2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

In Randy Alcorn’s book “Heaven”,he says that one of the reasons we have challenges in our relationship with Jesus Christ and having an AWE for HIM, is that we have a tepid/halfhearted/indifferent appreciation for the heaven that Jesus said He has gone to prepare for us (John14:1-3,”Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God;believe also in me.My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”).Another is that we don’t “treat” our relationship with Jesus as if HE is TRULY FULLY ALIVE!These two areas are where Satan has done an effective job of undermining what should be a vibrant, spirited, energetic, vital, effervescent, dynamic, stimulating, passionate, relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior!And why we are sometimes not as prone to seek,follow,and obey His Spirit & His Word.Paul,who had a FACE to FACE with The Resurrected Living Jesus on the road to Damascus-Acts9:1-21-says something to the Thessalonians that tells us that Paul was fully awed by the fact that Jesus is ALIVE and FULLY CAPABLE through HIS LIFE to help;encourage;strengthen;and guide us  in Deed&Word! Paul talks WITH Jesus on behalf of the Thessalonians when he says,”May our Lord Jesus HIMSELF & God our Father,who loves us and by HIS grace gave us eternal encouragement & good hope(bizzillions of reasons to be awed by the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us),encourage your hearts & strengthen you in every good deed and word”,2Thessalonians2:16-17.Paul is speaking with FULL BELIEF in a LIVING Jesus,& that Jesus HIMSELF has the LIVING ability to intercede in our lives!The FACT of Jesus being ALIVE is THE KEY element of Paul’s life change on the road to Damascus,AND in the way he lived from then on....and the way he dealt with people-as he does in these verses,talking/praying as one that is talking with & about another PERSON being FULLY ALIVE and FULLY CAPABLE of AWESOME intervention&guidance in the lives of not only himself but those around him as well!Paul is AWED by the LIVING Jesus,and by the “eternal encourage & good hope” that the resurrected LIVING Jesus is the designer and builder of.In today’s world,we have become less awed by both of these...we definitely do not have the awe & appreciation of these that Paul and others during his time had.Through the years since,Satan has been effective at diluting,confusing,and misleading the world about these TWO Ginormous Facts of all life...resulting in many Christians having a LESS THAN vibrant,LESS THAN spirited,LESS THAN energetic,LESS THAN vital,LESS THAN effervescent,LESS THAN dynamic,LESS THAN stimulating,LESS THAN passionate,relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord & Savior!Dear Lord Jesus,I pray for YOU to open my eyes and heart as YOU did for Paul on the road to Damascus too know more and more of YOUR LIVING presence in & around my life,so that I may have YOUR eternal encouragement & good hope increasingly REAL in my heart,and may YOUR strength living through me help me in every good deed and word!