The Book of 1 Thessalonians

0:47 The first time I read the Bible for myself was probably about maybe nine years ago. So, yeah, I was just curious. I heard all the stories and stuff and just wanted to know. Where were you at that time? I was in prison. I was in prison, yeah. You weren't a Christian yet? I wasn't a Christian, but I was interested in the stories and stuff like that. It sounded pretty cool. And every time I'd go to solitary confinement, they'd give me a Bible. So, you know, I'd read the stories and, yeah. But I wasn't a Christian. I was a gang member. But yeah, so. How did you become a Christian then? Well, I can't tell you exactly how I became a Christian other than God just revealing himself to me in solitary confinement again.

1:44 I was there and I was reading the Bible and I read a passage of scripture and it just broke my heart. Wow. And at that moment, I just knew how guilty I was. I felt ashamed. I felt hurt. And all I could do was cry out to Jesus. And from then on, everything that I loved, I started to hate. And I realized that it was sin, all sin that I've ever committed. I just, I hated it. And I just felt so different towards it. And my life just turned upside down. Everything that I've ever invested in, as far as being a gang member and a drug dealer and all those things now were uh i hated them so it just i don't know what god did but he did something crazy something crazy and since then my life hasn't been the same i just love jesus wow do you remember the passage you read in solitary confinement that yeah which one was it yeah it was uh the beatitudes and matthew it said blessed are the poor and i didn't understand what I met and I read a little commentary under there and it's like spiritually bankrupt people and they have no hope and I was like oh wow and I thought about that and then I just started crying for no reason I just started crying and bawling like a baby and I was like and I just knew at that moment that I was spiritually bankrupt and that I had no hope and I just don't understand what God did after that but man my heart has changed towards the Lord and uh he's been so good to me since then so you just started studying in while you're in prison then that's when you started studying the Bible regularly yeah so after that I got out of solitary confinement and a little man would come into the prison uh and do a Bible study and he uh invited me in and uh he started showing me God's word and speaking truth into my life and um I just like this is it I'm done I gotta tell these guys I can't be part of this gang anymore and i was afraid but um i just couldn't live that way no more and god just

3:53 kept putting people in my life and i didn't realize that i was being discipled at the time not till years later i was like oh that's what they were doing yeah they were they were discipling me and showing me the truth of god and who he was and yeah how long you've been out now i don't I've been out for about two years. Two years. Okay. Now, because I hear a lot of people like when they're in prison, like they had this great time with the Lord because you got time. Right. Too much time. But then they get out and it's just tough to connect with him. How's that been for you? Like, do you feel like it's been harder to get close to God and getting that time alone with the word now that you're out? Or do you feel like now you've been able to keep growing in your walk with the Lord and cherish the time alone with Him? Yeah. Initially, when I got out, I ended up in a halfway house, and there wasn't any fellowship there. The body of Christ wasn't there at that place.

4:51 And I was so close in prison with the guys that when I got out, I struggled a little bit for the first couple months. I just was by myself. But the one thing that remained was I would draw to God's Word. like no matter what and even when i'd mess up and i'd feel guilty i'd get on my face and pray then i'd get in the word and spend hours and hours and hours in there and uh that's the one thing that i just held on to was meeting with god in his word and so that didn't change no it didn't change and it just more of a desire grew and grew and uh that's all i have that's all i have wow i mean that's awesome man i and just for those you guys that are listening like i i love this guy rob i've seen god just work in his life um amazing restoration with him and his girl from they had a kid nine years ago i mean she was locked up with him they were both in prison nine years ago and she had to come out to have her baby and um but i had the honor of marrying them how long ago was that yeah in june in june just uh just a few months ago and to see their whole family restored and her just sarah in love with the lord yeah she and their son jared lived with us for a few months before they got married and um man it's just been a great journey and rob's one of our leaders in our church now one of the pastors and doing an amazing job but i mean glory to god that's just It's an amazing, amazing story.

