Day 55
1 Timothy 6:11-21 NIV
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,15 which God will bring about in his own time–God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,21 which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.
Grace be with you.
Grace Be With You!
Today we conclude the book of 1 Timothy and prepare to move on to 2 Timothy another letter from Paul to "his son in the faith" Timothy. I decided to begin today with the end of the reading, "grace be with you" what a great statement from a man who truly understood God's grace. Paul had committed enough atrocities against God that he knew the truth of God's grace from experience. The older I get the more I want people to know and understand the grace of God. This great "amazing" grace so completely displays the love of God. No man can accurately describe it but we all can live it. We don't know the heighth, depth, or breadth of this loving grace. At times we think we have seen it all and then God does some other miraculous act on behalf of his undeserving creation and we are once again amazed by this grace. I don't write like this today to discount judgment because judgment will come just as certainly as Jesus came but this amazing grace has made a way for all to escape our deserved judgment simply by calling on a Savior and turning from our wicked ways. When I begin to think this way I just want to praise HIM for His love and grace, in fact even as I write tonight I am overwhelmed with His holy presence and again lost in His love.
Fight the Good Fight!
Now on to our text for today. "Man of God" this is the description Paul uses for Timothy, "man of God". As you know by now Paul doesn't loosely throw out complements he obviously had observed behavior in this young man that provoked him to draw such a conclusion. Paul proceeds "flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith." Pursue, fight, flee, take hold? These are words of action not simply sitting back and enjoying the fact that you have achieved eternal life. Paul reminds us that we are to continue in our pursuits until we no longer have breath to breathe. I was reminded lately that once God pursued me with His love but now I pursue Him by seeking His face and gaining more and more intimate knowledge of Him. We can and should pursue God and righteousness. We can and should flee from unrighteous behaviors. We can and should continue fighting against the lies of the enemy by declaring God's Word and reminding the enemy of his fate. This isn't a relationship we just sit back and relax in after we have turned to God but rather an active faith walk that we should pursue daily. David said "early will I seek thee" and I believe it is vital that we begin every day with the pursuit and praise of a holy God. Paul says that Timothy made his good confession in front of many witnesses and he should keep that confession until Jesus comes again. Are you keeping your confession? Sure you will mess up from time to time but are you quickly going to God when you stumble and keeping that relationship intimate? God desires communion with His people and I am so glad that He does. I love to talk to Him and even more when He talks to me.
Take Action!
Right now, take action. Pursue God and an intimate relationship with Him. You don't have to feel dry and alone God wants to be with you right now. He is constantly reaching out to us and when we listen we hear Him and He takes time to demonstrate His love and care for His most precious creation. Praise God! I challenge you to pursue Him with all your mind, heart and strength and see if He doesn't transform your walk with Him.
Blessings,
Pastor Larry
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