EVENING
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/20/2025 9:21 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: “The Faithful New Friends”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Tim.4:21b
Message of the verses: “Make
every effort to come before winter.
Embulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.
I
mentioned in yesterday’s SD that these last two Spiritual Diaries will be
rather short, but keep in mind that these will be the last words that Paul will
write that are in the Bible as he will shortly die for the cause of Christ soon
after he completes this letter to Timothy.
I really have no idea of how much more time that Paul had after he wrote
these words, or whether or not Timothy did get to see him and bring the items
that Paul asked him to bring, but I know for certain that when Paul was
beheaded for the cause of Christ that immediately he was ushered into the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is still there at this moment in time. I have written about the truth that time in
heaven is different than time here on earth, as our time here on earth is
settled as the earth travels around the sun once every three-hundred-sixty-five
and a quarter days of the year, and as it does this it rotates which gives us
our days of the year.
Now
before Paul extends greetings on behalf of fellow believers who now ministered
with him and to him in Rome, Paul then expands an earlier request, seen in
verse nine, asking Timothy to make every
effort to come before winter. We
know that traveling was much slower during this time period as it would take
longer for Timothy to get there from Ephesus that it would today, which would
not take long on a jet airplane, and so this leads me to believe that perhaps
Timothy did get to see Paul before he was executed for the cause of Christ, but
that is just a guess on my part. Paul
would desperately need the cloak for warmth that is for sure. As for the books and parchments Paul realized
that what little light he now had for reading and writing would decrease even
more because of winter coming and continues to decrease each day.
John
MacArthur concludes this section by writing:
“Final greetings are extended on behalf of Eubulus,…Pudens and Linus. All three names were Latin, perhaps
indicating that the men were from Italy and had been members of the church in
Rome.
“Claudia was a faithful believer and
close friend of Paul about whom me we know nothing else. Conjecture and legend have suggested she was
the wife or mother of Linus, but no
firm evidence supports those views.”
Spiritual
meaning for My life Today:
It is good to have friends in the Lord, and most of that comes from being
in the two different churches that I have attended in the many years I have
been a believer. Christian friends have
much in common and help believers to grow in the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to continue to minister
to my wife and do for her what is needed to be done for her as her energy level
is not yet back to where it was before her surgery, but getting closer, and I
am thankful for that.
8/20/2025 9:44 AM
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