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| 2 Timothy 4
In the presence of God and
of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of
his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach
the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and
encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
I love the way Paul opens this chapter with such confident assurance in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Imagine that you are Paul writing this. You are sitting in a dark, cold prison that has become all too familiar. You've been beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and persecuted for the last thirty years because of your faith. One would think that, by now, Paul is ready to give up completely. Instead, Paul opens this chapter assuring Timothy that Christ will indeed appear again to "judge the living and the dead."
I'm sure many of us have found ourselves in the midst of our struggles and trials asking whether or not Jesus is really coming back. We wonder whether or not God even exists and whether or not our cries for help are heard at all. I think Paul reminds us in this chapter, however, that the struggles we face in this life should simply make us long for Christ's coming that much more. He writes in verse 8, "Now there is in store for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who
have longed for his appearing." Notice that Paul does not use the word, "waited," but rather "longed." A crown of righteousness will be awarded to those who long for Christ's return. So many of us live our lives consumed by thoughts of marriage, fame, money, etc. We're always asking ourselves, "When am I going to meet the man/woman of my dreams?" or "When am I going to get that job I've always dreamed of?" The question we should be asking ourselves everyday is, "When is Jesus coming back?" Brothers and sisters, may we yearn for the day Christ returns to redeem this fallen world for His glory.
- Jase
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| 2 Timothy 3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-4) Wow, all these qualities of last days seem to fit the world that we are living in today. As hard as we try to deny them, however, they are true and real because we do them all the time. Perhaps to follow the forms of godliness is easier for us, because to become godly would be going against our own nature. For example, it's natural to hate an enemy than to love him/her. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. (2 Timothy 3:10-11) Now by the grace of God, we are called to love our enemies. Who are we to remain unforgiving, when Christ alone forgave us? I know, it's easy to say this. But if we have faith and let God take control, even the darkest heart would be transformed to genuinely love its enemies and neighbors. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3: 14-15) If we each continue to do what God has called us to do, perhaps the last days won't be as terrible.. | | |
| 2 Timothy 2 3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. 5Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 11Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 24And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. | | |
| 2 Timothy 1 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (v. 6-10) I think many times, we are ashamed to call ourselves Christians in this world. As soon as we reveal our faith in Christ, we know that we are going to be made fun of, looked down upon and be judged for who we are. Or for some of us, we might be simply afraid to step out of our comfort zones (i.e. Christian community). This chapter, however, reminds us that we have to be bold Christians! Timothy was a timid man thousands of years ago, but how much are we different from him today? Yes, there are active brothers and sisters eagerly spreading the gospel in unknown countries (praise be to God!), but as for myself and some of you, we might have to turn it up a notch. Well, it doesn't mean that we have to go around the globe to reach out to people, because we can practice missions everyday and anywhere. I believe that missions can start at our very hearts, homes, neighborhoods, campuses, workplaces and elsewhere. Each one us were called to do specific kingdom works, so let us fan into flame the gift of God. Christ conquered death, God has already equipped us with his armour of spirit, love and self-discipline, so what's to be afraid of? RAWR! -syl | | |
| 1 Timothy 6 (NKJV)
12 Fight the good fight of
faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
"Fight the good fight" ...what does that really
mean? People have tried to encourage me (well-intentioned, of course)
with this phrase as well as with other ones like "run the race" but how
does that apply to us in our everyday lives? You can't
fight the good fight without knowing who the enemy is. For many of us,
the battlefield is our mind and thoughts. The enemy uses
discouragement, fear, doubt, shame, guilt, jealousy, self-image, all
that good stuff to work against us. We need to stand up against the
enemy who is feeding us lies and trying to steal our true joy which
comes from the Lord. Don't allow the enemy to have a foothold in your
life. We're in training!! Just the way an athlete is in training for
a competition/game, we're in training. We need to immerse ourselves in
the Word and in prayer so that we block the enemy and win the battle.
We need to really take this seriously... just like an athlete in training can't afford to have a "bad day," neither can we.
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
How many of us with just food & clothing would be content? ... probably not many of us. I don't think God is saying that He wants us to be poor. He loves us SO much and wants to give us good things. But God provides for us so that we can use what He gives us to bring glory to Him. It's so hard not to compare when it comes to money and possessions. There will always be others who will have more than you and there will always be others who will have less than you- whether it's money, clothes, friends, popularity, looks... whatever. Temporarily having what we want will make us happy but true satisfaction, joy, and contentment comes when we want what HE wants us to have. His wisdom is SO much greater than ours that He knows what we need to use to extend HIS kingdom and when we need it. We were not made to make ourselves known through our success, we were made to do the work of the Lord. The work of the Lord isn't always clear to us but HE knows!! and He knows what you need in order to fulfill His will. He has supplied us with ALL of our needs which enables us to do ALL of what He wants us to do. The harvest is plentiful!!
We are NOT poor. We have everything... it's just a matter of appropriating the inheritance that is ours as a follower of Jesus Christ. Ideally, our prayer would be "Lord, give me what You want me to have because unless it is from You, I don't want it. Take away the desires I have to bring glory to myself." I really feel that if we pray that sincerely, God will give us a heart and mind change so that what we do have- even if it is just food & clothing- will seem like more than enough and we will be filled with a sense of joy and contentment that surpasses all understanding.
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