Thessalonian Letters
The way we conceive the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and though through the day. If our sense of future is weak, we live listlessly. Much emotional and mental illness and most suicides occur among men and women who feel that they “have no future.”
The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail. For the day Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers lived in expectancy of His return. He told them He was coming back. They believed He was coming back. They continue to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing to know and believe about the future. I believe it! Don’t you?
The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with HOPE. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. It take the clutter out of our lives. We’re far more free to respond spontaneously to the freedom of God.All the same, the belief can be misconceived so that it results in paralyzing fear for some, shiftless indolence i others. Paul’s two letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, among much else, correct such debilitating misconceptions, prodding us to continue to live forward in taut and joyful expectancy for what God will do next in Jesus.
HOLY PAUSE
How has our present circumstances affected our thinking?What role has our “future hope” played in our present?
Who is our hope? How committed are we to our Hope?
How does knowing He is coming back affect what we think today?
As meditate on the highlights of these important letters from Paul to the Christians, let us think about what we desire most knowing that Jesus will return someday to take us with Him to a place He is preparing for all who believe and follow Him.
1 Thessalonians 1 – (NIV)
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”HOLY PAUSE
Has our endurance been inspired by hope in Jesus during this time of quarantine and all that goes with being isolated?
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
HOLY PAUSEWhat kind of “model” have we been during the quarantine?
“The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.”
THE REPUTATION OF THE CHURCH…
“They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
1 Thessalonians 2
“We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.”“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else…”
“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
“…we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.”
“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.”
Paul takes more joy in seeing others do what he taught them than in doing the work himself. We should model this kind of teaching. Are those we teach our “hope” for the future?
1 Thessalonians 3
Paul’s prayer of hope to believers…”May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”HOLY PAUSE
What is our prayer for each other?
1 Thessalonians 4 – LIVE TO PLEASE GOD
“…learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God…”“…no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.”
“God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
“…and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
OUR HOPE IS THE FUTURE!“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
GOD’S PLAN“According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
OUR HOPE
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
HOLY PAUSE
How do you respond to this passage? What is your hope? Who is your hope?
1 Thessalonians 5
BE READY
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” “…let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
OUR ASSURANCE
“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER“Live in peace with each other.”
“And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.”
CREATED TO WORSHIP CONTINUALLY
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”
PRAYER WITH A PROMISE
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”
2 Thessalonians 1
LET GOD TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO OPPOSE YOU
“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”
“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed…”
2 Thessalonians 2
WHEN JESUS COMES BACK…“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.”
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”
BEWARE OF ANYONE CLAIMING TO BE GOD“He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”
SATAN IS A LIAR
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
HOLY PAUSE
Who is living the lie in your family? Do you pray for them? Do you pray for words and opportunity to speak Truth? Do we live Truth in their presence?
STAND FIRM IN HOPE“He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
2 Thessalonians 3
PRAY FOR ALL TO HEAR THE HOPE
“…brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.”
“…the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.”
“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” (My prayer for all who are reading this right now!)
“…never tire of doing what is good.”
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe, therefore I have Hope!
Hardly anyone who hears the full story of Jesus and learns the true facts of his life and teaching, crucifixion and resurrection, walks away with a shrug of the shoulders, dismissing him as unimportant. People ignorant of the story or misinformed about it, of course, regularly dismiss him. But with few exceptions, the others know instinctively that they are dealing with a most remarkable greatness.
The Christians in the town of Colosse, or at least some of them, seem to have been taking this line. For them, cosmic forces of one sort or another were getting equal billing with Jesus. Paul writes to them in an attempt to restore Jesus, the Messiah, to the CENTER of their lives.
But Paul, although unswervingly confident in the conviction that Christs occupies the Center of creation and salvation without peers, is not arrogant. AND he is not certainly not violent. He argues from a position of rooted humility. He writes with the energies of most considerate love. He exhibits again what Christians have come to appreciate so much in Paul–the wedding of a brilliant and uncompromising intellect with a heart that is warmly and wonderfully kind.
Paul asks other Christians to pray with him for three important requests of God before telling the story of Jesus. Colossians 4:2-6 is an example of what to pray before sharing the good news of the most important relationship anyone can have…the intimate, saving, growing relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ.
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
“If you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”
“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.”
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy…”
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
PUT ON YOUR NEW CLOTHES!
ARROGANCE FREE ZONE
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
OPEN THE DOORS
HOLY PAUSE
When my grandkids were toddlers, we loved watching Blues Clues together…over and over again. Steve (a real person) and Blue, the animated puppy were favorites in our family. What is Blue’s Clues, you ask? It is a play-along, think-along series featuring hosts, Steve or Joe, and an energetic puppy named Blue. In each episode, Joe or Steve invites viewers into a computer-animated storybook world to look for clues and solve the day’s puzzle.
