“Rejoice evermore. 17. Pray without ceasing. 18. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19. Quench not the Spirit.”
What I see in these powerful verses are paths that can lead us to growth in and strength in the Spirit. Verse 16: “Rejoice evermore.” We do not generally think of rejoicing in reference to spiritual strength, but it is a spirit of rejoicing that frees our hearts and minds to grow in spiritual strength. How are you doing in rejoicing. Do you have an attitude of rejoicing in your personal worship, or do you have an attitude of rejoicing in your worship at church. Sometimes this escapes us when we sing and pray in public worship, but rejoicing should be an elemental key in growing our hearts in growth in spiritual strength. Verse 17 – “Pray without ceasing.” Of course, no one doubts the key part that prayer plays in our spiritual strength. James wrote in 15:16 of his letter that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Dwight L. Moody wrote over a century ago that “every great movement of God began with a kneeling figure.” This fact is borne out many instances in the Bible. I want to begin and end each day with prayer, but when I face challenging moments in my spiritual life, I would not begin them without bathing those moments in prayer. Think of your own prayer life and your own dependence on seeking God in prayer as you grow in spiritual strength. Verse 18 – “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It is definitely a spirit of thanksgiving that frees us to grow in spiritual strength. It would be impossible, to my mind, that it would be impossible to grow in spiritual strength if you are not a thankful person. I know that my own service has been most effective than I approached it in a spirit of thanksgiving that God would use me in any aspect of service for Him. No man, or woman, will grow in spiritual strength if they are not thankful to God and for the support of the people of God. Verse 19 – “Quench not the Spirit.” Note the capital “S” in Spirit. This means that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit, Who is our source of spiritual strength. When we quench the Spirit, we cut ourselves off from the source of spiritual strength. We should not want to serve the Lord without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Pray over these paths to spiritual strength and take them. Bro. Joe
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"The husbandman (farmer) that labors must be first partaker of the fruit.”
The text states that the farmer, who works hard on his crop, should “have the first share of the crops.” (ESV) The ESV Study Bible states that this verse “seems to encourage hard work by holding out the promise of blessing.” The farmer works hard on producing the crop and he and his family should be the first to benefit by it. What would this mean to Timothy and to us? (This is difficult to interpret, and I want to humbly (really humbly) submit what I have learned from this text.) First, before we can be a blessing to others, we must first receive the blessings of the Lord. We cannot share what we do not have. For example, we cannot share the joy of the Holy Spirit if we do not have His joy in our hearts. We cannot share the peace of the Holy Spirit if we do not have His peace in our hearts. We cannot share the power of the Holy Spirit if we do not ourselves have His power in our lives. We cannot share blessings that we do not have. Second, we should not be timid about claiming the blessings of the Lord for ourselves. For example, we work hard in studying the Bible and that study should change our lives for the better. We do not study the Bible to just know a lot about the Bible, but we should gain greater insights into living the Christian life by what the Bible teaches us. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul reminded Timothy of the benefit of knowing the scriptures: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect (complete), throughly furnished unto all good works.” (“Thoroughly” can be translated “thoroughly”) Studying the Bible should make a difference in our lives and we should claim what we gain from it, not for our own glory but for the Lord’s glory. Third, we should look forward to what the Lord has in store for us when we meet him. Here is what Paul wrote to Timothy about his own death in 2 Timothy 4:6-8: “For I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” Paul was not bragging about his accomplishments, but bragging on what the Lord has in store for those who dedicate their lives and who humbly serve Him. This is what I got from meditating on this text. I trust that you will be blessed and encouraged by it. Bro. Joe “And if a man strive for the masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”
