Christ Jesus, Our Hope!

Good morning to all on this glorious Tuesday and thank you Jesus for waking me up. I work a clinic on Mondays and Tuesdays and have been praying to God to be able to wake up early enough to have my devotion and then exercise before I go to work and this morning He woke me up and help me get out of bed. Its also hard to leave my husband in bed as we love to snuggle in the morning; I have a special burden though to continue my exercise regimen because its good for me. Some one told me yesterday that the devil is a liar and the author of confusion; he works best when you are close to your goal but become weary. That is when you should press on to the mark even if you can't see the goal or understand what it is you are pressing toward. Faith is the Promise of things not seen and the Substance of things hoped for. My Faith will be rewarded today as will yours. Please continue to keep ET and his healing in your prayers as well as JKS for her healing. TK needs a job so please pray for her. I love you all and thank you for your generosity of prayers!

We finished Paul's letters to the Philippians yesterday so let's explore Timothy. Timothy was one of Paul's early converts and was apparently from Lystra which is now in modern Turkey. Timothy was as a son to Paul and often served as his traveling companion. In the 1st letter to Timothy 1 verses 1-11 Paul writes "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which He entrusted to me." Amen.

It would appear that Timothy wanted to be with Paul in Macedonia but was needed in Ephesus to encourage the early Jewish Christians to change from their practice of learning the genealogy of Christ and their other Hebrew leaders to practicing the Spiritual legacy left by Christ. Remember the Hebrews were schooled in the law and judging each other by the law but Christ had fulfilled the law so there was no more need to dwell there. In fact Paul calls it "meaningless talk". Instead, Paul is urging Timothy to remind the Christians in Ephesus to practice instead SINCERE FAITH in the power of the resurrection of Jesus. What puts Jesus above all the prophets of the old testament or the LAW as Jews learned it, was that Christ was born, spent His life teaching the laws and commandments of God His Father, willingly died for our sins and then, and then , and then WAS RESURRECTED so that we were no longer going to have to be in bondage to sin and a slave to the law. The Jewish Christians of Ephesus were "stuck" in the laws of the past which prevented their liberation of faith. Since Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God, Paul is encouraging Timothy to stay in Ephesus and preach the Word of God to these young Christians so that their faith could be strengthened.

There is a message here for me. Unless I am about God's Kingdom building works and spread the good news of Jesus, that He died for us all, then there will be a multitude of people who will be judged according to the law and not by their faith. Paul is telling us that the law is not made for the righteous but the unrighteous who are described as "lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers". These are the folk that need Jesus and they are with us each day. This is our ministry and we have to set ourselves apart from them with our lives. If we walk and live among them and act like them that is not kingdom building. We are to let our life so shine that they will see the light and come toward it as a moth to a fire. We need do anything else other that to live our lives as God commands and that is in FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE and the greatest of these is LOVE.

Love someone today that you find hard to love; you will be blessed beyond measure!! Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Now may the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen!

Stephanie