The apostle, Paul, mentored Timothy and Titus in the faith, as
they would continue the work assigned to them; the work of spreading the Gospel
after Paul’s death. Paul prayed over them and laid hands on them to pass on the
blessing of God as they moved into full-time ministry.
Paul reminds us
through all of his epistles to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to use our
unique gifts from God, to share with others, to teach, to encourage, to shine
with the light offered to us. Here are some of his words to Timothy:
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. 2 Timothy 1:6
Paul has witnessed
a sincere faith in Timothy, handed down from his mother and his grandmother.
Are you handing down the faith to your children, to your loved ones and
acquaintances? What a privilege to be able to raise our children in a Christian
home, to freely speak of His love, to read His word together, to love one
another with His kind of love.
Pass it down. Let’s
not lose our zeal. Fan the flame of the gifts God has given you. In the next
verse, Paul helps us discover just what God has given us with His Spirit.
For God
has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
Be filled with the
power of Christ. Pray for God to fill you with enthusiasm as you fan the flame of the gifts God has given you! You have a
spirit filled with love and a sound mind. Let’s go and serve!
Jesus,
Help us to fan the flames of the Spirit, to keep our faith
first, to feel your presence surrounding us, and to shine with the love and
light You offer, as we pass it on to the generations to come.
Amen
How do we remain strong in faith? How do we keep Jesus front
and center in a busy world? When things are going well, do we set Him aside? We
can so easily become complacent. The
Bible reminds us to keep our enthusiasm for the faith.
Never be
lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11
How do we remain
fervent and filled with zeal for Jesus? The next verse in Romans helps us with
keeping our firm foundation.
Be joyful
in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
When life takes
over and I lose my way, it is usually when I have strayed from the Bible and neglected
prayer. Days can easily turn into weeks when we become comfortable and out of
touch with Jesus. Where are you today? Do you feel His peace? Joy-filled?
Patient?
Go to Him in prayer
several times today. Keep Jesus first as you move into the world. Take Him with
You. Ask for His help. Give Him your worries. And spread the word about Your
Savior, filled with zeal and passion for Him.
Lord,
You gave up so much for us. How can we not remain filled with
joy and hope, when You have overcome death for us? Keep us firmly grounded in
the faith as we keep our enthusiasm alive for the rest of our lives.
In Jesus name,
Amen
Finally, we come to the reason Jesus came to earth. Yes, God
is our Father, Jesus is our friend, our light, our shepherd. Without His being
our Savior, we have nothing at all. We need to come to Him in humility with a
deep hunger for Him to become our Savior. Tired of navigating on your own?
The gap between God
and man was impossible to bridge. The giving of the law to Moses would bring
all people to the realization that there is no way to keep the perfect law of a
holy and righteous God. We all fall short.
For all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Jesus came at the
perfect time, to fulfill the perfect law, so that the perfect man could suffer
the consequences of imperfect us All of it. Every white lie. Every work we perform
as if we are good enough for heaven. Every temptation we have fallen into.
Every disrespectful thought or word, every mistake, every disease, every bit of
fallen humanity was placed on our Savior’s shoulders.
“Do not
think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to
abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
The prophet, Micah,
foretold the coming of the Messiah.
You will
again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our
iniquities into the depths of the sea. Micah 7;19
Did you know over 300
prophecies came true at the first coming of Christ? An impossibility of course.
But not for God. Jesus fulfilled the law. He suffered all of our sins. He
overcame the fallen world. And all He asks? For us to believe in His birth, His
suffering and death, His resurrection from the grave. The darkness of Good
Friday became the light and hope of Easter morning. Accept Him as Savior. Come
humbly to Him as a fallen human fully in need of a loving Father, friend,
shepherd, light and most of all, SAVIOR!
Believe in your
heart that He came, that He died, that God raised Him from the dead. He
conquered death for you. Profess with your mouth and then? You will be saved.
Heaven-bound! Forgiven forever. His forever. A Father, a friend, a shepherd, a
glorious light, a Savior to watch over you. It is so simple, so profound, so
mind-boggling. It comes as a gift freely given. It is grace undeserved. It is
hope.
He is Lord.
If you
declare with your mound, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
Make Him your Savior today, if
you have not. And your life will be changed in an instant. Read the Word. Feel
His light. Go to Him in prayer day by day and He will guide your footsteps into
freedom and wholeness. That’s what He does. Transforms lives, redeems souls,
gives hope and light in the darkness, and one day soon, He will welcome us home.
Father,
There are no words to thank You for Your Son and for His
gracious gift to us. There is nothing we can do to earn it. All of us fall
short, but it is ours for the taking. Enlighten hearts to see the light of the
Son.
In Jesus name,
Amen
The world can become a dark place. There are times when we lose
hope. Our focus becomes one of fear and dread. A loved one dies. A friend turns
against us. A spouse leaves. A job ends. Finances fail. Our souls ache with
emptiness. The tough times in life will come to each one of us. Jesus reminds
us, He has overcome the world.
“I have
told you these things, so that, in Me, you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:13
Of all of the
descriptions, names and attributes in the Bible about Jesus, I think my favorite
is, “the light of the world.”