Paul used the good athlete to give one description of what it is required of an effective Christian witness. First, he wrote that a good athlete has to “strive lawfully.” How we would say that today is “that a person cannot be a good athlete unless he, or she, plays by the rules.” There is no athletic endeavor that does not require that one play by the rules. If he, or she, is a runner, he, or she has to stay in his, or her, lane. The racer finishes the race in the same lane that he started in. We cannot be effective Christians if we do not live by true Christian principles. One cannot decide that he can claim the name of Christ, and then continue in the life he was living before accepting Jesus. Jesus makes a difference in the way we live. A football player cannot take the ball and run anywhere he wants. He must stay in the bounds of the field. Of course the major rule is that to become a Christian one needs to accept Christ as his, or her, Savior. I could go on and on with this, but I think you understand what I mean. Second, if a good athlete plays by the rules, he. or she, will strive to be a good teammate. Of course, I am talking about getting along well with fellow players. A lot of good teams have run afoul because of problems with players on the same team. When we accept Christ, we will not be in it alone. We will have to live in fellowship with fellow Christians in a church, or whatever where you attend calls it. Like many a good teams have run afoul because of trouble between team mates, many a church has run afoul because of problems between fellow Christians. One of the main rules in sports, and in church, is that people work together to be best team possible. Third, if a good athlete plays by the rules, he will have good sportsmanship. This includes playing by the rules and being a good teammate. A good athlete will try to be in good relationships with his, or her, teammates. The good athlete will play with good sportsmanship with opposing teams. Nothing can mess up a team like people cheating and ignoring the rules. This is particularly true of fellowship in a Christian church. There will be disagreements among Christians, but they can be solved by remembering that we are in the work for Christ, and that He can help us solve every problem in His spirit. It would be great if this was always the case in church fellowship. Bro. Joe “And the things you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3. Thou therefore endure hardness (hardships), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4. No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him that has chosen him to be a soldier.”
Paul gave Timothy examples of the types of people who would be faithful in their service and who were able to teach others. He gave three examples: a soldier, an athlete and a farmer. I want to use the “good soldier” as an example of the type of life that we should live as Christians. What makes a good soldier will also make us more effective servants of Jesus. First, he mentioned the soldier’s endurance. To endure means to “keep on keeping on” in spite of whatever hardships that might be encountered. If one thinks that he, or she, can serve Christ without some hardship, he, or she, is in for a rude awakening. The fact that churches are comprised of human beings ensures that there will be hardships. Also, the temptations of Satan have to be dealt with. Once we commit to serve Christ, Satan picks up his activity. Just like a good soldier, we will encounter hardships that will limit our service if we are not committed to endure in spite of any obstacles that we might encounter. Do you endure hardships or do you give in to them. Second, he mentioned the soldier’s disentanglement from the affairs of the world. In His parable of the soils, Jesus mentioned the thorny ground, where the thorns entangled the person in things that made them unfruitful. This doesn’t mean that we can’t any interests outside of the church. It does mean that we do not let everything in the world keep us from serving Christ, whether in the church or in daily life. Satan is effective in entangling us in things that will hinder our service and witness in the kingdom of God. Think of some of the things that you are involved in, are they keeping you from serving Christ as effectively as possible. If you want to be a good soldier. Third, he mentioned the earnestness of the solider in pleasing Christ is in His, or her, service. This means that the good soldier is not only interested in being a soldier, but is willing to obey orders and to prepare for whatever his involvement might be. Soldiers do not just go about their work in any way they want. They always serve under orders, and with a plan. How earnest are you in your service. For example, how much time do you spend in Bible study and prayer. Do you take advantage of the education offered by your church or denomination that will enable you to be a more effective servant of Christ? Above are the three things that will make you a good solider of Jesus Christ. Well, based on these things are you a good soldier? Bro. Joe “For you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9. for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.”
