Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Tuesday, July 14, 2 Thessalonians 1:11a

"To the end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling…"

I'm splitting this verse because it's pretty long and that I can make a couple points out of it. What initially strikes me this morning as I ponder the beginning of this verse is that Paul is praying that "God" may make you worthy of his calling.

To me, this is a prime example of applying the Philippians 1:6 promise: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

I remember singing an old spiritual as an anthem in a choir at a church I attended called "God Is Gonna Finish Just What He Started". You can google it if you like. It was a fun song to sing, and brings out this truth.

It is also a great way to begin praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and for yourself. I know every morning I pray the end of Psalm 139 before I get out of bed: "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me to the way everlasting" (23-24).

If we are setting our affections on Him, walking carefully in the Spirit, we will see Him glorified in what we do. He has every intent on making us mature believers. He has great purpose for us, and that is to be a part of completing His purpose, which we pray every morning when we say "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10 KJV).

His will is going to be done and is being done, make no mistake. He is completely Sovereign, and, as RC Sproul famously said: "If God is God, then He is Sovereign. And if He is Sovereign, there are no maverick molecules".

You see, it isn't that we are not called. Those who believe are called. The prayer is that God will make us "worthy" of His calling. That's why I pray this every day. He who called me out of darkness and gave me new birth when I was dead in trespasses and sins deserves all glory and honor that I can give Him. I pray that I "follow after, that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12b KJV).

In that passage, Paul is the first one to tell you that he has not yet apprehended, nor is he now "perfect", that is, completely mature in Christ. But he presses on to experience in the here and now what will be completed wholly in the day of his glorification.

I hope you can understand this. Paul is praying that we avoid the foolish pitfalls as we struggle in ourselves, many times choosing the way of the fool instead of the way of Light. And we stumble in many ways, sometimes so badly that we wonder why He is patient with us.

We can be left in Bunyan's little cage of despair if we are not careful and quick to repent and pick ourselves up again. When I was first saved, the greatest passage I could think of was "For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8 KJV).

Then, the more I walked in the Lord, and saw my many failures as I would turn my affections on the things of the world instead of the things of God, I needed the passage from 1 John "for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things" (3:20 KJV).

On a side note, you may notice that I am using a lot of KJV, because that is the translation from which I had these verses memorized, decades ago. And they still come back to me, over and over again as I walk in the wilderness of this world.

In conclusion today, maybe you can see what a great way this is to open a prayer for another. There is nothing better, nothing more peaceful, joyful, and assuring that "God will make you worthy of his calling."

And trust Him, for He will.

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

Memory Helps

"To the end
we always pray for you,
that our God
may make you worthy
of his calling…"

Since I'm sports-minded, I always think of the number 11 as a football team, since it consists of 11 players. This picture can help me here because it begins with "to the end", and the goal of all eleven players is to reach the "end zone". I can picture the apostle Paul at the end zone praying for "the team", and then "calling" out to them to encourage them.

This helps me remember that this verse is in verse 11. I can improve the word picture by adding more visuals from the words as well, but this is a very good technique to help you remember verses and distinguish them from others. I get more elaborate (and tedious) on my website explanations.

Linking verse numbers:

Along with the Tie with two thistles stuck on it, I use my dear old "DaD" for verses 11, since D-D = 1-1 in our phonetic alphabet (Two thistles for Two Thessalonians, and the Tie for chapter 1, since T=1, vowels fillers).

If you looked at the "Memory helps" above, you simply add my dad in his big "thistle-stuck" tie with the Apostle Paul, praying that the team will reach the end zone. Or have Paul praying and have Dad "calling" out to them as well to remember "worthy of his calling".