SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/28/2024 8:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “Intro to 2 Timothy 1:6-18”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy 1:6-18
Message of
the verses: “6 For this reason I
remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying
on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power
and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel
according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace
which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been
revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle
and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not
ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to
guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 13 Retain the standard of
sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in
Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure
which has been entrusted to you. 15 You are aware of the fact that all
who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16
The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and
was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched
for me and found me — 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from
the Lord on that day — and you know very well what services he
rendered at Ephesus.”
I
continue looking at what is a very long chapter that helps us to understand
these verses, and I am only at the introduction to these verses. I have listened to two of the three messages
that John MacArthur preached on these verses and I can say that there is a
tremendous amount of information that are in these verses.
Let
us continue where we left off in yesterday’s Spiritual Diary by quoting a
paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary.
“The most familiar example in the New Testament of being ashamed of
Christ is Peter’s denial during Jesus’ trial before the high priest Caiaphas
and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council.
All the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of
Gethsemane (Matt. 25:56), but Peter remained and followed ‘Him at a distance as
far as the courtyard of the high priest’ (v. 58). While waiting there, he three times denied
being Jesus’ disciple or even knowing Him (vv. 70-74). As soon as a cock crowed, ‘Peter remembered
the word which Jesus had said, Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three
times.’ And he went out and wept
bitterly’ (v. 75).”
I
believe that most people who have even a little knowledge of the Bible know
this story about how Peter denied the Lord three times as this vivid account
makes Peter’s denial an easy target for reproach. However as mentioned above, every Christian
knows that he, too, at times has been guilty of denying the Lord, though
perhaps not as publicly or dramatically.
Now true believer who has denied the Lord in any way is not really
ashamed of doing it. Now the encouraging
truth we gain from Peter’s experience is that, just as we can be ashamed of the
Lord like Peter then we can also be forgiven and restored by the Lord as Peter
was as found in the 21st chapter of John’s gospel where we see that
Peter was asked three times if he loved the Lord, and so this goes along with
him denying the Lord three times and we can see that the Lord has forgiven him,
but it goes even further as Jesus would say three times “Feed my lambs” showing
that He was still going to use Peter in the ministry that He had planned for
him to accomplish. I can’t help but
think of a time found in the book of Acts where Paul points out a time when
Peter sinned and so Paul accused him of it.
This shows me that even how great Peter’s ministry was for the cause of
Christ, because he was still in a human body that he would still sin. Now back to the first story about Peter’s
denial we see that a few weeks later, during the feast of Pentecost, Peter
fearlessly proclaimed before a great crowd in Jerusalem the truth about Jesus
Christ and how the people in that crowd listening to Him could be saved, and I
have to believe that some who were in that crowd could have been some of the
very people in an earlier crowd crying for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Let
us now look in conclusion of this SD Acts 2:22-24, 40-41.
“22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus
the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs
which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know —
23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to
death. 24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death,
since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” “40 And with many other words he solemnly
testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse
generation!" 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized;
and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Looking at
Peter’s life, a small portion of it I can see from it that he was a great man
for the cause of Christ, and yet I know that he too had his faults, and I think
that the truth is that I need to be like Peter in that even though there were
some ups and downs in his life he kept his eye on the Lord Jesus Christ and he
desired to be faithful to him even though at times he failed him.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Now not just because it is Thanksgiving day
in the USA, I can say that I am thankful for the forgiveness that I have
through the blood of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
11/28/2024 9:19 AM
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