In Matthew 5:14, Jesus referred to His disciples as “the light of the world.” In this text, Paul reminded the Ephesians that since they were now Christians, they were to walk as “children of light.” In this dark world, we are to shine God’s light into the dark.aul gave a similar reminder in Philippians 2:15: “That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in a dark world.” This has not changed. We are still God’s lights in a dark world. We are to live in goodness before the world. We need to be careful about how we use this word “goodness,” because we can easily be misunderstood. When we mention our goodness, the world hears us saying that we are better than they are. We do not need to talk about our goodness; rather, we need to live goodness before the world. What is goodness? I think that we reflect goodness by showing love and compassion to the world. The Good Samaritan comes to mind here. He did a good thing that neither the priest nor Levite would do. He shined a light of goodness upon the stricken man. We reflect the Spirit’s goodness by doing good things. This usually means doing good things for people. This is how Jesus lived, and is how we should seek to live as well if we are to reflect His light to the world. We are to live in righteousness before the world. Righteousness and goodness are closely related, but they are not the same. Again, we need to be careful how we use this word. We don’t need to talk about our righteousness, because people will hear that as self-righteousness. We need to live out the righteousness of Christ before the world. We need to remember that the righteousness that we have is not our own. It is given to us by our faith in Christ. When we live righteously, we are careful about how we talk and about how we behave before the world. We hurt our witness when we say and do unrighteous things. Of course, this begins by living righteously when we are alone as well. The righteousness of Christ needs to be reflected through our lives to a dark world. We are to live in truth before the world. I think that this refers to our truthfulness. We should be honest in all of our dealings with people. First, we should always tell the truth. For example, if we are going to sell someone a used car, we should tell them the truth about it and not let them find out down the road. When we promise somebody something, we should follow through with what we promised unless what we promised would do more harm than good. Even then, we would need to explain. Christians should be as good as their word. If we tell somebody something, they should be able to “take it to the bank.” We must use Christ as our example. He who is “The Truth” wants us to live out His truth before the world. In all of these things, we are to obey Christ and to reflect Him in our dealings with this dark world. Bro. Joe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
In my mind this is Paul’s signature verse. I use it often in my life and in ministering to others. What we know of Paul through the New Testament account of him, he lived up to it. We should also take it to heart and believe that we also can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. It began with Paul on the Damascus Road when he was confronted by the risen, living Christ. He left Jerusalem to go to Damascus to extend his persecution of Christians. When he was confronted by Christ, his life was changed and when he reached Damascus, he was not working against Christ, but preaching for him. It also begins with us when we are confronted by Christ. He confronts us in different ways, but He always changes us for the better and to take our work for Him more seriously. I know when Christ confronted me in an epiphany (I don’t know what else to call it.), He got my attention and turned my life around. It was not as sudden and complete as Paul’s encounter but it changed my life. Christ as either confronted you, or will confront you and He will change your life. After Paul’s confrontation with Christ, he confronted the world with the message of Jesus Christ. When he arrived in Damascus, Paul hit the ground running and began to proclaim Christ. The result of my great confrontation with Christ was that I knew that I was called into the preaching, pastoral ministry. Hold on! I’m not telling you that Christ will call you to preach or to be a missionary, but He will call you to be a witness for Him in the way He wants to use you. The confrontation with Christ will be life-changing, and your life will make a difference in your family, at your work, and in your church. He might call you to be the greatest usher (or usherette) that your church has ever had, or to be the best Sunday School teacher, or a contributing member of your church’s choir. There is no end to the ways that Christ can use you. You might have guessed by now that this article is not just a discussion of the Apostle Paul’s experience, or mine. . It is a reminder to you that Christ wants to, or has, confronted you, and wants to make you His servant. Christ wants you to make a difference for Him in your life. Remember, that if Christ could use Paul, Billy Graham, your pastor, your favorite Sunday School teacher, etc., He can use your life as well. At least give it some thought and let Christ deal with you as He will. Bro. Joe (archive from April 2012)
