Sunday, June 19, 2005

Today Our Daily Bread 1 Tim 4

1 Timothy 4: 1 - 16
1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts. 5 For we know it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
6 If you explain this to the brothers and sisters, you will be doing your duty as a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is fed by the message of faith and the true teaching you have followed. 7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. 8 Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. 9 This is true, and everyone should accept it. 10 We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe the truth, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and particularly of those who believe. 11 Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. 12 Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 13 Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you.
~ Lena's Comments~
The explanation is the Word of God is true, it is a person, alive inside of people. It is not laws written out on white paper, it is life to live for God, others and self. It is the spirit and nature of our Lord, whom we love and serve. It is His essence and a picture of His likeness with instruction in wisdom in how to be like Him. Its purpose is peace, It’s purpose is life, its purpose is salvation for all. Its motive is love, such a great and grand love, that he- the Living Word, gave up what he was, what he "could be", for one person, me, and anyother persons who would come also. IT IS A WASTE of TIME to debate the word as though it is a thing to be argued, It/He is a person, He is the maker of all. There is no dispute to this, none. He’s the ONLY ONE, and He chose us, chose to love us, and by love even serves us. He’s God and He serves us! This is why those who understand labor and are willing to go through the laboring process to bring forth Christ in others. It is so worth giving one’s life for. Youth is not measured in the spirit like it is in the natural. One can be 1 yr. old mature in the spirit and be 50 in the natural. People have a hard time with esteeming those who are younger than they are in natural age, yet wiser in spiritual maturity. The writer here says, don’t stumble over this, see it is a spiritual sense, rather than a natural one. How does one not neglect prophetic words, etc? By attending to them, giving themselves over to prayer about them, dreaming and agreeing with God on them (if faith has arisen over their words). It’s just like when we first hear a word in God’s word to us and we’ve never heard it before and it doesn’t seem to be so, at least for us now, but as we receive it and begin to believe it and ask God to make it a part of us, we find ourselves becoming that word. Such as kindness, we may have been very unkind and have practiced that our whole lives regularly. Well, we hear in the word that God’s character is kindness and we receive that word, then we embrace it and ask God to help us to become it, we begin to practice it and it becomes us, we have changed into the word of God and it has changed us into its image and likeness. That is the same things with prophecy, in fact the word prophecy, means preaching. So someone preached to us that we’d win souls. We’ve got to receive that and believe that enough to bring that to God and ask Him how we may need to adjust and change in order for that to become us. If we seek Him, He will show us howto become His character of a winner, of a lover and as we apply it, we will succeed in becoming the word that was given us about winning souls. The word always requires change to fit into its mold. The word of God is NOT magic and it is not God’s fault if a prophecy does not come to pass. Did we believe it? Receive it? Seek God on it? Become willing to be changed into its mold? Willingness for change that we do not and cannot do on our own, but that can only happen by God’s grace is what needs to happen, is what we all need to get to. We feel like if God wants to change us He doesn’t love us, He loves us enough to change us. We’ll die in sin if we don’t change, we’ll die prematurely if we don’t change, we will lose souls if we don’t change, We’ll walk in the curse if we don’t change. We’ll kill other’s faith if we don’t change. Change is good, but more than that, change is God!