In the “old days,” (yes, I’m going there), we used to write letters to friends who moved away or were on a trip that took many days away from us.  If fact, as soon as we said our last goodbyes and returned home from seeing them take off on their trip; we were writing a letter in our minds.  “I’ll write to you!” were the last promised words said as their journey began! Good friends who love each other deeply fulfill the promise to write—maybe more than once!

I remember the letters I wrote to a dear friend who moved a thousand miles away to live with her brother and his wife for the summer months.  I missed her so much.  I wrote to her and she wrote to me.  Yes, these were the days before email and quick texting!  Let me help you imagine this if you are of a certain younger age.  Imagine sitting down and handwriting a letter on paper with a pen or pencil; telling all that has been happening with how you feel about it to your friend.  Imagine putting your letter in an envelope, sealing it, addressing it, putting a stamp on it, then taking it to the post office or putting it in your mailbox with the hope of it reaching your person in a few days!  By the way, phones were invented but it was much too costly to call long distance, a topic for another time.  Your mind is probably already blown at just the letter writing!  Now, imagine, if you can, the excitement of receiving a letter written from your dear friend who misses you as much as you miss them!

Receiving the first letter with all the news from home with all the heart-felt words of love and encouragement is awesome.  But imagine getting the SECOND letter!  Getting a second letter of fulfilling your promise to write solidifies the depth of love you have as a friend.  The words mean even more as you read them.  Tears come as you pour over every word.  You know with confidence that you can rely on this person as a dear friend.  This is a relationship that will last a lifetime!  (We are still friends!)

As Paul writes his second letter to Timothy; he is facing his final days on earth sitting in a jail cell for his faith in Jesus.  Paul’s final words gave hope and encouragement to Timothy.  Beyond the words on parchment, we can easily feel the love Paul has for Timothy.

2 Timothy 1, The Message

^1-2 I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God’s plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!

To Be Bold with God’s Gifts

^3-4 Every time I say your name in prayer—which is practically all the time—I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors. I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.

^5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

^8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

^11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.

^13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.

^15-18 I’m sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many’s the time I’ve been refreshed in that house. And he wasn’t embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up. May God on the Last Day treat him as well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus—but you know that better than I.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

In his second letter, Paul spoke of finding comfort and strength in God’s grace through Jesus.  Paul’s words, reminding Timothy of the promise of eternal life through Jesus becomes our letter of love from God to us today.  Once we have given our lives to Jesus, we too can be confident that we will receive God’s grace for eternity.  We just can’t walk away from a gift like that!

Signed, Sealed and Delivered!

Even more, God stakes his claim on us. “Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach…” 2 Corinthians 1:22.  Paul reiterates this Truth to Timothy in his second letter.  Stamping or sealing declares ownership. Through his Spirit, God stamps us. Would-be takers are repelled by the presence of his name. Satan is driven back by the declaration: Hands off. This child is mine! Eternally, God.  What a glorious stamp of approval, acceptance, and love beyond what we can imagine!

Take the words of Paul’s second letter to Timothy to heart.  In fact, allow God’s Holy Spirit led words permeate our hearts.  Grace creates a confident soul who declares, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day” 2 Timothy 1:12, NIV.

Our response—Write a letter, then a second, and a third to God who delights to hear from us.  You will soon realize the depth of love God has for us.  We will discover your heart becoming more full of gratitude, your mind less filled with worries and overthinking while His Spirit molds and shapes your soul.  This intimate act of talking to God creates  humbled, yielding heart.  Our love grows and matures with God in the lead in Jesus Name! 

Writing has now become typing on a keyboard and tucking it away in my computer files. These letters to God help me to stay focused and attentive to God as I learn His ways.  I don’t understand all God wrote to me but I can work on what I do understand by His Spirit’s power, wisdom, and strength helping me.  I can thank God for who God is and what He has done for me which centers my gratitude to God.  Writing a letter to God each day is spiritually therapeutic for me, builds the muscles of my faith in God, while daily renewing the confidence of Christ living in me.

Lord,

Thank you for the message of truth that gives us confidence of faith to put one foot in front of the other one in good times as well as in challenging times.  All glory goes to you who saved us and set us free from the bondage that the enemy uses to tie us down.  I know whom I have believed!  I trust you with my life because you are Life! May this be my love letter back to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen