1 Timothy 4

1 Timothy 3

I think one of the interesting things about this chapter is not just the requirements set forth for a healthy church community and leadership, but the extension of this to the members of the church as well. These long lists of adjectives and qualities necessary are good convicting pictures of what it means to imitators of Christ. The ones that specifically stuck out to me were the ones in verses 2 and 3. They are such good descriptions of a Christ centered life:
self-controlled, respectable - point to us in control of our emotions and actions and owning up to our mistakes when they happen
hospitable, not violent but gentle - just more detailed ways for us to show the love of God and be slow to anger but quick in kindness. We show a true selflessness when we care for others over ourselves and take the emphasis off of us. I pray that this is something that I can do more often because it is easy to get lost in my goals and aspirations, but I think one of the best descriptions of these leadership positions refers to them as servants to others as Jesus came to serve not be served
not a lover of money - this one can be very difficult in the world and culture that we live it because we look to money for so many things like happiness, security, etc, but that doesn't excuse us. This love of money can be a destructive temptation that can overwhelm us if we aren't careful.

1 Timothy 2

These letters are so good because they bring up so many important topics that even in the course of a chapter it is often difficult to take it all in and really prayerfully consider and try to understand each point. At the same time, it is always encouraging to me that there is so much truth and guidance in each verse of the Bible. It is such an incredible resource that we have which is often easy to overlook rather than go to the word of God in our problems and our search for answers.

While there are many parts of this chapter that I need to reflect on and try to understand better, I was stopped early on by a bit of wording that I have probably overlooked when reading before, but this time it caused me to stop and really think. Verse one says:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, (1 Timothy 2:1 ESV)

Now sounds basic enough, but what stuck out to me were the last 5 words, "be made for all people." All people regardless of what they have done or how I feel about them need and should be given prayers. Not backhanded prayers that are centered around me, but heartfelt prayers that they will feel God's presence in their lives. This includes all people, no matter how much evil may currently have a hold on them. If you don't think redemption and turning a life around is possible, go read Paul's conversion in the book of Acts and now God spoke to him in these many wonderful books as he was aiding the early church.

On a more individualized note, don't forget that we have to know what is going on in one another's lives to know how to pray for them. We have to build stronger relationships with one another and build trust to really share and support one another. I ask that you pray for me in this way so that I can build deeper relationships of trustworthiness and sharing without getting too caught up in myself that I forget about those around me.

1 Timothy 1

Since yesterday was the end of 2 Thessalonians, I figured we can keep going and run through 1 Timothy before doing a lighter finals week with just Psalms (for those of you on the Tech schedule). I pray that we can continue to make time for this even in busyness and stress.


5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (1 Timothy 1:5-7, ESV)

This is the passage that really stuck out to me the most and forced me to think and reflect a good deal tonight. In the context of talking about false teaching, verse 5 starts off dictating that the aim here is love, but rather than leave it at that, he details it for us that this is a love that flows forth from a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith. I really enjoyed this perspective of the origins of this love and the conviction that it brings as we want our lives to reflect this so we can show the love of God.

After that, I also found the next part to be quite convicting when reflecting on it in relation to a book I have been reading. The main point of the section was: would you trust a younger version of yourself (say you 5 or 10 years ago aka teenage you) to make your decisions today? Or do you feel like you know more now that better equips you? One of the big points of this is that while we often trust ourselves to make these decisions, we often rightfully consult the help of outside sources when making decisions especially the Bible and prayer because while I often think that I fully understand an issue, many times I am humbled by the many things that I didn't know. While this is alright because it reminds me that I'm not the all-knowing God, it is also a good reminder that I don't know it all (or anywhere near it). Rather than allowing this to make us indecisive and fearful, I think it is a great reminder of how reliant we are on God and his word to help us make decisions in our lives. Hopefully, that makes enough sense. The reason this came to mind is verses 6 and 7 reminded me that there are many things about God and wisdom that his word is filled with that are still being revealed to me, and while I may be eager to think that I already understand a verse or an issue, I need to be open to others revealing new perspectives to me (that are rooted in God's word) as well especially since I am not a Bible expert. I desire to study it and come to know it more fully, but I am still learning. This may seem like a funny interpretation, but it was just a reminder to me that I am still learning and renewed my desire to read and reflect on his word to gain a better understanding through what God reveals to me.

2 Thessalonians 3

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV)

While this verse may seem pretty obvious, some times it is just good to have a nice reminder of the faithfulness of the Lord and that he will help guard our hearts from evil when we put up a fight against it. It was just a good reminder for me of his power and faithfulness to us as we fight the temptation of sin.


Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 10, 12, 15 ESV)

This may seem like a odd bunching verses since I did not grab the whole section, but these were the ones that stuck out to me of good reminders that while we show love to one another, some behaviors need to be dealt with to encourage and help each other grow. Specifically this deals with idleness and unwillingness to carry your own weight, but I do like that it offers direction to command and encourage in the Lord. And with this, we are not to "regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother." I'd say this especially stuck out because correcting someone in love can be a difficult task as to not pass judgement but help them see what God's word says is sinful behavior especially as it applies to situations today.

2 Thessalonians 2

Hey fellas,

I first want to apologize to yall for letting this slide for a while. While it isn't an excuse, I got pretty sick a few weeks ago which put me out for a little while and threw off my routines.

Anyways, that is in the past and while some of you may not be super excited to continue with this during dead week and finals, I think we should really consider how beneficial this can be in a time where it is easy to let our stress elevate school to our number 1 priority and leave out listening to God's word and praying (and I'm talking real, deep prayer, not the "holy crap I'm about to fail...God help me remember all of this" because that is not much of a deep intimate conversation). My point is that it will be very easy to stop the routines that we have developed during the semester as soon as classes start ending and finals and summer begins, but does that mean that we then sit in front of the tv all day or do other things and completely forget about our Bible reading and quiet time? Just because there is change in our lives, does that make God any different or any less worthy of our time and praise since he is still the all powerful creator of the universe? While we may change, He is unchanging.

One of my original goals with this was to help us aid in the development of beneficial lifelong habits of daily Bible reading and reflection that continues beyond the routines of just one semester so that we can see the joy in this and work to incorporate this into our lives for years to come. And yes, there may be changes that we need to make to have this be a more effective tool to aid in this process and keep us accountable, but that's why we're open to try new things with this because the main goal is for us to be staying in God's word and have others keeping us accountable to this.

Along these same lines, I'm really glad that this Proverb showed up this morning because I think it is so telling of the Lord's impact and the work that he is doing through us as he is the one with all of the power and who "establishes our steps."

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." (Proverbs 16:9 ESV)

So anyways, that may have been a little long winded, but now I really want to talk about 2 Thessalonians 2.

The passage that really stood out to me was the very end.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17 ESV)

While there were many difficult topics discussed in these verses. I enjoyed that it ended this way with a reminder of God's love, comfort, and hope previously and a request. The request begins as one of comfort, but not our typical material comfort or financial comfort or physical comfort that we all too often long for but one that is greater and more satisfying, a comfort of the heart. This is what we so often desire and try to quench it through other means. No matter the situation or the difficulty, God has the power to comfort the heart and give us peace when we rest in him and therefore are no longer reliant on things of this world. In then goes on to request not only this comfort that God is fully capable to provide, but when this happens for us to be established for good works and word. We desire both the peace and comfort that comes from him and then to go forth to do good works in love and show and tell the word of God. When our hearts are rooted in him, we desire this, and He is a generous God who can equip us in these ways as His people.

The last thing that I want to leave you with is a short but powerful passage that I read yesterday. It may help to take a little time to reflect on these words as they have made me think a lot.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/people-do-not-drift-toward-holiness

2 Thessalonians 1

Hey guys,

I figured we could continue into 2 Thessalonians as it is only 3 chapters and then pick a new book. Ideas are welcome. Have a great day.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. (2 Thessalonians 1:3 ESV)

While this may seem like a simple verse, it got me thinking. How often do I give God the praise when I see spiritual growth in others. I can often become very focused on myself and forget to thank God for the work that he is doing in the hearts of others around me. I also think that it is an interesting observation that faith and love for one another are linked here. This makes a lot of sense and illustrates for us the growth of community as we grow in faith and love for one another to build each other up. I hope that we don't overlook the value of this community for strengthening the church as we will need it when we go through rough times and others will need our help in their time of need. Isolating ourselves from community can be very counterproductive to our spiritual growth. We can easily convince ourselves that we are fine like that, but we miss out on so many great opportunities when withholding ourselves from a community of believers and make ourselves more vulnerable to attack.

1 Thessalonians 5

Repeat: 1 Thessalonians 4

Hey guys,

Sorry I fell behind on this last week. Things were pretty nuts with research. So today we're going to repeat 1 Thessalonians 4 since there were very few posts on it and finish the book with Chapter 5 tomorrow.

If you have any ideas for the next book, please let me know.