Little Sin, No Big Deal?! 2 Timothy 3:13

Little Sin, No Big Deal?!

2 Timothy 3:13 while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

There are may people who believe that sins come in degrees of badness. To some extent, that is true, for in the Old Testament sins had a different degree of restitution. For example, if a man sinned, he must sacrifice a female goat to the Lord, if he sins against God, he must present a Ram, and if he sinned against his neighbor, then he must present a ram and pay a penance. And their are some sins that took the life of the one committing them.

A and K, I said all that for clarification... some sins are more egregious than others. Yet, that does not mean it makes no difference if you commit a less egregious one. First of all, an eternal fire is prepared for the devil, his angels, and all whose names are not in the book of life. The Word says that all liars have a place in the lake of fire, not just those who tell really "big whoppers". And second, and one of the points of this verse and my writing, small sins lead to bigger ones. You cannot expect to sin against yourself, your neighbor, or against God in a little manner and not expect it to have a greater consequence. Do not fool yourself into thinking some sin is so minor that it has no eternal consequence... as this verse says, it will go from bad to worse. You will not only deceive others you will have deceived yourself! Stay true. Allow no sin to control you. Master it before it masters you!

~Dad

True Sign Of A Godly Life: I Won't, 2 Timothy 3:12

True Sign Of A Godly Life: I Won't

2 Timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

This doesn't take long to interpret... if you want to live a godly life, you will be persecuted. Pretty straight forward, wouldn't you say. In fact, that is true for all believers. Maybe that is why so many people, who call themselves Christians, aren't godly, they avoid persecution. Sometimes they get mistreated for their wrong actions... that's not persecution. That is justice.

A and K, I do not like pain. I avoid it. Part of persecution is physical pain, but there are other common forms of persecution that you will face, like pressure to conform, discrimination, or being ostracized for being a Christian. I am looking for a different job, many that I qualify for that are good paying, require me to work on Sunday and compromise my faith... I won't. In my current job, I sought a promotion into management. It required being a ruthless, demanding, give no slack kind of supervisor... I won't. Many times co-workers come together and cut others down, have course talk, make crude sexual remarks, go out drinking... I won't. Daughters, do what ever it takes to be godly. It will put you on opposing sides of most people, but Paul says that is normal for people who say... I won't

~Dad

Signs Of Godliness: List 2, 2 Timothy 3:11

Signs  Of Godliness: List 2

2 Timothy 3:11 persecutions, sufferings - what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet, the Lord rescued me from them all.

Signs of  Godliness,  List 2:

• Persecutions
• Sufferings

This is a short list, and the characteristics are certainly not to what most Christians would aspire. Who likes suffering and who like being persecuted? I don't know anyone, yet this is what Paul went through. My next post will discuss the certainty for persecution in the life of a Christian. One might say, I don't think all Christians need to go through persecution. If you offer the gospel with love and the right attitude, others will accept it. And, even if they don't they won't reject you, because you haven't been arrogant, holier-than-thou nor obnoxious.

A and K, that is the common thought of today; if we don't judge people nor condemn them... we'll all just get along and everyone will become Christians. The sad truth is that, because of that attitude, the church has become so much like the world, we often can't tell one from the other. You must understand, that if you are a true Christian, persecution and suffering will come.

Oh, and one other thing about this verse... another misconstrued thought is that we may have to suffer for a time, but it will soon all be over and everything will be great, after all Paul did say, the Lord rescued me from them all. So he did, but then died at the hand of Nero, most of the other disciples did as well. More on this next time. Odd for me to end on a negative note... how about, all who die in the Lord are the winners in eternity!

~Dad

Signs Of Godliness: List 1, 2 Timothy 3:10

Signs Of godliness: List 1

2 Timothy 3:10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, patience, love, endurance, 

I discussed in a previous post Paul's description of people who were evil; lovers of themselves, pleasure, and money, proud, disobedient, unforgiving and more. Here we see a description of those who are godly. Let me list those as I had done for evil:

• Teacher
• Open life
• Purposeful living
• Faith
• Patience
• Love
• Endurance

Notice the characteristics of a godly person: They have a reason to live. They do not just exist, but go about fulfilling a purpose. People around them see who they are. They are not secretive in their faith, nor do they have a double life, appearing godly in one setting and flirting with evil in another. Because their lives are open, people learn from them, not only from how they live but from what they say. Their faith is evident. They are patient with others because they truly love them. And even when they come up against opposition, they endure the hardship, so that others may find Christ.

