Tag: 2timothy3

LOVERS OF GOD 5. “I am Yours.” (On 2. Timothy 3)

Today is the last part of our series! I wanted this to look more like a letter. These past six weeks have been a crazy journey for me to let God renew my heart so that I can be a true lover of God again. It was as if He was letting me be in this fiery trial so that I can prove my faith.

If you followed this series, you’ll remember that we talked about how it is only by God’s grace that we can even love Him. The very fact that God chose us should make us grateful, motivate us to live godly lives and lead us into a greater depth of revelation-knowledge of our Father whom we are to love.

In the battle against our own flesh – and how lost we are without the Holy Spirit! – we must constantly let God’s Word work mightily in us by reading His Word daily, letting His Word speak over us and aligning ourselves according to His Word through faithful obedience.

I want to encourage you to keep pursuing Him, with all your strengths and weaknesses and to keep waiting on Him to transform your heart. I hope that this series blessed you and I want to close with a confession which I am able to speak out from the deepest depths of my heart by God’s grace and mercy:

"Jesus,
I owe you everything.
Take all of me,
You are enough for me.
I am Yours."

LOVERS OF GOD 4. “The Known” (On 2. Timothy 3)

(Sorry it took me a long time to post, guys! I was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago due to an emergency situation and needed time to rest and recover. I’m doing good by God’s grace and held by Him. He loves me deeply and I know He loves you the same. And because He first loved us, we can return His love to Him and others❤ May this teaching bless you!)

Here it comes:

Do you know that you are fully known by God? He created you and He knows you.

There is a difference, though, to be fully known by a God who IS the very definition of love (1. John 4:16). Let us read about His following characteristics and keep in mind that we are fully known by Him.

“Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres …

now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

1. Corinthians 13:4-7, 12 NIV

Do you realize how God treats you? How therefore we should treat others? Do we not all need a revelation of this kind of love in our lives so that we can love others as He has loved us first? I pray that the eyes of your heart will be opened to see the vast measure of God’s love for you and the family of Christ!

Stay in His love! Be still before Him. Abide in Him and remain in His presence as much as you can. For otherwise, it is easy for the enemy to tempt us to love God less than we do now! No, let us love Him more and more. Let us pursue Him more and more.

When you don’t let the Word of God teach, rebuke, correct and train you in righteousness, you will resemble the people of the last days who will: love themselves and money more than God; be boastful, proud, abusive towards Him; be disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal; hate the good, be treacherous, rash, conceited, and love pleasure rather than God. (2. Timothy 3:2-4)

No, those who love God are patient with Him and kind to Him. They are not proud before Him or dishonor Him. They are not self-seeking and easily angered by Him; they don’t hold a grudge against Him. They rejoice with Him and mourn with Him. They always protect, always trust, always hope and always persevere.

They know Him as they are known by Him.

LOVERS OF GOD 3. “The Godly” (On 2. Timothy 3)

Today I want you to focus on Jesus.

Just close your eyes for a moment and meditate on the Son of Man. If you have forgotten how He is like, open the Bible and read through the four Gospels again.

But fix your eyes on Him for this.

.

.

.

How are you feeling now?

I don’t know about you, but whenever God reveals His Son to me, I become very still before Him. I have nothing to say! What could I say in the presence of such a beautiful, godly man? Who am I, really, compared to Him?

Isn’t it crazy that this Jesus lives in us?

The One who loved,
The One who told the truth.
The One who lived a godly life.

The One who was hated for telling the truth,
persecuted for living a godly life,
and nailed to the cross for love.

“In the last days, people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.

…

Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

2. Timothy 3: 2a, 4-5, 12-13

How about you? Are you being persecuted? Do you live in the power of godliness?

Or do you compromise, live in bondage of sin, having only a form of godliness and being hated by noone for the sake of truth?

Jesus came to set you free. The truth sets you free. Do you believe? Do you believe that He loves you and is mighty enough to save? Do you believe in the power of godliness that is found in Jesus Christ who is IN you?

Love God with all your strength, all your heart and all your mind! Start afresh! Let Him help you be the standard who pulls the weaker out of their “best” into the better that God has for them! Believe first, ask God to help you believe and learn to THRIVE in the power of godliness! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!

The start and end of it all is Jesus. It will always be Jesus. Let Jesus increase in you. Decrease, deny yourself and take up the cross. Suffer with Him, be persecuted with Him. It will all happen naturally when you love Him more and more.

Oh, let us love Him, people of God!

LOVERS OF GOD 2. “The Grateful Ones” (On 2. Timothy 3)

Welcome to Part 2!

Narrow is the way that leads to life (Matthew 7:14) and God is the one who helps us remain on this path. Today I want to highlight one characteristic of people mentioned in 2. Timothy 3:2, which we are going to encounter increasingly more in the future, even in the Body of Christ.

First read the following verses!

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people”

2. Timothy 3:1-5 NIV

The word God highlighted to me this time is “ungrateful”. In the last days, people will be ungrateful. Let me share a vision God gave me last week to help me understand the meaning of this truth to me.

In this vision, I saw myself as a beggar on the street. I was almost dying of thirst. A noble man noticed me, got me a bowl of clean water and kneeled down to help me drink. It was a very short vision but I knew instantly who the noble man was. One could not miss the compassionate eyes and the graciousness of this man.

How does this vision speak to you? I felt tears running down my face as I realized who I was and what God had done for me. When you love God, you don’t forget about His mercy. You don’t forget how He saved you with His Living Water.

His invitation is still open today:

“Come, all you who are thirsty.”

Isaiah 55:1 NIV

Will you come? If you have, will you remember and give thanks to Him?