SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/01/2025 9:58 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Introduction to 2 Timothy 2:1-7”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy
2:1-7
Message of the verses: “1 You therefore, my
son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you
have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful
men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as
a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles
himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who
enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not
win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working
farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what
I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”
Today’s SD will be the first SD of 2025, and it is
my desire to finish the introduction to the verses that we will be looking at
over the next few days. Paul tells
Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ. There is much packed into that advise that
Paul gives to Timothy and a part of what we can see is that spiritual weakness
can come in different ways and one of those ways is fatigue, frustration, and
seemingly insurmountable obstacles in the Lord’s work. John MacArthur gives the following
example: “After Moses died, Joshua faced
the formidable task of leading Israel in the conquest of Canaan. The Lord therefore encouraged Joshua, saying ‘Be
strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land
which I swore to their fathers to give them.
Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all
the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right
or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go’ (Josh. 1:6-7). To wavering believers in Corinth, Paul said, Be
on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong’ (1 Cor.
16:13). Even to the faithful church at
Ephesus he felt it necessary to say, ‘Be strong in the Lord, and in the
strength of His might’ (Eph. 6:10).”
MacArthur now gives a story which I will quote: “Several years ago, engineers in New Jersey
were building a bridge over the mouth of a river on the Atlantic coast. As they were putting down pilings, they came
across the hull of an old ship that was buried in the sand. To keep the bridge on the planned route, the
hull would have to be removed. After
they tried every mechanical means they could think of, the ship remained in
place. A young engineer suggested placing
several large barges above the hull on either side, running cables underneath the
hull, and attaching them tightly to the barges at low tide. When the tide rose, the hull loosened
some. At the next low tide the cables
were tightened again, and at high tide the ship was loosened some more. After following that procedure for several
cycles of tides, the ship eventually was freed.
What humanly devised mechanical force could not accomplish, the
immeasurably greater forces of nature accomplished easily.
“Many
Christians and churches are like that hull, embedded in spiritual
immobility. They recognize the problem
and try every human means to extricate themselves, but to no avail. But what His children cannot accomplish in
their own strength, their heavenly Father can do by the power of the Spirit.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I believe that story of the sunken boat has
given me great advice as I am to allow the Lord to do things in my life that comes
from the power of the Holy Spirit in order to bring glory to the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: May the year 2025 be a year that I allow the
Spirit of God to do the things through me that He has called me to do, and do
it in His power, not mine.
1/1/2025 10:20 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment