Friday, March 25, 2005

Today Our Daily Bread

2 Timothy 2: 1 - 26
1 So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. 2 Pass on what you heard from me - the whole congregation saying Amen! - to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. 3 When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. 4 A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. 5 An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. 6 It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. 7 Think it over. God will make it all plain.
8 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. 9 It's what I'm sitting in jail for right now - but God's Word isn't in jail! 10 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. 11 This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we'll live with him; 12 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; 13 If we give up on him, he does not give up - for there's no way he can be false to himself.
14 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. 15 Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. 16 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, 17 they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples, 18 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. spurn evil, all you who name God as god. 20 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. 21 Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.
22 Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness - faith, love, peace - joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. 23 Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. 24 God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, 25 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, 26 enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.
The Message
~Lena's Comments ~
Boy, isn’t that a great translation? "Hits the nail on the head". The religious mind leaves the Word of God to others, makes suggestions from the Word and counts the word as an option we may one day consider. God has chosen ALL of us to the ministry of reconciliation, reconciling those who crucified Him to Him. Again I quote, many are called, and few are chosen. Meaning the same call goes out to all, but a few choose to take it as serious God-business and answer and actually do what His word is calling for in each of our daily lives. Notice in vs. 1 how it says throw yourself? This is evidence of God’s gentlemanly nature, He oh so wants us to, but will not make us, because He desires a true response of reciprocated love from His people, not a people who obey because He made them to obey. We decide to throw ourselves into His work, because we gain such a love for Him (Love God) and a love for His (Love People) that we have to, because our hearts strongly take us there. We’re under command because we understand His great love and cannot and will not let His actions go to waste.
The use of words is so important. Our mouths should really be given over to the use of the furtherance of the gospel; that’s it. Does what I say promote Godliness in another? Does it stir up a hunger and a thirst for God? Do I leave room for more of God and less of me, or did I leave a strong scent behind of who I am in my own self-life? What are people remembering about me when I walk away? What are they remembering or saying about Him, when I’m no longer standing there?
Firmness and patience help work the work of God. Why would I be patient at all? I have to look at everything in Eternal light. If my impatience pushes someone away from Christ, or even me for that matter, have I succeeded to win or consolidate or disciple or send them? Have I been able to impart purpose at all? What if they are unfair and obnoxious? Think eternal thoughts once again, will my impatience with that behavior they display work the work of God that He desires to work inside of them, or will it further prevent the possibilities of change in them? Love covers a multitude of sins and also draws a person from where they are to where they will be.
I’ve so got to learn that it is NOT about how they make me feel, and it is so about whether the word has been given a place through my actions towards the person that God loves and Christ died for.