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 2 Timothy 2:1-5: Grace for our weakness.(please click here for todays passage)

Who does not feel weak in the face of the challenges, stresses and problems of life? What Christian does not know deep inside that they are inadequate to live as they know they should? Such feelings are good for us, and drive us to our knees to be able to draw, for strength, on all the grace available in Christ. The pressures are great, but the power on our side is even greater. At times the mountain peaks seem insurmountable. They tower over us in an intimidating fashion. But with the Holy Spirit in us (1:14), we can climb them and cross them.

This short passage is about strengthening. Paul writes tenderly to Timothy: ‘’You then, my child…’’ (ESV). This reminds me that it is important to speak well of and to each other. Words are important; how we employ them matters. Life and death are in the tongue. Paul strikes a parental note here (see 1:2). Mums and dads will want to encourage their children in times of fear. I vividly recall one night when I was just a little boy. The next day I had to face a huge challenge with a new teacher I was scared of. I felt terrified. As it happened, everything went well, (and isn’t it regularly like that?) but my fear of the encounter was off the scale. I can still feel now, forty or more years later, my mother’s love and encouragement surrounding me that evening. She wouldn’t let me off the hook. I had to go through with the meeting, but she put nerve into me to face the dreaded day. There was a helpful combination of softness and steel in how she handled me. The ministry of encouragement is invaluable.

Timothy had some scary giants surrounding him, but Paul encouraged his son in the faith. Note:

• We have all the strength we need in Christ (1), but we have to avail ourselves of it (see also Ephesians 6:10). It’s like, ‘The well is there. It is full of sweet water. It is yours without cost. But you will remain thirsty if you do not go to it, turn the handle, and bring the bucket to the surface.’ You get the picture. There are things we have to do to draw on the strength which is truly ours. The ‘land’ has been given to us, but we must ‘possess’ it.
• We are strengthened for a ministry of reproduction (2). I feel afresh today the challenge of these words. Who am I building into? Who am I investing my life in? Who am I discipling, mentoring, training? How seriously does the church take this issue? Here are two quotes I’ve read in the last couple of days that have some bearing on the subject: a.) ‘’There is nothing wrong with the church that discipleship will not cure.’’ Dallas Willard: ‘Living in Christ’s presence’, p.16;) ‘’The truth is no church, organization, or company can grow any faster than its ability to grow leaders.’’ Bob Tiede
• We are given strength to suffer (3). Soldiers on active duty do not expect ease or comfort. The job description involves danger. Many soldiers return home from the field of conflict traumatised because soldiering is not easy. We Christians are in a fierce fight. Things are not easy. But take heart, the strength within us is greater than the foes around us. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord, I am strong in you. Help me to keep remembering who I am and what I have in Christ.

 Jeremiah 26:16-24: Against the tide.(please click here for todays passage)

My lovely pastor at the ‘Elim’ church in Wigan, Terry Jacobs, often would say: ‘’Any dead old fish can float along with the stream; it takes a live one to swim against it.’’

• The crowd is not always right. The voice of the mob is powerful. Think about how Pilate’s decision making about the fate of Jesus was swayed by the masses. A lot of people can carry the day. But they are not necessarily correct in all they decide. The crowd can be extremely frightening, terribly noisy and overwhelmingly persuasive. But might and right are not always (often?) in agreement.
• ‘’One with God is a majority.’’ This passage introduces us to a number of people who were prepared to move against the tide: Jeremiah, Hezekiah, Micah of Moresheth, Uriah, Ahikam, and all the people who spoke up for Jeremiah. In an age that was marked by ungodliness, not everyone was content to be driftwood in the stream. There were people of backbone and conviction.
• Going against the tide, however, is costly and demands courage. Uriah died for his principled stand. Jeremiah would have but for the intervention of Ahikam (24). Warren Wiersbe says that the safest place in which to live is in the centre of God’s will, for there we are ready to live or die. The gallery of faith (Hebrews 11) is filled with people whose earthly fates were diverse. Some were delivered by faith; others were tortured, imprisoned and died by faith (see also Acts 12). But they were all committed to doing the will of God, and lived in submission to Him, just as Jeremiah did (14). That was the outstanding feature of their lives.

It is wisdom to know which battles to fight, and which ones to let go. But so often key victories are made in the small choices we make from day to day. We need to know where to draw the line and on which issues to take a stand. May God give us the wisdom to know and the courage to do.

