Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Real, authentic behaving, helpful people who influence others are learners.  As a young adult believer who was learning and striving to grow in the ways Jesus taught us, I watched as those I once admired as a leader stopped learning and growing. I was saddened when their lives fell apart spiritually while making excuses.  It broke my heart when people worshiped being the busiest as a measure of their “good work” while promoted themselves as working the hardest in the Kingdom.

Looking back over the years of service to God and His church, I learned and experienced the destructive, distasteful, heartbreaking outcomes of ceasing to learn.  I confess I fell for it myself as a leader and as a follower.  It’s easy to fall for this attitude when you grow weary in the demanding work placed on your shoulders—by others.  Fortunately, God stepped in and gave me mentors to pull me back to my spiritual senses; reminding me that the “yoke” of Jesus is lighter and that pleasing God is who centers us in HIS work!  I praise God for these loving, caring people who put me back on the learner’s track of being with God before doing anything for God!  Just like Jesus did! 

Falling to our knees before Jesus daily helps to avoid falling for evil’s schemes that distract us.  Listen to Him!

God-led leaders are humble learners for life.  They know they don’t know it all.  They know their weaknesses and their God-given strengths.  They know their only confidence is in Christ, not in themselves or their own meager abilities, but in God’s power and might.  People are drawn to people who know truth. But when arrogance and pride seeps in, because of popularity—look out! Evil uses these human weaknesses to get a foothold into our being and doing.

Paul’s letters to Timothy boldly and passionately warned him to “watch out, keep the faith, guard your heart, avoid mindless chatter.”  These and other directives were passed on from a caring, compassionate mentor who learned about Jesus from his mentors as well as from Jesus, Himself!  This style of passing it on comes from the way Jesus taught His disciples!  This mentor to apprentice form of teaching other upcoming leaders is at very heart of one who hopes to teach others to believe and follow Jesus, God helping us, by the power of His Holy Spirit, while avoiding the enemy.

Paul’s letter to Titus, his “son in the faith”, is delivered to him in Crete.  The same Kingdom of God thinking and behaving traits are given to Titus so he also can pass these leadership traits to others who seek to grow in their faith in Jesus.

Titus 1, The Message

^1-4 I, Paul, am God’s slave and Christ’s agent for promoting the faith among God’s chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I’ve been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself. Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!

A Good Grip on the Message

^5-9 I left you in charge in Crete so you could complete what I left half-done. Appoint leaders in every town according to my instructions. As you select them, ask, “Is this man well-thought-of? Is he committed to his wife? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?” It’s important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God’s house, be looked up to—not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry. He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.

^10-16 For there are a lot of rebels out there, full of loose, confusing, and deceiving talk. Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst. They’ve got to be shut up. They’re disrupting entire families with their teaching, and all for the sake of a fast buck. One of their own prophets said it best:

The Cretans are liars from the womb,
    barking dogs, lazy bellies.

He certainly spoke the truth. Get on them right away. Stop that diseased talk of Jewish make-believe and made-up rules so they can recover a robust faith. Everything is clean to the clean-minded; nothing is clean to dirty-minded unbelievers. They leave their dirty fingerprints on every thought and act. They say they know God, but their actions speak louder than their words. They’re real creeps, disobedient good-for-nothings.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Those who were brought up religious and ought to know better are the worst.”

Sometimes we who were brought up into the “culture” of churchgoing can be the worst judges of those who did not.  We all sin with all kinds of sins that must be repented to God.  Believers, who are leaders and followers, who tell new believers in Jesus that they must dress, talk, and act like exactly like them to please God actually impedes, discourages and confuses the spiritual growth of a new believer who hears from the platform we must become like Jesus.

Remember only Jesus saves and reconciles us to God. God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in us and begins His work to transform our thinking and behaving.  Our work is to pray for His Kingdom come, His Will be done in each of us.  We are all at various stages and phases of growing in our love and lifestyle in Jesus. Even when the flock of sheep are openly attacked by the Deceiver, God will call His leaders to protect and lead the flock with His wisdom and give direction.  Seek God first.

“Christians are quite serious in believing that when they gather together for worship and work, God is present and sovereign, really present and absolutely sovereigns.  God creates and guides, God saves and heals. God corrects and blesses, God calls and judges. With such comprehensive and personal leadership from God, what is the place of HUMAN leadership?”

“Quite obviously, it has to be second place.  It must not elbow its way to the front, it must not bossily take over.  Ego-centered, ego-prominent leadership betrays the Master.  The best leadership in spiritual communities formed in the name of Jesus, the Messiah, is inconspicuous, not calling attention to itself but not sacrificing anything in the way of conviction and firmness either.”

