SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2025 8:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Preeminence of the Lord”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Timothy 2:8
Message of the verse: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.”
This morning we begin a new section that like many others
will take me a few days to get through it.
Paul is saying to Timothy something like this “your service will be more
aggressive, and also you will have greater courage and greater boldness,
greater endurance of evil treatment and of suffering for the Lord if you remember
His preeminence, that is who He really is—none other than God incarnate, Jesus
Christ.”
As
I think about that it comes to my mind that there are times as I read the
gospel records of our Lord that I think of Him just as He was while on this
earth, but then at the end of all those gospel records we see that He is
different because of rising from the dead.
Now think about this for a moment as I quote some verses from the early
part of t he book of Revelation. “12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with
me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of
the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching
to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and
His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame
of fire. 15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made
to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16
In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged
sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 When I saw
Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me,
saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living
One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of
death and of Hades” (Rev. 1:12-18). Now I
want to quote some verses from John 13:23-26 “23 There was reclining on Jesus’
bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 So Simon Peter gestured to
him, and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom He is
speaking." 25 He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him,
"Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus then answered, "That is the one for whom
I shall dip the morsel and give it to him." So when He had dipped the
morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.” Notice that John does not use his name in his
gospel, or in 1 John, but we know it was him, “whom Jesus loved.” This is how John spoke of himself in this
section. This section shows how Jesus
was when He was on earth, and the section in Revelation shows how He is in
heaven, and we see that John description of Him is much different than the one
we see in John’s gospel. John whom Jesus
loved did not recognize Jesus and actually fainted because of the awesome way
that Jesus is described. In our verse
from 2 Timothy 2:8 Paul speaks of Jesus Christ risen from the dead and John describes
Him in the verses from Revelation chapter one.
As
I continue to what is going on in our verse for this section I will quote a
rather long paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary and then end this SD for
today.
“As
with the preceding verbs ‘be strong’ (v. 1), ‘entrust’ (v. 2), and ‘consider’
(v. 7), the Greek verb rendered remember is an imperative—as also are the
following: ‘remind’ (v. 14), ‘Be
diligent’ (v. 15), ‘avoid’ (v. 16), ‘abstain’ (v. 19), ‘flee’ and ‘pursue’ (v.
22), and ‘refuse’ (v. 23). These are gentle commands, but commands
nonetheless. For a faithful and
productive spiritual life, they are not options but imperatives, because they
all characterize the sinless life of our supreme example, Jesus Christ. As John reminds us, ‘The one who says he
abides in Him [Christ] ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked’
(1 John 2:6). Peter asks, ‘For what
credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with
patience? But if when you do what is
right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with
God. For you have been called for this
purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to
follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His
mouth’ (1 Peter 2:20-22). We are to fix ‘our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:2).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today:
Looking at Jesus from John’s view in Revelation chapter one is the One who I am
following, and need to follow as I live my life here on planet earth. The Jesus I see in John’s description is the
One who was raised from the dead and is seated at the throne of God, the same
Jesus described in Heb. 12:2 as reminded by the author of Hebrews that endured
the cross, despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord as He rules my life and loves
me so much that even though at times I go through difficult times, that they
are for my good and His glory.
1/25/2025 9:00 AM
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