ENTRUSTED TO ENTRUST

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. —II Timothy 2:1-7

            Am I strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Do I understand this? What have I heard from whom and am I entrusting what I have heard to those who are faithful and are able to teach others? That is what His Church is called to do, commanded to do.

            A soldier soldiers, an athlete athletes, a farmer farms, a learner learns and those entrusted entrust. A faithful disciple of Jesus disciples. What is the understanding the Lord will give us in this? We are told that He will give us understanding. There will be suffering. There needs to be focus. There needs to be continuance. There needs to be obedience. There needs to be faithfulness. There needs to be endurance. There needs to be persistence. There is no turning back. There is opposition. There are trials. There is no quitting. There will be fruitfulness.

            Again, who have I heard God’s Word from and who are the faithful ones I am entrusting with his Word to so they can teach others? This is what Jesus commanded us to do — “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:16-20). Discipling others… are we being obedient to what Jesus commanded us to do? We do this out of love for God and for people (Matthew 22:37-40).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXQtPGE_Cso&list=RDcu75ATYbufI&index=2

Dear Father may I be faithful in this work You have commanded us in. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.

PROPER FOCUS

Cursed be the day on which I was born! —Jeremiah 20:14

            Ever have a day like this that you have said, “I wish I never had been born?” Jeremiah felt that way. Job also felt that way— “Curse that day for failing to shut my mother’s womb, for letting me be born to see all this trouble” (Job 3:10).  Sometimes people get so down when difficulty comes that they say “they wish they never had been born.”

            This just goes to show you that the wealthy and the godly have difficulty just as the poor and ungodly do. Life in a fallen world— “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7).  Nobody is immune from difficulty in this world in whatever form it comes. But Jesus said, “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 16:33). The only way we can have peace in this world is to know and rest in the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6; Romans 5:1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjdaZlIXyEc

            So… are you going through a difficult time? Feeling like you wish you had not been born? Time to refocus on Jesus and “throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Keep our eyes on Him!

Dear Father when difficulty comes in whatever form may I keep my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.   So be it!

CURSED OR BLESSED

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.   “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”   The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” —Jeremiah 17:5-10

Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. —Jeremiah 18:5-10

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I Timothy 6:6-10

            These 3 passages above all speak to priorities in an individual’s life or a nation’s life. First, are we trusting in our own strength, having walked away from the Lord? That is a curse to be living like this and will the individual or nation will be in a parched place. None can understand the deceitfulness of their own heart. Only our Lord truly knows our hearts and as the Potter He can do whatever He desires with us, the clay in His hands. He is the One who uproots, tears down and destroys nations because of their evil. He is also the One who builds up and plants nations as well. When the focus of an individual or nation is on discontentment and becoming rich, a love for money, then that root of evil will cause people to wander “from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

            On the other hand those who put their trust and confidence in the Lord are blessed. They are like a prosperous, healthy and flourishing tree — “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:3). These God honoring people are content, understanding that “we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” So let us trust in our Lord and be content, pliable in the Potter’s hand to become what He desires us to be and doing what He desires us to do. This is all out of love for Him and people. My Father may this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAyl9Dg-89s

PROVIDE ACCORDING TO OUR LORD’S WILL

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. —I Timothy 5:8 

            This is a pretty clear directive for those who follow Jesus. Those who follow Jesus are not to expect the government or even the church to provide for their relatives. No, followers of Jesus are to take care of their own relatives. To not do so is a denying of “the faith.” For a follower of Jesus not do so “is worse than an unbeliever.” Wow, those are pretty strong words, but they are true.

            So let us take the responsibility for our own families and not expect someone else to do so. Actually, we could also use this principle of helping our relatives with physical needs to also helping them with their spiritual needs (Matthew 4:4). Do I expect someone else to share the gospel with my family and relatives? Should not that be the place where I start? Do I expect others to disciple my family and relatives? Isn’t that my responsibility? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGvfagBOHJE

            Brothers and sisters let us take the responsibility our Lord has given to us and be faithful. Let us not expect others to do what our Lord has called us to do. Yes Dear Father may this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son. So be it!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu75ATYbufI&list=RDcu75ATYbufI&start_radio=1

Go!

