SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/17/2025 10:14 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Turn Away from the False”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy
3:1-5
Message of the verses: “1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, truce breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4
Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away”
(AKJV).
I want to continue to quote from Dr. Warren W.
Wiersbe on what he wrote on the following verses. (Dr. Wiersbe is one of my all time favorite
authors.)
“The
phrase ‘without natural affection’ is the translation of one word that describes
‘family love.’ The family is under
attack these days, and, as got its families, so goes the nation.
“In
place of the natural love that God has put into men and women and families,
today we have a good deal of unnatural love
which God has condemned (see Rom. 1:18-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). It is confusion, and God will judge it (Rom.
1:28-32).” “28 And just as they did not see fit to
acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those
things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness,
wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they
are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful,
inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy,
unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that
those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty
approval to those who practice them.”
“Not only in homes, but out in society and the
business world, the characteristics of these perilous times may be seen. ‘Truce breakers’ (2 Tim. 3:3) describes
people who will not try to agree. They
are unyielding and irreconcilable and must have their own way.
“In
order to defend their position, they become ‘slanders’ [‘false accusers,’ KJV] and
try to tear down the reputations of others.
Unfortunately, some of this activity goes on even among professed
Christians. ‘Christian leaders’ accuse
one another in the pages of their publications.
“Incontinent’
means ‘without self-control,’ The motto of our society today is ‘Do your own
thing and enjoy it!’ “Sad to say, some
of the children born to these people do not always enjoy it because they are
deformed or handicapped as the result of drugs, alcohol, or venereal diseases.
“The
lack of self-control reveals itself in a number of ways. ‘Fierce’ means ‘untamed, brutal.’ When these people cannot have their way, they
become much like savage beasts. Instead
of honoring what is good, they despise what is good and honor what is evil. In
society today the standards of right and wrong have been twisted, if not
destroyed. ‘Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil,’ cried the prophet
Isaiah (Isa. 5:20).
Traitors’
(2 Tim. 3:4) describes people who betray others and cannot be trusted. Neither friendship nor partnership makes any
difference to them; they lie and break their promises whenever doing so helps
them get their own way.
“Heady’
means ‘reckless, rash, acting without careful thought.’ Paul did not condemn honest adventure, but
foolish endeavor.
“High-minded’
does not describe a person with lofty thoughts.
Rather, it means a person who is ‘puffed up’ with his importance; ‘Conceded’
is a good synonym.
“Lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God’ does not suggest that we must choose
between pleasure and God; for when we live for God, we enjoy the greatest
pleasures (Ps. 16:11). The choice is
between loving pleasure or loving
God. If we love God, we will also enjoy
fullness of live here and forever; but the pleasures of sin can only last for a
brief time (Heb. 11:25). No one can deny
that we live in a pleasure-mad world; but these pleasures too often are just
shallow entertainment and escape; they are not enrichment and true enjoyment.
“Paul
stated that these people he has just described would consider themselves
religious! ‘Having a form of godliness’ (2
Tim. 3:5) suggests an outward appearance of religion, not true Christian faith;
for they have never experienced the power of God in their lives. Form without force. Religion without reality.”
I
realize that in two days we have just gone over in these verses that we spent
some 12 days going over when I looked at John MacArthur’s commentary on the
same verses. I guess I just could not
get enough of studying these verses.
Spiritual
Meaning for My Life Today: I want to best understand these verses so
that I do not live like what these verses are about.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will continue to give my
wife and my family, along with me wisdom on how the Lord desires us to fight
against the cancer that has invaded her body.
May God be glorified through this fight, through this test we are facing
and may we all learn more about God as we go through this trial.
4/17/2025 10:58 AM
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