaning, and laundry were a distant memory as I lounged by the pool, dined at wonderful restaurants, and and drank tea while rocking on the inn’s front porch. I have no doubt God provided the time of rest for us, but my experience painted a picture of how quickly we can begin coasting in our physical lives as well as our spiritual lives.
 

Recovery came quickly from the trip as I was thrust back into my daily routine at home (the kids needed cleans clothes and food on the table!), but spiritually we often miss the urgency and necessity of pressing forward in Jesus. We’re thrilled to be “saved” but lethargic beyond the altar, and then we wonder why we feel so incomplete.

God will fulfill you through spiritual growth. 2 Thessalonians 1 provides three basic starting points.

 

Grow in Faith. The most basic yet vital area of spiritual growth is our faith. Salvation is the first and greatest step and is emphasized in each of Paul’s letters as he refers to “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (verses 1, 2), but it grows as we share it with other believers (the church), share it with non-believers, and develop God’s grace and peace in our lives daily (verse 2).

 

Paul’s words indicate growth as individuals as well as growth within the group. Growing faith requires personal intimacy with Jesus. His lessons to my single friend are so unique compared to His lessons to me as a wife and mom of five children. Yet, when we come together as a body, the lessons we are both learning build up the group and fortify our roots in Jesus. 
 

Grow in Love. Throughout both letters to the Thessalonians, Paul’s recognition of their love for one another is emphatic but without detail. God gave me a fresh understanding of His appreciation for love among His children through the recent engagement of my oldest son. Brandon and Katie came to our house after she said “Yes!” and while we were taking pictures and listening to the proposal story Katie’s love for Brandon could not have been more obvious. I realized what a joy it is to know that someone loves your child so much, and I gained new insight into the great blessing it brings our heavenly Father when we love His children and are loved by His children. Who has God put in your life to love and be loved by today?

 

Grow in Perseverance. Perseverance is a necessity in the Christian life. No doubt many believers fall away or put out the Spirit’s fire (as we discussed in the previous chapter) due to hardships through which they refuse to persevere. As Paul commended the Thessalonians in verse 4, he used two distinct words to describe the situations these young believers faced. The first word “persecutions” means exactly what you would expect. It is a specific term referring to attacks by opponents of the Gospel. The word “trials” (tribulations in KJV), however, refers to more general day-to-day pressures. 
 

Paul understood the need for perseverance in every area of life, not merely great spiritual challenges. He considered the Thessalonians growth significant if they continued sharing about Jesus despite threats and harm, as well as if they trusted God with unpaid bills or difficult family matters. Jesus lived on this earth for thirty-three years. He grew through those daily pressures and lives to help you persevere through them too. Let them change you. Let them draw you closer to Him and make you more like Him.

 

Spiritual growth is highlighted here by growth in faith, love, and perseverance, and there is so much more! All throughout God’s word this theme is addressed. Grow in your gifts. Grow in the other fruit of the Spirit. Grow in prayer and in the understanding of God’s Word. There are no limits on God’s growth chart. Where can you be found on it?

 

Questions for further study:
How has your faith grown in the past year? Month? Week?

How has your love grown recently?

What trials have helped your perseverance to grow?

 

Scriptures for further study: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; Ephesians 4:15-16; Colossians 2:16-19; 1 Peter 2:13; 2 Peter 3:17-18.

 

Project Idea: identify one area of spiritual growth to focus on each month of the year and write out specific steps you plan to take.

 

BE FULFILLED BY GOD THROUGH THE TRUTH OF WHO HE IS (Read 2 Thess. 1:5-10)
This paragraph in Thessalonians is ideal for examining the characteristics of God because it is a difficult one. Paul speaks of judgment, punishment, and everlasting destruction. We need to understand who God is in those settings as well as in a more peaceful environment. He completes us more each time He reveals another aspect of His character. It is God’s will that you know Him as intimately as possible.

 

God is just. When we feel beaten and battered and alone and unsure, this truth of God’s character is paramount. We know He is just when we see right judgments made and wrongs adequately punished, but Paul was writing to a group of people who were suffering (verse 5). Godly results were not forthcoming, and the immediate outlook was not promising. When we yell in our hearts that “life is not fair!” we must balance it quickly with “but God is just.” 
 

As Paul mentions in verse 6, God will come through but His timing often varies from ours as does His view of each and every situation. He sees the quilt, we see one small square. He sees the orchestra, we see the trombone. Embracing God’s justice requires the spiritual growth described earlier, and continual trust in His goodness and love. Circumstances cannot dictate our response, only the truth of God’s character.

 

William P. Young’s book, The Shack, deftly teaches how to see God as just through the most difficult circumstances. God’s own stories of Joseph, Moses, David, and many more provide similar insight. The truth is before us. How will we respond? 
 

God gives relief. Equally as important as His justice is the knowledge that God loves to bring relief. God finds no pleasure in the suffering of His children, and continually formulates plans and provisions to bless and help them. If we believe less of Him, we can never be fulfilled.

A word of caution: sometimes God brings relief and we miss it. Unfortunately, we absorb ourselves so fully in our anger or hurt or pain that those nail-scarred hands go completely unnoticed. A word of encouragement spurned, a helping hand refused, or a hopeful invitation ignored extend our suffering and deny us the relief God desires. With some people sulking becomes a routine and quite simply, that is not God.

 

God gives fresh revelation of Jesus. In verse 7 Paul discusses the second coming of Christ; however, the revelation of Jesus is not limited to that one-time period. We may not see Him, “in blazing fire with His powerful angels,” but God has other ways of opening our eyes to Jesus.

 

Speaking again of the book, The Shack, negative reactions surround this story because God has revealed Himself to William Young in so many fresh ways. People tend to become rote in their view of who God is and who He wants to be in their lives, and they do not want that perception altered. What a mistake! God is too multi-dimensional to be relegated to a Sunday school class portrait or a generational tradition. He lives! May we all experience His fresh breath in our lives daily.
 

How? When you are hurting receive His revelation as Comforter. When you are tired, perhaps He’ll introduce you to His rest or a fresh understanding of strength. When you need answers He can easily reveal His fresh wisdom. Any hour of any day, our God is the Revealer of mysteries.  Who are you asking?

 

God’s presence is life. Verse 9 explains that when Christ comes back, those who reject God will experience the ultimate punishment which is described as being “shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.” Which means, dear friends, that the greatest fulfillment of this life and the life to come is the presence of God.

 

It’s not about heaven verses hell, angels verses demons, or golden streets verses the lake of fire (though all that is included). The only thing that matters is the presence of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. To whom is this available? Anyone who breathes. Before they reach the end of this life, anyone who chooses can live forever in the presence of God.

 

If we have already made that choice, why do we not live as though we are in the presence of God every day? In her book, Legacy of a Pack Rat, the late Ruth Bell Graham shares several stories of martyrs who led people to Christ in their death. The new believers were changed, not through desperate pleas to convert, but through the obvious presence of God in the lives of those murdered.

 

They saw it in their countenance and through words of forgiveness and peace. I have to admit one of my first thoughts was, “I hope I don’t have to die for someone to see the presence of God in my life!” (Not at all implying that the martyrs were ineffective before their deaths.) I want people to know the presence of God flowing from my life today! Whether I’m in the grocery store, at a ball game, teaching God’s Word, or cooking dinner, may the Holy Spirit flow freely!

 

God’s presence is life. We must grow in this truth and encourage God to use His presence in our lives to draw others to the kingdom. There is no greater fulfillment. 
 

Who has caused heartache and/or pain in your life? Who has wronged you? How have you responded?

How do you respond to God’s promise that He will bring justice at the appropriate time?
What kind of relief do you desire?

How has Jesus revealed Himself to you recently? (i.e. as Comforter, Shepherd, Truth, Light)

Study in depth what Paul meant when he said, “God is just.” (verse 6)

How would you describe a fulfilling life?

 

Scriptures for further study: Romans 12:17-20; 2 Timothy 4:14; Hebrews 10:30-31; 1 Peter 3:9; John 11:25; John 14:6; Ephesians 4:18-19; 1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Project Idea: Each day this week, focus on one particular Name or characteristic of God.

BE FULFILLED BY GOD THROUGH GLORIFYING HIM (Read 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)

“There is no limit to what you can achieve if you don’t mind who gets the credit” is a popular motivational phrase in business. I would like to modify it slightly to read, “There is no limit to fulfillment in your life if you don’t mind that Jesus gets the credit.” 
 

Many erroneously believe that if they would just get more recognition, become more popular, or at least get their “just reward” in this life, fulfillment would come. The truth is self-absorption promises an empty life.

 

Twice in this chapter Paul mentions the Thessalonians being “counted worthy” (verses 5, 11). The only worthiness we bring to the kingdom of God begins and ends with Jesus and His death and resurrection. He paid the price, He defeated the enemy, and He made a way where there was no way at all. Nothing in us, nothing we do can make us worthy of God’s love. It’s all about Jesus.

 

Well, that is where the Thessalonians lived - at the foot of the cross - in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ - in joy given by the Holy Spirit. They never lost sight of how they got to where they were. Their fulfillment was in the glory of God. Is yours?

Paul then provides examples of how he and the Thessalonians lived it out practically. How does one glorify God day by day?

 

We glorify God through prayer. Our need for constant communication with Him sometimes appears as weakness to the world, but when they need a touch from the supernatural they know who to call. Praise God! Prayer also opens the door to share with others how God lives and moves in our lives.

 

We glorify God by answering His call. The call of salvation is first, which sets off a celebration in heaven. The daily calls and primary calls we discussed in the previous chapter work in a myriad of ways to draw others to Him. We are often totally unaware of God’s use of our obedience to expand the Kingdom, but one day we will see it all clearly. Our heart cry must remain, “Whatever brings glory to You, Lord, I’m in!” 
 

We glorify God by depending on His power. Paul prays that God’s power will “fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith” (verse 11). God is glorified when we trust His power rather than our own to walk out His purposes and plans. When we consistently take steps of faith as the direct result of our relationship with Him, He shines. Even when we misread the Spirit’s intentions or mistake the voice’s direction, His power works mightily because we were prompted by our faith.

 

We glorify God not by talking about ourselves and our accomplishments, but by expressing our dependence upon Him and allowing His glory to be our fulfillment. 
 

We glorify God by His grace. God has so many purposes and plans for each one of us. The key to completing them for His glory is walking by grace. We give grace to others, we accept it freely, and we acknowledge our complete inadequacy apart from it. I am not accomplishing anything because of my superior wisdom, impressive academic degrees, financial independence, or natural charisma. Every accomplishment begins and ends with the grace of Almighty God.

How can you glorify God today?

 

God’s will is your fulfillment through spiritual growth, through the truth of who He is, and through glorifying Him. What is holding you back? We pray you will allow God to fill your life in fresh ways daily!

Project idea: commit to pray for one Christian friend every day this week.
Project idea: write out your testimony of how you came to know God through Jesus.
Project idea: write out past and present calls of God on your life including lessons learned and people involved. Which was your favorite? Your least favorite? The “easiest”? The hardest?
Read through the above projects and meditate on the ways God has been glorified in you and through you.

Scriptures for further study: 1 Peter 2:12; Psalm 34:3; Psalm 63; Psalm 69; Psalm 86; John 8:54-56; Romans 15:5-13.