Ready . . . action! 2 Thessalonians 2.13 - 3.5

READY . . . Action! 2 Thessalonians 2.13-3.5

Good Day, Friends.

Everywhere we look in this passage, the verbs steal the action. God made the first move by loving us and choosing us to be his children . . . okay, how great is that? We were not born out of wedlock, so to speak, or by accident, but he deliberately chose us by name to be his children. The other day when we talked about ‘personal brand’, when you thought of the list of synonyms to describe yourself, was ‘chosen’ on the list? Sue Tobia . . . chosen one. Verne Nesbitt . . . chosen one.

Okay, I can really relate to this aspect of our great story. . . you see, my mother gave birth to me at 45 years of age. So, I often heard, ‘oh, were you a surprise’? An occasional individual would even ask me if I was an ‘accident.’ Nice. In reality, before I was born, my mother had given birth to a baby girl, whose lungs were not strong enough, and she died at two days old; at the time of her delivery, though, my mother had had her tubes tied. Mom took her loss so hard that the doctor suggested they try to reverse the surgery. In fact, she made medical history by being one of the first women to have a tubal ligation reversed. While that baby girl had weighed just five pounds, I came into the world a whopping 10 lbs, 1 1/2 ounces! Nice. No doubt about the viability of my lungs—then or now. ‘My point? I was CHOSEN by my mama; you were CHOSEN by God the Father. Very nice. Very nice indeed.

Now notice with me the Scripture verses, and then how God has his part, so to speak, and we have our part in response to God. In short, it spells r-e-l-a-t-i-o-n-s-h-i-p, initiated by God, and entered into, by us.

Scripture verses are on the left, with the verbs in caps. . . notice how many there are!
And then, my summary on the right side~

But we ought always to THANK God for you, Our part:
brothers, beloved by the Lord, because from THANK God
the beginning God CHOSE you to be saved SHARE in the Lord’s glory
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit STAND firm
and through belief in the truth. 14He CALLED HOLD to the teachings
you to this through our gospel, that you might PRAY
SHARE in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. DO what we know we
15So then, brothers, STAND firm and HOLD are to do
to the teachings we PASSED on to you,
whether by word of mouth or by letter.
16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God’s part:
God our Father, who LOVED us and by his He CHOSE us
grace GAVE us eternal encouragement and LOVES us
hope, 17ENCOURAGE your hearts and STRENGTHENS us
STRENGTHEN you in every good deed IS not WAS, our God IS
and word. alive and active!


3.1 Finally, brothers PRAY for us that the PROTECTS– God will protect

message of the Lord may SPREAD rapidly us from evil

and be HONORED, just as it was with you. DELIVERS - God will deliver us

from wicked people

2And pray that we may be DELIVERED

from wicked and evil men, for not everyone

has faith. 3The Lord IS faithful, and he will DIRECTS – God will direct his

STRENGTHEN and PROTECT you from truths into our hearts
the evil one. 4We HAVE confidence in the
Lord that you are DOING and WILL CONTINUE
to do the things we command. 5May the Lord
DIRECT your hearts into God’s love and
Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 – 3.5

So, let’s summarize: For God’s part, He chose us, loves us, strengthens us, and IS not WAS—our God IS alive and active! He protects, delivers, and directs us.


Our part is to thank God, share in the Lord’s glory, stand firm, hold fast to the teachings of Scripture, pray, and do what we ought to do.


Now, we know that Jesus never changes – but how about you and me? The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” How are you doing with your verbs? Is your way rough right now? Practice praying, and oh please, stand firm on the truths and promises of Scripture!

May the God of grace be with you,

Christine