2 Timothy 4:18

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!

Encouraging Words

When Jesus told His disciples that He would be with them, even to the end of the ages, He was not just speaking idle words. When He prayed for us and asked that our lives guarded, protected and joined together in unity, He was not just doing that for the show. Jesus is our Great Shepherd! He is our Mighty King! He keeps His promises. We can run to Him in the midst of every trial and tribulation knowing that He will take us in His arms and deliver us and preserve us. It is never Him that departs from us when the going gets tough, but it is us who try to deal with life on our own and therefore the ones who depart from Him. What a blessing it is to be able to go through life knowing that the creator, the Everlasting, the Omnipotent, loves me so much that He gave us His only Son so that we would never be separated from Him, no matter how much I mess up. Glory be to God!

Titus 1:1

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,

Personal Challenge

The concept of being a bondservant is a concept that we are not familiar with today. Here is the note about bondservants from the Orthodox Study Bible…

In the Roman world, a bondservant (Gr. doulos) was in an unenviable position: he had no name, rights, will, or even time of his own. But in the world of the OT, a bondservant was often the king’s right-hand man—one of the most honored titles. Moses and other OT prophets were the bondservants of the Lord. Paul, of course, knew of both usages. An apostle, “one sent out,” was a New Covenant equivalent to a bondservant.

Paul had both the old world and the new world definitions in his thoughts when he wrote this letter to Titus. He knew that his life was fully given over to his Lord and that he would do anything or go anywhere for his Lord. As I look at my own life and my desire to be a good Christian, a man after God’s own heart, I must admit that I am nowhere near living my life this way. What a goal to strive for. What a journey to launch on. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner,

1 Timothy 6:20-21

O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.

Grace be with you. Amen.

Personal Challenge…

Those of us who claim to be followers of Christ have a daunting responsibility. We have been entrusted with the teachings of our Lord and those whom He has established over the centuries to by our leaders and guides. If we abuse these teachings or try to change and adapt them to fit our own knowledge, or hide them away so that no one else can receive them, then we have betrayed that trust. We are responsible and accountable for those around us that we have lead astray from the faith. We do this sometimes by proclaiming false interpretations of Gods’ truth. What is worse than this, though, are the times that I have said things or done things that have caused those around me to deny Christ because I have represented Him poorly. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Personal Challenge

Righteousness is not something that just happens to us or given to us just because we claim to be a follower of Christ. Righteousness comes into our lives through the work that we do to become righteous and godly. We have to work diligently to remove bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and malice from our lives, especially our hearts, This is never easy work either. We must set ourselves aside and strive to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving. this too is difficult and challenging. When Jesus told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, this is what He meant. This is the path to righteousness and theosis that we are all on. This means that when I see something going on around me that offends me or frustrates me that I look for the opportunity to exhibit righteousness. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Romans 14:19

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

Personal Challenge

The things that we are encouraged to pursue as followers of Christ are so much different than what the world is always telling us to pursue. It is not important, or of true value, to pursue wealth and prestige. The scriptures do not say that there is anything wrong with wealth or prestige. The challenge lies in what we do with these things of this earth, or worse yet, what we let them do to us. Here we are encouraged to pursue those things that will generate peace amongst us and help us to edify those around us. This can be accomplished with or without wealth or prestige and in many cases better without them. What I do know from the years that I have spent in my life, is that pursuing peace can be a difficult and time-consuming activity and trying to edify others, putting their needs above mine, is definitely not something that comes naturally to me. Glory be to God!

Romans 14:12-13

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

Personal Challenge…

Life is most certainly a challenge, especially if my desire is to be a good representative of my Lord, I am constantly confronted with temptations and the desires that remain harbored in my flesh. Maybe this is one of the reasons the teachers in the New Testament, as well as Jesus Himself, so often taught about not judging one another. We have so much that we can judge within ourselves that there is no room to judge another. I think the critical portion of this passage is that last line, “but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” If I truly love my Lord and try to demonstrate that love by loving my neighbor, then it becomes so important to not be the cause for them to sin or worse yet, turn away from God, This is where I need to spend more of my focus and energy rather than being judgemental. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Romans 14:7-10

For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Personal Challenge

Once again, I am confronted in the Scriptures with the challenge to not judge my brother or show contempt for him or her. Why is this? If I am truly following the ways of my Lord then I am no longer my own. I have become His and in this transfer of ownership, I have also transferred my desires to judge another to my Master. Only God knows the nature of our hearts. Only He knows what demons each one of us is struggling with in our lives. Only He can apply the true love, mercy, and grace to each of us at the level which we need it at any given point in time. Besides, I have enough of my own stuff in my life that I can be judged for. I should be focusing on cleaning that up and not worrying about someone else. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus:not with uncertainty. Thus I fight:not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Personal Challenge

1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Encouraging Words

What an interesting and special institution marriage is. It was created by God at the beginning of creation and it has been blessed by Him ever since. It is the true definition whereby two distinct and unique people come together to be one. Man and woman, individual yet one. From this point forward there exists a new identity comprised of the two. It is the only relationship where the two individuals give 100% to the other. It is not a 50-50 relationship. It is in this type of commitment that this passage makes sense. We give ourselves over to the authority of the other out of love. Glory be to God!