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2 Timothy 4:1-4

11/27/2014

2 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1-4‬

"I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths."

This set of scriptures spoke to me today because we are in a time when the world wants acceptance for what it is doing and not truth. The truth makes people uncomfortable and it is easier to follow our flesh or our thoughts than it is to follow the Lord. We are to love people but we need let the truth correct them and that can only come from The Word of God. If people get offended by the word all we can do is; patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage the people God has placed in our church. If they get offended and leave, we can't try and change to make them comfortable. The Lord will make them grow when they open their hearts and surrender their thinking. We as the church need to work in love and truth, we can't say the things that make people sit back and not feel the urge to let God transform their lives.

Believing is one thing, transforming to live the new life in Christ is another. It's not working to earn, it's working to shine for others. We can believe and do miracles and still hear "I never knew you." Are we willing to surrender and give up our flesh to say yes to what is truth? It might make us angry or uncomfortable, or even say; this is how I want to feel and it's right because it feels right to me. But we have to see if it aligns with Gods word, and let it go if it doesn't. I love what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 23, "You say, I am allowed to do anything - but not everything is good for you. You say, I am allowed to do anything - but not everything is beneficial." As new creations we must work on living the new life we have in Christ. We no longer live to satisfy our own desires or wants, we live for Christ. Verse 24 goes on to say, "Don't be concerned for your own good but for the good of others."

We have to stop thinking that the free gift frees us from doing anything, and allows us to live as we once did. As new creations we are new in Christ, and being new in Christ frees us from our old sinful ways and makes life worth living. This is why my favorite verse is Philippians chapter 1 verse 21 which says "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better." Paul understands he isn't Saul anymore, and what he did isn't who he is anymore. And he said he worked harder than any of the apostles. I want to end with what Paul says in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27, "Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News." We need to forget ourselves and our feelings and follow the things we learn from the Word and the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Colossians 2

11/12/2014

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Colossians 2:6-7
"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

Look how important it is t follow Jesus, we must learn and seek all that He offers because He is why we exist. The more we know Him and live the ay He lived the more our roots grow into Him and the more secure we are in our walk. We have all tried to pull weeds or had plants that have died that had deep roots, they are hard to remove because their roots have grown deep and have established themselves in the ground. This is what Paul is saying, "let your lives be built on Him." When we open our hearts and surrender to Him we seek wisdom from Him and He will help us grow. It says once we build our lives on Him, "Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

There is no magic potion, it is building a relationship and asking God for understanding. Then as we get understanding we will live out what we understand from Christ and we will mature and our faith will keep us solid. Look at what Paul says in Colossians chapter 2 verses 2-3, "I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself. In Him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." There is no other place we need to look, God's word is our self-help book and Jesus is the answer to all our questions. Verse 8 goes on to say, "Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ."

The more we study Christ the more we will know Christ, the more we know Christ the more we will act like Christ because He fills us with the wisdom we need to succeed. If you are feeling down, look up. If you feel helpless, look up. If you feel weak, look up. If you feel un-worthy, look up. He will fill us all with what we need so don't wonder where to look, just know Him. Amen

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Philippians 2

11/7/2014

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Philippians 2:12-13
"Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him."

I love the fact that it is telling us to work hard because hard work pays off in anything we do. If we are going to be good at something or a difference maker we are going to have to put the effort in so the benefit is for others. Verse 13 starts with, "For God is working in you..." We are not alone, when the world around us is getting crazy, and we know it's going to, God is working in us to help us make the right decisions. Are we going to work hard enough with our study and prayer to be able to hear, or are we going to say our belief is enough and go through life a mess?

At the end of verse 7 and verse 8 it says, "When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God..." That is what hard work does for us, it helps us surrender and follow the Spirit. With our hard work there is a job description that so many of us don't seem to understand. Verses 14-15 say, "Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." It doesn't say, live like the crooked and perverse people because you are saved by grace and it doesn't matter.

When we get in God's word and ask Him to open our hearts and minds He will, and the work we put in will grow us to be examples of children of the light. Then we will shine and we will not desire the things we think we need but we will serve as humble servants, enthusiastically being obedient. Verse 16 goes on to say, "Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ's return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and my work was not useless." Paul is very outwardly focused and his heart is for others to experience what he has. How is our focus? Is it for us or is it so people see our lives have been changed by God and we live working hard so that others might see our light, which is Christ, and be saved because of our faith and action not our hypocrisy. Paul had that "moment" and never looked back, we need to see our "moment" and work hard to be who God made us, not what our flesh has done in us. Amen

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2 Timothy 4:1-4

Colossians 2

Philippians 2

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