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The apostle Paul assured the Thessalonians that they'd learned how to walk pleasing before the Lord. He told them, "Ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God" (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Paul then added this exhortation: "So ye would abound more and more" (4:1).
To abound means to increase. Paul was saying, "You've been sitting under sound gospel preaching. So now you have a solid foundation beneath you. Therefore, you ought to be increasing in grace in all ways -- in your faith, your knowledge, your love."

Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (Revelation 12:12).

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be constantly aware that the devil is out to destroy us. Therefore, Paul says, we need to know as much as we can about the enemy's tactics and plans: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11).

The three most common words heard among Christians in times of crisis are: "Lord, do something!" It is totally against our nature as human beings to stand still and do nothing when we face perplexing trials. In fact, waiting patiently for God to act is probably the most difficult thing about the Christian walk. Even devoted believers panic when the Lord doesn't move according to their timetable.

NOT everyone who's in what is known as the ecclesiastical church is going to be in the bride of Jesus Christ. Not all who say, "Lord, Lord," will enter in. We know that from the Scriptures.

However, existing within ecclesiastical churches all over the world is a called-out body - a holy remnant - that will comprise the bride of Christ. Right now, God is preparing that bride for marriage to His Son. And He will introduce this bride to her Bridegroom at the marriage supper of the Lamb!

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, "Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:3). Christ was saying these religious leaders could predict the weather — but they couldn't recognize the signs God sent to them!

The same is true of many believers today. All around us, the Lord is pouring out His judgments on the land and yet most Christians do not discern them!

Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid" (John 14:27). But the fact is many Christians do have troubled hearts — and they do live in fear! Many are secretly plagued with panic, turmoil and sleepless nights.

Jesus also said in the same verse, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Yet few believers can honestly say they enjoy constant peace of mind. For many, peace comes and goes, leaving them worried, restless and battered by stress.

Jesus predicted that the last days will be a time of unprecedented fear. His very words were: "Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken" (Luke 21:25-26).

David committed adultery with Bathsheba, "...and the thing that David had done displeased the Lord" (2 Samuel 11:27). Bathsheba became queen, and David went about his kingly duties. One day, perhaps while in a high government session with foreign ambassadors, someone approached the king and whispered, "Sir, the prophet Nathan is here. He's impatient and insists on seeing you right now. He says it's a matter of life and death!"

"O God, why hast Thou rejected us forever? Why does Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast purchased of old, which Thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of Thine inheritance; and Mount Zion, where Thou hast dwelt. Turn Thy footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; the enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary. Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting place; they have set up their own standards for signs. It seems as if one had lifted up his axe in a forest of trees.

"That I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings; being made conformable to his death" (Philippians 3:10).

Fellowship is the union of friends sharing similar interests or problems. To suffer is to feel pain or distress.

Paul yearned to share the pain and distress that Christ experienced. Did he not have enough suffering in his own life? Did he not have the hurts and cares of all the churches heavy upon his heart? Yet still he prays — "Oh, that I might know how to share Christ's pain and hurt."