The First Letter of St. Paul
to the Thessalonians
Chapter 5
¹ Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 1)
Oh God my Father, it seems that the issue of the signs marking the end of life as we are experiencing today was always an issue of concern to people of all ages, however for those of us who really and truly believe in You this should not be of concern for it can come any day as long as I am found ready Amen.
² For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 2)
Oh God, my beloved Father, we do not need to know when the last day or hour of our life will be. I give You all my days and pray that You help me in dealing with my life one day at a time, and let the day worry itself about its needs. I pray that Your will be done in every circumstance of my life, and I accept all that happens as being according to Your will even if at the time I do not understand why this and that had to happen. I feel safe and secure that You are in control of every detail of my life Amen.
³ When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 3)
Oh God my beloved Father You are constantly making me aware to be ready for I do not know the day, second or hour when I will be called to appear before You. I pray that as based on this awareness I will be found ready Amen.
⁴ But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; ⁵ for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 4 to 5)
Oh God my Father, even though we are sinners by nature and by default, You know that there is some good in us and that we are not totally evil. I thank You for not labeling, us as sons of darkness even if at times our actions are not as positive as they should be Amen.
⁶ So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; ⁷ for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 6 to 7)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You be watchful over me and others for there are moments when I am at my weakest moments such as the evenings or nights. Amen. I pray that You help me in overcoming my sinful self Amen.
⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 8)
Oh God my beloved Father, without the belief and hope in salvation life would not be worth living, I pray that the flame of faith will never die in me Amen.
⁹ For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 9 to 10)
Oh God my Father, I thank Your obtaining my salvation, this is the greatest of all gifts, for a career may pass and also promotions, but the salvation of my soul is forever Amen.
¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build up each other as indeed you are doing.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 11)
Amen oh God my Father this is the perfect attitude to have that of building each other and not that of breaking each other with negative criticism Amen.
¹² But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³ esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 12 to 13)
Oh God my Father this verse You have given to me at an ideal time, when I have an issue at work on which I am troubled. I will take You up on Your wise guidance and learn how to respect and obey those who are among me especially my superiors Amen.
¹⁴ And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 14)
Oh God even today You are calling us to take this stand to firmly but lovingly in a constructive way admonish and support each other, especially those of us who need that extra push since they might be sinking on the waves that are threatening to sink their boats. Those of us who may be feeling low in spirit and in faith. I pray that You empower us to be spiritual guardians to such people Amen.
¹⁵ See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 15)
Oh God my Father, as You yourself told us, what is the use of only loving those who love us. The challenge is to love those who do bad things to us. I am aware that the mind and body will rebel against such a thought, however our greatest challenge is that of confronting our mind and body in order to live according to the Spirit Amen.
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²² abstain from every form of evil.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 16 to 22)
Oh God my Father I never stop thanking You for the good works and the situations that You help me in. Blessed be Your Holy Name. You help me when surrounded by vipers who wish to poison me with their negativity. You deliver me from the hands of my oppressors. Thank You Jesus now and forever Amen. I pray to always have a watchful eye over myself and over my environments and learn to stick to the truth and hold on to what is right Amen. Help me to be a positive person who makes good of what is good and discards all that is not Amen. I pray for knowledge and intelligence so that I be able to discern the positive from the negative, and find the positive even in the negative and give thanks to You at all times Amen.
²³ May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 23 to 24)
I thank You oh God my Father for this time of prayer, I am considering this blessing as if coming from You during this turbulent time of my life. I have no doubt of Your faithfulness and that You will be always with me Amen.
²⁵ Beloved, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷ I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. ²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 25 to 28)
Oh brothers and sisters wish each other good faith and spirit every time we meet each other. Instead of simply saying "How are you?" it would be best to say "How is your faith and how are you in Spirit?" Amen. Oh God as Catholics and or Roman Catholics brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ we are responsible for each others spiritual and even psycho-social well being Amen.
Oh God my Father I would like to end this meditation on the First Letter of St. Paul to the people of Thessalonica with the following prayer:-
Brothers and sisters throughout the world. May the Holy Spirit of God be with You and Your spirit. May we be united as one body of Christ, and may their be no divisions among us regardless if we are Catholics, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Lutherans and many others. These divisions are all open wounds in the body of Christ Jesus that need healing. May we be united in this time of evil oppression. Do not let the Satan make use of our divisions in order to create more disharmony and more defragmentation in our spiritual and even material world. We need to be united as one family regardless of our beliefs and principles. Jesus is the God of all and therefore we are one family regardless of our race, colour or beliefs. We all have red blood flowing through our veins which makes us blood brothers and sisters. Therefore let us all be united in a spirit of thanksgiving and give positive support to each other especially during moments when we feel that we need that extra bit of support. May we pray for each other's wellbeing especially for those for whom we are not on good terms with. I pray for a spirit of forgiveness and humility to admit our shortcomings. I pray for healing for our culture needs to be healed. We need to start considering ourselves and others as "Persons" and not as numbers. Persons have both rights and obligations. We cannot only stand up for our rights and overlook our social, spiritual and psychological obligations to ourselves and others. We are to treat Persons as person with human dignity and respect. We are not simply a bunch of cells united together and placed in a body. We are "Persons" and we are to treat each other as Persons Amen.
In order to continue with this meditation of the Bible, I invite you to click on the following link which takes you to the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians:-
https://secondlettethesaalonians.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-first-chapter-of-second-letter-of.html
² For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 2)
Oh God, my beloved Father, we do not need to know when the last day or hour of our life will be. I give You all my days and pray that You help me in dealing with my life one day at a time, and let the day worry itself about its needs. I pray that Your will be done in every circumstance of my life, and I accept all that happens as being according to Your will even if at the time I do not understand why this and that had to happen. I feel safe and secure that You are in control of every detail of my life Amen.
³ When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 3)
Oh God my beloved Father You are constantly making me aware to be ready for I do not know the day, second or hour when I will be called to appear before You. I pray that as based on this awareness I will be found ready Amen.
⁴ But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; ⁵ for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 4 to 5)
Oh God my Father, even though we are sinners by nature and by default, You know that there is some good in us and that we are not totally evil. I thank You for not labeling, us as sons of darkness even if at times our actions are not as positive as they should be Amen.
⁶ So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; ⁷ for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 6 to 7)
Oh God my beloved Father, I pray that You be watchful over me and others for there are moments when I am at my weakest moments such as the evenings or nights. Amen. I pray that You help me in overcoming my sinful self Amen.
⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 8)
Oh God my beloved Father, without the belief and hope in salvation life would not be worth living, I pray that the flame of faith will never die in me Amen.
⁹ For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 9 to 10)
Oh God my Father, I thank Your obtaining my salvation, this is the greatest of all gifts, for a career may pass and also promotions, but the salvation of my soul is forever Amen.
¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build up each other as indeed you are doing.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 11)
Amen oh God my Father this is the perfect attitude to have that of building each other and not that of breaking each other with negative criticism Amen.
¹² But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³ esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 12 to 13)
Oh God my Father this verse You have given to me at an ideal time, when I have an issue at work on which I am troubled. I will take You up on Your wise guidance and learn how to respect and obey those who are among me especially my superiors Amen.
¹⁴ And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 14)
Oh God even today You are calling us to take this stand to firmly but lovingly in a constructive way admonish and support each other, especially those of us who need that extra push since they might be sinking on the waves that are threatening to sink their boats. Those of us who may be feeling low in spirit and in faith. I pray that You empower us to be spiritual guardians to such people Amen.
¹⁵ See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verse 15)
Oh God my Father, as You yourself told us, what is the use of only loving those who love us. The challenge is to love those who do bad things to us. I am aware that the mind and body will rebel against such a thought, however our greatest challenge is that of confronting our mind and body in order to live according to the Spirit Amen.
¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰ Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹ but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²² abstain from every form of evil.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 16 to 22)
Oh God my Father I never stop thanking You for the good works and the situations that You help me in. Blessed be Your Holy Name. You help me when surrounded by vipers who wish to poison me with their negativity. You deliver me from the hands of my oppressors. Thank You Jesus now and forever Amen. I pray to always have a watchful eye over myself and over my environments and learn to stick to the truth and hold on to what is right Amen. Help me to be a positive person who makes good of what is good and discards all that is not Amen. I pray for knowledge and intelligence so that I be able to discern the positive from the negative, and find the positive even in the negative and give thanks to You at all times Amen.
²³ May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 23 to 24)
I thank You oh God my Father for this time of prayer, I am considering this blessing as if coming from You during this turbulent time of my life. I have no doubt of Your faithfulness and that You will be always with me Amen.
²⁵ Beloved, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷ I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. ²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
(The first Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians Chapter 5 verses 25 to 28)
Oh brothers and sisters wish each other good faith and spirit every time we meet each other. Instead of simply saying "How are you?" it would be best to say "How is your faith and how are you in Spirit?" Amen. Oh God as Catholics and or Roman Catholics brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ we are responsible for each others spiritual and even psycho-social well being Amen.
Oh God my Father I would like to end this meditation on the First Letter of St. Paul to the people of Thessalonica with the following prayer:-
Brothers and sisters throughout the world. May the Holy Spirit of God be with You and Your spirit. May we be united as one body of Christ, and may their be no divisions among us regardless if we are Catholics, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Lutherans and many others. These divisions are all open wounds in the body of Christ Jesus that need healing. May we be united in this time of evil oppression. Do not let the Satan make use of our divisions in order to create more disharmony and more defragmentation in our spiritual and even material world. We need to be united as one family regardless of our beliefs and principles. Jesus is the God of all and therefore we are one family regardless of our race, colour or beliefs. We all have red blood flowing through our veins which makes us blood brothers and sisters. Therefore let us all be united in a spirit of thanksgiving and give positive support to each other especially during moments when we feel that we need that extra bit of support. May we pray for each other's wellbeing especially for those for whom we are not on good terms with. I pray for a spirit of forgiveness and humility to admit our shortcomings. I pray for healing for our culture needs to be healed. We need to start considering ourselves and others as "Persons" and not as numbers. Persons have both rights and obligations. We cannot only stand up for our rights and overlook our social, spiritual and psychological obligations to ourselves and others. We are to treat Persons as person with human dignity and respect. We are not simply a bunch of cells united together and placed in a body. We are "Persons" and we are to treat each other as Persons Amen.
In order to continue with this meditation of the Bible, I invite you to click on the following link which takes you to the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians:-
https://secondlettethesaalonians.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-first-chapter-of-second-letter-of.html
