Titus 3

7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” 8 This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone.

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LOVE IT! I'm chose this one because it is very similar to the one I chose yesterday. It talks about eternal life and how knowing God's true promises and understanding his grace is what leads us to doing good...carrying out the works that are in his plan! Paul tells the people that he wants them to insist on teaching this message so that people will trust in God and do good! This is beneficial to everyone...do we understand that? Are we stepping out and sharing this amazing message we have been given?

Titus 2

1 As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching

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I really like this. "Practice what you preach"...it's so true and we all know that not everyone does this. We too sometimes can catch ourselves in our hypocrisy. We need to hold ourselves to the same standards we hold others....and those standards must be biblical.

14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

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I really liked this one too because it encompasses the gospel and what it gives us! FREEDOM, PURITY, FAMILY, DEVOTION--to pleasing our Father!

Titus 1

2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.

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The truth gives us confidence that we have eternal life. What is the truth? It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are sinners saved by grace through faith. This is the exact faith that drives us to live holy lives as we realize that we don't deserve what God has done for us! I love how this says that this truth gives us confidence of eternal life. It doesn't say it gives us confidence of great things to come, or the type of Prosperity Gospel that is telling people "Today will be a better day!"....no for those who follow Christ, especially in countries where it is illegal to preach the word of God and to be a Christian--today might just suck a little more than yesterday. But Praise the Lord we have a promise that will get us through any situation--and that is the confidence that we have eternal life...a gift we surely don't deserve! Thank you Jesus.

2 Timothy 4

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.

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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!

2 Timothy 3

12 Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

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What does this look like? Anyone who wants to live a godly life will suffer persecution. I do not know if this is normative scripture or descriptive--as in was he specifically speaking to the people of that time (descriptive) or to us as well (normative)? I think that it was written more for the people of his time...because if not, then it seems to me that we must be doing something wrong--because none of us can say we suffer persecution.

I think the real question is....and we discussed this in D-group this week---"Are we willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel?" Everything might be nice now and it might be easy for us to follow Christ...but are we making sure we are following Christ, not because it is easy, but because we love him and will give our lives for the glory of his name? Think about that guys!

2 Timothy 2

23 Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 24 A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. 25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.

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Sorry Will I liked this one a lot too! But you were right, I probably would have chosen the scripture about the soldiers if I hadn't cheated and say your post before I did mine! Anyway, this passage is incredible. It calls us to be patient with the people who are misguided and who do not want to receive the truth for one reason or another! Paul instructs us to avoid foolish and ignorant arguments three times in this chapter alone! Not to mention, he has said it a bunch of times in his other letters. IT seems like people were wasting their time on meaningless things, rather than focusing on the truth of the gospel which is dipped and covered in LOVE! If someone doesn't want to understand something, it is because they are blind and have not escaped from the devil's trap...We need to be persistent...but patient and wait for God to change their hearts and reveal the truth to them!

2 Timothy 1

. 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

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This whole chapter is very powerful. I really like it. But this one verse stood out to me, not only because I first read that Andy chose it this morning, haha... but because I've really been thinking about how God has called us to live a holy life! What's the purpose of that...well, it shouldn't be our trying to get to heaven...it shouldn't be our trying to look good in God's eyes, or other peoples' eyes....the sole purpose of our living a holy life is because God saved us and the only thing he asks for is for us to live a holy life. It's the least/most we can do for God...if that makes any sense.

Yesterday during D-group we watched a video that reminded us that there is nothing that we can do to repay the price it took Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of man...NOTHING....so, even though we owe him EVERYTHING....the only thing we can do/he wants us to do is to turn our lives over to him as living sacrifices! What a beautiful thing.