And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. —Jeremiah 11:6

 Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame… Go out to the roads and country lanes.  —Luke 14:21, 23

            Where are we to go to share the message of God’s Word? Surely we are to start in our own home (Deuteronomy 6:4-8). Then we need to bring His message to the streets of the cities and towns, to roads and country lanes. We are not to neglect bringing this message to the poor, crippled, blind and lame…

            So, where are you bringing the Word of God to?   Are you sharing His Word in your home with those of your family? Are you going beyond your home to family and friends? Are you going to other places in cities and towns, roads and lanes, to the physically needy? Oh, that we are in the power of God’s Holy Spirit and in the authority of God’s Son, Jesus. So be it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yBzIt_z8oY

STUPID… OR NOT

Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”  It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.  When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.  Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.  They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish. —Jeremiah 10:11-15

            Hey, God’s Word is very clear here!   Man apart from God is “stupid and without knowledge.” Yeh, what prideful, godless person wants to hear that! But this is what God says about any man who is not following Him, but instead is following some worthless delusion of his own making. That could be some false religious belief or no religious belief. It is delusion and if that person does not turn to Jesus they will be put to shame as their false belief system will perish at judgment day —“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). 

            Our Sovereign Lord Jesus created all things and sustains all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-3). God so loved us that He sent Jesus to die on that cross to take the penalty and punishment for our sin. To reject the work that Almighty God did for us is to have one’s eternal destiny sealed in Hell… forever! It is the person who is “stupid and without knowledge” that rejects the Creator and Sustainer of all things.   Listen, those are not my words!   This is God’s description of a person headed for eternity in Hell without relationship with Him when they can have relationship with Him now and be with Him forever after they die. Yes, how stupid is that! God’s Word…

            A person is swimming in deep water and gets into trouble and is on the verge of drowning. A passerby notices and sees a life ring attached to a rope nearby. He runs to the rope, grabs the rescue tool, runs to the water’s edge and tosses the ring to the man in danger of death. The ring floats by the man. He could grab it but does not and the ring foats out of reach.   Again and again the man throws the life ring near the soon to be dead person, but the person rejects it and drowns.   How stupid is that? Here is the gospel… again… If you have not called on Jesus to save you from your sin and to a relationship with God through Him… now is the time… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD6khv6pGkw&t=10s

            Brother and sister, there are those who will call on the name of the Lord and be saved, but “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15). Let us take the gospel, the good news to people. There are those our Father is drawing to Jesus and they will respond.   Go!

Dear Father please encourage people not to allow pride and selfishness to keep them from calling on Jesus. Oh, as Your gospel, good news, goes out may many people call on Jesus and be saved from their sin to a relationship with You through Him. May this be so in the power of You Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. So be it!

OBEDIENT OR DISOBEDIENT

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD… . Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. —Jeremiah 7:1, 4-11

But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. —Jeremiah 7:23-24

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you, —Jeremiah 7:27

Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the LORD. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them? —Jeremiah 8:7-9

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. —I Timothy 2:1-4  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zOsS132uEw

            Church attendance by Americans: Every week 23%; Almost every week 10%; About once a month 12%; Seldom 24%; Never 29%; No opinion 3%— https://www.statista.com/statistics/245491/church-attendance-of-americans/ Let’s just look at the 23% of Americans attend church every week and let us just say that is accurate. That would be 75,000,000 people attend church every week!   We have God’s Word readily available to us in the U.S. in so many forms—TV, radio, books, bookstores, internet, audio in various forms, now even on our phones. Are we being OBEDIENT OR DISOBEDIENT? How could we be possibly be being obedient with our nation in the state it is? NO WE ARE NOT BEING AN OBEDIENT PEOPLE! We may be hearing God’s Word with our physical ears, but are we doing what it says? This is a wakeup call. The church is called to bring the gospel to the whole world (Matthew 24:14) and to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:16-20). Are we even praying about this basic truths? (Matthew 9:35-38). It is time to be faithful in following the Lord.   Let us pray… let us proclaim the gospel… let us make disciples… if we truly Lord our Lord we will! (Matthew 22:37-40; John 14:21). Oh Lord may we truly be faithful to You and Your desires!

THE LAW POINTS OUT OUR NEED FOR OUR SAVIOR— JESUS!

