Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Tuesday, August 11, 2 Thessalonians 3:5

"May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Jesus Christ."

Paul closes this statement with a prayer that the Lord directs our hearts to His love and the example of steadfastness Christ gave us.

First, our primary commandment is from Matthew 22:37-38: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment."

Colossians says: "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God Set your minds on things that are above, not on things on earth" (3:1-2).

When we do that, the second commandment can be accomplished: "And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39).

"On these two commandments depend all the law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40). This is the foundation upon which all depends. Christ put everything in a nutshell. Everything hangs on these two simple commands, so simple to grasp that even the most feeble mind can understand.

And this is where Paul prays that God will direct our hearts. In Colossians, we are given further understanding of our state as believers:

"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (3:3). It's interesting to note that in Ephesians, before Christ, we were "dead in the trespasses and sins" in which we walked (2:1-2a), and he "even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (2:5). And now here, we in the life of the Spirit have died to the flesh.

And it doesn't stop there. Our lives are hidden with Christ in God, but also, we see firmly linked to that promise again: "When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).

Salvation from sin, and salvation from the world of sin, as we await the coming of Christ. This is the true meaning of life. This is why you were placed on this earth. You were created to live in the love of God. To be caretakers of what He has bestowed upon you. To be steadfast, as Christ was steadfast.

Jesus said: "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day," (John 6:40).

The KJV translated the "steadfastness" as "the patient waiting for Christ". As we set our affections on Him, we have this primarily in mind. I would like to close with one of my favorite passages from 1 John 3:1-3:

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure."

You see the justification, sanctification, and glorification process all together in this passage. And it links well with our memory verse. God loves His own. He leaves us with the hope of Christ's return, and during this period we learn steadfastness while we "purify ourselves" with the help of the Holy Spirit, teaching, guiding, and directing our steps into the love of God.

May the Lord direct us there!

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"May the Lord direct your hearts
to the love         of God and
to the steadfastness      of Jesus Christ."

In this verse "the Lord direct your hearts" to a pair of "to" and "of" phrases to help you remember it.

"To the love/To the steadfastness"

"Of God and/ Of Jesus Christ"

Break it down this way and it will be a simple verse to remember. But only with God's help can we apply it!

Linking verse numbers:

My friend "Lee" is my memory character for verses 5, because "L=5" in our phonetic alphabet. He is standing by the "Two Thistle Tree" (2 Thessalonians, Tree to remind us of chapter Three) with the Lord. He is pointing to two direction signs. The first has a heart on it and says "to the love of God". A little further we see another with a cross on it saying "To the steadfastness of Christ." I use the heart to remind me of "love", and the cross to remind me of "Christ". This way I link the contents of the verse to 2 Thessalonians 3:5.

I may also, if I need to, have Lee use his rather large "5-fingered hand" to pick off two thistles off the "tree" and throw them away before walking toward the direction signs to emphasize the number 5, tree and thistles. If the picture doesn't give you enough info, always add to it until it does.