Daily Reading March 9 2010 from 2 Timothy 2:14-26 NIV

Day 58

2 Timothy 2:14-26 NIV
14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” 20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purpose, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 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.

Close Your Mouth!
No, not you. This statement is however a very good summary of what the Apostle is saying to those who have wondered or are in danger of wondering away from the faith. Paul begins this section with warning about quarreling. This statement is to believers not unbelievers. Quarreling about WORDS, we are so often word happy. We take a biblical word and define it and then build doctrines around it. These words are then interpreted differently by others which stirs to an argument leading to division. Paul says to correctly handle God's Word and to avoid idle word because it makes us increasingly ungodly. Paul goes on to say that those who babble and stray from the teaching of the truth that their teaching will spread like gangrene. The Apostle next names two such preachers who have strayed from truth and are teaching falsehoods about the resurrection. Their words are discouraging some and causing others to lose faith altogether. In the 23rd verse Paul goes right back to arguments. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments" these arguments cause fights and division and keep us from what we are called to be doing; "he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and not resentful" according to Paul those engaged in these arguments are distracted from doing the right things.

It is often difficult but we as the body of Christ need to come together and focus on what we do agree about. We agree about a Savior, we agree that God's Word is our only source and it is infallible, we agree that there is are only two choices for eternity and everyone has to make this choice. When we can agree together on Jesus Christ and presenting the gospel God is pleased.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

Daily Reading for January 25 2010 from Ephesians 6:10-4

Day 15

Please read this entire passage. Yes, it is long but there is so much here. If we could just understand these words we would be living a victorious life.

Ephesians 6:10-24

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Final Greetings

21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.
22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

There is more here than I could possibly deal with in a single post or even a single day. This is a powerful passage with such rich content and it is meant to be read, studied, digested, and practiced! The full armor of God not parts and pieces but the full armor. I have decided to break this down verse by verse with just a few brief comments to keep the length of this post shorter.

V. 10 be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power

We are once again reminded by the Apostle Paul that it is God's strength that sustains us. We are weak because this battle is not fought in the physical realm. The remaining verses teach us how to protect ourselves and how to fight! 

11 Put on the full armor so you can STAND against the devil’s schemes

STAND! The word stand is emphasized throughout this passage as it speaks of standing on what we believing and resisting the devil until he flees.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

As we stand armed and ready the devil will be required to flee. You see he is just looking for a chink in our armor a way in! The bible tells us "neither give place to the devil" but when we are standing fully armed there is no way for him to attack except with deceipt (schemes). The Word schemes describes our adversary. He is sneaky, he is always looking for a way to lie, cheat, steal, or deceive his way into wearying us in our fight.  The good news is that we don't have to give in and be defeated the bible promises triumphant victory.

Romans 8:37-39

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

2 Corinthians 2:14 

 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

12 our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

Against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against

The spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms

Now our enemy is identified. We are in a spiritual battle. Many times we point to people (humans) and look at them as though they are the enemy. The truth is that they are being used by the enemy to attack us. People who yield to the devil's influence become tools for his dark works just like when we yield to Christ and become instruments of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

God knew we would be engaged in spiritual warfare so he gave us the weaponry necessary to win these battles. The passage above says we have the power to demolish strongholds, arguments, and pretensions. We even have the power to control our minds, after all we do have the "mind of Christ". So we have no reason to fear these rulers and wicked authorities as long as we are in Christ and fully armed. We read earlier in Ephesians that Jesus defeated all these enemies and made a show of them openly. Jesus did the full word and evil has been conquered we have been given the victory. 

13 with the full armor you will be able to stand your ground, and

After you have done everything (exhausted everything you can do),

Stand in faith

14 stand firm! Belt of truth (Word of God), breastplate of

Righteousness – (Jesus is our righteousness)

15 feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace

Again we are turned to the Word of God with the statement gospel of peace.  God's Word is the good news, gospel, and when we turn to His Word and confess it over our lives we WIN! His Word brings peace.

16 shield of faith which extinguish ALL the flaming arrows of the

Evil one

The attacks will come and will continue to come but none of them has to harm us as long as we stay in faith. We do that by reading and understanding the Word of God. The Word builds up our faith and makes it possible for us to stand.

Romans 10:17 NIV

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,

and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 

It helps me to read His Word aloud, it gets down in my spirit and when I encounter a battle that living Word comes to mind and I speak the victorious Word over my situation. The Word of God never fails, it is full proof. 

17 The helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is

The Word of God (a weapon not Just an element of defense) fight

the good fight of faith

Helmet of salvation! The protection of our head. The mind is where we are often attacked. Many times throughout God's Word we see passages like they cannot see or they cannot hear. Or their minds were turned against God. Satan attacks the mind if possible. There seem to be more and more mental illnesses today than ever before. Depression is rampant even among Christians but I don't believe we have to be subject to many of these attacks. I believe the answer to these conditions many times can be found in the Word of God. We have the mind of Christ! When we put on the full armor our minds, sight, and hearing, are protected. Furthermore, the mouth is house in the head. The mouth is a powerful weapon both for good and evil. The bible says that what we say is who we are. Many times our own confessions do more damage to our lives than satan ever could. Change your speech, read the book of James and see what is said about the tongue. We are meant to speak faith and not fear, positive and not negative. Confession of the Word is powerful . "And God said let there be light" God did all His creative works with confession. We too have power in our confession so when our confession lines up with the Word and the Will of God we have power. Don't be deceived into confessing negative things!

This passage doesn’t end here but proceeds in verse 18

18 pray in the Spirit on ALL occasions with all kinds of prayers

And requests, be alert and always keep on praying for all saints

Prayer is such a key! So many are powerless today because they don't pray. Spending time in prayer is vital to having victory. The scripture says to pray with all kinds of prayers. It also says to pray in the Spirit, we have been given a power prayer language. And when we cannot pray anymore or cannot pray with knowledge the bible says the spirit prays for us with groanings. A prayer life is a must for living the victorious life and standing against the attacks of the enemy. Paul said to pray without ceasing!

I realize this was a very long post but I do pray you have read these words. This is a passage of Scripture that should be read and read again. It needs to be digest and then acted upon. We are told to take up the sword of the spirit. So many times we are in a defensive position just trying to survive until Jesus comes but we were meant to claim and conquer for the name of Jesus. When we begin to pray out the Word and Will of God the devil flees and we can reclaim the lost for Jesus Christ. Are you STANDing?

Blessings,

Pastor Larry