II Timothy 1
March 15, 2007
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
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As I was reading this chapter I got to thinking how so many people think that being a Christian is boring. I can’t imagine how anyone could think that if they would just pay attention to what they are reading in the Bible. It is full of adventures and miracles and even battles. Paul saw more “adventure” in his life then I ever care to see. He writes to Timothy again to encourage him to be bold with his faith. Don’t sit on the sidelines and wait for others to do the job. God empowers us to not be afraid, but to have peace in the face of danger and the unknown and to be bold and to be self disciplined. I am so thankful for that last one specifically. Without His help we would have to face temptation alone and that would be a loseing battle. Instead, we can have victory if we follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
We should not be timid in the things of God, but bold and decisive. We should be timid and meek in the world, recognizing that we could never deserve what has been freely given to us. Bold through Christ and timid through the world. We can only be powerful through Christ….all power comes from Him for Him.
vs 6 & 14 really reveal that within each one of us God has deposited gifts…those are things that you have to seek out, but Paul is stating that we have to build on them, grow them, strenghten them…they are not just given to us and POOF they are magically strong and powerful..no way…these gifts I like to refer to as my spiritual weight room…I hit the weights to get stronger..i have to target certain areas of muscle I want to grow and steadily progress building those muscles…
The same goes with this spiritual gift, you have to target what it is God has given you, and steadily grow it, strengthen it and use it…
Why do we think in our walk with God that everything just happens…I am spoiled, you are spoiled we all are spoiled..>We have to work hard to achieve what we need to achieve!!!!!!!
-Christ has destroyed death
-He brought immortality to life
-We are appointed as both heralds (announcers) and teachers
-Paul is not ashamed of his suffering, he knows it is for the sake of the gospel
-we are saved, not from anything that we have done, but for His purpose