Doctrine and Faith

Paul wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians because of one primary reason: He was trying to protect his beloved church from believing things that were not true.   In particular, they were troubled over some things they had heard about the second coming of Christ (2 Th 2:2). The things they heard were contrary to what Paul had told them earlier, but they believed the heresay and were freaking out about it.  Poor Paul.  I wonder if he ever got tired of repeating himself?

What would have happened had Paul not been diligent in tending to his "flock"?   Matthew Henry in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2 says the following:

Errors in the mind tend greatly to weaken our faith, and cause us trouble; and such as are weak in faith and of troubled minds are oftentimes apt to be deceived, and fall a prey to seducers.

I think that the Thessalonians would have been in some pretty bad shape.  I like what Matthew Henry says here.  Errors in the mind do cause us trouble.  If left unchecked, they might cause us to take the easy way out rather than hold our ground for the truth.

So how  can we protect ourselves against these "errors in the mind"?  First of all, we need to know what is truth so well that  we cannot be dissuaded from it.  Paul says, "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle...".(2 Th 2:15)  We need to constantly keep referring back to the written word of God that does not change. 

How well do you know the truth?  How often do you refresh your mind of the truth in your bible so that God may correct those errors in your mind before they get to much hold on you?   I firmly believe that individuals with the strongest faith are those that spend the most consistent time in God's word.  They have the same problems as everyone else, they just handle the situations better because they are constantly being refueled and recharged by the life-giving words of God.

We can all be strong in our faith if we just work at it.  We don't have to be the smartest people around, but we just have to be consistently in the Word of God. 

Questions for today:

1)  Do I have trouble believing God's promises for me?
2)  Do I even know what God promises for me?  If I don't, then why?