6:26 So when you read through 1 Corinthians these last few days, I'm sorry, 1 Thessalonians. We've read so much. 1 Thessalonians, what were the passages that, like, name a passage or two that just jumped out to you and why? Well, the first passage that I looked at and I just had to stop because something that's been happening is when I read, I'll read something and I've read it before and I just want to read past it again. And I'll be like, I want to sit on that for a minute. So I'll stop. Sometimes I'll just stop and stay there and just meditate. And just opening, Paul was talking about grace and peace, and he's always saying that grace and peace. It's almost like it's the greeting all the time. I was like, wow, how come I don't greet anybody like that? How come I don't say grace and peace to you? So what is he saying in that? So just the opening, really, I sat there for a minute, and I'm looking. I'm thinking, man, grace and peace.

7:20 I'm just meditating on it, chewing on it. And I still don't know, but I just know that I want to be just blessing people with grace and peace in the Lord Jesus. You know, I want to meet people and just be like grace and peace of Jesus on your life, you know, just full of the joy of knowing God, you know. And then there's a lot of passages in there, but the one that really jumped out to me was chapter four. Okay. you know because it's like he's you know going through and he's just thankful for them all and everything and you know like you guys are awesome i'm doing great and this is why it's happening and you guys are doing it and then in four he's like finally you know finally it's like a real long opening and then he was like finally i want to tell you guys you know you know we request and exhort you and the lord jesus that you receive from us instructions as to how you ought to walk and please God.

8:18 And he's like, just like you're already doing it. But then the next thing that he says is like, but excel. Go further. And I was like, whoa, these guys are doing a great job. But here he's saying like, go further. Go deeper. Pursue more. And he says that you excel still more. and I was like, whoa, how do I apply that to my life? How do I, you know, okay, where's the application for my life? Is he just talking to them? He's like, no, he's telling, you know, it's God's word telling me to excel. Don't get stagnant. Don't get, you know, to a point where you just plateau. Just keep running after Jesus. Holy, pure, blameless is what he's called you to be. and then he says some stuff like about sexual immorality and stuff like that yeah and i'm like whoa you know all right so that passage really jumped out to me in abstaining from things and i just started thinking like whoa some of the guys that i meet with and disciple yeah you know i remember when i first became a believer i struggled with things yeah yeah you know it was like everything didn't just go away yeah yeah and i was like man i gotta be checking on on my guys you know these guys are brand new what's going on wow they start asking questions and you know stuff starts coming and it's like all right we need to start looking at this and what's god saying to us in this so there was a lot of application for my life and the guys that i work with and just loving you know um not just hearing this you know yeah and it's so you know a lot of people when they say well i'm trying to figure out god's will for my life well but then it says right there in verse three this is the will of god your sanctification you know like like sometimes we get so into like what does he want me to do with my life what does he want me do five years from now what's what's my gift to you know and he's like well first let's just go to what's black and white you know your own sanctification that's the will of god he wants

10:28 you to become more and more like him my wife was just bringing that up today that same verse really yeah that's really cool that's amazing yeah we're just talking about that at lunch with angel and oh yeah yeah sean it was like what is it sanctification you know yeah and it's crazy because sometimes we assume just people know what that means yeah you know yeah like it's a it's a big word you know i'm not a big word guy you know so i had to look it up and i'm like you know i've known it i've been taught it before and but i just want to go back and remind myself what is god's will sanctification how's that look yeah and then in today's reading like at the end of chapter five um i kind of sums up both things you said in uh we're not 25 verse 23 of chapter five now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely oh man like isn't that a great prayer yeah like that that's just you know you were talking about the blessing like you know you greet someone with grace and peace but now he's like leaving them because oh i want the god of peace himself to sanctify you completely wow like i look at your life and i go man look at what god's done in this guy you know i look at sarah's life i go man look what he's done with her look at this couple look a little jared you know and and now you guys gonna have a kid soon or you know like all this restoration all this goodness but it's like okay god that's not enough okay now i want you to sanctify them completely just like what we're reading you know in chapter four like man do so more and more yeah that's so good because it's like you said it a minute ago like glory to god yeah after we're just talking about like you know yeah so it's like i don't get to say like oh i i sanctified myself yeah yeah yeah you know yes i fought and i you know strived for everything but ultimately it's god working in and through yeah you know and it's saying right there like god let god do that in you like

12:37 and what a what a reassurance right yeah like man he's praying that it's god's word yeah it's like oh that god would just sanctify you you know i mean that he would just do it that he would just give you perseverance that he would just give you you know the strength orally isn't that great it is it's well i talked about this last week too a little bit like in in philippians how on the one hand he says man i want you to work out your salvation like you do this but it's god that's working and willing in you and the same thing here you know he's praying say hey i want god to sanctify you completely but the verse you pointed out in chapter 4 um verse 1 it says just as you are doing that you do so more and more so it's not like we're these passive recipients like god's just gonna make me holy with me just sitting here right like it's it's it's that weird thing where it's like no i know i'm feeling it i'm fighting the temptation i'm pursuing holiness and yet at the same time it's not me doing it's god is doing this through me and it's it's like the hardest thing to understand how both things can be going on at the same time like i feel like i'm doing it and yet god's saying no i'm doing it through you but i'm commanding you to do it and it's like man and god like intersecting together it is and that's why like i was telling you earlier i'll write things down yeah and i'll put in my pocket i'll pull out later because if i just read it it's good i'm getting it in there right but if i'm meditating on it and thinking like what does that look like like actually like the imagination that god gave us just putting stuff together and like what does that look like god's doing it but still i have this responsibility how does that work and then it's like oh i don't know but i know god you know so it's just exciting to meditate on god's word and process stuff like that maybe you don't always come out with the answer but it's just spending time meditating on god's word yeah it's rich it's good well and rob and i were talking about how and that's the kind of the purpose of this podcast is like man if we get everyone reading the same passages of scripture every day then every believer

14:44 you pass by you can bring back the scriptures up again and you actually fellowship over that and i think that's what drove me nuts about uh some church gatherings i was a part of in the past and oftentimes i would lead it is i'd preach for that half hour then immediately afterwards we talk about where we're going to lunch you know what we're going to do you know talk about the lakers talk about the dodgers talk about whatever versus like throughout the day every day of the week fellowshipping over the scriptures i mean that's like such a blessing to have this body around us where everyone you walk up to it's like god you read first thessalonians five today man what do you think about this this this and they tell you what they shared yeah i'm just loving it yeah that's been one of the benefits like even with uh justin i'll read and then he'll probably be the first person i see when we're going to work i'm dude did you read that did you see that and he's like yeah what'd you think you know like what came to your mind when you read that you know so we're on the we're on the same page yeah and it's like man i just i think there's unity in that you know i think that's being in one mind in unity not that you know that we all have to not read other parts of the Bible, but that we're meditating and thinking through things together and we're striving together. It's like, oh, it's great. Yeah. Because before I had this kind of fellowship, it was almost like I'd have this great time with the Lord in the morning, but things just happen and you almost forget, what was I reading this morning? But now that we talk about it throughout the day and you run into different believers at different times of the day whether it's at work or after work or even your own family it's like to bring it back up it's been yeah invaluable yeah and i really i really do see like god's perfect timing yeah and a lot of things that we're reading yeah you know totally do you ever experience that absolutely like it's crazy that we're reading about this or whatever it is and it's right at that moment something's

16:51 going on and it's like there's no coincidence you know it's too blatant sometimes where you go there's no way yeah it's coincidence yeah so yeah i mean when i was uh reading about going back more in the book of acts and i was reading this story about philip and the ethiopian eunuch i was in the middle of a tribe in ethiopia really like no way really the one day i'm like way the heck out in the middle of this little tribe that you know that was just being reached in ethiopia i'm reading it's acts eight that day yeah it's like i love that i just really love that man yeah you know when i was um reading chapter one of first the salonians you know paul uh in

18:49 Like Paul looks at this group of people. He goes, you know how I know you're chosen? You know how I can tell you guys are really believers? Because when I preach the word of God to you, man, it didn't just you didn't just hear it, but it came with power. It came with conviction. You started imitating us. you start telling other people about us you started working tirelessly uh you you turned from your idols to serve the living god now you're waiting for you know the return of christ and when i think about that passage you know man i think about you and sarah seriously i go man you know sometimes people can be around and and you're like i don't know i don't see any fruit you know but i see the way the gospel changed your life i mean it turned you around completely so it gives me this confidence and i go okay i know that guy is loved by god and is chosen by god because the gospel comes to him not just in word but in power right full conviction even it's like when it's difficult like when when you you left your gang in prison you just kept thinking And I remember when you told me about it, how you kept thinking, no, I'm not going to deny him.