“What he learned so thoroughly himself, he was now passing on, and showing them, in turn, how to develop a similar leadership in local congregations. This is essential reading because ill-directed and badly formed spiritual leadership causes much damage in souls.   Paul in both his life and his letters show us how to do it right.”—Eugene Peterson, Introduction to Timothy and Titus, The Message Bible

Paul is showing and developing servant leadership, the kind of leadership that mirrors our Master, Jesus.  (Philippians 2)

Lord,

We are all called to seek Your first in all we think, say, and do.  We know enough to know to call on your Name for help in all circumstances.  May your Kingdom of God thinking come to dwell in our hearts as followers and leaders.  May your Will be done in every detail of our lives on earth as it is in heaven.  YOU are first. We are second.  Give us this day eyes to see you at work and give you praise consistently as you reveal Yourself to us.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Lead us not into the temptations to please self and others. Deliver us from this evil.  Help us, by your power flowing through us, to seek You first with a desire to please you alone.  To YOU be all the glory, honor, and praise forever!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

What will be our final words to the ones we love the most?  What will we say that will encourage them to stay and cling to what they were taught of God, Jesus who laid down His life for ours, along with realizing we will always have help from His Holy Spirit?  We can only pass on what we know, read, studied, believe and have experienced ourselves in our relationship with God.  We not only pass on what we believe but how we lived our lives.  What will be those final words they our loved ones might cling to as much has the memories that will reflect who we are in Christ? 

Paul is at the end of his physical life on earth.  This second letter to Timothy has been known to be the last letter written among all the letters he wrote to the churches and to certain apprentices such as Timothy and Titus.  Timothy is the one who will carry on the work in Ephesus when Paul takes his last breath on earth.  What is Timothy thinking as he reads this letter and makes his way to Paul’s side?  Let us put ourselves in the story and think from Timothy’s perspective as he reads— “Proclaim the Message with intensity, don’t quit, just keep it simple.” 

Paul was transformed by Jesus.  He lived his life fully committed to Jesus.  He wanted to know Jesus, become like him, and share in his suffering. (Philippians 3) Paul had no regrets for running the only race worth running. “I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way.” 

2 Timothy 4, The Message

^1-2 I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.

^3-5 You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.

^6-8 You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.

* * *

^9-13 Get here as fast as you can. Demas, chasing fads, went off to Thessalonica and left me here. Crescens is in Galatia province, Titus in Dalmatia. Luke is the only one here with me. Bring Mark with you; he’ll be my right-hand man since I’m sending Tychicus to Ephesus. Bring the winter coat I left in Troas with Carpus; also the books and parchment notebooks.

^14-15 Watch out for Alexander the coppersmith. Fiercely opposed to our Message, he caused no end of trouble. God will give him what he’s got coming.

^16-18 At my preliminary hearing no one stood by me. They all ran like scared rabbits. But it doesn’t matter—the Master stood by me and helped me spread the Message loud and clear to those who had never heard it. I was snatched from the jaws of the lion! God’s looking after me, keeping me safe in the kingdom of heaven. All praise to him, praise forever! Oh, yes!

^19-20 Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila; also, the family of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed behind in Corinth. I had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus.

²¹ Try hard to get here before winter.

Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all your friends here send greetings.

²² God be with you. Grace be with you.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

May our lives reflect the glory of God!  May Jesus be seen on our faces.  May we “sing and shout the victory” because of our God whom we have believed and know intimately because of Jesus.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place.

Refrain:  When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we’ll sing and shout the victory!

2 While we walk the pilgrim pathway
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav’ling days are over
Not a shadow, not a sigh. [Refrain]

3 Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving ev’ry day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay. [Refrain]

4 Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open–
We shall tread the streets of gold. [Refrain]

This familiar hymn to those of us who grew up in the church was written by Eliza Edmunds Hewitt, 1898.  Hewitt was born in Philadelphia June 28, 1851. She was educated in the public schools and after graduation from high school became a teacher.

However, she developed a spinal malady which cut short her career and made her a shut-in for many years. During her convalescence, she studied English literature. She felt a need to be useful to her church and began writing poems for the primary department. She went on to teach Sunday school, take an active part in the Philadelphia Elementary Union and become Superintendent of the primary department of Calvin Presbyterian Church.

Eliza—Just another committed believer who ran the race and won the prize!  In her weakness, God made her strong.  Sound familiar? Paul writes of his weakness that God did not heal or take from him but instead made Paul an even greater believer that solidified his faith forever!  “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)  

Like Paul we have “not arrived, or obtained all this” on this earth; so we learn, grow, and mature until we see Jesus.  We know without a doubt, that it will worth it all when we see Him.

Lord,

Thank you for the faith stories of those who have gone before us. Thank you for the giants of faith who poured themselves into me so that I would grow and mature in my  love and commitment to you.  Thank you for Paul who simply loved you with all his heart, mind, and soul and never gave on telling Your story for Your glory and our redemption.  Help us all to proclaim the Message with intensity; keeping on our watch to challenge, warn, and urge others about you and your salvation. May we run the race, without giving up.  Help us to keep it simple, pure, and holy.