 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. —I Timothy 1:8-11

            The law is not for those who are living for the Lord, but for those who are not.   The law shows sinners that they are in rebellion against God and need to repent and call on the Name of the Lord to be saved from their sin and to a relationship with God through Jesus.

            The law points out that people living these lifestyles are lawless and disobedient, ungodly and sinners, unholy and profane. Who is living like this?

• Those who abuse their parents
• Murderers
• The sexual immoral
• Those practicing homosexuality
• Enslavers
• Liars
• Perjurers
• And any other lawlessness and rebellion against God’s Word

God’s law points out that those living like this are in rebellion against Him. This is a serious place to be and people need to hear the gospel or they will be condemned to hell forever on judgment day. So let us use the law in a loving way to point out a person is in rebellion against God and then for those who are willing to hear the gospel, share the Good News with them about what Jesus has done. Yes, let us do so!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk&t=19s

I thank You Father that Your Word is clear. Thank You for showing me that I was in rebellion against You and headed for hell. Thank You that You showed me what Jesus has done for me that I could be saved from my sin and to a relationship with You through Him. Now may I be faithful to share this Good News with many others.   May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. So be it!

DON’T GROW WEARY IN DOING GOOD!

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. —II Thessalonians 3:13

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. —Galatians 6:9

            Doing good and not giving up are what He encouraged to do. Have you ever said, “What’s the use”? or “Does it matter?” or “Does anyone care?” or “Is it worth it?” or some other question like those? These are clear signs of weariness and can keep us from doing that which is good in our Lord Jesus and for our Lord Jesus.

            Love for God and the things that He loves will help us keep our focus. It is when we get our eyes off Him and onto circumstances that are usually negative and people that are being negative that we can start down the wrong road of thinking. It is then that we become weary and are not looking to do the good our Lord has called us to (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14).  

            Instead of growing weary let us persevere in the race He has “marked out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). There will be a harvest, but we must continue and “should always pray and not give up’ (Luke 18:1).

            Are you weary in doing good? Why?   Where is your focus? Are you serving out of love for God and love for people or is there some other motive, some other expectation that is not being met?   Let us remember Who we are serving.   Let us love Him above all else and be sure we are spending large amounts of time with Him and Him alone. Then we will not be weary but able to sustain the weary and a harvest will come! — “The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed” (Isaiah 50:4). 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.   He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.   Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. —Isaiah 40:28-31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsQmsEE_2-s&list=UUf1NPIFOBwzTLVQiEDnq4Cw&index=11 May it be so Lord!

Dear Father help me to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and keep doing the good You have called me to. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus, my Lord and King. So be it!

THOSE SLAUGHTERING CHILDREN— YOUR JUDGMENT IS COMING!

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” —Jeremiah 1:5

            In the verse above our Lord God Almighty is speaking about Jeremiah. He knew him before He formed Him in the womb.   Before Jeremiah was born God had a plan for him, an appointment. Those who kill children in the womb are killing those the Lord is forming. They are killing children that He is in the process of forming. Who would do such a thing? It is Satan and all those who are being influenced by that adversary of God (II Timothy 2:26). Satan seeks those he can destroy (I Peter 5:8).

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. —Psalm 139:13-14

             Again, it is our Lord God Almighty that forms children in the womb. Those who destroy children in the womb are destroying God’s creation. This is Satanic— “The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born” (Revelation 12:4). This is taking about Jesus when He was born as a child on this earth. Satan worked through Herod to seek to destroy Him— “When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi” (Matthew 2:16). Children in the womb or out of the womb are always a target of Satan.

            How is it that a people can be so deceived as to kill its own children when they are in their most vulnerable state— in the womb? Who can see the pictures of aborted children and not be able to see they are children? Who?   The selfish, the lustful, those blinded by their hurt and pain, those who are fearful, those who are willfully blind, those whose thinking is not right, those who have been deceived or are self deceived, those blinded by Satan (II Corinthians 4:4), those who are disobedient…

            Nothing has escaped our Lord’s notice and He will right all wrongs one day.   That day is getting closer— “This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (II Thessalonians 1:7-8).  Oh, that many would turn to Him before that day! May it be so!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On-whMoulOM

Dear Father may I be faithful to bring Your message to those who don’t know You yet. May this be done in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus. So be it!