Prayer: Lord God, free me from cowardice. Make my heart brave. Help me to be willing to stand alone if faithfulness to you requires it.

 Jeremiah 26:7-15: Blessing & bleeding.

‘’When Jeremiah had finished his sermon, saying everything God had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and people all grabbed him, yelling, ‘’Death! You’re going to die for this! How dare you preach – and using GOD’s name! – saying that this Temple will become a heap of rubble like Shiloh and this city will be wiped out without a soul left in it!’’ All the people mobbed Jeremiah right in the Temple itself.’’ The Message.

‘’How prone human nature is to resist the Word! The leaders should have called for a time of fasting and prayer, but instead they called for the execution of God’s prophet!’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.515

Here, following on from yesterday’s thought, is a further insight about true preaching. It is costly. It involves death that there might be life in it. In particular, it entails death to pride, egoism, the desire for popularity and the love of ease and comfort. Someone made the point that there can be ‘’no blessing without bleeding’’. Authentic Christian ministry is cruciform in shape. It walks the way of Jesus: the way of the cross, leading to resurrection. For some preachers/leaders reading this today it may be ‘Friday’ but you can be sure that ‘Sunday’ is coming. Historically, Good Friday and Easter Sunday belong together; the cross and the empty tomb are also united in Christian ministry and experience.

Warren Wiersbe explains why Jeremiah was treated this way. He was handled like a false prophet: ‘’To them, it was blasphemous for Jeremiah to declare that Jehovah would allow the Holy City and His holy temple to fall into the defiling and destructive hands of the heathen the way the ark at Shiloh fell into the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam.4). Since God’s covenant with David protected the city and the temple, Jeremiah was actually denying the covenant! He was leading the people astray and deserved to die (Deut. 18:20).’’ The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.1241.

If you are a preacher, at times you will be called upon to say things that some people don’t want to hear. It is vital to always remember that the cross lies at the heart of all true ministry. Death and life go together; life flows out from us when we die.

In response to all of this unfairness thrown at him, Jeremiah exhibited a Christ-like meekness, and I think there are faint echoes of Jesus in (14, 15; see 1 Peter 2:21-33).

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for your wondrous cross, and for how it offers perspective when we are treated unfairly.

 Jeremiah 26:1-6: True preaching(please click here for todays passage)

The events recorded in this chapter took place ‘’Early’’ in Jehoiakim’s reign. So the irrevocable judgment we have read about in the previous chapter had not yet been announced. There was still time to repent, as is evident from the wording. Verses 2-6 are a summary of the temple sermon recorded in (7:1-20). The point of this present chapter is to recount what happened after Jeremiah gave the message. In these words we see some important things about true preaching. (There is such a thing as false preaching):

• True preachers are under God’s authority. Like Jeremiah we are to preach what we are told, where we are told, and to whom we are told: ‘’Stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD. Tell them everything I command you…’’ There is a strong emphasis on the communication of God’s Word. This was not Jeremiah’s word, but the word of the Lord in the mouth of the prophet (see 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 15; also 1:7). Note also the references to listening and hearing (3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, and 12). ‘’The false prophets preached what the people wanted to hear, but Jeremiah preached what the people needed to hear.’’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘The Wiersbe Bible Commentary (OT), p.1241.
• True preaching will not always be easy for the preacher. Preachers know that when there is a ‘hard’ word to deliver it is emotionally difficult. There is something wrong somewhere if we relish the task. A true preacher will not take the ministry of admonition lightly.
• True preaching will not always be popular. We may find ourselves saying ‘Fire, Fire’ to people who want to ignore the first whiffs of smoke – who want to remove the battery from the alarm; who want to believe that all will be well for everyone, and even the devil will be saved in the end.
• True preaching does not compromise any part of God’s truth: ‘’do not hold back a word.’’ (ESV); ‘’do not omit a word.’’ (NIV). It is balanced preaching; it is prepared to articulate a message of judgment. The gospel is ‘’bad news before it is good news’’, and true preaching faces no loss of nerve when it comes to delivering the more unpalatable elements.
• True preaching aims at repentance. It desires to bring people’s lives into line with God’s Word and keep them in line. We are always in need of change and true preaching targets such transformation. True preaching shows people how ‘sick’ they are and urges them to find Christ who is the only ‘Remedy’ for our naturally incurable ailment.

