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Day 341, or December the 7th. We're in good hands.

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Our thoughts today come from 2 Thessalonians

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chapter 3, verse 3. But the Lord is faithful,

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and he will strengthen you and protect you from

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the evil one. First, the big picture surrounding

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this verse. Paul's second letter to the church

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in Thessalonica is amongst the shortest that

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survive. Even though it is brief, it has much

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to teach us. He begins with words of encouragement

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and once again confirms that Christ will return.

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The second coming of Jesus was a big issue for

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the early church, and particularly the church

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in Thessalonica. Sometimes we can get important

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issues and beliefs out of proportion and Paul,

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Timothy and others do their best to maintain

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a balance in belief and practice. Paul tells

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them a lot, but it can be summed up by saying,

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in the meantime, keep working today and trust

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him for tomorrow. And now, today's action step.

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In the midst of teaching about our Lord's second

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coming, Paul drops a beautiful pearl of encouragement

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for the hard -pressed believers in Thessalonica.

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He tells them to remember that the Lord is faithful

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and strong and protective, so you have nothing

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to fear. I was listening to the radio recently,

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and a BBC correspondent informed his listeners

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that the NHS bill for antidepressants is exploding

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and runs into hundreds of millions of pounds

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a year. Please be assured, I am not saying believers

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shouldn't take such medicines, but I am saying

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we have a God who is faithful, strong, and able

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to protect us from the evil one. Of course, that

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doesn't mean we won't be ill or suffer times

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of being down, but we have an all -powerful God.

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It's not a case of medicine or God, it's both

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and. I am not anti -medicines, as I take regular

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doses, following my heart attack, and then some

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unconnected surgery later. But I am saying, don't

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rely on medicines alone. We have a God who is

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faithful, strong, and able to protect us. So

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we exclude Him from life's ups and downs at our

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peril. Remember, He will protect.