Spirit Led Living

2 Tim 4:2   "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction."   The world tells us to keep our religion to ourselves; to keep it to Sunday mornings, but when you have relationship with Christ it is not seasonal, it is our very life. Paul commands Timothy to preach the Word.   In our western Christianity we have made that the job of the Pastor and the Evangelist.   The truth is that it is the job of the Church and we are the Church. Now, I am not talking about getting up in a pulpit with a 3 point sermon with a clever opening and a gripping climax, although that is certainly one element of it.   I am talking about sharing our faith.   The word that is translated "preach" means to proclaim, herald, publish, make known the Truth.   St. Augustine is credited with saying "preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words".   We are, by our very lifestyle, to com...

2 Tim 3:16-17   "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."     If it comes from God then it will nourish us and it will prepare and equip us for the fulfillment of what He has called us to do.   Although delivered through human conduits it is divine in its origin. I can remember going to seminary in Philadelphia straight out of college.   What shock it was.   I have related here in previous blogs how my college experience challenged me and helped form the basis of my belief system.   Seminary on the other hand was a challenge in another way completely.   Imagine discovering that many of my professors did not believe in the inerrancy of the Word of God.   They believed that maybe in the beginning what the authors received from God was pure but that by using human vessels to write it down, their filters cam...

2 Tim 2:15   "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."   Satan knows the Bible backward and forward as he demonstrated during his temptation of Jesus, but he doesn't use it properly.   Only someone who "knows" Jesus and works to get closer to Him can correctly interpret and apply the Word. For years this verse was quoted in the King James Version as a way to get people to study. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Tim 2:15 (KJV) As a matter of fact this quote is engraved on a rock at the entrance to my Alma Mater, Houghton College in upstate New York.   I don't know if it is still there but it was a constant reminder that we were commanded by the word to study hard.   Never mind that this is not an accurate translation of the Greek or that it specifically refe...

2 Tim 1:12 "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."   I know that I know that God is real and that as a result of my belief and acceptance of Christ's life, death and resurrection I will not be judged for my sins because their punishment has been satisfied by the Cross. No, I will be judged righteous and invited to share eternity in God's presence. This verse is truly one of the great promises of the Bible. I can remember as a teenager singing the hymn of which the chorus is the refrain of the King James Version of this verse. The melody takes me back to a simple time in my life where I believed unquestioned in my salvation before my faith had ever been tested. It wouldn't always be that way.   My faith would be sorely tested and questions would arise in my heart that would need to be answered.   I can remember Dr. Schultz, my Old Testament professor   asking questions and then challenging ...

2 Tim 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."   It is amazing to know the power that is available to those in whom the Spirit dwells.   It is even more amazing how much power goes unused.   Power is meant to be used to demonstrate that God is alive and engaged in our lives. So many people ask for more power and yet they have never used what they have.   I cannot even begin to estimate how many prayer meetings I've attended in my life.   It never fails that someone wants prayer for power in their lives.   I've often wanted to ask them, when was the last time that you shared your faith with someone? Ask that question and the excuses start to come out.   "Well, you know I don't want to offend anyone" or "They are going to think I'm weird" or my personal favorite "I'm just shy and I get embarrassed when I talk to people about Jesus." OK, so I'm not being fair. ...

2 Tim 1:6b "fan into flame the gift of God "   It is of no use to be tepid, we are meant to be red hot.   We need to work at our relationship with God or else the passion will fade and we will turn lukewarm and non-effective.   It takes a daily discipline to keep the fires burning. The Holy Spirit gives each one of us gifts according to the will and pleasure of the Father. it is up to us develop and grow proficient in our gifts through the constant exercise of our gifts for the sake of the body.   The blacksmith knows that in order to make metal malleable he first needs a hot fire to soften and purify it.   To make the fire hotter he employs a bellows to blow a stream of air on the coals.   He literally fans it into flame. The Father always want us to completely sold out, completely dedicated to the task that He has called us to. Anything less is simply not good enough. Rev 3:16-17   "So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to ...

1 Tim 6:11b "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."   To pursue is to go after.   That means these things do not come naturally to us.   When we focus on these things it fundamentally changes who we are to the core.   When our core changes, our values change; when our values change our thoughts change; when our thoughts change our actions change and when our actions change then our destiny is changed. Every day companies spend millions trying to get our attention.   They sell us on the fact that we need something.   To sell us they first have to make us feel like something is lacking in our lives and that only their product can fill that need. The media, including movies, TV, reality shows and the news are trying to sell us a new morality. In this morality everything is circumstantial and there is no right or wrong. In fact, the only wrong is when you disagree with their morality. Words like intolerant, judgmental, bigoted ...