In Jesus Name, Amen

If we know a rain storm is coming, we might carry an umbrella.  If we know strong winds will blow cold, we put on a coat before going outside to face the elements.  If I know an ice storm is in the forecast, we will put our vehicle in the garage and put ice melt on the sidewalks and drive. 

If we know a great expense will occur in the maintenance of our home, we save funds to pay for the expense.  If we know a surgery has been scheduled to repair what ails us, we do what the doctor says to prepare us for the surgery before going to the hospital.  If we know our vehicle needs repair work, we will get the work done as soon as possible so we won’t have a breakdown on the road.

If we know someone special to our lives is going to visit, we prepare our homes to accommodate their visit so they will feel welcomed and comfortable.  We serve them by putting them first in our lives because we love them.

Yes, we all feel more able to handle life when we are “in the know.”  Life is good when good things are happening.  But what happens when people who don’t know God challenge and attack our faith?  What happens when we discover that we are not in control of all circumstances?  What happens if we live a naïve life thinking no real preparation is needed? 

Most quickly learn that evil is prepared to never give up in his efforts to distract, deceive, with attempts to deconstruct our faith even though he lost the war with Jesus when Jesus rose again from death in victory!  Life for us will get dicey and difficult in this imperfect world. This is when the enemy explodes on our horizons—in our weakest hour.  So, how do we prepare for these difficult times?  Paul teaches Timothy; “Don’t’ be naive.”  We can prepare for the unknown by staying in touch with the Known.

2 Timothy 3, The Message

Difficult Times Ahead

^1-5 Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

^6-9 These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax.

Keep the Message Alive

^10-13 You’ve been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, troubles, sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it. Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They’re as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse.

^14-17 But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

I had a wise seminary professor who taught us what to strive to know:

Know God—Be with God before doing anything for God. Jesus did as Son of Man.  (Psalm 46)

Know Ourselves—In relationship and commitment to Jesus who is the Way to God. (John 3:16-17)

Know Our Audience—Study with understanding what they know before telling them who they need to know, namely Jesus who is Truth—the Way to redemption of all their sins with the bonus of eternal life!  (See Acts 17)

Know the Enemy—We will have opposition. Know and accept this fact.  Satan the fallen angel, kicked out of heaven because he wanted to be God, opposes all that is God.  Prepare for his tricks and lies by knowing the Word of God.  Jesus was tempted for forty days and nights in the wilderness.  He combated the enemy with the Word of God.  Jesus then began the mission God had sent Him to be and do.  Satan is the chief among liars, Jesus warns us, don’t listen to him—flee from him!  To know the enemy’s tactics is to suit up and prepare for the attacks that will come.  (See Ephesians 6)

Know Our Message

AND as Paul teaches Timothy;

“There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”

When all else fails, read the Instructions!  We all have many stories of failed construction projects when we don’t read the instructions of how to build first.

Consider this:  God’s Holy Spirit convicts us of what we have been doing that is not working to bring out God’s best in and through us.  Jesus is One and Only who forgives and redeems us when we repent of our sins.  Sin and guilt are then removed from our being— “as far as the east is from the west.”  God’s Word corrects us as we live our lives in Jesus, shaped by His love, mercy, and grace.    

Lord,

Thank you for not giving up on us.  We are undeserving and so unworthy of all you have done for us.  You gave so that we may live with you for eternity in Your holy presence.  You are with us now, putting us together and shaping us for what you created us to be and do.  Thank you, thank you, thank you! To you be the glory!  Thank you for all the course corrections you guide to make from Your Word.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth;
Clad in salvation’s full armor,
Join in the battle for truth.

(Hymn written by Howard Grose)

As I look back over the years of ministry, working alongside some wonderful servants of God, I think of all the traits they exhibited in their lives.  As God led me to mentor many young adults, I watched as God got their attention, invited them into His work in a certain way, and then to their amazement equipped them to do what God asked.  God gave me a front row seat to observed in others what He did in me.  For that, I am eternally grateful to God.  As a leader in my younger years, I know I didn’t do everything right, especially in the eyes of onlookers; but my heart was in the right place, wanting to be and do all that God created me to accomplish for Him.  I have no regrets for all the lessons learned—only thanksgiving for all the opportunities God gave me and still gives me to do while trying to be all He wants me to be in Him.  All for His glory, Amen! 

To mentor young adults where they lived or on mission fields was the delight of my heart.  All leaders must realize that our time as people of influence is brief, so as Paul says, we must make the most of every opportunity.  Our doctrine (who we are) is teaching others to find what we found in Christ—redemption and new life!  Our demeanor (what we do) is to pass on the character traits necessary to hear God and do what He has planned for each one of us.  All are called of God as His instruments of helping others believe and follow Jesus, His Son and be redeemed from sin for eternity!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 Our hope and future is in Jesus!

