1 Timothy 2 (continued)
I started this, but couldn't finish it and had to refresh my Spirit in another area of the Bible. That went well. I love the Psalms... in fact I'm considering perhaps alternating between the Psalms and Timothy now. I'll have to consider that, in might break the flow of the Timothy.
1 Timothy 2 (ESV) 1 Timothy 2 (NIV) 1 Timothy 2 (KJV)But I began this look at chapter 2 of 1 Timothy with the idea that although it seems interesting that Paul put such a wide range of topics in this chapter, I ask whether it is so strange that this happened?
NOTE: I do not intend to touch on the more controversial bits about Paul saying that women will be saved by child bearing and the bit about women must being silent and not being allowed to teach/having authority over men. I'm not even sure where I stand on that, besides which this is neither the time nor the place to get into such discussions. Not being a women, there isn't much I can do to self reflect on such a passage. Maybe God will convict me of something in the future with these verses.
Paul starts off with the idea that we should pray and thank God for EVERYONE. As personal application, putting this into practice in our lvies would turn us into nothing but prayerers (a made up word I admit). At the same time, the command still exists. Paul gives an example of what to pray about, one of them being to pray for those in authority that we may "live peaceful and quiet lives
in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:2) Some would love to quote that first bit and ignore the second - yours truly included - but there it is. It's not bad to want to live in conditions where we are free to practice our faith and free to subscribe to the Way without persecution, but so often we forget that in this freedom we
must live it, and how often do we do that. I know that I don't. I've caught myself with a lot of really bad habits these days. Some of the music that I'm listening to (and own) is not so edifying and yet I cannot bring myself to rid my collection of them. My mouth has become foul to the point where it sounds natural to me to be inserting expletives in my speech. It's becoming less of a problem, but I can still swear without blinking and it shows in certain involuntary acts of speech. I am reminded once again of 1 Peter as I write this.
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. - 1 Peter 4:10-11I know I've been failing on that. And the above is not to say that these are the only unholinesses in my life... but some of the more tangible few instances of garbage in garbage out kind of sin.
But then how does this beginning link with the latter parts of the passage, I will focus in on one more verse,
verse 8. I earnestly desire to simply raise up
holy hands in prayer, and that if ever anything comes between me and another brother or sister, that it would be dealt with in a godly fashion and without divisive quarrelling, anger or disputing. This particular phrase seems to be coming up a lot. It's funny that sometimes God decides you need to hear something over and over again. I don't argue, I don't think I'll ever hear the end of this particular phrase because I have to watch out that when I say things, that I am saying them in love and not in simple condemnation (as I was very quick to do
here, though I would like to qualify and say that I did not intend for those words to sound condemning in anyway. If they did it is because of the inadequacy of my own self to rid myself of that particular style of writing. It is passages like these that remind me to continue to try.)
But the question arises, how do I keep my hands holy? The definition of holy according to my commentary is from the Greek "
hosius"
meaning devout or undefiled. Are my hands undefiled? Absolutely not! But God makes them so through his infinite grace and mercy. Thus though I may never be able to fix certain unholy things in my life on my own, it is through the desire for God that they may be supplanted.
Prayer: LORD, thank you, once again, for reminding me to keep my mind and heart focused on the important things of this world. Thank you for reminders from people whom I love to focus on the important and urgent matters before us. Every day I defile my hands in some way or another, but every day, you make them holy again. How do you do it? May my life reflect that eternal patience of Yours. In Jesus name, AMEN.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day. - Psalm 61:8
Psalm 60-63
For no particular reason have I chosen to begin at 60. I've just started at 1 and gone back to it too many times. I wanted to read something new.
The link:
Psalm 60-63Psalm 60:11-12 : My enemy right now? Intellectual musings. I've been reading a lot of very interesting but very intellectually, philosophically, and theologically challenging things (
Michael Spencer,
Fides Quaerens Intellectum) and though it has engaged my mind, it has also seriously drained me. This leads me to question whether reading these blogs have actually been edifiying or not. Am I attempting to use the "help of man" to grow spiritually, or am I getting so engaged in the intellectual side of my spirituality, that I forget that my godliness must be focused on... well God. Consider 1 Timothy 2:2b, "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." Am I attempting to derive my godliness and holiness from philosophy and bloggings of others when I should be turning to the Word?
