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Category Archives: 2 Timothy

My God is…able to guard what I have entrusted to Him 2 Timothy 1:11-14

04 Sep

2 Timothy 1:11-14 – For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason Iarmor-guard suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

I know the one in whom I have put my trust

Who do you trust? I have a few people I feel like I can trust. I have my husband, my parents, my sister and some really good friends that I feel I can trust to have my back and to always have the best intentions for everything they do in regard to me. I know that they are sinners though, so the amount of trust I truly give them is still limited. Not so with God. God is trustworthy. He is the one we can count on to always have our best interests at heart. He knows better than I do what I need and when. I know, like Paul who wrote 2nd Timothy, in whom I put my trust, my full and utter trust.

I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him

I love the witness that Paul is being. He says, even though he had suffered much and was still suffering on behalf of the gospel, that he knows he can trust God to follow through and keep guard over Paul spiritually and physically. Paul went through so much, but we can learn to be encouraged through the faith in God he is displaying here. He says he is sure that God will guard His faith and trust until the day Paul meets God in heaven.

Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus

Paul encourages those reading his letter (at the time and now) to believe what he is saying and trust him as he trusts in God. They can hold to the teachings he has given them, because they are based on the scriptures and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus is who he trusts, and because He uses scripture and Jesus’ own words, Paul is telling us that we can trust the teachings he has put forth. We must always check what we believe against the scriptures so that we are not mislead.

Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

As we go forward in our lives, we need to guard our faith. We need to keep away from situations that nick at our faith and try to tear it down. Maybe you need to stay away from a friend who berates you for your faith. We all could spend more time in scripture. The more we are in the word of God, the stronger we are to keep the faith. It is one of the way we guard our faith. We also need to surround ourselves with others who believe as we do. We need to reach out to those who know more than us about our Lord and to continue to grow in our faith so that it does not wither and starve like one who is not fed. The Holy Spirit is within us, and throughout your day, you may feel the Holy Spirit calling you toward things that bolster your faith and away from things that could harm your faith or lead you astray. Please hold dear the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Don’t ignore His promptings. How do you know it is from God? I don’t know for sure, but I do know it’s not from God if it contradicts the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. How do we learn what is from the Holy Spirit? Spend more time in the word. Protect yourself from the devil and his minions. Put on the full armor of God:

Ephesians 6:10-18  The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our[a] struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these,[b] take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

 
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Posted by on September 4, 2013 in 2 Timothy, My God is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him, My God is Trustworthy

 

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My God is…equipping 2 Timothy 3:16-17

15 Feb

2 Timothy 3: 16-17 –  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training

Do you need more training?

Do you need more training?

in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is God-breathed

Straight from the horse’s mouth. We get our scripture from the highest authority. It is not the words of mere men, but is God breathed. That’s a big deal. When the phrase straight from the horse’s mouth is used, it was originally used to say that you got a good tip on a horse. The people who inevitably knew the most about the horses were the trainers, and if your horse won the race, it was those in the winners circle…the inner circle. But who could know more about that horse than the inner circle? Only the horse. That’s why a tip straight from the horse’s mouth would be the best tip. In the same way, scripture is our inside scoop. It’s the information the world doesn’t know about. We’re not getting our information from just anywhere, not even from people close to the action, but straight from the most reliable source. This is good news for you and I, because it means that we can stand strong on the precepts that we read and learn from scripture. It is like a love letter from God.

Useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

The scriptures are like our handbook for life. It is God’s textbook for us to know what is right and wrong, how to be saved, how to treat others, and how to give Him the glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Everything we need to know is wrapped up in this one book. It’s not a very long book considering all the information it holds. I have often wondered at different times throughout my life, “What is God’s plan for me?”. Scripture is the only way to find that out. He created us for His glory, and scripture gives us example so how to and not to give Him glory. We don’t always love to be taught, rebuked, corrected or trained, but we need it. It is essential to our well-being, and I don’t know about you, but I need to relearn things all the time. I learn them, practice them, ignore them and then fail, wondering where I went wrong. As I look to scripture, God’s word, I am reminded of my mistakes and encouraged towards change that will bring God glory.

