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2 Thessalonians 2:17
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17 Comfort [parakaleo] your [humon] hearts, [kardia] and [kai] stablish [sterizo] you [humas] in [en] every [pas] good [agathos] word [logos] and [kai] work. [ergon] KJV-Interlinear
17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. NASB
Comfort, ‘parakaleo,’ means to be invoked, to be generated, to be caused by something. Comfort is the state of relaxed security or confidence, wherein there is no threat, no worry, no uncertainty regarding ones status. And in our context, that status is referring to the confidence in ones spiritual life and eternal future.
Heart, ‘kardia,’ is the reference to your physical heart, but symbolic of its function as a circulating organ. The heart pumps the blood through your body, thus sending the body its needed nourishment, defense mechanisms, cleansing functions and so forth. The analogy here is to the soul, and the circulation of bible doctrine (logos) within your soul, sending and serving the soul in its needed nourishment, and edification.
Stablish, ‘sterizo,’ means to build upon an unmovable foundation, to confirm, to set fast, to turn resolutely in a certain and known direction, to strengthen.
Good, ‘agathos,’ refers to that which is of high quality, superior, that of intrinsic value. Intrinsic means to possess an attribute which will never change regardless of its state. Gold for example has intrinsic value. It will always be in demand, always be sought after, regardless of the situation.
And the only thing that possesses the highest of value, which has been around for all time since eternity past, and will never vanish, is Bible Doctrine, ‘logos,’ the Word of God, the content of the scriptures.
Work, ‘ergon,’ means production, but not just any production. This is the production which results out from the previous noun, ‘logos,’ or the content of the scriptures.
Therefore we have the conclusion of this chapter.
You were born into a world of discomfort. That discomfort originates from the power in the world, which rules the world, namely Satan.
When we studied Job, we saw how Satan or the devil gets his name by way of his accusations, and assertions, by his complaints, adversarial, and antagonistic approach toward God, by using man as his pawns. We have also seen how all evil originated from Satan, and how nothing but lies come from him.
This is the state of the world today and has always been. Now, none of us will ever see the devil. We will only see the activities and results of the patterns of evil, which he started long ago. Indifferent man doesn’t need much help when it comes to promoting evil, in society and history. Just look around you. There are plenty of examples in the world.
Without truth in your life, there is no hope. If you choose to abide by the rules of the world, then you have chosen to subscribe to lies. In lies, there is no foundation, no reality, no future.
And in that respect, non-Christians, indifferent Christians, anyone who rejects or otherwise is apathetic toward Christianity and the principles taught by Christianity, will live a life of fear, frustration, anxiety, and hate. They have no promise. They have no future. They will ultimately live in fear, and their rage is, or will be, their only expression of their lack of substance in life.
But, for Christians who are positive, and dedicated to their daily studies of the scriptures, then developed within them is the Word of God, ‘logos.’ Which is designed to circulate through your soul, to build you up, and to make your life and purpose complete.
What does that mean? The circulation is the thinking, the memory, the activity of your brain as it were, but your soul is the real residence of your knowledge not your brain. Remember that the spiritual (your soul) is separate and apart from your brain (the biological). There is a link in there somewhere between the two, but that link has evaded discovery by modern medicine and will never be discovered. The physical is incapable of detecting the spiritual.
Learning Bible doctrine, thinking it, pondering it, utilizing it in your daily life, builds a structure within your soul, which establishes, strengthen, builds up on a strong foundation within you, which no one and nothing, can ever remove.
The strength is supported by the power of God, over which there is no greater power. That knowledge, produces maturity, and that maturity produces confidence, contentment, security, and ultimately an inner happiness and relaxed state of mind, that you cannot ever accomplish by any other means from this world.
The world will swirl around you in its panic and tantrum, but with Bible doctrine in your soul, you can become immoveable in your spiritual life.
We have two members of our family, a son-in-law and his brother, who are right now stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are anxiously awaiting their return, on leave, in just a couple of weeks. But I tell them just as I will share with you, the story of Elisha from 2 Kg. 6.
There are a lot of bullets that will be fired in your direction. Whether you are in a real shooting war, or whether your war is with gossips, poverty, health issues, or any one of a million other problems that are common to humanity. None of them will ever touch you, unless God grants them permission. God is just that powerful.
Elisha found himself in a situation where the city was surrounded by a military force, but Elisha prayed for eyes to be opened in order for others (that now applies to you) to see the real participants in any battle. Angels outnumbered the enemy forces. So, that means that any arrow, any attack could not succeed to its target unless allowed to.
Have you ever seen any of the many history documentaries of past wars, and wondered just why beach invasions did not go far worse than they could have, or why the bullets of the enemy don’t seem to hit their targets, but ours (the good guys) seem to find their mark?
Well that principle applies in all aspects of life. God has a plan for your life, abide by His plan and those bullets, those arrows, those confrontations of life, will never touch you, at least not until God is ready for you to go home to Him.
That does not mean that you can be stupid and irresponsible. Its intent is to give you confidence and security within yourself, that God is going to look after you in a way that far exceeds anything that you can do for yourself.
The only way that you can rise to a level of absolute confidence in life, is by means of advancing within your spiritual life to maturity. That does not happen overnight. It requires a commitment from you, to doctrine, day after day, for every day of your life, no exceptions.
And when you pursue doctrine with vigor, as a starving person would pursue a banquet of food set before him, then your life will change in the course of time, and you will eventually experience that which the rest of the world will never ever understand.
Your life, your spiritual life, is between you and God. What people think is irrelevant. Their approval is irrelevant. No one can offer you anything better than that which God has already made provision for you. You just have to fight the good fight, meaning confess your sins to God the Father and live in fellowship, 1 John, study to advance to maturity, 2 Timothy. Apply the principles of doctrine to your life for ‘good’ production, James, and eventually win, (our current verse).
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