Prayer: Lord God, bless the preaching of your Word, and raise up an army of true preachers.

Psalm 119: 105: Light for the next step.

‘’Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.’’

‘’By your words I can see where I am going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.’’

I once heard a preacher say that this verse refers to the shepherd’s lantern in Israel, which gave enough light to take the next step. Then when you took it you could see to take the next one. God may sometimes generously show us more than this, but we don’t have to see any further. But the Bible, God’s Word, is indispensable for our guidance.

Many churches in the U.S.A. took part in a detailed survey of spiritual life. The findings were written up in a book entitled ‘Move’. It showed that the number 1 catalyst in spiritual growth was the reading of the Bible combined with reflection upon it for personal application.

I began to write these notes three years ago. As far as I can tell they are read by a small number of people across the world. Obviously, you are one of them because you are reading this. So, thank you! I appreciate your interest. If my writing helps just one person it’s all worthwhile. But there is something much more important than reading my devotional thoughts, or anyone else’s. It is that you should study the Bible passage for yourself and consider what God is saying to you – then act on it. Make a point of doing just this throughout 2016. It will change your world.

(If you are a reader from outside of my local church in Boston Spa, I’d love to hear from you. Let me know, if you can, how you use these notes. You can email: sthompson216@btinternet.com)

Prayer: Lord God, let the Bible have the place in my life that it should have.

2 Timothy 1:13-14: A two-pronged challenge.(please click here for todays passage)

Paul has been telling Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel (8).

He has given a description of the wonder of the good news (9-12) – its essential features

He then issues a double challenge to Timothy:

1. Stick to the teaching you have received (13), living a life of faith and love. (Note: our maintaining of sound doctrine should never be an arid or sterile pursuit. At the heart of it all there is trust in and love for a living Person.)
2. Guard the teaching you have received (14). ‘’Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.’’ The Message. The ‘N.I.V.’ says, ‘’…guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.’’

These injunctions are always relevant. As Christians we will face temptations to steer away from the truths we have received.

As leaders we may well be tempted to change the message; to dilute it; to go in for novelty and so on. But it doesn’t belong to us. It is the property of another and is in our hands as a sacred trust. If your boss entrusted his car to you while he was away on holiday you wouldn’t feel free to change its colour, or to alter any other features. It’s not your car; it doesn’t belong to you. You are just looking after it for a time. It’s like this with the gospel – something which is of infinitely greater value than a BMW or a Merc. It belongs to God so we must handle it with the greatest care.

Therefore the church always needs to hear the message that says, ‘Stay with the revealed truth in your living and preaching.’ Thankfully, the Holy Spirit ‘’lives in us’’ and will help us.

Prayer: Thank you for all of your faithfulness to us in the last year Lord; help us to be faithful to you in the new year about to dawn.

 2 Timothy 1: 8-14: The glorious gospel.(click here for todays passage)

Paul had charged Timothy to be unashamed of the gospel (and of him, a prisoner because of it) and to be willing to suffer for it. Such courage can only be shown by virtue of ‘’the power of God’’ (8).

There now follows a wonderful statement of what God has done for us:

• He saved us (9a);
• He saved us for holiness (9b);
• He saved us, but not by any good works of ours (9c);
• He saved us according to His sovereign purpose (9d): ‘’We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it.’’ The Message.
• He saved us in Jesus (10). Salvation is found in no-one other than Jesus (Acts 4:12). He is the essence and embodiment of God’s saving work. Sin brought death into the world, but in bearing our sin on the cross, Jesus has dealt the death blow to death. Like David, we can say that He cut off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword (Hebrews 4:14). He used Satan’s own weapon against him. In His resurrection He demonstrates that He is triumphant, and all who trust in Him will share in this conquest. ‘’But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Saviour, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.’’ The Message.

This glorious news of salvation requires announcers (11), but communicating it comes at a price (12). However, Paul was not ashamed. He was certain of Jesus, and confident that the Lord would never let him down. ‘’It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground – the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.’’ The Message. You will no doubt notice the wonderful balance here between what Paul was called to do and what God would do. It remains true that ‘’without us He will not; without Him we cannot.’’

Prayer: May I never lose the wonder of Jesus. Keep me spiritually alive and fresh, and ever full of praise.