Monday, December 9: 2Timothy 2-Godly behaviors.

I read the chapter a number of times wondering where God wanted to me to meditate. There is so much in this chapter. Eventually I landed on verse 22: Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

I pondered the phrase, Flee the evil desires of youth. I don’t know if youth today wrestle with the same things as in Timothy’s day… be that as it may, I pondered the desires of youth. Invincible, risk takers, faith foundations not yet solid, high sexual drive. I’m sure there are many more ‘youthful desires’ but I lingered with these. God says flee these kinds of desires. Why? Because they lead to behaviors that are not godly. Instead God says pursue:

-righteousness… right living before God

-love… that characteristic that is supposed to define Christ-followers

-peace… harmonious relationships with others and God, and

-positive relationships with other mature Christ followers…

As I think about these, they are powerful Christ-honoring ways to live.

The more I ponder these, the more I realize that these are fairly easy to write about but not particularly easy to live out… Oh, how much I need the help and strength of God.

Lord, please help me. These characterizes You ask me to pursue don’t come easily. I cannot master these on my own. I need Your help. These characteristics run counter to my human nature.  Please endow me with Your Spirit. Only by the grace of Your Spirit can I master these.

Thank You, Jesus… in Your name, I pray. Amen.

 

Saturday, December 8: 2Timothy 1- For God's purpose.

I naturally view life through the lens of self… myself. Somewhere in the mix of why I choose the friends I have is the way the friendship benefits me. After my salary is deposited it is spent in ways that benefit me (and my family). When I buy airline tickets I choose an aisle seat because that is what I like. Missions that I support generally touch my heart in some way.

I really don’t know how to live life selflessly. Self, it seems, is part of all aspects of my life. (BTW, I believe God understands this… I am thinking of the second half of the greatest commandment; love your neighbor as yourself, ‘as you love yourself.’ More thoughts on this some other day.)

Naturally when it comes to salvation, my initial thinking is somehow, someway, God saved me because of me. I am not proud to admit this, but these thoughts live in me.

So when I come to 2Timothy 1:9, it provides a much needed corrective to my self-focus. Check it out, 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. I bolded the words that corrected me.

God saved me, NOT because of me or because I am so good or have so much potential or any other ‘self’ reason. God saved me because of His purpose and His grace. That’s it. And the same could be said about any person who reads this meditation or this Scripture.

My salvation, as wonderful and blessed it is, is not about me. It is about God. God’s purpose, God’s grace, God’s glory and honor.

This truth and my meditations upon it are pressing me to praise. I am reminded of an old hymn we used to sing by Julia Johnston, which will be my prayer.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Lord, God, I thank You for Your grace, for Your mercy, for Your salvation. May I live my life in dedication to You, who saved me and longs for all to be saved and come to the saving knowledge of Your Gospel. Through Jesus, Lord and Savior, I pray. Amen

 

What a delightful way to prepare for public worship tomorrow.

 

Friday, December 6: 1Timothy 6- Stuff.

Possibly because I live in the US and travel extensively in developing nations, I see how much I really have compared to many in the world. Just because I see this, doesn’t mean I necessarily do much about it. Verses like 7-8 jump off the page when I read devotionally. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Paul’s picture of faithful living is so far below mine, it is hard for me to truly fathom this. We should be content with food and clothing. What about housing? What about health insurance? What about a nest egg for lean times? Retirement, cable, internet, computers, car, vacations, the list runs on and on. Didn’t Paul have parchments? Beyond his parchments I don’t recall Paul mentioning owning anything else. Other first century church pillars like Barnabas certainly owned land and houses and stuff.

I am not certain how to balance life today with what this and other texts say.

One thing I do know is that it is easy to get sucked into having stuff and my craving for things does create pressure in life. Pressure to maintain my stuff and my status. Pressure when I sense God wants me to give above and beyond and that means I can’t have some stuff.

Reading on Paul makes a poignant follow up point. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (9-10).

Ouch…

Lord, protect me from falling off the cliff of stuff… from sacrificing my life in You on the altar of stuff, possessions, things.

Lord, send Your Holy Spirit to create in me an eagerness for YOU… to know You, to serve You, to live for honoring You above everything else, even the comforts of life that stuff brings.

Praise be to You Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Thursday, December 5: 1Timothy 5- Responsibility for parents.