So that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work

When we get training, education or correcting, there is always a goal in mind (or there should be). Reading scripture, and using it for training, teaching and correcting allows me to be more thoroughly equipped for every good work. I don’t know if you have ever had a job where you didn’t feel like you were being trained properly. Maybe your trainer stunk, or you just weren’t getting it, but either way, it didn’t make the work very enjoyable, productive or useful. God want’s our work to be useful, productive and enjoyable. He has provided us with the information we need to be properly trained. I don’t know about you, but I think there are probably a few things I need a remedial course on. I think as our lives change and we grow, the Lord reveals exactly what we need to find in scripture. But it doesn’t pop out of the book when you just leave it on the shelf, so I find myself with a need to create a discipline of reading His word. I do it by doing Bible studies. I find that’s a great way for me to dig deeper, but I think also just taking time to read His word without a goal in mind is useful. I have been long considering a Bible that leads you through reading the entire scripture, and I think that I may need to invest in one soon. I want to develop more fully and find true success in the Lord.

Do you need more training?

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2013 in 2 Timothy, My God is Equipping

 

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My God is…empowering 2 Timothy 1:6-7

13 Dec
fear

God did not make us timid

2 Timothy 1:6-7  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 the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

When are you timid? 

Maybe you’re not. I don’t think most people consider me timid, but when I enter a room, I can be quite shy. I’ll be looking around for anyone who makes eye contact that I can comfortably go hang by (sometimes for the rest of the night). I’m not very brave in social situations. Not at all timid once you get to know me, but those first meetings (especially if I can’t remember your name) are hard for me. I’m a bit insecure sometimes.

Why are we sometimes timid? 

I think the reason we’re sometimes timid is because we’re looking for our self-worth in the wrong places. We’re looking at getting our self-worth through other people, our work, our money or position. But in the verse above it seems to be related to the gifts God has given us, and we’re to use those gifts for God’s glory.

Power

What do you think of when you think of power? A super hero? Your boss? Your father? I think in reality power for me is security. Feeling comfortable in my own skin and not being affected (as much) by the negativity around me. The definition of power a few places is to be able to produce an effect. Here it is telling us that by the Holy Spirit we are given the ability to produce an effect. We can be effective for Christ.

Love

I’m sure most of us know that the commandments Jesus talked about were about love: Mark 12: 29-31,  “Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”” Giving us through the Holy Spirit the ability to love, God is giving us the ability to fulfill His commandments (ok – not perfectly, but without Him, we’re incapable of true love – loving those who don’t deserve it – as Christ loves us).

Self Discipline

Ok – if you’re anything like me being given the gift of self-discipline is like getting socks at Christmas. Useful, but not very exciting. At least it used to be. I’m finding that as I grow up (yes I’m still working at that) I find being self disciplined helps me avoid a lot of self loathing, a lot of over eating, snapping at my family, being selfish (or at least recognizing it) and loads of other sins I would rather not reveal this morning. Being able to have self-discipline also allows me to focus and keep my eyes fixed on the Lord. Still not perfect at it, but learning to daily seek God is a self-discipline.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God

Practice, practice, practice. Everything we want to be truly good at takes practice, or doing something over an over again. Have you ever fanned anything into flames? I truly try to avoid open fires for the most part, so this hasn’t happened to me very often, but I do watch Survivor (don’t hold that against me) and it’s really hard work for them to get a fire going. After they finally get a spark, they have to fan it into flames to get a fire worth using started. Our faith is the same way. If we leave it alone and don’t tend to it, it will diminish, or even peter out. But if we fan it into flames, by reading the word of God and renewing our mind we will be transformed. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

What are you fanning into flames?

 

 
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Posted by on December 13, 2012 in 2 Timothy, My God is empowering

 

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