Aug 30, 2022
1CHRONICLES 9-10:
Today we begin with chapter 9 of 1st
Chronicles, which is the last name chapter in the first part of
this book. This brings us up to the time of the returning exiles.
At the end of chapter 9, king Saul’s genealogy is given, which
introduces the story about Saul related in chapter 10.
PROVERBS 17b:
For
me and my family, this verse from Proverbs 17 brings back golden
memories of an old chorus we used to sing every Sunday evening with
fellow missionaries in Indonesia.
Pro. 17:22 NLT A cheerful heart
is good medicine,
but
a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
1st THESSALONIANS 1:
Today we begin Paul’s first letter to the
Thessalonian church. The book of Revelation has the reputation of
being about the second coming of Christ, but our doctrines about
the second coming come much more from the two letters to
Thessalonica. Every chapter in 1st Thessalonians includes a
reference to the second coming. And the second coming is mentioned
20 times in these two little letters. Paul, Timothy and Silas spent
only three Sabbath days in Thessalonica, and Timothy returned to
teach the believers. It’s natural that they would have questions.
Some were worried about believers who had died or would die before
Christ’s return. Others were thinking Jesus would return so soon
that they need not do any work now. This is a highly personal
letter to people who had become dear to Paul in a very short time,
and one of his earliest letters, written around 51 AD.