Both Paul and the believers in Thessalonica were going through troubles that tested their faith. When Paul heard they had remained strong in their faith during the trials, he was exceedingly joyful and encouraged.  The call of God to preach His truth and work hard alongside obvious believers is just easier and more joy producing when the people are obviously as engaged and committed as you are to help others know and follow Jesus!  Obvious believers, who truly believe what God says and follow the leading of His Holy Spirit, are an obvious joy to be around as we share the goodness of God together!

And what is the definition of obvious?  “Easily seen, recognized, or understood; open to view or knowledge; evident: an obvious advantage.”

So, we ask—how obvious is our faith? How obvious is our belief in Jesus to others in this world? Is our belief in Jesus obviously seen, easily recognized, and opening understood?  Do our behaviors show the evidence of our belief and committed faith in Jesus? 

How obvious is our love for Jesus and for others?

1 Thessalonians 2, The Message

^1-2 So, friends, it’s obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God’s Message to you, defiant of the opposition.

No Hidden Agendas

^3-5 God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. Be assured that when we speak to you we’re not after crowd approval—only God approval. Since we’ve been put through that battery of tests, you’re guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas. We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.

^6-8 Even though we had some standing as Christ’s apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren’t standoffish with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.

^9-12 You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn’t have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God’s Message to you. You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren’t freeloaders! You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.

¹³ And now we look back on all this and thank God, a geyser of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers!

^14-16 Friends, do you realize that you followed in the exact footsteps of the churches of God in Judea, those who were the first to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? You got the same bad treatment from your countrymen as they did from theirs, the Jews who killed the Master Jesus (to say nothing of the prophets) and followed it up by running us out of town. They make themselves offensive to God and everyone else by trying to keep us from telling people who’ve never heard of our God how to be saved. They’ve made a career of opposing God, and have gotten mighty good at it. But God is fed up, ready to put an end to it.

* * *

^17-20 Do you have any idea how very homesick we became for you, dear friends? Even though it hadn’t been that long and it was only our bodies that were separated from you, not our hearts, we tried our very best to get back to see you. You can’t imagine how much we missed you! I, Paul, tried over and over to get back, but Satan thwarted us each time. Who do you think we’re going to be proud of when our Master Jesus appears if it’s not you? You’re our pride and joy!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Paul is obvious with the traits and behaviors we are to avoid:

• Never use the Message of Jesus for personal gain.  The Message must be free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas.
• We must never use religious words to butter people up or throw up a smoke screen for the purpose of hiding evil’s obvious grab for attention of self.  We must never take advantage of people seeking help by distracting them from Truth—our authentic Christ!
• We must never be patronizing or condescending.  This is a “get by for the moment” attitude that demonstrates uncaring behaviors which leads to unloving relationships and false hopes.

Instead, Give of your best to the Master and to His created.  Love as if your lives depended on it!

• May we be obvious believers who are obviously in love with Jesus! 
• May we be joy producers in His church! 
• May our joy, produced by Jesus be evident through good times and challenging trials! 
• May we be people who Paul obviously loved to hang around! 
• May we be people whose hearts are fully committed to God—the people God loves to pour blessings over and with whom He delights in being around.  God loves everyone.  God is with us always. 
• So, may our lives bring a smile to God’s face because of the obvious love in our hearts!

“Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth.” –Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:1, MSG 

May our love be evident as obvious believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and continually restore the joy of your salvation at work within us so that we reflect your glory and Truth to others in this world.  May our lives obviously reflect who we believe!  I love you, Lord with all my heart, mind, and soul.  May this love for you be obvious to others who need you.

In Jesus Name, Amen