Our favorite (daily) song came in the middle of the show when Steve (or Joe) went to the Mailbox. As they walked they sang, 
Imagine the receiver of Paul’s letter to the new Christians in Philippi. Did they sing, “We just got a letter…” Philippi was a Roman colony in northeastern Greece where Paul founded his first Christian congregation in Europe. Of all the Paul’s letter to churches this is Paul’s happiest letter. And the happiness is infectious…just like our song. Before we’ve read a dozen lines, we begin to feel the joy ourselves–the dance of words and the exclamations of delight have a way of getting inside us.
When we read what Paul wrote to the Christian believers in the city of Philippi, we find ourselves in the company of just such a master. Paul doesn’t tell us that we can be happy, or ho to be happy. He simply and unmistakable IS happy. None of his circumstances contribute to his joy. He wrote from a jail cell, his work was under attack by competitors, and after twenty years or so of hard traveling in the service of Jesus, he was tired and would have welcomed some relief.
Christ is, among much else, the revelation that God cannot be contained or hoarded. It is the “spilling out” quality of Christ’s life that accounts for the happiness of Christians, for joy is life in excess, the overflow of what cannot be contained within any one person.
Christ has come with eternal joy and peace that cannot be taken away from those who believe, no matter what happens in our lives. Christs alone is joy unspeakable and full of glory!
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
JOY IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCE
PREACH JESUS!
JOY COMPLETE WHEN LESSONS LEARNED
BE LIKE JESUS WHO…
REJOICE!
“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”
DETERMINED JOY 
AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE!
THINK JOY
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen”
What we know about God and what we do for God have a way of getting broken apart in our lives. The moment the organic unity of belief and behavior is damaged in any way, we are incapable of living out the full humanity for which we were created.
Once our attention is called to it, we notice these fractures all over the place. There is hardly a bone in our bodies that has escaped injury, hardly a relationship in city or job, school or church, family or country, that isn’t out of joint or limping in pain. There is much work to be done. 
This book is for God’s church that is forming and being built on the foundation of Jesus Christ who is our Savior and Lord. If indeed He is our Savior then we are saved as believers in Him. We know what we believe. If He is indeed the Lord of our lives then we are behaving as closely to what we say we believe given the help of His Holy Spirit. Herein lies the rub…there are those who accept Jesus as their Savior (believe) but do not live (behave) or follow Him as their Lord.
Paul reminds the church in Ephesus that we must behave in like we say we believe. There are six chapters in this letter to the church. Paul painstakingly tells us who we are in Christ in the first three chapters while reminding us who God is. 
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
“In him (Christ) the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
“Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” 
“THEREFORE each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”
In other words, THINK before you speak. These questions are helpful to me in my quest and prayer to be more gracious:
“…among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.”
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.” (Submit is a positive word here…As you love Christ more and more and realize His love for you, the more you will love you spouse and “submit” to his love for you.)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” (Don’t leave home without it! We need God’s strength, power, wisdom, insight and understanding daily, even hourly!)
Get your gear on for this is not an easy battle for us but nothing for Jesus. He’s already won this battle with evil, went to hell and back again for us, so know that He will fight for you and with you when when it comes. “Not today, Satan!” is our battle cry.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
When men and women get their hands on religion, one of the first things they often do is turn it into an instrument for controlling others, ether putting or keeping them “in their place.” The history of such religious manipulation and coercion is long and tedious. It is little wonder that people who have only know religion on such terms experience release or escape from it as freedom. The problem is that the freedom turns out to be short-lived.
Through Jesus, Paul learned that God was not an impersonal force to be used to make people behave in certain prescribed ways, but a personal Savior who set us free to live a free life. God did not coerce us from without, but set us free from within.
With these thoughts in mind, here are a few passages written to the church of Galatia by Paul the Apostle, saved by grace by Jesus Christ.
“17-18 Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.” Galatians 2:17-18, The Message
Paul, in personal testimony of his relationship with Jesus goes on to preach the difference between religion and relationship…
MY OWN REALIZATION
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25, NIV
Dear Heavenly Father, 
HOLY PAUSE
HOLY PAUSE 
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 
How did your prayerful reading go? What did God say to you?
Dear Heavenly Father,
These are the best of times and these are the worst of times. An old classic, The Tale of Two Cities, begins with this mantra. I put the words in present tense because it feels like we are IN these times right now. We are praying for friends who are losing loved ones to the virus pandemic. Friends are home, unable to work. Some friends are feeling the financial crunch from lost wages. Many are fearful and full of anxiety.
However, some friends are working from home with a new appreciation for family life. Parents are teaching their own kids and discovering a new appreciation for the creativity of professional teachers. Government leaders are stepping up with one thing on their minds, to help the people who put them in office as their representatives. We are also being better stewards of what God has provided for us to manage. 
4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
“Because the story of Jesus is so impressive–God among us! God speaking a language we can understand! God acting in ways that heal and help and save us!–there is a danger that we will be impressed, but only impressed.” Eugene Peterson
The story of Jesus doesn’t end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in Him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were no more spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God–they were IN on the action of God, God acting IN them, God living IN them. Which also means, of course, IN us.
AGREEMENT. What a beautiful, cherished thought, to be in unity and agreement with each other, with God’s plan forming, as you help others find and follow Jesus.
Peter, (assigned by Jesus to be “the rock” upon which Jesus will build his church), gives the answer. This former fisherman, now filled with God’s Holy Spirit, stands and speaks with authority and passionate clarity with his new gift of powerful persuasion for Christ. (Wow! Wrap your head around that! This is the same man who denied Jesus three times, out of fear, when Jesus was arrested!)
Did you get that? THREE THOUSAND clamored to be saved by Jesus–some of the same people who shouted, “Crucify Him” a few weeks before.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 42-47, NIV
Do you see the four purposes of the church? (Acts 2:42)
“Filled with awe”, “together with everything in common”, “give to anyone in need”, “continued to meet”, “broke bread and ate together”, “glad and sincere hearts”…
God honors those who understand that all they have is God’s in the first place! We do not have anything that God has not provided for us. All things belong to God! We, who are made in His image, are mere managers of God’s stuff. We do not covet the stuff of others, we gladly share what we have because we do not think like the world thinks. To give a person leg up in troubled times is a good thing. Even better is to teach how to work alongside you and others. (“Common”) We are in this together indeed.
God’s Holy Spirit gives us skills and abilities beyond our own talents to serve others in unique ways to help them find and follow Jesus, too! Faith boils down to what Jesus said are the greatest of all the commandments: Love God. Love Others. 
“Two phrases in Acts 2:42 may need explanation. “Breaking of bread” probably refers to their regular meals, but at the close of each meal, they probably paused to remember the Lord by observing what we call “the Lord’s Supper.” Bread and wine were the common fare at a Jewish table.” 
Do you attend an Acts 2:42 church?
In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God is presented as speaking creation into existence. God speaks the word and it happens: heaven and earth, ocean and streams, trees and grass, birds and fish, animals and humans. Everything, seen and unseen, called into being by God’s spoken word.
The Word is Jesus, God’s One and Only Son, a part of God. This time God’s word takes on human form and enters history in the person of Jesus. Jesus speaks the word and it happens: forgiveness and judgment, healing and illumination, mercy and grace, joy and love, freedom and resurrection. Everything broken and fallen, sinful and diseased, called into salvation by God’s spoken word.
Keeping company with these words, we begin to realize that our words are more important than we ever supposed. Saying “I believe,” for instance, marks the difference between life and death. Our words accrue dignity and gravity in conversations with Jesus. For Jesus doesn’t impose salvation as a solution; he NARRATES salvation into being through leisurely conversation, intimate personal relationships, compassionate responses, passionate prayer, and–putting it all together–a sacrificial death. We don’t casually walk away from words like that.
“This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. John 1:15-18, NIV
Jesus. It’s all about Jesus. He wants a close, intimate relationship with us that is above all other relationships. It is the most important relationship you will ever have, for this relationship extends into eternity. Jesus died to save us. How can we deny His love for us?
God’s specific plans for worship which include the place and furnishings that all have special significance are revisited in these chapters. God has forgiven the “holy cow” experience which brought out evil’s worst in people and caused a broken relationship with Him. The relationship is restored because of Moses’ mediation on behalf of God’s people and the remorse of the people. “We will do what God says”, repeat God’s people. So God repeats his commands for His Tent of Dwelling. 
Repeatedly we read, “Moses and the people did exactly what God said”. For now, they have learned very important lessons about who God is and what He longs to have with us–a loving, trusting, forever relationship with Him.
20-26 So everyone in the community of Israel left the presence of Moses. Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God for building the Tent of Meeting…
Chapter 39 
Moses and God’s people finished the work. Moses finished the work God gave Him to be and do.
God promised to go with them. God always keeps His promises. The most important relationship we should have is with God, through Jesus Christ, His Son. Without Jesus we cannot see the Father, Jesus teaches his followers. (And us.)
The relationship between God and His people in the wilderness journey was restored through repentance, humble obedience (doing exactly what God told them to do in every detail), through sacrifice for their sins (animals with no flaws) along with willingness to give back to God (offerings and gifts) what was already His.
That was then. Today our relationship with God is restored by the blood sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Telling Jesus I’m sorry for my sins with a sincere humbled heart brings us back into a profound, forever relationship with God, our Father, our Creator, the One who loves us most and loves us unconditionally. Believing in Jesus saves us from death to life forever with Him. Following Jesus brings new life to our being, full of His peace, a new way of thinking, a deeper way to love and be loved. 
“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 
TRUTH
HOLY PAUSE: Do you really believe what you say you believe is really real? 