Psalm 61:4 : Oh how I long to dwell in the LORD's tent forever indeed. Oh how I tire of this earth, of the people of this earth, of my sinful nature and the battle with it every day, and of the imperfect knowledge of humans leading to this and that views of who God is, how he saves, what he means by this phrase in this book or that phrase in that book. Protect me from those that would lead me astry LORD, save me from the trap of trusting in the inadequacy of human reasoning and philosophy and speculation.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day. (Psalm 61:8 - note: called the vow to praise. Expanded upon in the note of my Study Bible to Psalm 7:17 which says essentially that the vow to praise was given in anticipation of the expected answer to prayer. Springing from Isreal's religious consciousness that praise must follow deliverance as surely as prayer springs from need if God is to be truly honoured.)
Psalm
62:1-2 ;
5-8 : Recently I questioned someone's stance regarding the idea of being able to lose your salvation. I hold the view that no your salvation cannot be lost. Because of the above verses, especially in verse 7 "My salvation and my honour depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge." If my salvation were to depend on me and what I decided, I would be very afraid indeed. Very afraid. But instead my salvation depends on the solid rock that is my God and I take comfort and refuge in him. I quiet the inner recesses of my mind that clamour to seek and demand philosophical and human reasonings and instead let the presence of God fill my inner being and quiet me. Perhaps these reasoning justifications exist and perhaps they edify others. But my search for them has only befuddled, confused, and drained me. It has not edified me and I concern myself with it no longer.
Psalm
63:1-5 : In nothing else do I find satisfaction but in reading such words. Nowhere else will my thirst be quenched. Nothing else will fill the longing of my body. After having seen God in his glory, after having tasted of his Holy Spirit, after having shared in his work and kingdom, I can neither praise, worship, nor be filled with anything else. "I will praise you as long as I love, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." (v. 4-5) I have foolishly been seeking fulfillment and validation in other areas and from other people... and although such thoughts have not left me, I have decided to set them aside for now, as it is distracting me from continuing to grow in the LORD and in my pursuit of a deeper relationship with him instead of helping it. Once my idea of an external relationship can properly develop to that extent, then I will once again open my eyes to such considerations as I have been considering.
Prayer: LORD forgive me, for I have sought other ways to fulfill the deep longings of my soul. I have forgotten how you have laughed at and befuddled human reasoning by sending Christ on the cross. I have forgotten that it is only you and by remaining in your refuge that I can be recharged... refreshed. It is like coming upon an oasis after a walk in the desert. May I rest in you and be fully restored that I may be a testimony to you to others when I must venture out into the desert to bring people to the oasis. May I be a well in the desert which others come to drink of the water that will make us never thirsty again, but not growing proud of this but always thanking you that your purpose and kingdom is being built here on earth, and that
your will is being done here on earth as it is in heaven, in my life and in others. In Jesus name I pray. AMEN.
1 Timothy 2
A devotion is long overdue. I have been delinquent this weekend.
And if you ask why I did not post a verse today, it is because I decided to cover all of chapter 2, although I focus on certain parts more than others.
And here is
1 Timothy 2, as per request. It is in ESV because this is the preferred version of the requestee. For all others, there is a nifty little drop box that allows you to change the version with ease. Isn't Biblegateway just lovely?
1 Timothy 2 is interesting in nature. It starts off one way, and ends in another... and yet as I think about this structure, is it actually that strange? Paul begins by urging that we pray, intercess and make thanks for everyone, for kings, those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (more on this later) and then moves on to talk about God desiring all men to be saved. Then he moves in to talking about the behaviour of men and women, in what I see to be the way he wishes them to act in the context of a prayer/worship setting.
(pause, I'm going to have to finish this later. Right now my mind isn't really into focusing on this, I'm going to flip to the Psalms and read some words of worship. My mind and spirit is really drained, but I'll talk about that in the next post.)
1 Timothy 1:12-19
( I leave out verse 20 in this particular devotional, not because it is not scripture or unimportant in anyway, but because I can see no way that it can reflect on me. That does not mean that it never will, just that at this time, I wish to focus in on the passages that stood out more on this read through).