When King Uzziah died, Isaiah went into the temple and God gave Him a life-changing vision. He saw the seraphims, who declared the holiness of God. Then "the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke (God's glory)." Isaiah's moment of truth began at this point. It was a moment of realization and confession: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Because of this vision of the holiness of God, Isaiah realized that he was not what he should be, and that others were in the same boat. He then confessed his sin of "unclean lips." People will never come to that moment of realization of their imperfections, or to confession, until they have an encounter with God. That encounter will probably not be as profound as Isaiah's, but it needs to happen. This is what we hope for in our church services. We pray that people will have an encounter with God as we pray, sing, give and preach. It is wonderful when that happens. We also pray for this when we visit people in their homes and witness to them, or wherever we encounter them. The encounter next moved to forgiveness and cleansing. One of the seraphims flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand and laid it on his lips and said, "Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." This is what such an encounter is all about. It needs to take place in people who are not believers and it also needs to take place with people who are believers. We always stand in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The encounter next moved to Isaiah's positive response: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." The encounter turned into a challenge to serve God, as it always will. Maybe more people will go out and witness and minister when more people have a dynamic encounter with God. Let's pray for that to happen in our lives and in the lives of others. Bro. Joe “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
This sentence that Paul wrote in passing to the Philippians contains a great truth: when we were saved Jesus began a work in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Do you realize that the Lord has been at work in your life since you became a Christian? What has He done in you since you were saved? Is the Lord’s presence in you making you less anxious? I read something in Nahum 1:7 this morning that we need to remember if the Lord is at work in us: “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knows them that trust in Him.” He is a “strong hold” in our lives when it comes to facing anxiety. Paul reminded us in Philippians 4:7 that we when we are anxious we can seek the Lord and He will give us the “peace of God which passes all understanding. “ When you face anxious moments, do you automatically lean on the Lord’s strength in your life, or do you try to work it out for yourself. There is a lot of wisdom in the simple statement to “take it to the Lord in prayer.” He is at work in you! Lean on Him. Does the Lord’s presence in you make you a more loving person? One thing that Jesus stressed to His disciples, and to us, that when we are saved we should love people. Jesus said: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another.” One of the main things that people should experience when they enter a church filled with people who have Christ living in them is unusual love. Do you think that this is what people experience when they come to the church that you attend? Do you love the people in the church that you attend? Does the Lord’s presence make you a more forgiving person? Forgiving people is one of the greatest struggles that we face as Christians. In His model prayer Jesus said that we should pray “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12) In verses 14-15 Jesus said: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This is plainly stated that the Lord expects us to forgive other people. I know that this is one thing that I work on in my own life. I must admit that it is not always easy, but with the Lord at work in my life I feel compelled to forgive others. This is a short list of expectations that are made of we who are Christians, but they are important things. How are you doing in these areas? Bro. Joe “And (Jesus) said unto (Andrew and Peter), follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
This is Jesus' call to His first disciples, Andrew and Peter. According to John’s gospel, Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist, and when John the Baptist showed Jesus to him, he followed Jesus and went and found his brother Peter, who also became a follower. This was their formal call to “become fishers of men.” In other words, Jesus was calling them to give up fishing for fish and join Him in fishing for people. They didn’t realize it at the time, but Jesus was calling them to a lifetime opportunity to serve Him. He still gives the opportunity to people today. When we accept His call to become Christians, we accept the opportunity to serve Jesus and to “fish for men.” We need to see it as the opportunity that it is, and actually follow Jesus and invite people to Jesus – which is what “fishing for men” is. It is a tremendous opportunity because it is a call to follow Jesus. We are all going to follow something or someone. Some people follow their own inclinations and follow only what, or who, they want to follow. For example, some people seem to substitute sports for Jesus. Of course, there is nothing wrong with enjoying sports and pulling for your team, but when it consumes your life it has gone too far. I certainly have my “druthers” when it comes to ball teams, and I really want them to win, but my whole life doesn’t depend on it. Jesus is “the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” This means that it was decided back beyond