As God-led leaders who train others to pass on God’s work of salvation, we receive more joy in seeing other committed believers do what we did—better than the way we did it!  We praise God when they continue to be and do what God asks of us with whole-hearted commitment in the Name of Jesus for His glory!  Yes, friends, I “feel” Paul as he speaks of the great joy he has in hearing how Timothy is leading the church in Ephesus, a difficult task.  We feel the love, joy, and peace oozing from every pore of Timothy’s mentor, Paul. We must recall that Paul is sitting in a jail cell awaiting his death as he writes these final words to his beloved Timothy.

2 Timothy 2, The Message

Doing Your Best for God

^1-7 So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen! —to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.

^8-13 Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing:

If we die with him, we’ll live with him;
If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up—
    for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

^14-18 Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they’re not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples, throwing believers off stride and missing the truth by a mile by saying the resurrection is over and done with.

¹⁹ Meanwhile, God’s firm foundation is as firm as ever, these sentences engraved on the stones:

God knows who belongs to him.
steer clear of evil, all you who name God as God.

^20-21 In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

^22-26 Run away from childish indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others.” –Paul to Timothy (v.2)

Paul urgently and passionately tells Timothy that our doctrine (what we believe) comes from Jesus—

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”     –Jesus, Matthew 28:19-20

AND must match our demeanor (how we live to serve each day)—

“My son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen! —to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did.”

“Run away from childish indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God.”

God’s Holy Spirit is still meeting the needs of Paul while working through him to lead others to Christ— “God’s Word isn’t in jail!” Paul circumstances do not dictate what God is still doing in and through Paul, God’s instrument of grace!  Wow, can I get an amen?

Pause prayerfully to reflect…

• How am I allowing God right now to use me for His redemptive work?
• Am I repeating the “basic essentials” to others of God’s redemption through Jesus so they will know Him and follow Him?
• Am I concentrating on doing my best for God? Is Jesus truly my Master?
• Is what I say I believe as the doctrine of my life matching my demeanor as I relate to others?

Lord,

I haven’t arrived at all this, but I know you will help me.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul with your new mercies, and restore the joy of your salvation at work in me.  I love you.  I love how you work in me and in others for your glory and for the salvation for lost people without you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

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

Capture the Flag was a popular night game at some the youth camps we directed years ago.  Two or more teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team’s flag, located at the team’s “base” (or hidden or even buried somewhere in the territory), and bring it safely back to their own base. 

Enemy players can be “tagged” by players when out of their home territory and, depending on the rules, they may be out of the game, become members of the opposite team, be sent back to their own territory, be frozen in place, or be sent to “jail” until freed by a member of their own team.  As you can imagine, this was a game of strategy and cunningness.  Who would capture the flags of their opponents and be deemed the winners?  Only the tenacious, clever, and wise won.

I think of this camp activity, played in the darkness of night, as I read Paul’s commanding advice to Timothy, a young leader who is holding the “fort” at Ephesus.  In the final words of his first letter to Timothy, he tells Timothy what to avoid that will cause troubles in the ministry of helping others believe and follow Jesus.  Read as we learn how to guard the “flag” of the true message of salvation while avoiding the enemy’s tricks to “tag” us out in our efforts to do what God says in Jesus Name. 

1 Timothy 6, The Message

 ^1-2 Whoever is a slave must make the best of it, giving respect to his master so that outsiders don’t blame God and our teaching for his behavior. Slaves with Christian masters all the more so—their masters are really their beloved brothers!

The Lust for Money

^2-5 These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there’s an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.

^6-8 A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

^9-10 But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

Running Hard

^11-12 But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

^13-16 I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

^17-19 Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

^20-21 And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.

Overwhelming grace keep you!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Jesus, Matthew 6:19-21, NIV

What do we think about most?  That becomes the treasure we seek to store.

Who do we listen to most often and are influenced so greatly that we begin to say the same words as we do what they say?  What treasures are they leading us to store?

I grew up in Oklahoma but now live in Indiana.  When I am around a person from Oklahoma, I catch myself falling back into the cadence and accented voice of my native language.  (“Y’all” for instance, is the first phrase that pops out!)  We naturally begin to be like the person we are with most often.  Who we hang with and listen to influences our treasure hunt.

You have heard it said by the world— “the heart wants what the heart wants.”  But Jesus says unto us, what is in our hearts will flow freely into what we do and how we relate to others. If we are storing up hate, greed, bitterness, envy, and jealousy as treasures to seek and to store in the center of our being—our hearts—then these same traits of darkness will spill out into our walk and talk and harm us as well as others in the process.  These “treasures” are exactly what the opposing enemy of God wants us to seek—and we fall it when dabbling in the darkness with the enemy who seeks to capture our flag of freedom in Christ! 

Avoid the behaviors of the Enemy, says Paul to his young ministry protégé, Timothy.  Instead guard the rich treasures of all God has given to us and wants to grow in us—beginning with your salvation through Jesus, His Son!  Store up all the riches of His unconditional love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; that becomes our response to who we are in Christ as we grow in our relationship with Him!  (See Galatians 5) Riches in God’s will can introduce a person to life that is real and ministry that is lasting.

The more we hang on the words of Jesus; the more we become like him in every way by God helping us by His Spirit living in us!  “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. –Jesus, Matthew 6:24, NIV We can’t have it both ways as these traits are in constant conflict with each other.  Why?  If wealth makes a person proud, then he understands neither himself nor his wealth. We are not owners; we are stewards. God is the owner.

The influencers in Timothy’s world—

It was customary in the Roman oppressed world to acknowledge regularly, “Caesar is Lord!” Of course, Christians would say “Jesus Christ is Lord!” Paul exclaims here that only God has “honor and everlasting power.” If Timothy was going to fight the good fight of faith, he had to decide that Jesus Christ alone was worthy of worship and complete devotion.  Today we must decide daily who we will worship.  We decide who will influence our lives—treasures of greed or treasures of grace.  We learn that grace wins every time.  May God’s overwhelming grace lead us throughout this day—even now.

Lord,

Thank you for bringing our minds to the importance of treasure seeking and treasure storing that enriches our lives depending on who we want to be like.  Lord, I want to know you more so I can become more like you and less like the world.  I believe in you. I trust you with my life for you are Life eternal.  I know whom I have believed and I know you are able to teach me.  Thank you for your love, mercy, and grace.

In Jesus Name, Amen 

To Tell the Truth is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the “team of challengers”, each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the “central character” whose unusual occupation or experience has been read aloud by the show’s host. When the panelists question the contestants, the two impostors may lie whereas the “central character” must tell the truth.

Playing “To Tell the Truth” is a dangerous game to play in God’s church built on Jesus Christ, the Rock of our Salvation, who is Truth!

False teachers who appear to tell the truth in God’s church are political in nature; telling you to your face what you want to hear to get what they really want—power and glory for themselves.  For centuries, ever since the church was formed, this sin trait develops a huge blemish that stains the Bride of Christ—the church. The false teachers in the Ephesian church did not believe Jesus was really human. They contradicted Scripture while appearing to be self-disciplined and morally righteous.  In other words, they knew enough truth to be dangerous!  This still appears in churches today.  Paul begins to offer ways to deal with the sin before it destroys the relationship between God and His believers and the relationships between each other, our brothers and sisters!

Christian leaders must be disciplined in their walk with God and belief in Jesus as His Son. Where God guides, God provides the help of His Holy Spirit to lead all believers to Truth.  Leaders are just as tempted to the sin of self as anyone else they lead.  They must guard their motives, be faithful to God and his Word, and live commendable lives. A Godly leader knows their weaknesses and knows to rely on God’s wisdom, power and strength, with God’s sufficient grace, as they follow what He says in humbled gratitude to God. 

How do we know who is false and who is of God?  A false teacher can easily be detected if the teacher’s message differs from the Bible’s truth.  All who believe must study God’s Word so that we are not led away by false teaching.  It’s okay to ask questions to see who is telling the Truth and living the Truth.  But know that we too, will be questioned when our behaviors are questionable.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so we must, as Paul advises Timothy, “keep a close check on yourself.”

1 Timothy 5, The Message

The Family of Faith

^1-2 Don’t be harsh or impatient with an older man. Talk to him as you would your own father, and to the younger men as your brothers. Reverently honor an older woman as you would your mother, and the younger women as sisters.

^3-8 Take care of widows who are destitute. If a widow has family members to take care of her, let them learn that religion begins at their own doorstep and that they should pay back with gratitude some of what they have received. This pleases God immensely. You can tell a legitimate widow by the way she has put all her hope in God, praying to him constantly for the needs of others as well as her own. But a widow who exploits people’s emotions and pocketbooks—well, there’s nothing to her. Tell these things to the people so that they will do the right thing in their extended family. Anyone who neglects to care for family members in need repudiates the faith. That’s worse than refusing to believe in the first place.

^9-10 Sign some widows up for the special ministry of offering assistance. They will in turn receive support from the church. They must be over sixty, married only once, and have a reputation for helping out with children, strangers, tired Christians, the hurt and troubled.

^11-15 Don’t put young widows on this list. No sooner will they get on than they’ll want to get off, obsessed with wanting to get a husband rather than serving Christ in this way. By breaking their word, they’re liable to go from bad to worse, frittering away their days on empty talk, gossip, and trivialities. No, I’d rather the young widows go ahead and get married in the first place, have children, manage their homes, and not give critics any foothold for finding fault. Some of them have already left and gone after Satan.

¹⁶ Any Christian woman who has widows in her family is responsible for them. They shouldn’t be dumped on the church. The church has its hands full already with widows who need help.