This section of Timothy is one of Paul's many mini testimonies that he writes in many of his epistles. Paul focuses in on his sinfulness before his discovery of the gift of grace that God desired to give to him. The reason that this struck me in particular was because of something that I blogged on my main blog. It was
here that I told the story, very briefly, about my particular issues with anger and hot tempers. I may not have been an explicit blasphemer or persecutor (as Paul calls himself in verse 13), but I was most definately a violent child, with the capabilities of being an incredibly violent man. But what convicted me here was not MY sins in particular.
What really convicted me here is that this is what God does for ALL sinners that turn away from their natural sinful nature to God. God pours out his mercy and grace upon them abundantly (v. 14). And we are shown mercy because we act "in ignorance and unbelief." (v. 13). Why was this convicting you may ask? Here's why.
After hearing about the shooting at Dawson college, my thoughts were very black, especially towards the young man that did the shooting. My thoughts went even blacker when I heard about how the girl who died actually died. Very ungraceful thoughts were going through my head, before I had to remind myself that we do indeed live in a fallen world and that if I didn't know Christ, i'm sure that I would have just as much anger towards the world. Heck, if I didn't know Christ, I'd probably have a criminal record a mile long for getting into fights with people on the street.
Paul says in verse 16, "But for the very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." God did this for me. He did this for everyone (although granted not everyone accepts.) I need to remember that as I hear about all the dark, evil things that happen in this world, that people do such things because of the ignorance and darkness that they are in. The best that I can do is pray, live the truth in my life, and share why I live this way with people around me. That is the only way that I can think of being the salt and light on this earth.
I'm a zombie right now. I'm not reading this very clearly or lucidly, so I will end here. It's not as solid as my last post, but still just as striking for me.
I would like to end with verse 17.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 1:1-11 (that's... a lot of 1s)
I've put this off for long enough.
This particular passage of scripture focuses in on false teachers and heretical doctrines, stories, and teachings running around in Ephesus at the time. The NIV Study Bible speculates that the heresy and stories that Paul mentions in this section are similar to the myths that he talks about in Titus and was the forerunner of Gnosticism (Jewish myths, they are called in Titus, the other pastoral letter).
The particular verses that stood out to me (and stood out even more upon reading of the Bible commentary that I'm using [The Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck]) was the "myths and endless genealogies" that "promote controversies rather than God's work - which is by faith." (1:4). This reminded me of my own personal love of intellectual argument and it seems that God is prodding me gently, reminding me of my own argumentative nature. For Paul continues on in verse 5 to say that the goal of his command is love, something in which I definately lack many times that I enter into intellectual debate over theology and doctrine. No matter how sound the doctrine that I debate, if I do not enter into it with an attitude of love, then it is meaningless and stirs up nothing but controversy. I like what the commentary says. "Such speculations were to be avoided because they did not further God's plan, which is grasped and implemetned not by human imagination, but
by faith. By contrast, human speculations tend to lead off down endless blind tunnels which serve only to confuse and obscure God's truth."
In connection to that, 1 Corinthians 13:2 "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge... but have not love, I am nothing."
Verse 7 was also pretty convicting to me. It condemns these false teachers for wanting to be teachers of the law and being all conceited, when in fact they know nothing. It was a good reminder to myself to remember that, as a DG leader, I'm not to start expounding and showing off my knowledge and such but to depend on God to speak and teach "sound doctrine" and to do so in love.
One question that came up as I was reading this was the whole idea of sound doctrine. When I think the word doctrine, I start thinking of things like beliefs about salvation (predestination and free will), baptism, etc. According to this epistle, sound doctrine is anything that conforms to the gospel of the blessed God. Literally, sound doctrine translates into healthy teaching. So maybe I need to reform the definition of sound doctrine in my head to the more correct literal meaning of healthy teaching. Do debates, arguments, and discussions about Calvinism vs. Armenianism, immersion vs. sprinkling, and the like lead to a healthy faith? If so, then all for it, but in my personal experience, such discussions have led to more confusion and chaos then when we initially began, thus how can it be healthy?
By my own thought processes, I've come to the conclusion that as long as the basic teaching of Christ death on the cross for our sins, resurrection from the dead, ascendency to heaven and the empowering of the Holy Spirit (and a few other important things that I seem to be missing but can't for the life of me remember), then the other things are irrelevant. But again, I'm warning myself here about what the commentary said, and I agree about human speculation and reasoning leading to endless tunnels of confusion. So at some point, I'll have to come back to that and find a biblical basis for the view or else abandon it.