eternity that Jesus would come, live a perfect life, die on the cross for our sins, rise from the dead, ascend to the Father, intercede for us and come again to receive us. It is not just an opportunity to follow Jesus; it is an honor to follow Him and serve Him. He wants you to follow Him. If you aren’t already following Him, surrender to Him now. It is a tremendous opportunity because of His involvement in our lives. Notice that Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.” This means that when we make the decision to follow Jesus, He becomes involved intimately in our lives. It’s not just an invitation to follow Jesus on our own. Part of His “making” us fishers of men is sending the Holy Spirit to live in our lives to empower us for witness and to guide us into truth. Becoming a follower of Jesus is not a shallow thing. Being “fishers of men” is not a shallow thing. Jesus wants to use us to do His work on this earth, just as He did for Andrew and Peter. You can follow Peter’s life after he became a follower of Jesus, and see that Jesus, and serving Him, took over his life. (We don’t know as much about Andrew.) Paul is another good example. He had a dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road and his life was consumed with being a “fisher of men” for Jesus. A more recent example of this is Billy Graham. In fact, the whole Graham family is consumed with following Jesus and being “fishers of men.” Jesus doesn’t call us to follow Him and then cast us away. He calls us to follow Him, becomes involved in our lives and eventually takes us to heaven. Good deal, huh? Following Jesus is a tremendous opportunity because it is a call to become involved in the lives of other people. When we fish for people, we do not do it without having to become involved in their lives. Just as Jesus does not call us to follow Him and then dump us, we do not lead people to Jesus and forget about them. We invite them into the fellowship of our church, where we will be involved in their lives as they grow in discipleship. Have you accepted Jesus call to follow Him and become a “fisher of men”? Bro. Joe "Whenever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you, for I trust to see to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way there by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. 25. But now go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.”
Paul wrote Romans before he went to Rome. Paul told the church in Rome of his plans to go to Spain, and when he did he would stop by Rome. First, he had to go to Jerusalem “to minister to the saints.” In Acts, we discover that this was not how Paul got to Rome. When arrested in Jerusalem, Paul appealed to Caesar, so he was sent to Rome as a prisoner. He did go to Rome, but not as he had planned. Tradition tells us that Paul did go to Rome after he was released from his first Roman imprisonment. I think this is true, but I can’t tell you that on biblical authority, for Acts closes with Paul under house arrest in Rome. Anyway, the whole point of this text, and the history with it, is that things do not always go as we plan. This is usually by God’s design, because He has different plans for us. It was a good thing that Paul did not get to Rome as he had planned. When Paul was on trial in Caesarea, he was able to witness to the soldiers who transported him from Jerusalem to Caesarea. While standing trial in Caesarea, he was able to witness to those who guarded him there, and was able to witness to Festus and Felix. When Paul was put on a ship to sail to Rome, I’m sure that he witnessed to his fellow prisoners on the ship and to the ship’s crew. He served as an effective witness when the ship spent two weeks or more in a storm. When Paul and those with him landed at the island of Malta (Melita in the KJV) where he was able to witness to people there, including the governor, Publius. While under house arrest in Rome, Paul was able to witness to the people who visited him there and to the Roman soldiers who guarded him. These Roman soldiers took the gospel to places where they were transferred after guarding Paul. Think of all of the people who would have never heard the word without Paul’s forced change of plans. There are lessons here for us when our plans go awry. (If you are confused by the background given in this article, read Acts, chapters 23-28.) I cannot say with authority that God intervened in Paul’s life in order to cause him all of the problems in Jerusalem and Caesarea that He might use him elsewhere. I’m not intimating that God didn’t directly cause it either. I am saying that I don’t know what God was doing in this episode in Paul’s life. I do know that God has changed my plans, and as I look back, I was better off for it. If God does not let us go in the direction that we have planned, it means that He has better plans for us than we planned. God knows a whole lot more about what we need to do than we do. We think that we know what we need to do, but God doesn’t always agree with us. There are a lot of things that I would change in my life if I could, but I would never change anything that God led me to do that went counter to my plans. God sees into the future. He knows everything about what we will face in the future. When God changes our plans, He always does it for the better, and for our good. (Read Romans 8:28) Go ahead and make your plans. Just do it prayerfully and with the intent to do God’s will whatever His will might be for you. Bro. Joe dit. |
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