20:01 If we deny him, he's going to deny us. I'm going to confess him. So he's going to confess me. You know, like that's what the word did in you. It's like he convicts you. He changes you. And so, man, it's just an honor serving with you because I go, man, I see the Holy Spirit in this guy. But I guess the thing I want to ask you is, man, you've got people listening right now that are, some of them are studying the word of God for themselves. some maybe not you know i try to say hey don't make this podcast like your time to receive the word as this is to encourage you to get into it for yourself i mean what's the one thing that you're just you'd be dying to just tell people that are listening right now the one thing that i would say yeah is that when i come to god's word i don't just want to come to god's word i want to come to God, you know? So I'm pleading and begging like, Jesus, I want to meet with you right now.

21:02 I want you to show me yourself in your word. Please. I want to just read this. I want to be with you. I want to be in your presence. And it's not every time that I say, oh, it's happening every time. But when I do get to taste again and see, my heart just becomes soft and so sensitive that I just can't hold back the tears. It's like that day when I was crying in that cell. And they're not just emotions. It's like, I want to meet with Jesus. I want to know His goodness. I just want to be close to Him. I just want to boast in Him. And what it is, is meeting in His Word and meeting with Him through His Spirit. And I was just like, so if there's anything I can say is as you approach God's Word, approach it prayerfully. Approach it with a desire. And if your desire is not there, pray, God, give me that desire. That's what you made me for.

21:55 So desire Jesus. That's it. Jesus. And I had that same verse underlined, you know, that you're talking about right now. It's like, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. And somewhere else he says something like, yeah, and we didn't just give you the gospel, but we gave you our lives. You know, I was like, oh, look at that. Check that out. you know like it's not just word but it's the power of god for salvation and i'm like oh i just want to tell people the great treasure you know like look here it is so yeah i had that underlined too and it really uh that jumped out to me as well but yeah well man i just want to close with that and just you know what you said about not just reading i mean you want to read the word of course but you want to read it in the presence of god and uh and sometimes like we we just want to acquire the knowledge rather than you know the knowledge of him you know like it's supposed to lead us to him and so man we just encourage everyone that's listening right now this is not about just you acquiring information about god it's that information bringing you closer to him so that when you're praying like you you sense his presence because his word promises him being here with us as we go out and we make disciples and as we're we're here communing with him and his word and there's just so many lies out there and so we just have to sanctify um man if it's not too weird do you mind just kind of like praying for everyone that's listening to this. Just pray for their times with the Lord and we'll close with that.

23:42 Lord you're so good you're so so good Lord I pray for your church all over the world Lord God, that the desire of their hearts would be you, Lord. Lord, and I know there's times in my life my desire just fluctuates and changes, God, but I want you right now. And I want your church to want you and enjoy you and enjoy being with you, Lord. So, Lord, I pray for the time that people are gathering to your word that they would be gathering to you to be with you, to enjoy you, and to love you, and to hear from you.

24:29 Lord, I ask you also for those people who you've called and they haven't heard yet, Lord, just like when I was in that cell. Lord, I pray that they would open up the doors to their heart, Lord, that you would open it up, open it up wide, Lord, and pour forth your love and your spirit. Lord I'm so thankful I'm so thankful for this time for this place Lord but it's nothing nothing compared to what's what's ahead Lord the hope that you've given us God that you're coming like the blink of an eye just quick Lord we wait for that Lord and I just long for that and I pray that your church would long for that long for you long for your presence Lord your word tells us that in your presence is the fullness of joy god help us to meditate on you and your word in jesus name amen amen amen thanks man yeah that's good