PT-1 “Satan’s Children Are Indifferent Toward God’s Children" (2 Timothy 3:16-18)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/20/2025 11:24 PM

 

My Worship Time      Focus:  “PT-1 “Satan’s Children Are Indifferent Toward God’s Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: 2 Timothy 3:16-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

 

            I have to say that it has been a long day, but a good day as we now have a new President of the United states and the two sport teams that I really like won their games today, and one, The Ohio State Buckeyes won their national champion ship game this evening.  I have to admit that I am a kind of sports nut but I have to say that I really don’t get it in the way of my first love, which is studying the Bible so that I can learn more about my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

            “We know love by this once again affirms genuine love as the outstanding mark of the Christian.  Now by God’s grace, a loving willingness to give up everything to help others permeates the attitudes of believers and it shines forth in their lives.  MacArthur writes “The New Testament contains several notable examples of such sacrificial love.  One such example was Epaphroditus, whom the apostle Paul commented to the Philippians:

 

25  But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me” (Phil. 2:25-30).

 

            I find it necessary to comment on the fact that the only miracle of allowing Epaphroditus to recover from his deadly illness was through prayer from Paul and others and that the Lord chose to heal him from his illness.  There are many people in the Bible who have been healed through different people like Elijah, and also Elisha as it seems to me that this was the only time that this kind of thing happened in the Old Testament.  However when the Lord Jesus began His ministry in the New Testament there were many, many, many healings, even bringing people back from the dead.  After His resurrection the apostles as seen in the book of Acts also were able to heal people.  Now I want to say that it was the Holy Spirit who enabled them to do this healing.  However as the Church became more and more established the healings were less frequent as in the case of what Paul wrote to the Philippians, and Paul had done many healings in his earlier ministry.  I believe that this is what is called sign gifts and healing was a part of that until the Church was more established, and after that, especially after the Bible was complete these sign gifts were not needed any longer.  I am in no way saying that God does not heal people today, what I am saying that I do not believe that there are people with these sign gifts around today.  I do believe that this certainly may happen during the tribulation period as this is another dispensation from the one we are in now which is the Church age. 

 

            I can think back a long time ago when our son was born with very serious heart issues and he had to have a number of operations to help out this problem.  It is my belief that the Lord answered our prayers and the prayers of others so that he came through these difficult surgeries to which we praise the Lord for our many answered prayers.  Did God heal him?  Well I believe that he used the doctors to give our son a successful surgery. By the way our son is now almost 46 years old and is married and has three children.  

 

            Lord willing I will continue looking at this section from 1 John in my next SD.

 

1/20/2025 11:45 PM