How can I apply this to my life? I see some direct application in a few areas of my life. For one, when my DG starts up, I refuse to get caught up in long theological debates about things if I find that it is hindering growth rather than aiding it. The other place that I can apply this to my life is when I go sharing. I find that I like to intellectualize much of what I'm saying, and even though that act in and of itself is not intrinsically wrong or unbiblical, it would be so much more effective if it were backed by love.
The problem that THAT leads to is how can I have love for a complete stranger that I've probably never seen before. The answer: by God's grace and strength. So if you could pray for me that God would constantly remind me to do the things that I do in love, for "love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8b) not only in terms of forgiveness, but in terms of the way that we view sinners as well. Not to say that it covers it up, but that love allows us to see the faults and sins of others and love them despite these things.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for the revelations and reminders that you have given me this day. I know that I have an argumentative spirit, a sinful twist on my love of all things academic, and so I pray that this spirit would be tempered by the love that YOU have for all people, so that it would be used in a manner that glorifies your name rather than slanders it. I pray that I would be reminded of the fact that the goal is to love others with "pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." (1:5).
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.
1 Timothy: An Overview
At this time I have decided to do a reading, meditation, and study on the First and Second Epistles to Timothy written by Paul. I chose Timothy because of the things that I have heard said about these two books. Paul was writing to Timothy almost as a father to a son, giving the younger Timothy advice as he pastored the church in Ephesus. Now I'm no pastor, but as I begin a new school year and continue in my personal ministry and in taking part of the movement at Campus for Christ, I figure that there will be some very useful things to take from these two epistles. This post begins with a read through of first Timothy along with an overview of what I deduce to be the themes of this book.
Chapter 1 begins with a greeting (as do they all) and jumps right into telling Timothy to rebuke people that are teaching false doctrine (a piece of advice that Paul continually repeats throughout the book). Paul then transitions into this own testimony and exhorts Timothy to hold onto his faith. In Chapters 2-3, Paul instructs Timothy as to certain practices, criterion for leadership, and decent and proprietory conduct for woman, overseers, and deacons in the church. In Chapter 4, Paul again warns Timothy against teachers that will teach false doctrine, and gives him doctrine to teach the Christians in Ephesus that they may not be led astray by false teachings and sayings. He then encourages Timothy to continue on, and to not let his age be the determining factor of the respect that he should command but that the way in which he lives his life be the thing that qualifies him as the leader of the church. Chapter 5 until Chapter 6:2 is more administrative advice (about how to deal with widows, elders, and a few other advices). He transitions from that to warning about the love of money, and then concludes with an exhortation to Timothy to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness." (verse 11) In final conclusion, he gives a few last commands, and again encourages him to stand strong in solid faith.
The one thing that I got from that reading of 1 Timothy is that the most important part about being in a position of leadership in the church is not your age, or your experience, or what you know (for Paul warns against a lot of "so-called" knowledge), but that we "set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." (verse 12b... the second half of the verse that all young people love... the half that the young people don't love so much because it acutally commands us to live proper lives.) This particular theme is constantly repeated throughout 1 Timothy... in Chapter 3 where he says overseers and deacons must be above reproach, and where he states in Chapter 6 to "...Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession..."(verse 12). It convicted me because I realized that I'm not actually living my life in a way that I would like to see my brothers and sisters in Christ living... I rebuke myself.
Tomorrow, I will begin with chapter 1:1-11.
An Intro
I've been finding myself not being able to focus properly on quiet times of any sort and I'm finding it hard to sit down at the times that I said I would to do a quiet time, yet the conundrum I find myself facing is that I find myself with plenty of time to do other things, like... blog... or watch movies... etc.
So, I decided to mix one of those other things with quiet times and here is the result... blog QTing. I'm sure that it is not a revolutionary idea by any long shot... and I won't be posting EVERY little intricate detail that I come up with (particularly if I'm going through a rough time, this will not be a place where I air out my dirty laundry.) Mostly what you will see on this blog is thoughts, questions, and musings, as well as findings from commentaries and other sources about questions that I have as I read through certain passages of Scripture. I will intersperse it with some personal reflections about things as well as ways that I plan to try and apply the Scripture to my life. So if you're reading this, then please, keep me accountable to the things that I post here.
Thank you, and I hope that you let me know if you think I'm going off on any heretical tangents.
