Focus on God

Many men had spoken in Thessalonica, each claiming special insight and even divine inspiration. It would have been easy for the Thessalonians to have doubts about Paul. Was he just another charlatan? A man driven by his own ideas and guided by ulterior motives?

However Paul gratefully acknowledged that the Thessalonians did not treat his message as a human word. They had the confidence that it was, in fact, the word of God. As a result, they could grow in Christ and experience more of the fullness He prepared for them. This reflected a special kind of discernment, a sensitivity to recognize that a message has been inspired by God.

In Paul’s day, as now, there are many voices in the world. They declare various different messages, each claiming to be true. The Bible tells us we need to be careful. The world is full of many deceivers (2 John 1:7), and we need to test prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). We must test every spirit to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1).

We are called to be like the Bereans who received Paul’s message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).

Ask God to give you sensitivity to His Spirit. Make sure that you stand on the authority of the Bible. Be a person of prayer, always sensitive to God’s leading.