* * *

^17-18 Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, “Don’t muzzle a working ox” and “A worker deserves his pay.”

¹⁹ Don’t listen to a complaint against a leader that isn’t backed up by two or three responsible witnesses.

²⁰ If anyone falls into sin, call that person on the carpet. Those who are inclined that way will know right off they can’t get by with it.

^21-23 God and Jesus and angels all back me up in these instructions. Carry them out without favoritism, without taking sides. Don’t appoint people to church leadership positions too hastily. If a person is involved in some serious sins, you don’t want to become an unwitting accomplice. In any event, keep a close check on yourself. And don’t worry too much about what the critics will say. Go ahead and drink a little wine, for instance; it’s good for your digestion, good medicine for what ails you.

^24-25 The sins of some people are blatant and march them right into court. The sins of others don’t show up until much later. The same with good deeds. Some you see right off, but none are hidden forever.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Paul advises Timothy to minister to the various kinds of people in the church, and not to show favoritism. Since Timothy was a younger man, he might be tempted to ignore the older members, so Paul urged him to love and serve all the people, regardless of their ages. The church is a family: Treat the older members like your mother and father, and the younger members like your brothers and sisters.  This love comes from God.  To know God is to know love—the kind of love that serves.

The purpose of discipline is restoration, not revenge. Paul’s instruction to Timothy highlights that the purpose must be to save the offender, not to drive him away. Our attitude must be one of love and tenderness (Galatians 6:1–3). In fact, the verb “restore” that Paul used in Galatians 6:1 means “to set a broken bone.”  When a broken bone is set back into place, healing begins.

Apparently, Timothy was having some problems with the elders of the church at Ephesus. He was a young man and still had much to learn. Ephesus was not an easy place to minister. Furthermore, Timothy had followed Paul as overseer of the church, and Paul would not have been an easy man to follow!  So, as this part of the letter may seem general in nature, Paul is helping Timothy deal with some very specific problems in ways that will please and honor God and help His people in the best way.

The best way to “keep a close check” on ourselves is to do what our perfect example of servant leadership did when He walked this earth.  Jesus, got alone often to be with His Father who told Him exactly what to be and do.  “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”  –Jesus, John 12:49, ESV 

“Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” John 5:19, NLT

Lord,

Guide us to all Truth by your Holy Spirit living in us.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies. Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Put the voices of the world in the distant while we listen for you still small voice that tells us all that is right and true with what to be and do.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

We all would like to be physically fit; but wanting it without doing something about it doesn’t make it so.  We might study fitness and talk often about what it takes to be fit; but only talking and studying it doesn’t lead to real action.  We are quick to teach others that they should be fit; but teaching won’t make us suddenly be fit.  We might buy all the latest exercise equipment to show others how to be fit; but if the equipment ends of being fancy clothes hangers, then we are probably not benefiting from these resources.  We remain flabby and soft.

Being fit takes time, sweat, pain, and courage to stay with it until the desired goal is met.  This “code of behavior” is called discipline!  (I’m preaching to myself and probably the choir!)  Friends, we know better.  To reach a desired goal is to buckle down, throw the biscuits and gravy in the trash, and get to work daily to be and stay fit, right?!  I am guilty of eating a salad and exercising for a rough 30 minutes expecting immediate results of lost pounds with a toned body right after this attempt of being fit for a day!  Friends, that ‘s just not going to happen.  I confess, I’ve tried.  It is a day by day, week by week, year by year of transforming our minds which changes our behaviors to reach our fitness goals.

Paul mentors Timothy that to be FIT will require faithful intentional training that is needed to show others who also desire to be fit.  His training goal is passing on the most important information on the planet—the Message of Truth!  Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life!  Paul includes—Practice what you Preach! 

Timothy 4, The Message

Teach with Your Life

^1-5 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

^6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

^11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

^15-16 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

BE FIT—STAY FIT!

1. Daily seek God first and listen to Him.  There are professional liars who have lied so long they are believers of their own deceptive knowledge! —Avoid them!  Don’t listen to the lies!  What God says is always true and never changes.  God cannot not fail or tell lies.  It is not in His nature.  God is for us, not against us who believe what He says.  Stay on the Lit Path to stay FIT!
2. Exercise daily in and with God.  Daily study His simple Message of Truth.  Know God.  Know Truth who is Jesus the Way to God.  Pass on this Way of Truth so others will know and believe in Jesus, too, with the hope of eternal life!  This is not merely a one time show of support but a daily disciple that builds spiritual muscles of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.   
3. Paul helps us understand how to daily develop the fitness we seek; “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” –Paul, Romans 12:1-2, MSG  God is our training coach who is with us always and gives us power to transform to fitness by His Spirit working in us!
4. Teach believers with your life:by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.  Others will know who you believe by how you live. Do our lives match what we say we believe about Jesus?
5. Cultivate and immerse ourselves in our Faithful Intentional Training of knowing and following Jesus.  When we do, we show the world a glimpse of what Jesus can do in a life disciplined to keeping a firm grasp on growing in Christ with a desire to be more like Him every day.  Salvation of the world through Jesus is our spiritual fitness goal.

