Tag Archives: Spiritual Growth

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:3-5

With the beginning of the third chapter, Paul lists a series of descriptive terms, giving Timothy a vivid picture of what ungodly people will look like in the last days. Last week, we saw the first eight of these terms. In this week’s passage, we will look at the rest of the list. You can see the latter half of the list in 2 Timothy 3:3-5:

2 Timothy 3:3-5

Last week, Paul began to describe what characterizes evil people living in the last days. Most of the items on this list seem highly accurate of the times we are living in. Of such people, Paul instructs Timothy to have nothing to do with them. This command is a repetition of 2 Timothy 2:16, to avoid the godlessness of such people and their activities. Paul continues his list, describing these people as being:

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Classic Bible: My Favorite Passages From Daniel

This is part of the Classic Bible: Favorite Stories & Passages series. Read more from the series!

As a kid growing up in church, the events that unfold throughout the book of Daniel are some of the most familiar lessons that I was taught. Along with Jonah, this short book of prophecy contains some of the coolest displays of God’s power in the Old Testament.

Lions

The book of Daniel takes place in Babylon, while the Israelites were held in captivity. Daniel and the other prominent people in this book were taken from their homeland and brought to serve in the king’s court in a land foreign to them.

The author of this book is most likely Daniel himself, writing sometime around 530 BC. That he is the actual author is alluded to by Christ himself in Matthew 24:15.

With so much going on in Daniel’s life, the lives of his friends, his countrymen, and his nation, this is the perfect setting to see God’s faithfulness at work. With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite passages from the book of Daniel:

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What Life Is All About

I love to read the Bible using what I call the Nugget Approach. I read a significant amount of the Bible on a daily basis, and gain a lot from it, but I also read allowing a few verses of Scripture to really speak to my life.

Cross Silhouette

This morning, as I was reading through Galatians 2, this passage really jumped out at me.

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Even though I’ve read this passage dozens of times, it really jumped out at me this morning, especially from a leadership perspective.

I find myself continually trying to do things in my own strength. I seek to plan my sermon schedule on my own. I dream and plan direction and vision for our church on my own. I share counsel and advise with those around me from my own experience. I read, study, pray and write my own thoughts and ideas.

But according to this passage, it’s not about me at all. In fact, I no longer have a say in the matter. I no longer live, and Christ is alive in me, for me. And this is all for the sake of the Gospel.

As I strive to journey through this life, I see three things.

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-2

After encouraging Timothy to be the kind of leader and minister that he needs to be to face the false teachers in Ephesus, Paul shifts to describing just how that opposition would come. Serious dangers face the church, and Paul stresses to Timothy just how those dangers will occur in an effort to keep Timothy strong, faithful and encouraged.

We will look at the first two verses in this description, finishing the list next week. You can find the beginning of this list in 2 Timothy 3:1-2:

2 Timothy 3:1-2

Paul begins this chapter with a phrase that has confused many people. He tells Timothy that “in the last days” there will be difficulties. Many have assumed this to mean that the Second Coming is imminent. While I suspect that Christ’s return may be very soon, that’s not what this phrase means when it is used in the Bible. The phrase, “the last days,” every time it is used in the New Testament, refers to the church age, from the time of Christ’s first coming to the second. The “last days” are happening now, and have been since Paul penned these words. And they will continue until the end.

As an example of this, take a look at 1 John 2:18, where the phrase is used to describe John’s own day. No, Paul is describing to Timothy here a reality that he faced in Ephesus, and a reality that has continued until the present time and beyond.

From here, Paul begins to describe what characterizes evil people living in the last days. Of this list of eighteen descriptors, five of them are found only here, two more are used only in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus, and and another three are found only here and Paul’s similar listing in Romans 1:29-31. That makes this description especially poignant.

Paul describes these people as being:

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Developing Character

This morning, my daughter is delivering a devotion to FCT (Fellowship of Christian Teens) at her school. She asked me to help her develop something to share for that meeting, and in so doing, found much that I needed to pay attention to in my own life as well.

Gramophone

James is a very practical letter found in the back of the New Testament. These short chapters are filled with nuggets of advice that can help each one of us with day-to-day living. As my daughter and I talked about things she could share for her devotion, a short passage from James 1, verses 19-20, came to mind and we began to look at it.

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

This passage breaks itself naturally into three main points, with an application following in the second verse (this is the preacher in me coming out). These three points are three steps that we can take to develop spiritual character in our lives. While they are simple, they aren’t necessarily easy. However, these three things will go a long way to helping each of us to become more of the person that God desires us to be.

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The Instability Of Possessions

I learned something this week. It’s something that I already knew, I think, but the lesson was learned all over again. I really don’t like that. One would think that teaching me the lesson once would be sufficient. But there are some lessons that need to be taught a few times before they stick.

Like this one…

Buick Rendezvous

My Car For The Past Six Years

You may already know that I have a fairly large family. My wife and I have six kids, ranging in ages from a fifteen-year-old to a one-year-old. With that many people, we seem to run like crazy most of the time; one of the kids will have practice, while another has something going on at church, while yet another one needs to be at Bible Bowl by 4:00. It gets pretty hectic.

And, as a result, our vehicles see a lot of use, and a lot of wear and tear. We have two vehicles, nether of which can seat our entire family, so in order to go anywhere, we usually take both vehicles. My wife drives our minivan, since it seats the most, and she usually has most of the kids with her. My car for the past few years has been a Buick Rendezvous, and it has been a pretty good car for us.

I fully expected that our van would be the first vehicle that needed replaced in the near future. It’s pretty worn, we’ve added a lot of miles to it, and it needs a few things done to it right now.

But over the weekend, my Rendezvous started making a noise. Monday morning, after having it looked at, the diagnosis was that my engine was shot, not worth repairing, and that it would take a few thousand dollars to replace the drive train, making this vehicle a stable resource for our family again. Otherwise, it was worth whatever I could get out of it as salvage. That amounts to less than four hundred bucks.

The stability of our possessions is a transitory, fleeting, deceit.

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Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:25-26

After a harsh treatment of the false teachers throughout this letter, and in 1 Timothy and Titus, here Paul seems to hold out a bit of hope for them nonetheless. Though their teaching may be contrary to the truth, Paul still holds hope that they may repent and turn away from the false teaching.

You can find this amazing hope in 2 Timothy 2:25-26:

2 Timothy 2:25-26

There is a bit of a question with this passage. Just who is Paul referring to here? Is he referring to the false teachers? Or is he referring to someone else, perhaps those who have followed these false teachers and gone astray?

There are some who suggest that it isn’t the teachers that Paul is speaking about here, but the ones who have been taught. This idea is based upon Titus 3:10, where Paul instructs Titus to warn such teachers twice, and then avoid them. In fact, Timothy is given similar instructions in verse 23 of this chapter, being told to avoid such situations.

On the other hand, context is king. In looking at the rest of the chapter, you can see that the ones who have followed the false teachers are not the subject of Paul’s instructions, the false teachers are themselves. If that is the case, even though Timothy is not to continually be caught up in struggling with these people, he still can hold out hope for a change of heart.