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Welcome to our look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 in Daily Drive Time Devotions.
We're in day 2 of our look at this chapter. We're looking again at verses 1
through 6.

Yesterday we looked at the things that do not last, six things that you can
count on will not last in our lives. Today we're going to take a look at the
flip side in these same verses. What does last?

What are the motivations, the attitudes, the commitments that I can have in my
heart that I can put into my life that will really last? Let me read those
verses again for you, chapter 2 verses 1 to 6. You know, brothers, that our
visit to you was not a failure.

We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with
the help of our God, we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong
opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives,
nor are we trying to trick you, manipulate you. On the contrary, we speak as men
approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.

We're not trying to please men, but God who tests our hearts. You know that we
never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our
witness.

We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. You look
at these same verses that we looked at yesterday and you see emerge three things
that will last. And the first of them, I like to put the word courage, genuine
spiritual, godly courage to that which lasts.

Paul says, you know, with the help of our God, we dared, we dared to tell you
his gospel in spite of strong opposition. He knew the opposition. He'd faced it
at Philippi, right before he came to Thessalonica, he'd faced opposition in
Philippi.

They'd thrown him in prison. They'd almost killed him. He knew the opposition.

He'd faced opposition in Athens. There they'd ignored him, which was almost
worse for the apostle Paul. He knew the strong opposition to faith that was
there, and in the face of that, he went ahead and he told them the good news.

Courage is not doing something without understanding the opposition. That's
stupidity. Courage is doing something while being fully aware of the
consequences and of the opposition that you're going to face.

And Paul, he was fully aware. He knew what could happen. He'd almost lost his
life already.

He knew what could happen. He'd been beaten a number of times. He knew what
could happen.

In the face of all that, he had the courage to step forth and say, here's the
good news of Christ. I want you to understand it. I'm risking everything to help
you to understand it.

Courage is doing something in the face of opposition, both outside but also
inside of you. And that's where you probably face opposition more frequently. We
don't live, most of us, in a country where there's a lot of outside persecution.

Some, but not a great deal. Most of the opposition that you face day to day
comes from inside of you. It's the temptation to do the wrong thing or the
temptation to not do the right thing.

We face that all the time. Courage is doing something even in the face of those
feelings. We've all faced those situations that demand courage, even in little
things.

You know that a hard thing needs to be said to someone. Do you have the courage
to do it? It takes courage to do that, no doubt about it.

Do you have the courage to do it? They might reject you. They might not listen
to you.

It may not go well. It takes courage to do the right thing. How do you know when
what you're doing is taking courage?

You can feel it. You feel your pulse rise. You feel your heart starting to beat
faster.

Whether you're talking to your husband, your wife, one of your kids, one of the
teachers at school, somebody at work, or you're facing a situation where
somebody's trying to pressure you to do the wrong thing, you can feel it. Your
body's inviting you to do the wrong thing, but you choose to do the right thing.
Paul chose to do the right thing.

He was a man of courage. Ray Stedman in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians wrote
this about courage. I think it's honest.

He said about himself, "By nature, I am a devout coward. The few times in my
life that I've shown courage were simply the grace of God at work. " I love that
honesty.

That's probably true of more of us than we'd like to admit. We'd like to all
think that we're truly courageous people in every situation. But the truth is, I
need, and you need, the grace of God at work in our lives to have the true
courage to do the right thing.

And Paul says it took real courage to speak to the Thessalonians after he'd been
insulted at Philippi. Now why was that? Just think about this with me for a
moment.

It was the Philippians who had mistreated him, not the Thessalonians. You know,
it's interesting. The insults that you go through often don't affect how you
respond to a situation that you're in as you're being insulted because you're
already in it.

You have to go through it. But they more often affect the next situation. You've
had time to think about it.

You've had time to determine in your mind, "I don't want to go through that
again," and so you shy away. You lack courage. What was the secret of Paul's
effectiveness?

Look at the length of time his ministry lasted. Look at what he was willing to
face. The secret of his effectiveness was not his charismatic personality.

He wasn't always a fun guy to be around. It was not his winning smile. The only
descriptions that we have of Paul from historical sources say he was a short,
balding, ugly guy.

