I woke up this morning with the stirring of His Spirit to “press on” into Him from whom flow His works, His heart, and His Life. It is a sure sign that the love which beats in our hearts is alive unto Him who is our burden bearer. It is a groaning and a burden produced by the love of God for another life. The Greek word used here for “labor” is more akin to the labor a woman experiences in childbirth. If we are held in its vibrancy, works will be the result. Faith is the power and the initiator of the works of God.

Truth to be true in us must become personal and real. “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul prayed for the Church in Thessalonica: May these words reverberate in our hearts, and lay hold of us until we are “always abounding” in His work as we partake of His Life. The works of Christ are those which proceed from the life of Christ. As His life grows within we become extensions of His heart and life to others. Within His Own, there is a preoccupation with His love concerning the state of others. “Always abounding in the work OF the Lord”. Those filled with His Life are fully occupied in His Work. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Paul in his epistle to the Church at Corinth pressed them:

He who so lived and walked has come to fill our hearts with the same Spirit of grace and wonder. and to be the breath of heaven to the hopeless. He came to set the addicted free, to seek the lost. The self-less One, the One who made Himself of no reputation in the eyes of men, came to bring light into this dark world. Let us breathe in the spirit of the great prayer of Jesus in John 17: The risen Christ had the supremacy in his heart. His life was filled with passion because he was no longer his own. His purpose in life was simple and pure to see the progress of others in their faith. In the verses preceding Paul was torn between two desires: one was to be with Christ, the other to remain in prison to be used by God for the furtherance and advancement of the people of God. “And being persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with you all for your advancement and joy of faith”

Love in faith