3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.---------------
This sounds like the prosperity gospel to me or anything else that allows people to do the wrong thing in the eyes of the Lord. Our nature is to want to hear things that are beneficial to us, things that are easy. The funny thing is, only God knows what is beneficial to us! We need to be careful to listen to God's word and listen to the things that might hurt...because God shapes and molds us and sometimes it hurts. Let's follow God's desires and not ours!
I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about how Paul says "I give you this charge" or "Listen this is important" because thats a signal that this next section is what you need to listen too. Therefore when I hit this verse I did try to listen. Proclaim the word: this doesn't just mean that preachers need to speak from topics in the word but also that our lives, words, and actions should be proclaiming the gospel. Be prepared; to correct those who are acting contrary to the teachings and life of Christ. Be prepared; to rebuke those who are actively disobeying the Lord. These two sections are difficult to complete because we ourselves are sinner and are not qualified to judge another's sins and short fallings. But Paul does say multiple times that we must stand for what the Lord has written and the reason Jesus died for our sins. Thirdly encourage; this mean building up your brother and sister in their faith.
All is Great in Christ Jesus
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
ReplyDelete2 Timothy 4:7
Paul fought the good fight, and finished the race because of his faith. We too are running this race and fighting this fight every day. Paul has shown us what this means to run the race of faith. We should tr to follow him in the things he has done and use him as an example to live like Jesus did.
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength
ReplyDeleteThis is my prayer. I know the Lord is always with me, but I want to be able to have the faith to know that God is right there with me giving me strength in difficult times.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I would like to be able to say on the day I die. That I fought for the Lord, ran His race on the path He gave me, and kept my faith through the entirety of life. This verse is so powerful and I think it is something we should all strive to achieve and I hope that all of us upon entering the kingdom of God will be able to say what Paul has said.
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth.
ReplyDeleteI think that this verse is amazingly encouraging, because we have no idea what God has in store for us. Paul writes about God's work through him has been completed, so that the Word could be spread to all the Gentiles. Paul, however, was (if I'm not mistaken) talking about his trial in Rome.
But God had bigger plans, which involved a short letter to Timothy, a letter which we all just finished reading, 1900 years later in a part of the world that Paul didn't even know existed.
Who of us has the slightest idea what God is doing? It is our job to DO, not to question.