When
Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows Me, will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John
8:12
I wrote a Bible
study on light with the verse above as my inspiration. If we would only believe
this every single day! We will never walk in darkness, but will have the light
of life. That light is Jesus. He lights the path ahead of us. He lights up our
souls. He lights up our countenance so others may see Him. He is the true
light.
The true
light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:9
True light. The
light of life. The light of the world. His Word is a lamp and a light to our
path. (Psalm 119:105) The darkness will never, ever overcome His light. (John
1:5) He is the Father of lights. (James 1:17)
Once we live in His
light, there is always more and more light.
For with
You is the fountain of life. In Your light, we see light. Psalm 36:9
His light is seen
even in our darkest hour. Search for it. Believe it is there. Believe in His
hope and His everlasting light. One day, there will be no more darkness.
And there
will no longer be any night and they will not have need for the light of a
lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them and
they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:5
No more night. We
will shine with His glory forever and ever. In the meantime, receive this
blessing:
The Lord
bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious
to you. The Lord lift His face toward you and give you His peace. Numbers
6:24-26
Have you ever been
lost? Maybe on a camping trip or a driving trip? Have you lost sight of your
children at the mall or the park? Being lost can be a frightening experience
for all of us. So many people do not realize they are lost. Lost without hope.
Lost without God. Lost without a shepherd.
All of
us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the
Lord has caused the iniquity of all of us to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6
Isaiah is prophesying about
Jesus, hundreds of years before He would take on our iniquities. Jesus is our good
shepherd, the one who would lay down His life for us. A good shepherd tends to
his sheep. He watches over them by day and by night. He feeds them. He makes
sure they are safe. He leads them to green pastures. He carries them home when
they are lost. Our shepherd does the same.
I once was lost and
now I am found. You too? And right this minute, He is tending to you and your
needs. Listen for His precious voice today. This shepherd is good through and
through.
My sheep
listen to My voice. I know them and they know Me. John 10:27
Still lost? Jesus,
the good shepherd, will never give up on seeking you, on beckoning you to Him, on
taking you safely home. He continually searches for His lost sheep.
“What do
you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he
not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered
off? And if He finds it, truly I tell you, He is happier about that one sheep
than about the ninety-nine that did not wander away.” Matthew 18:12-13
Jesus,
You will never give up on those that have not found You. We
pray for any lost sheep that need the voice of the good shepherd to lead them
home. Let us heed Your beautiful voice as we venture out in the world. Do not
let us go astray.
Amen
I have fabulous
friends. One I have known since the age of two and others for over four
decades. They are faithful, caring, encouraging and loving to me and to my
family. How grateful I am to be able to lean on them, to share with them, to
live life with them, to celebrate with them, and to mourn with them. It is a
gift.
A friend
loves at all times…Proverbs 17:17a
A man of
many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than
a brother. Proverbs 18:24
Luckily for me, my
friends understand me. No one, not even
our BFFs, will understand us as well as Jesus. When we feel misunderstood, or
criticized, or as if we don’t fit in, when we are lonely, Jesus remains our
closes companion. He has a listening ear available to us 24/7. He loves
unconditionally and will gently brush us off and lift us up to try again every
single time we fall.
He never gives up
or grows tired of our mistakes. I don’t know how He does it. I can barely live
with myself some days! How about you? Feeling the need for a forever friend?
Jesus is tireless and faithful. He sees your heart. He knows what you need
before you ask for it. He may keep you away from things that aren’t good for
you. He knows best.
Our loving Father
in heaven, our loving friend, is with you now. Reach up and let Him comfort you
as only our closes friends can. He is there.
Jesus,
What a friend we have in You. We carry everything to You in
prayer today. Lift our burdens. Remain close by our side. We are blessed to
have You and thank You, and thank You for the blessings of earthly friends.
Amen
As parents, we
never grow out of worrying, helping, loving and wanting the best for our
children. These days, it’s double and even triple the care and concern, with a
son-in-law and a future son-in-law, a grandson and two future added
grandchildren to join the family.
Luckily for us, we
have a Father in heaven. Our Father in heaven never grows weary, never makes
mistakes, and never frets or worries. He understands. He made us with love and
kindness.
The Lord
appeared to us in the past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3
Even as loving
parents, we make mistakes. We grow tired and cranky. We make a wrong decision,
or a few hundred wrong decisions. There’s also a chance you never had a loving,
earthly father. There is one available to you. He will love you and never leave
you.
I will not
leave you as orphans. I will come to you. John 14:18
Lean on the perfect
Father. He will remain our firm foundation. When we lose faith, He is faithful.
When we are out of control, He is steadfast. When we are sick with worry, He is filled with peace.
Leave it in His capable, loving and kind hands. He will be with you now and forever.
Dear Father in heaven,
You are the perfect daddy (“Abba” Romans 8:15). As imperfect
parents, we know we can rely on You to take away our fear and worry. Remind us
to lift up our children and their families in prayer to You each and every day.
Oh, how we need. You.
In Jesus name,
Amen
