the Characteristics of the Christian life (Life-Study of 1 Thessalonians msg 2)

I read the life-study for today, message 2 of the Life-Study of 1 Thessalonians, and I was simply blown away! Wow, I never ever thought even in my highest appreciation for the Christian life that these three  characteristics of the Christian life - turning to God from idols, serving a living and true God, and awaiting the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ - are SO RICH in meaning, sense, application, and experience! I am still amazed at what the ministry of the age has dug out in the Bible, pointing to us the obvious - it's there, in black and white letters, we just need to put some effort into "digging it out"!

O, Lord Jesus.... I need You, Lord, in the reading of the life-study of 1 Thessalonians! Especially as the video training on the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms(part two) is coming up this week, Lord, I need You so much! I give You my time, Lord! How to redeem the time in such a way that I don't get into TOO MUCH and get too little, neither do I get into only some portions and not be serious on the schedule? O, Lord...

Three Characteristics of the Christian life

1. Turning to God from idols - not just turning to God from sins, but from idols! Everyone worships something / someone, even if they are self-proclaimed atheists (who mostly worship themselves). God created us with a spiritual stomach to contain the Triune God - and when we hear the word of the gospel, we are filled with appreciation for Him and drop any other idols to be joined to Him in an organic union! This is the "work of faith", which joins us to God and strengthens us to drop our idols (who can be anything or anyone that replaces God in our life).

2. Serving a living and true God - our God is living, and He can be seen as the living God by our living today! He is living now in us, and we love Him - in love, we allow Him to live and be expressed in us. He corrects us, guides us, instructs us, speaks to us, fellowships with us, and lets us know how He feels about every aspect of our living. I was touched by this paragraph, "What about your God? Is He a living God to you? The proper Christian life should bear a testimony that God is living. The reason we do not do or say certain things should be that God is living in us".

3. Waiting for the Son of God - we have a hope, the endurance of hope, which is the return of the Lord Jesus that we may meet Him! We don't live an aimless Christian life, and we are not rooted or grounded in this earth. Our hope is not in the earthly things, in positions, careers, etc, but in the coming of our Lord Jesus! The Lord Jesus is our hope, our future, and our destination!

... wow, you need to read this message! This genuine Christian life is for the church life, so that God would get what He desires, the Body of Christ to express Him on the earth in a corporate way! O, Lord, gain the Body of Christ!