A and K, be godly! Care about those around you. Live a life worthy of being called a Christian, one of God's children, for that is what you are. Live with purpose, do not just go around existing with no point in living. And, make that purpose godly, teaching those around you through patience and love, being willing to endure whatever Satan brings against you and into whatever God assigns you to. Be the holy woman God calls you to be.

~Dad

Weak-Willed, 2 Timothy 3:6

Weak-Willed

2 Timothy 3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weaked-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires.

I need to make a clarification on my post a few days back. Let's take a second look at verse 6. What I wrote before still fits the context of the scripture, but I needed to stress its specific meaning.

This time I want to stress the weak-willed woman. Weak-willed women are the ones who are loaded down with sins. They are weak because their desires are evil. Being weak in their faith, they have become loaded down with many sins. When false teachers come, these women are easily confused and sin abounds because they are not holy people who are set apart for God's service. They attend church and look holy for their own edification.

A and K, It's not all about you. Going to church is not about making you feel good. You don't get saved just so you can escape hell! Certainly, being a Christian is beneficial for your complete being; spirit, soul, and body. Yet, you excel in your faith, not to get something from God, but to glorify Christ and the church. That is why Paul was willing to suffer hardship and pain, and without this understanding, you will not be willing to suffer for the faith. It would make no sense. So, build up your faith to keep from being weak. If you don't, evil desires will come and you will become loaded down with sins and take away the glory Christ and his church deserve.

~Dad

Song:

  For Christ and the Church  There are no real videos of this song that I could find. Click the Audio File: MIDI to play the tune then sing along. (Video it and post online)

Expose Evil, 2 Timothy 3:9

Expose Evil

2 Timothy 3:9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Two thought here for me: one - be sure your sins will find you out, and two - it's not that oh, don't worry about it God will make every thing work out, while we sit idly by.

On the first thought, we know that our sins will eventually be found out. We cannot hide them from God ever and at some point others will find out as well. Those who destroy the church thru hidden agendas, or misguided beliefs will eventually be exposed. The sad point is, many are often destroyed in the mean time. This leads to point two.

It is true that evil will be exposed, but if we do not stand against it to expose it, many innocent people will be hurt or destroyed in the mean time. It is our duty to God and the church, to speak out when we see evil on the move. Paul was encouraging Timothy to stand firm... the evil doers would be found out, so stay faithful and keep fighting for what is right. If Timothy would abandon the fight , the weak-willed in the church would be overtaken by evil.

A and K, take comfort in knowing Christ will defend his church. We can be assured that no matter what silliness or evil that infiltrates the church, Christ will take action... BUT he takes it through those that are faithful to the truth. If you sit idly by without a care saying it doesn't seem right but this must be what God wants or he wouldn't allow it to happen, then sin and evil will prevail until someone is willing to stand against it. God most often works through people who are willing to take a stand. So, love God and others, have  self-control, live a righteous life, do not be proud. Speak the truth in love so others will know God is at work.

~Dad

Defend the Truth, 2 Timothy 3:8-9

Defend The Truth

2 Timothy 3:8  Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth - men of depraved minds, who, as far as faith is concerned, are rejected.

That is a strong statement; your faith has been rejected! Yet this remains - there were people in the church who opposed the truth. For quite a few verses now, Paul has described these types of people. He says they; vs. 2:19 - don't turn away from wickedness, vs. 22 - hang on to evil desires and don't pursue righteousness, vs. 3:2-4 - are proud, love money, ungrateful, not holy, brutal, love pleasures, not empowered by the Spirit, but they do look good. That way they can, vs. 6, worm their way into people's hearts and trick them into following them.

A and K, stand up! We sang that in church yesterday. You must take a stand for the truth. Oh, it must be done properly, with kindness and love, with a desire that all who oppose the truth will come to their senses and repent before God (vs. 25-26), but stand nevertheless. You need to be the catalyst to enable this to happen. Do not sit idly by while the truth is marred by man's wisdom. Stand up and defend the truth in the power of the Word and in his Spirit!

~Dad

Song:
  Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus