I’m scared

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

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading; Joel 1-3 and 2 Timothy 1.

If we miss the first part of today’s verse, we risk bending the rest of it into something it isn’t.

The Spirit of God enables the listed things.

If I try to do any of it on my own, the results will be of my own doing not His.

When I am filled with His Spirit, I will be capable of boldness.

How often are we intimidated as believers?  A situation presents itself in which we could step up for Him but instead of stepping up, we step back.  We play it safe.

If I am filled with His Spirit I will step where He wants me to step.

My issue often is that I see situations from my perspective.  I fail to include God in my thinking.  Therefore, I am often overwhelmed and intimidated.  I cringe later at an opportunity missed.

Another thought is that often I am unprepared to flow naturally into giving a Godly interjection.  The “opportunity” catches me off-guard and I react accordingly.

Again, back to being filled with Him.  If I am filled, then His Words (whatever that may entail) will flow in His timing.  I won’t overstate, and I won’t understate.  How I long to speak rightly representing Him!

“Lord, You are my God.  I can do nothing right apart from You.  I need You every second.  Forgive me for going it alone.  I know that this is dumb, yet how often I do it.  Take me over, please.  Guide me, Father.”

If I am filled with His Spirit I will speak His Words in a timely manner.

I want God to use me

“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.  Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”  2 Timothy 2:20-21.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading; 2 Timothy 1-4.

I want to be used by God.

What do I have to do to make that happen?

I believe that the more of me that God controls the more uses He can have with me.

Do I see the needs in my midst?

Do I really hear what people in my midst are saying?

If God controls every part of me then my senses will be on full alert.  I won’t miss things that He wants me to see/hear.

How much of what I do is for selfish purposes?  Am I the bottom line in my activities?

Why am I troubled when my digital recorder doesn’t work but not over neighbors living apart from God in my midst?  What’s really important to me?

Troubling stuff, for sure.

“Lord, forgive me for surrendering to You with my mouth but not with the way I actually live.  Who am I trying to kid?  Prick my conscience.  Activate me spiritually to talk/walk Your Way.  I love You, Lord.”

If I want God to use me the way He can, I must give up FULL control of my life.

How to know if God is in control in your life

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord….” 2 Timothy 1:7-8.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: Joel 1-3, and 2 Timothy 1.

If I have the Holy Spirit within me, I will not be timid.  This is one of many ways to get an accurate gauge of my spiritual condition: If I’m timid about representing Him then His Holy Spirit does not fully control me.

Look at the various means by which we share Him: powerfully, lovingly, and with self-discipline.  If you think that those are all the same, you’re not paying attention!

We need to have the three of them in our spiritual arsenal because we will face different situations which require different qualities on our part.

How important it is to be filled with Him!  How are we to know, on our own, what others need to get from us to direct them to the Gospel?  God only knows.

I believe that there are many opportunities to introduce folks in my midst to God.  My hesitancy reveals that I am limiting the Holy Spirit in my life.  Will I give up control of my life to Him?

“Lord, I want You to control every part of me.  I want You to equip me to rightly represent You in every situation.  The ability to ascertain the needs of others MUST be God-given and I want that ability.  I ask You now to take me over.  I love You, Lord.”

Am I timid in representing God?  Yes?  The Holy Spirit is being left out of parts of my life.

 

 

 

How to behave like God’s servant

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.  Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”  2 Timothy 2:24-26.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Timothy 1-4.

I read 2 Timothy this morning.  It is a great book written in an uncomplicated style for the most part.  It gives practical advice to the listeners of that day and to us as well.

Each of us is the “Lord’s servant,” so the instruction that follows in that verse is for us.

I latched on to “able to teach.”  We all get opportunities to teach someone something.  It could be something such as making the clicker work to open a garage door.  The examples are countless.  Some of us are better at it than others.  Our Godliness MUST surface when we are called on to teach.  Patience would surely be a necessity in teaching anything.

I was also caught with the phrase about “gently” instructing an opponent.  That’s not easy!  We are often so eager to drive home a point to them.  However, in the process of driving home a point we can end up driving off an opponent.  We don’t want that ending, do we?

To rightly represent God in my midst I must be filled with the Holy Spirit.  I must be conscious of His presence in me so that what I say and what I do is done through that Filter.  How often do we bulldoze past Him and end up projecting ourselves rather than Him.

“O Lord, I need You desperately.  Forgive me for ever living life apart from You.  What a mess I make of it!  Govern my every move.  I yield to You.  Direct me.  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, I pray.”

There are plenty of behavioral instructions in the Bible.  We must get to doing the ones we can understand.

 

 

His strength needed

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4 3-4.

“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me the strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”  2 Timothy 4:17.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: Amos 1-3, Psalm 80, and 2 Timothy 4.

I like the way these two verses in 2 Timothy go together.

In the first verse we are told that people are not going to want to listen to the Gospel while in the second verse we see what happens when God is with us.

It is comforting because that day of Gospel rejection seems to be upon us.  Those who accept the Gospel as likely to be true are a vanishing breed.  The reputation of those celebrating the Good News comes into question.  “That’s ancient myth material!  Why believe that?”

BUT with the Lord at his side, Paul is given the capability to explain the Gospel to many who had no idea what it was all about.  And Paul certainly needed that Godly strength because his associates had deserted him.

The key for me is to be united with God.  I long to be able to present the Gospel to those in my family midst and my actual midst.  They need to understand that the Messiah has come and has taken their sins away forever.  They have new life and are now part of His rescue mission on earth to transform this place into what it should be.  The Messiah has promised to return to earth and finish the transformation job.  Hallelujah!

“Lord, forgive me for ever functioning apart from You.  I want to get Your work done here on earth.  Direct my path.  Prick my conscience when I am off track.  Stay by my side, I beg.  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.”

We need His strength.

+10 not good

The Gospel

“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.  But God’s word is not chained.”  2 Timothy 2:8-9.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Jonah 1-4, and 2 Timothy 2.

The Gospel is Good News.

Paul may be in chains but the Gospel he is preaching is unchained.

God promised David that a Messiah coming in his line would live forever.  He was talking about His Son Jesus.

God loves the world.  He promised a King who would remove the biggest obstacle the earth’s inhabitants faced: the power of sin.

When Jesus died He took the sins (past/present/future) of the world with Him.  The sins, and the power of sin, stayed dead while God brought Jesus back to life.

Jesus returned with a new life, a life free of decay.

Because Jesus took care of my sins I can live knowing that sin has no power over me.  I have new life.  A life unburdened by sins.  I must live accordingly.

When Jesus returns, as He has promised, I will get a decay-free body.

“Lord, thank You for Your Good News.  Fill me with You so that I can live now as You want me to live.  Fill me with Your Love to overflowing.  I love You, Father.”

What is the Gospel?  It is news, good news.

+9 steady but tooo high

 

 

 

The qualities of a Spirit-led believer

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

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Joel 1-3, and 2 Timothy 1.

This is what “right” looks like: fearless, loving, and self-disciplined.

There is no way in our own strength that we can pull this off.  We must be filled with His Spirit.

I believe that I have His Spirit within me.  The ongoing issue is, how much of me will I allow His Spirit control?

I look at my behavior and my thoughts for a gauge of His level of control in my life.  Those two (behavior/thoughts) betray anything I may be trying to tell myself about my spiritual condition.

What would I be like if my life was flooded with His power, His Love, and His good sense?  I dare say that it would be NOTHING like the life I am leading.

How sad it is to know what could be and yet continue to live separated from what could be.

I don’t want to look back at my life wondering why I lived a “lukewarm” life so despised in Revelation.

Solomon pleased God by asking for discernment and the ability to get wrong/right right.  I must ask for the same twosome.

“Lord, my life is so lacking.  I don’t want a sense of accomplishment.  I want a sense that I am riding Your Wave to wherever it takes me.  I want the sense of being in Your Will and therein being: fearless for You, loving as You loved me, and able to exhibit Godly discipline in my life.  Help me, Father, I beg.”

Are you a lukewarm follower too?

+10 corn and candy

 

God is looking for full-time “help.” Am I available?

“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” 2 Timothy 2:20-21

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 2 Timothy 1-4.

The chosen verses refer to common articles in a household but are actually referencing our lives.

God has work for every believer to do but is the believer prepared to do what God wants.

This is a continuation on recent blog entries. My passion for doing what God wants is paramount to how He uses me.

My relationship to God must be full-time. That has to be the starter. I cannot be a drifter. I cannot go significant amounts of time unmindful of Him.

How can God direct me to doing what He wants if He can’t easily get my attention?   This may be wrong theologically but if I choose to be out-of-touch with Him then I need to assume that He moves on to others to do His work.

I must be in round-the-clock cleansing mode. My life must be right in His sight. I must be humbly in His midst and constantly seeking His Will. And when that “Will” comes I must be eager and ready to carry it out.

I want to be someone that God can rely on because of my willingness to do whatever it takes to be right with Him and because of my readiness to take His action in my midst.

“O Lord, help me. I want to please You but cannot do it in my own strength. I need You running my life. I need You flooding my consciousness. Lord, do those things, I beg. I love You, Father.”

God is looking for “full-time” help not “part-time.”  Are you interested?

+12 – Steady but lower needed

 

 

 

The easy way

Scene from the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine

“They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:4

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Amos 1-3 & Psalm 80 & 2 Timothy 4)

We don’t want to listen to hard truths.

We want to hear praise, encouragement, and positives.

When presented with hard truths we listen briefly and then switch to the more enjoyable truths.

God’s truths are clear and often hard. “Forgive others the way God forgave you.” Try living up to that one!

It becomes very clear that obeying God’s truths cannot be done in our own strength. We may get it right on occasion but over the long haul it just won’t happen. That’s because our strength is limited. God’s isn’t but will I avail myself of His strength instead of my own?

How often do I listen to truths that don’t apply to me? I sure enjoy hearing them! But when one latches onto me, let’s come back to that one later. Let’s not dwell on negatives. Let’s concentrate on what I’m doing right. God wants otherwise. He wants to take over entirely. He insists that I give my WHOLE life to Him. He is willing to wash clean every part of me. But will I submit to the needed scrubbing? It could hurt. It could be embarrassing. It could be the best thing I ever did!

“Lord, forgive me for avoiding Your hard truths. I want every area of my life to be Godly. Forgive me for avoiding Your discipline. I want to rightly represent You in everything I do. I must be filled with You to do it. I cannot pick and choose the full-surrender parts of me. It must be all or nothing. Take me entirely over, Father. I love You, Lord.”

Strength given by God

Scene from Coastal Maine Botanical Garden in Boothbay

“For the Spirit God gave us doesn’t not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

(Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading – Joel 1-3 & 2 Timothy 1)

I have His Spirit.

I therefore no longer live as a wishy-washy, wind-affected person. I am filled with Him. He has taken over my life. I insisted that He do it. I was never able to manage it.

Look at the things I have in Him; power, love and self-discipline.

The size of God overwhelms my estimates of the strength of those in opposition. They are no match for Him.

I have the capacity to love those in my midst. I love them at the measure that God has loved me. There was no reason for Him to love me. I am a sinner. But His grace overrides His justice. Therefore, I can see others in the same way in His strength.

Very important to me is to have an awareness of my need for discipline. I want to know Him better and better. I know it requires diligence to get into His Word and pray with great regularity. It cannot be a limited inclination for me. In His strength I can have the needed discipline.

What wonderful gifts all of them are for me to cultivate and saturate myself in.

I want to actively share Him with others. Those gifts referenced in today’s verse are essential for me to have in that pursuit.

“O Lord, I need all of You. I need to be full of You. I have Your Holy Spirit within me. I open every part of my being to You. Flood into all of me, I beg. I want You to control every part of me. I love You, Father.”