Some Bible readings give incredibly practical instruction about every day life issues. Paul’s instructions about caring for extended family was one of those moments for me. Paul’s counsel is summed up for me in verse 4, But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

Being part of the sandwich generation, I know all too well the pressures of raising kids while at the same time caring for aging parents. And these issues are compounded through the mobility of our present age. Distance creates particular hurdles in caring for parents. And yet, the duty and responsibility to care for them is clear.

Lord, help me to honor well my mom and my wife’s parents. It is not only right in Your eyes, it is honoring and loving for them. Although repayment to them for all they have done for me and us, it is a measure of kindness they deserve.

Lord, I pray for people who do not have the affection for their parents that I do. I pray for resolution of interpersonal issues and especially for believers, that Your love will grow in them to overcome the pains of this world in order to live rightly.

Through Jesus, my Lord, I pray. Amen.

 

Wednesday, December 4: 1Timothy 4- Set an example.

Lord, where will You take me this morning? What treasures from Your Word do You have for me today?

With this simple prayer I began my morning with the Lord. It didn’t take long for my heart to settle on the latter half of verse 12, set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

How I live matters not only to me, but also to those who are watching me. And some of those who watch me are other believers. My first thought was that Timothy was a church leader, so naturally this is true. But as I sat with this thought, I recognized that it was also true for all of us who follow Christ.

For example, as a parent, our children watch and emulate us.  Children are watching our faith and how we live out what we say and what we believe. This could probably be expanded to grandkids and even aunts and uncles, depending upon ones’ connection with extended family.

Friends watch us and pay attention to how we live. Although they may not be directly influenced by our living, they certainly are affected to some degree. So how we live, what we suggest and do with our friends, makes Kingdom differences.

And so the circle grows, co-workers, neighbors and the like. We influence the Christians in these circles by how we live, especially Christians who are younger in the Lord.

As God sharpens the focus on me and my life this morning, the different guys in my small-group come to mind, as do my children. They are watching me. It matters for them how I live, because I am an example of a Christ-follower…

Set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Lord, I pray that my day in and day out living not only honors You, but that it is also an example to other believers and non-believers in my life. All to Your honor and glory, I pray. Amen.

 

Tuesday, December 3: 1Timothy 3- Conduct becoming of a Christ-follower.

I have always thought that the descriptions Paul gives for the life and character of elders and deacons in this chapter was simply so that the church would choose worthy elders and deacons. Certainly this is true, but as I read today I noticed that there is more to it than that.

Paul follows the descriptions of elders and deacons with these words, … I am writing you these instructions so that … you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth (14-15). The characteristics of worthy elders and deacons was to be an example for all the church. Everyone was to emulate and strive toward these characteristics. It is quite a list (see verse 2-10):

·         be above reproach,

·         the husband of but one wife,

·         temperate,

·         self-controlled,

·         respectable,

·         hospitable,

·         able to teach,

·         not given to drunkenness,

·         not violent but gentle,

·         not quarrelsome,

·         not a lover of money,

·         manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

·         have a good reputation with outsiders,

·         worthy of respect,

·         sincere,

·         not indulging in much wine,

·         not pursuing dishonest gain

·         not malicious talkers

·         trustworthy in everything.

I reviewed this list, asking myself how I was doing in these areas.

The light of God’s Word regularly reveals blemishes in my life…

Lord, I thank You for the progress and growth my life shows since the days I first began following You. And yet, I have a long way to go. I have not nearly arrived.

Please grant me grace and forbearance to keep striving and working  and inviting You into deeper places of my life. So that my life will more and more reflect Your likeness and Your glory, that You might receive all honor and glory, I pray. Amen.

 

 

Monday, December 2: 1Timothy 2- the gift of Jesus.

… God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time (3-6).

I find it good for my soul to ponder our salvation and how far God went to provide for our salvation. Jesus came to earth in order to become the ransom for all men and women.

I marvel that Jesus came to pay our ransom. It blows my mind that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, became a human so that He could be our ransom. Jesus took on the penalty for my sins (and your sins); Jesus did that for you and me.

I sat and thought about this…

Jesus did it because it was the only way we could come back into God’s good graces.

Jesus did it for you and me… that I realized was love!

Oh how he loves you and me. Oh how he loves you and me. He gave his life, what more can I say. Oh how he loves me, oh how he loves you. Oh how he loves you and me…

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. Amen.