Lord,

Thank you for your words of wisdom that spurs us on to reach our fitness goals, with you helping us! Thank you for your wisdom and strength to sustain us and prompt us keep at it daily.  May we quickly get back on track on those days when we falter.  And most of all, may others see the changes you are making in us with a desire to wonder who is making a difference in our lives!  Give us the words to say as we pass on your salvation truth.

In Jesus Name, Amen   

Who do we follow as leaders?  Who do we enjoy serving alongside?  What do we look for as we follow certain individuals?  What draws us to some people who seem destined to lead?  What characteristics do we look for in a leader?  Who can we trust to lead?  Why do some people force themselves on others who do it for all the wrong reasons?  What are the wrong reasons?  What are the right reasons to lead and to serve? Can we serve and lead at the same time?  Are we born leaders or are we called and equipped by God to lead?  Are we born helpers who love to serve?

All these questions arise in living our lives to please God in all we think, say, and do. Imagine all these wonderings with debates as new believers began to form groups called church who gathered to learn more about Jesus and find out how little they know about serving and growing together in His love, by His Spirit, for His glory.  Where do we start? How do we function together as individuals who are transforming to be more like Christ in every way, leaving our old cultural way of life behind to live for Jesus?  Some grow more quickly than others.  How do we deal with the stages and phases of maturity?

Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, transformed by Jesus, reformed from being a religious zealot who thought he knew it all but discovered only God knows; is called and equipped by God to lay out the principles of Godly leadership and servant living.  Paul will never stop preaching the way to salvation along with the principles of becoming more like Jeus in every way.  These principles of servant leadership began with Jesus.  Keep that in mind as we learn from this teaching.

1 Timothy 3, The Message

Leadership in the Church

^1-7 If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he’s talking about, not be overfond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money-hungry. He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God’s church? He must not be a new believer, lest the position go to his head and the Devil trip him up. Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap.

^8-13 The same goes for those who want to be servants in the church: serious, not deceitful, not too free with the bottle, not in it for what they can get out of it. They must be reverent before the mystery of the faith, not using their position to try to run things. Let them prove themselves first. If they show they can do it, take them on. No exceptions are to be made for women—same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued, not overfond of wine. Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive to their own children, and diligent in looking after their own affairs. Those who do this servant work will come to be highly respected, a real credit to this Jesus-faith.

^14-16 I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I’m delayed, I’m writing this letter so you’ll know how things ought to go in God’s household, this God-alive church, bastion of truth. This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough:

He appeared in a human body,
    was proved right by the invisible Spirit,
        was seen by angels.
He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples,
    believed in all over the world,
        taken up into heavenly glory.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Church is group of people who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Church does not save us but it is one of the places where God is worshiped and where salvation by Jesus can be found. Church is a group of messy, imperfect people seeking to be more like Christ in every way.  Most do not like to stay and stew in our mess but to be made new in Jesus! 

We come together for encouragement gained from each other because we “all been there done that” or as Paul writes, “all have sinned and fall short”.  Church is a place to confess our sins to God and trusted helpers of God, learn from our mistakes and then use what we know to help others.  Everybody who seeks finds God.  Everyone also receives the gift of help from God’s Holy Spirit who transforms our behaviors.  We celebrate this gift and act of God in our lives as His church.

How do we grow?  We sit under the care and leadership of those who are a bit farther in their faith journey than we are.  We learn from their faith journey and glean from the wisdom of God in them.  We recognize that they strive to follow Jesus by example.  Leaders are mentors who point us to Jesus, not themselves, as the pattern to copy.  We thank Jesus for being the perfect example who taught and lived as a servant leader for all to see and learn.  Therefore, Jesus is the Head of the Church and has shown us how to more forward toward the goal of growing in the character traits that please God and matures our faith. 

Jesus is the One and Only who saves us.  We cannot save ourselves.  God’s Holy Spirit was sent to guide us out of the mess and into a wonder relationship that matures our faith.     

Our repentance to Jesus with a commitment to follow Him as Lord puts us on a path of right living; only made right by Jesus.  We are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven by our Lord when we ask.  Throughout our journey we fail or fall for what seemed right at the time but was not. Sometimes we come to know we were to blame for being the one who hurt others because of our arrogance of wanting our own way!

In Christ alone, we are perfectly and completely forgiven of repented sins—“as far as the east is from the west”.  Only God can make us holy.  And the only way to God is Jesus.   Believing in Jesus involves being with Jesus, calling out in the name of Jesus and then listening to the Holy Spirit who helps us daily. 