What was it that was the secret? He wouldn't give up. He had the courage to
last.

He dared to tell the truth of the gospel even though the last time he'd done it
he'd faced punishment. He had courage. That's what lasts.

Courage lasts. In these verses there's a second thing that comes out that lasts.
It's talked about again and again.

The good news lasts. The good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he loves us
and died for us, was resurrected for us so we could have a relationship with
God. When you read this chapter about serving God, serving other people in a way
that lasts, you see that the gospel is at the center of making it for the long
haul.

In verse 2, and then again in verse 4, and then again in verse 8, and verse 9,
Paul talks about the good news and how important it is. Right beside the word
"good news" in these verses is the word "trust. " Good news and trust go
together.

Now you might think, "Right, I need to trust the good news in my life. " And
that's true, but that's not what I mean. That's not what these verses are
talking about.

When Paul talks here about the good news, he says, "We spoke as men approved by
God to be entrusted with the gospel. " You do need to trust the good news and
then God trusts you with the good news. He puts it into your hands.

If we don't share the good news, it's not going to get shared because God put it
into our hands to share. He's entrusted it to the church. He's entrusted it to
you.

You are the way that it gets shared. God does not have some heavenly email
server that he set up so he can get the good news out. If it's going to get
shared, I've got to do it.

You've got to do it. That is what lasts. Courage lasts.

Good news lasts. There's a third thing in these verses that lasts. Pleasing God
lasts.

Here's the solution to the drug of pleasing people that we talked about
yesterday. We're not trying to please men, but God who tests our hearts. Paul
said, "Instead of living to please people, I live to please God.

" You and I were made to please God. That is what we were created for, to be
pleasing to him, to live a life that brings him joy. The bottom line of it is
this.

If I don't live a life that's pleasing to God, I'm inevitably going to try to
live a life to please somebody else. It might be your husband, your wife. It
might be your parents, whether they're dead or alive.

They may have been dead for 20 years and you're still living a life to please
them. It may be your boss. It might be yourself.

I'm going to live a life to please someone. I'm going to live under that tyranny
if it's to please anyone but God. Because here's the interesting thing.

When you live a life to please a human being, whoever it might be, that is
enslavement. Even when it's yourself. But when you live a life to please God,
and this is shocking.

This is surprising to many people. When you live a life to please God, that is
freedom. Why?

Because God is the one who tests our hearts. He is the one in the end to whom
we're going to answer. Let me say it this way.

You either love to be loved or you love because you are loved. When you live to
please others, when you love to be loved, you will never get back from them in
return all that you're looking for. They're just human.

They're broken as you are. Even if they're trying to love you back, they're not
going to be able to meet all those needs. And many people, not only do they not
try to love you back, they will in fact hurt you instead.

When you try to get it from other people, you live under the slavery of trying
to get something you're never going to be able to get from another human being.
But when you live to please God, you find out that he has already given you all
that you're looking for. And I don't know about you, I find great freedom in
that.

So how are you doing? How are you doing on this checkup? I'm not doing perfectly
great.

I'm not getting 100%. There's some things I need to change. There's probably
some things you need to change.

Some attitudes. Something in your heart. Let's ask God for the strength to
change.

God, as we look at where we are and where we need to be, who we are and who you
want us to be, we see that there is a difference. There is a gap. Help us not to
be discouraged by the gap.

There are times when we don't show courage. There are times when the good news
is the furthest thing from our mind. There are times, God, when we really are
given our all to please some person and we've forgotten all about you.

Lord, help us to remember that you haven't forgotten about us. Help us to
remember that the good news is still good and that you are still there every day
to give us the strength and courage that we need. Lord, we can count on you.

I can count on you. So help me to do so right now. Help me to count on your
strength and your power to do in me what I cannot do for myself.

Lord, when I see the gap between who I am and who you want me to be, release me
from the tyranny of trying to become that by myself. Instead, help me to hear
your invitation to trust in you. I pray this, Jesus, in your name.

Amen. Tomorrow, we're going to look together at the last part of verse six
through verse nine in First Thessalonians chapter two.