Sunday Devotional

Max weighed about two pounds when my husband brought him home. I could literally hold him in the palm of my hand. He was so cute and little! His tiny legs could barely support him as he wobbled around the house, bumping into things and sprawling on the tiled floor. Anytime he wanted up onto the couch, I’d have to lift him since he wasn’t big enough to jump that high.

Eventually, Max grew large enough to be able to manage the couch, but the bed was still beyond him. I’d pick him up, and he’d curl up at our feet to go to sleep. Soon however, he discovered that by jumping onto the chair next to the bed, and then onto the mattress, he could get up by himself. Now it seems there’s nothing Max can’t do once he sets his mind to it. But it was a process. Small steps. And that’s how it should be with our faith.

God wants us to grow in our faith. No longer should we be taking those baby steps, wobbling and wavering with every new challenge. God wants us to grow stronger, reach higher, and accomplish more, in the name of Jesus. It’s not like we have to do it alone, after all. He’s always there, any time we need a hand up.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-11 (New International Version)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. 4Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

5All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

11With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.