Growing in our belief is in the being.  “Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10  Believing is letting go of everything, including self, that distracts from God. This is a life-long process of growing an intimate, loving relationship with God.  We will never be perfect in this world, but we can count on Jesus’ perfect forgiveness for our sins.  Always!  When we forget, go back to the beginning, and remember—

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 The “whosoevers” are all who believe Jesus is God’s Son sent to save us.  Bonus—the whosoevers are guaranteed eternal life! 

What comes after believing?  What happens as “whosoevers” come and gather to learn about God?  God created the whosoevers to live together in loving adoration for God while realizing the depth of love He has for his whosoevers.  The gathering is not a club but the conduit to Jesus who reconciles (reconnects) us to God!

Embracing God’s love; we learn to love like He loves us.  Deciding to follow Jesus; we are given His authority to fulfill His command.  The command is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”—Jesus, Matthew 28:19-20

–A purpose with a promise!   

Lord,

As we gather, some of us are ordained as leaders, some are followers. Some of us in the church Jesus built are paid full time staff and some are volunteers.  Some teach your Truth with diligence; adhering to Your Word and Holy Spirit’s guidance. You have gifted us in various ways to give you all the glory and praise as we encourage others to find and follow you.  We are truly privileged to join you in your mission to save the world.

In Jesus Name, Amen                           

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Jesus, Matthew 6:31-33

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46

Seek God first—Be still and know that He is God.  As we come to God in an attitude of grateful praise with a humbled heart seeking to know God, we realize His Presence as been there all the time waiting for us to talk with Him.  He delights in our seeking and in our wanting to let go of everything else occupying our minds to know Him more.

We discover that the more we know about God, we more often fixed our gaze on Him.  We also learn that we know little and must learn more.  Once there was a young adult, the youngest in the family, who was given the work of a shepherd boy. (Much like telling the youngest in our families to take out the trash today!)  It was a stinky job but had to be done.  But God had other plans for this young man, a gifted song writer who was deemed “a man after God’s own heart” because of David’s life-long pursuit to know God.  David loved to worship Him with his psalms but he also learned hard lessons when his eyes were fixed on something or someone else other than God.  David suffered the consequences of his sins against God. 

All the songs David wrote to God were filled honor and praise for God with a repentant, humbled heart, seeking forgiveness from God.  Because he knew God well, studied his word, and listened to God’s Spirit, David also knew when he had failed. Sometimes David needed a mentor, as in Nathan the prophet, to confront him of his sins unrepented and guide him back to God. David always returned to God who loved him. David experienced God’s mercy and grace to him.

That same God, who never changes in His love for his created humans, forgives and loves us still.  He helps those who believe in Him for God is for us, not against us.  He provides for our needs.  He protects us and leads us through the “dark valleys” of our days on earth.  He restores our broken hearts and gives us new life in Christ Jesus who died to remove our sins from our being—God’s Plan to save us forever!  God also has a plan and purpose for each life lived on earth.

Paul, God’s mentor to Timothy, another young man who loves God, continues to remind Timothy of how God wants us to live—in simple faith as we learn His plan and follow Truth.  But, “the first thing I want you to do is pray,” says Paul. 

How will we know what God wants to do in and through us if we do not ask God first?

1 Timothy 2, The Message

Simple Faith and Plain Truth

^1-3 The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

^4-7 He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.

^8-10 Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.

^11-15 I don’t let women take over and tell the men what to do. They should study to be quiet and obedient along with everyone else. Adam was made first, then Eve; woman was deceived first—our pioneer in sin!—with Adam right on her heels. On the other hand, her childbearing brought about salvation, reversing Eve. But this salvation only comes to those who continue in faith, love, and holiness, gathering it all into maturity. You can depend on this.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus got alone often to a quiet place to pray to God.  Jesus did this before doing anything of significance because it was God who sent Him and He knew God who would provide direction.  Jesus did what the Father told Him to say and do.  Jesus, His Son, knew God, the Father well.  Jesus knew as Son of Man, to be still and know God so He could fulfill the mission God sent him to be and do.

So, who are we to think we can be and then do what God wants in and through us without asking Him?  I shudder and tremble at the thought.

PAUSE TO PRAY

Paul reminds all of us to refrain from reacting to the unfair, rude, cruel world around us with fists of anger and instead respond with raising “holy hands to God in prayer.  Read that again, I did.  There is a distinct difference in reacting in haste and respond to the God who created all, knows all and is over all. 

Seek first God and His righteousness—the “right” response to be and do.

Lord,

Help me to avoid the natural temptation to react to injustice with anger by pausing to respond instead with seeking you first asking what you want from me.  Help us all to be in pursuit of you all day long, looking for you, listening to you, hiding your Word in our hearts—all for the purpose of being still, letting go of what we think, to know what you think as we know you more.  May your glory and beauty be seen in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen