January 15, 2026; I Thessalonians 3

Daily Dose of Hope

January 15, 2026

 

Scripture: I Thessalonians 3

 

Prayer:  King Jesus, We come to you today with praise and lifting your name high.  You are a Lord of love, mercy, and forgiveness.  Thank you so much for allowing us to experience those things in you.  Also, Lord, thank you for showing us a new way of doing life.  The ways of this world are empty and temporal but your ways are eternal and fulfilling.  Help us be bold in our faith, staying strong in the midst of whatever challenges we face.  Help us live like the people you have called us to be.  We love you.  Amen.

 

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that goes along with the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently journeying through Paul’s letters.  Right now, we are walking through I Thessalonians.

 

Today, we read I Thessalonians 3.  Paul and Silas very much wanted to visit the Thessalonian church and encourage them in their persecution.  But over and over again, it didn't work out.  They were frustrated and concerned about the welfare of the new believers.  While they had previously warned the Thessalonian church that persecution was unavoidable, they still feared for their well-being. 

 

Eventually, they send Timothy to visit them and instruct them in the faith as needed.  Timothy brought back good news, as the Thessalonian church was becoming more mature in their faith.  Despite their challenges, the new believers were remaining strong in faith and continuing to demonstrate love toward those inside and outside the church.  This pleased Paul and Silas very much.  They experienced joy knowing that the faith of the Thessalonians remained strong and vibrant.  They thanked God for their perseverance and endurance.

 

The early church had such a different perspective than we do regarding persecution.  They saw persecution as inevitable; it was simply something that believers had to endure.  It doesn't appear they feared being persecuted either.  They knew that as followers of Jesus, their message would be met with opposition.  In the Western church of today, we tend to fear persecution and rejection.  We hesitate to share the Gospel message because we might offend someone, someone might say something mean to us, or we might get rejected.  These seem incredibly minor compared to the persecutions of the Thessalonians or other believers around the world today who risk everything to share the Gospel with others.

 

Here’s a question for us:  If I were being tortured and persecuted for my faith, would I stay faithful to Jesus or would I give in to the pressure and deny Christ?

 

It is so important for us to rest in the uneasiness of this question.  If push came to shove, how faithful are we, New Hope?  This is truth:  Christians around the world deal with this every single day.  We don’t think about it much but over 388 million Christians around the world suffer persecution or discrimination for their faith in Jesus Christ. That means they experience some kind of hostility as a result of proclaiming the name of Jesus or living out their faith. Almost 5,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2025, many were kidnapped, imprisoned, or forced from their homes.  In addition, more than 3,600 churches and other religious facilities were destroyed.  For other Christians, it means being denied economic opportunities or simply living under the threat of violence.  American Christians talk of persecution, but that is what real persecution looks like.  It’s not being made fun of or worrying about offending someone, it’s risking all for Jesus.

 

Every year Open Doors USA releases its World Watch report of the 50 states most likely to punish Christians for their faith. North Korea, Somalia, and Yemen, took the top spots this year. It is almost impossible to live openly as a Christian in all three of these places. In extremist Moslem countries, leaving Islam is considered shameful, and Christian converts face dire consequences if their new faith is discovered. Either they have to flee the country or they will be killed.  Other nations that are particularly dangerous for Christians are Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Iran.

I recently read this statement and it stopped me in my tracks:  “If we have not prepared ourselves and our twenty-first century churches to die for Christ’s name if necessary, we have not completed our responsibility of preparing disciples.”  If this makes us uncomfortable, it should.  Because Jesus has called us to a faithfulness that involves more than what we typically think of when we call ourselves Christ-followers.  We can see it in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.  We see it throughout the book of Acts.  What does it mean to be a disciple?  Jesus makes it quite clear, Mark 8:34-35, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 

 

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki