This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. This is day five of our look at 1st
Thessalonians chapter two verses 13 to 20 today. This is our last day of our
week-long checkup on our faith.

We've talked about our motivations and our actions and our message. Today in
verses 13 to 20, the focus is in the results. How do I know that it will last?

That crucial question of life. How am I knowing that what I'm doing is really
going to last, that I'm not just wasting my time? Well, Paul says, here's some
results to look for.

Here's how you know it's going to last. Here's how you can see it even very
early. These people from Thessalonica were very young Christians, but Paul could
already see it's going to last and he talks about two specific things.

You know it's going to last when, number one, you know it's going to last when
you or others accept the truth as God's word and not as man's. Then you know
it's going to last. In verse 13 he says, "And we also thank God continually
because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted
it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at
work in you who believe.

" When you see that happening, when you see someone take the Bible and see it as
God's word for their life, letting it change their life, transform their life as
something from God, then you know that that's going to last. Why? Because the
Bible says it will not return empty.

The Bible says it lasts. So when I see this book for what it really is, that is
inevitably going to last. When I help other people to see this book for what it
really is, that is inevitably going to last.

And when I see them receiving this book for what it really is, the word of God,
then I know that's going to last. Now the lasting value of the Bible comes only
when I read it. If I don't read it, it's not going to build anything into my
life that lasts.

So it starts with this decision about the Bible. I read it and that will last.
The word of God comes into my life.

Others read it, they hear it, and it comes into their life. When you read God's
word, when you hear God's word, then you hear God speaking. You know how that
works.

I'm not talking about an audible voice in your head. I'm talking about a sense,
a deep conviction in your heart. God is speaking.

You felt it work as you listen to a sermon, as you hear someone doing a Bible
study. And it may be just some phrase that they said or verse that they've read.
It's not even the main issue maybe of what they're talking about.

But suddenly God is speaking. You sense it in your mind, in your heart. And when
God speaks, you better listen.

God's word is at work. These verses say God's word is at work in us who believe,
and that is what's going to last. What's going to last?

Accepting the truth is God's word, not man's. That's how you can evaluate it.
You know what's also going to last when you see a second thing, when you or I or
others show faithfulness in suffering.

Verses 14 to 16. "For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in
Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the same
things these churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the
prophets and also drove us out.

They displease God and are hostile to all men. In their effort to keep us from
speaking to the Gentiles so that they might be saved. In this way they always
heap up their sins to the limit.

The wrath of God has come upon them at last. " "Look at you," Paul says, "you
became imitators even in your suffering. " Paul looked at them and he saw their
willingness to suffer for their faith, and he saw in that the fact that they
were going to last.

Now remember that some in their own city were so against Christianity, they not
only forced Paul out of Thessalonica, but they chased him to the next city to
cause trouble for him there, persecuting these new believers after Paul left.
When you see someone who was willing to suffer for their faith, you got a pretty
good indication they really do believe. Because suffering when you face it is
one of those times when you must decide, do I really believe this or not?

You might think you have a pain in your back and you think, I'm going to go to
the chiropractor and get my back fixed. You walk in there and they say, I can
fix your back, but it's going to really hurt the first few times. At that very
moment, you've got to think, do I believe this or not?

If you believe in it, you're going to go ahead. If you don't, you're going to
get out of there. You're going to look for the painless chiropractor.

Well, Paul saw in these lives a willingness to trust God through suffering, and
when he saw this, he thought it's going to last. When you see in your own life
the willingness to trust God through suffering, it's an indication that you're
going to last. When you see in the life of someone you've shared with, in the
life of someone you see growing, someone in your small group, someone who's a
friend on your block, when you see in their life the fact that they're willing
to stick in there and show faith through suffering, it is a strong indicator
it's going to last.

We want to be the kind of people that last. Now, when you go through suffering,
there's two reminders in these verses. He's talking in these verses about
persecution.

These reminders are also true about problems when we go through the suffering of
problems. First, there is the reminder you're not alone. "Others have suffered,"
Paul said.

In fact, they persecuted Jesus. So, when you go through tough times, remember
you're not alone. And second, Paul reminds them it's not the end of the story.

He says, "Those that are persecuting you, they're heaping up their sins to the
limit. " That's saying that God's giving them every chance, even to the last
chance, to come to know him. The wrath of God does come upon them, though, he
says, at last.

What happens in this world, on this planet, is not the end of the story. You
know it's going to last when you show faithfulness and suffering. And so, in the
last verses of this chapter, Paul says, "Don't give up.

" Verse 17 to 20, he says, "But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a
short time in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every
effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you. Certainly, I, Paul, did, again
and again, but Satan stopped us.

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we were glory in the
presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our
glory and joy.

" We're going to come back to these verses at the beginning of next week,
especially this idea of how Satan can stop you. The point is, in simple terms,
what Satan does will not last, because it's only a brief detour at best. What
God does will last, the eternal joy and crown in the presence of Jesus that Paul
talks about here.

In the Christian life, it's not about how we start or how many times we fall.
It's about how we finish. And my question to you is, are you going to just start
with enthusiasm or are you going to last?

Are we going to finish this together? If I'm going to finish strong, if you're
going to finish strong, we've got to do some heart checks. I've got to check my
motives.

I've got to look at my actions. Is it really based on love and concern and care
for others? I've got to listen to the message.

Is it the good news that I'm sharing? Is it that you can live a life worthy of
God? And I've got to look at the results.

Now, as you look at this checklist, it's easy to get discouraged with how far
you have to go, but that is not the point. The point is, are you still headed
towards the finish line? Do you have a commitment to last?

You may be in one of three places when it comes to this. You might be drifting
away from a commitment to last. You felt it happening.

You know what I'm talking about. You used to be joyous in faith, but now it's a
drudgery. What used to bring a spark to your life, it's not there anymore.

And you wonder what happened. You wouldn't say it to anyone. You're not supposed
to say it to anyone, but deep down you're wondering what happened here.

This isn't what I signed up for. The truth is, slowly but surely, you're headed
away from finishing strong. You tell yourself, never, not me, but deep down, you
know you're drifting the wrong way.

You could be in that place, or you could be in the place of going full steam
ahead. It's not always easy, but you know you're headed in the right direction
because your heart's in it. You're not perfect, but you know that your heart is
in it.

You may be just beginning, or you might be in the 20th or 50th year of it. If
you're headed in the right direction, thank God for that because it's due to his
strength and his grace. Or there might be a third place that you're in.

You might be standing right at a crossroads. You're just standing there. It
might have been a month.

It might have been a year. You've stopped, and you're just standing there, and
you're not involved anymore. You're not making a difference anymore, and it's
probably because you were hurt at one time by some person.

Maybe you were hurt at church, or maybe you went through a disaster in your own
life where you've drawn back and you haven't ever gotten back in, but for
whatever reason, you've just stopped. A famous French writer said there are
certain people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their life. Your clock
has stopped at whatever point that hurt happened, and you know that from that
day forward things have not been moving ahead like they should be.

It's time. It's time to start moving ahead again. You don't last by stopping.

You last by serving faithfully until the end. I want to last, and you want to
last, and I know that you and I can make a decision to say I'm going to live a
life worthy of God. It's going to be hard work.

I'm not going to be perfect in it, but I am going to last. I know based on what
God has said. I know that when you make a decision that you're going to last,
that you're going to trust, that you're going to make his message your message,
his motives your motives, I know that you will last and make a lasting impact on
this world.

Let's pray together. The Holy Spirit is working in your heart right now. This is
a crucial moment.

If you're headed in the right direction on that path, serving others, loving
others, struggling to do the right thing, the hard work, asking God for
strength, make a renewed commitment to that right now. I have to do that
regularly. God, I want to live a life that lasts.

Maybe you're a person who has stopped at some point in your life. Just stop and
you become more of a consumer and not a contributor to the cause of Christ. It
might have been years now.

In this moment, you hear God nudging you. Get moving again. I've never stopped
loving you.

I've never stopped caring about you. I've never stopped having a purpose and
plan for your life. I understand your life.

I understand the hurt and the pain that you've been through, but that does not
mean I don't have a plan for you. I understand the sin that you committed, but
it does not mean that I do not have a plan for you. I understand that it will
never be the same again, but that does not mean that I don't have a plan for you
right now.

So right now, would you say to him, God, my clock did stop, but I'm winding it
up again. I ask for your Holy Spirit to empower me to live for you. I want to be
faithfully serving you all the way to the end.

You might be a person who this week, as we've talked about this heart check from
First Thessalonians 2, it's caused you to know in your heart, I'm headed in the
wrong direction right now. You're a rare person in that you're willing to face
that truth. Maybe it's a sin that you've gotten caught up in.

You never thought you'd get caught up in that sin, but you have. Maybe it's a
bitterness that you've developed in your life towards someone. Maybe it's a
bitterness towards God.

Maybe you've allowed the hard work of ministry to overwhelm the joy of ministry.
You never spend any time thinking about the fact that the God you're serving is
causing you to have an impact, not only here on this earth, but also in heaven.
You've become tired.

Right now, I encourage you to say, God, I'm not going to just let this happen.
I'm asking for your strength in this moment to get me headed in the right way
again. I need your forgiveness.

I don't want to be stubborn and keep doing the things that I'm doing. I am
willing to change. It may take time, but right now in my mind, I am turning
around on this path.

I'm letting go of that thing that's been dragging me down, and I'm asking for
your strength to start making steps in the right direction again. God, I know
that I am not perfect, but I do want to be growing. I do want to be making an
impact on this world.

Change me, Jesus, by your strength and power. And Father, I pray that you would
help us. Strengthen us and encourage us.

Urge us. Comfort us so that, God, we might live lives that are worthy of you. We
ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Next week, we're going to be looking at chapter three of First
Thessalonians. Chapter three talks about the emotions that surround an authentic
and impactful life.