together with
Happy Tuesday, {{first_name| everyone}}!
Yesterday, we looked at the book of 1 Thessalonians as a whole. Today, we’re zooming in on chapter 5!
Note: The Voice of the Martyrs is graciously offering Malachi Daily readers a free book that I guarantee will help you grow in your faith. More on this below, but if you can’t wait, click here.
In today’s email…
📕 A book to inspire your faith
📖 The surrounding context of 1 Thessalonians 5
📊 Trivia about authorship (hint: not just Paul)
🙏 A reflection, an action, and a prayer
MEMORIZE 🧠
For God has not destined __ ___ _____,
but to obtain salvation through our Lord ______ ______.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
TOGETHER WITH THE VOICE OF THE MARTYRS
Be inspired by the testimonies of 12 persecuted Christians
In the book Hearts of Fire 2, The Voice of the Martyrs shares the true stories of 12 women who counted the cost of obeying and serving Christ.
From the Colombian evangelist on the run for witnessing to guerrilla fighters to the American woman who publicly forgave the Islamic extremists who gunned down her husband on the streets of Benghazi in Libya, these women embraced the hope that can be found only in Jesus. Their stories will inspire you to pursue Christ at any cost!
Click here to get your free copy of Hearts of Fire 2.
CONTEXT 📕
Chapter 5 is the final chapter of 1 Thessalonians, and Paul knows he’s closing in on the end of his letter.
He is no longer laying foundations or revisiting the story of his ministry among them. Instead, he is gathering the threads and putting the finishing touches on all he needs to say.
The chapter opens with a subject that clearly unsettled this young church, but they apparently knew a good deal about:
“The Day of the Lord.”
That phrase did not originate with Paul. It comes straight out of Israel’s Scriptures.
In the Old Testament, the Day of the Lord referred to a decisive moment when God would act in judgment and in rescue (see Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Malachi 4:1-2).
For the unfaithful, it was terrifying.
For the faithful, it was long-awaited deliverance.
The prophets describe it as sudden, inescapable, and exposing.
The early Christians took that familiar language and reframed it around Jesus.
Paul now contrasts two ways of living in light of that coming day.
Some live in darkness, unprepared and unaware.
Others live as “children of the day,” alert and sober, shaped by hope rather than fear.
Right before our memory verse, Paul uses military imagery his hearers and readers understood: faith, love, and hope as armor (the same kind of language he would later expand in Ephesians).
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
Like a soldier puts on armor before going into danger, these things protect your heart and mind from fear:
Trusting Christ (faith)
Loving others (love)
Holding tightly to the sure hope that God has saved you (confidence that God will finish what He started)
Then comes our memory verse:
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Translation? Do not fear. Your salvation is secure.
And because your salvation is secure, Paul calls them to live from that security instead of living from fear.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Encouragement and mutual care should be a natural byproduct of our hope.
Just like the early church in Thessalonica, you and I in 2026 have nothing to fear about the Day of the Lord thanks to Jesus’ finished work of salvation (which we’ll talk about more later this week)!
APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
Good news does something to us.
A long-awaited job offer comes through. A sale finally closes. A pregnancy announcement you’ve been hoping for turns out to be real.
Nothing about the day itself may change, but you do. You walk a little lighter. You speak a little freer. You show up differently to the people around you.
Paul knows this about the human heart, which is why he does not stop at giving information in 1 Thessalonians 5. He moves from assurance to action.
When we know, truly know, that God has not destined us for wrath but for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, it reshapes everything.
Fear loses its grip, we walk lighter and we speak freer.
Saved people live differently.
📖 Reflect
Read 1 Thessalonians 5 again, slowly. Pay attention to how Paul connects hope with everyday behavior. Where might fear be shaping your reactions more than confidence in God’s saving purpose?
🤝 Act
Do something you are afraid of this week. Talk to the co-worker about Jesus. Lovingly call out your friend’s gossiping. Do something that makes you uncomfortable, but brings the Kingdom forward.
🙏 Pray
Father, thank you for the good news that anchors my life. Help me to live from confidence, not fear. Let the assurance of your salvation shape how I speak, listen, and love. Teach me to reflect your grace in ordinary moments. Amen.
TRIVIA 📊
Click one of the options below to choose your answer. Let’s see how you do…
Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians but he names two others that are writing to the Thessalonians too. Who are they?
ANSWER KEY ✅
For God has not destined us for wrath,
but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
If you missed yesterday’s email, you can read it here. And if you ever want to study other verses we’ve memorized, you can always read all of our past emails here.
Best,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Jake holds two degrees in Biblical Studies and has a passion for making Scripture accessible. Along with being a podcast manager for faith-based shows, he helps Christians focus on Jesus through his own podcast Christianity Without Compromise.
Kieran is a husband and father living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
Go deeper with Malachi Daily
Pay it Forward
Malachi Daily is (and always will be) free thanks to generous readers who choose to support our mission! 🙏
Click here to support the mission for the price of a few coffees/month ☕️
Give us feedback 💬
