Be Prepared

This makes me think of that song from Disney's The Lion King. That crazy uncle Scar sang it to all his hyena friends, the traitor. But there's a message from that song we can take, in a way. It's kind of a stretch to say so, but in his preparation to successfully take over the kingdom from his brother, he was getting them ready for the job to be done and what his evil reign would look like. 


It makes me wonder...are we prepared for the true King and His righteous reign? Better yet, are we prepared to help get others prepared for it? It'd be nice to know when the King is coming. But since we don't, and it could be any day, shouldn't it bring about some kind of urgency to prepare the unbelieving so they will begin to believe? Shouldn't we feel a burning desire within us to prepare for the coming of the King of kings ourselves as well as prepare others?


Still in 2 Timothy. But I've reached the final chapter (4) and have come to the conclusion of the letter. These are Paul's last words to Timothy in writing. Winter is coming and Paul left his coat in some other city. In spite of the urgency of his need for warmth, there's a recognition of his end drawing near. His last charge come deep within, from all his conviction and all his reasons for his ministry comes the charge to preach. Let them know. Give them Truth. Preach the Word. And be ready.


Many of us understand that this mentor's instructions are meant for the young preacher. But Paul speaks to all of us in some way through this verse. Our lives should proclaim the message of grace to those around us. If you're a parent, you should be training your children in Christ to know Him. If you're a teacher or leader, you also have a responsibility to train others to know God. So the rest of verse 2 can apply to us as well.


Be ready. Prepare. Not only ready when you need to be, but also when there's nothing else going on. Be ready. 


How can God entrust something to us if we're not ready for it? 


Have you every prayed to God asking for an opportunity to share your faith with someone? Have you asked Him to give you strength to do the right thing? God does give us opportunity. Someone shows up in our lives sometime, one who desperately needs shown the love of God through us. For some reason, we back down or are completely oblivious to it. When we ask God for strength, He gives us opportunity to rely on His strength. But do we notice it? I believe we've all become accustomed to what we do, our culture, and the way things work. And hence, we miss the opportunity. We blaze right by it because we're not used to God's power being at work. We don't notice it, especially in our speech. We use words carelessly and justify it by labeling it sarcasm. I'm asking myself just as much as I am you, how can God use you in that? How can we possibly be His useful tool for His Kingdom the way we truly desire to be used by Him if that's a part of our lives, if He's not the whole of our lives?


Everything in 2 Timothy leads up to this point. Everything Paul spent time writing to Him about sticking to the Word, being grounded in it and proclaiming it and handling it rightly, hanging in there when it's difficult, believing God to be true to His Word, and becoming that useful vessel to God all lead up to this charge. Preach the Word. Be prepared to do it.


This requires work, which a lot of us just don't want to do. We hire people and bring people to church to do the work for us. We don't have all the answers, we know it, and pride ourselves in it so we won't have to search for anything ourselves. We're timid. And I think that if we're not prepared to share, we truly don't know God very well at all. Then we end up moving on toward something else, things we like rather than things that are true. If we're not prepared to share, it's because our relationship with God isn't very deep. The true God-worshiper seeks Him and is ready. (I sure have a long way to go in my relationship with Him.)


Then we get back to those things I mentioned earlier. If we're not truly seeking God and developing our relationship to begin with, God won't entrust us with the keys to the Kingdom. People won't listen because they have no reason to. If we're not prepared in this way, what else should we expect? It's the same with everything. If she's not prepared for the job, she won't get it. If he's not prepared to teach the class, no one will pay attention and he'll even feel like a failure. If he's not prepared to mature a little, he won't receive any responsibility because he won't be able to handle. If we're not prepare to share the gospel, why would God give us the opportunity?


And yet He does anyway! It helps us prepare. All it takes in one question. But we must ask ourselves this: Do I want it? Underneath this question is one that runs much deeper: Do I want God?


It's easy for us to listen to things we like. We get in the car and turn on the radio and begin listening to our favorite style of music. When we sit down in front of the television, we turn on the shows we that fit our taste. When we make our suppers we usually fix something that will dance around on our tastebuds with pleasure. When it comes to faith, because God gives us a choice in choosing Him or not, it's easy to let go of God and His Truth and grab on to something that sounds easier or "better" than what He offers. Sometimes His Word doesn't tickle our ears very much, but rather stings it like a bee flying around. The difference is truth versus untruth, salvation versus judgment, joy versus fleeting happiness, and comfort versus unending sorrow.


When we get to a point where we no longer view it necessary to prepare to share, we get to a dangerous place of finding people who claim to preach the Word, but spread falsehood instead. It feels good to hear. We want to hear that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. We want to hear that His blessings are financial. We want to hear that God gives us a checklist of things to do on how to be a better person if we look in His Word and find out. But none of those things are entirely true. It'd be nice, but those are twisted truths that tickle our ears.  


Be prepared. Be ready. Start with seeking Him so you know. Paul tells Timothy to be sober in all things. It's easier to remain sober when we're not drinking the alcoholic teachings of the world. Sure, the buzz feels good, and it may be fun for a time, but there'll be a price to pay in the end. 


Let me share verses 6-8 with you. Take comfort in this:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NASB)

Difficult Times Will Come

Moving on to chapter 3 in 2 Timothy. It's a continuation of everything else that moves Timothy into an understanding that it's not going to be easy to convince people to pursue the things of God rather than the things of the world, youthful lusts. 


Paul begins prefaces the list of things men will do with an interesting statement: "in the last days difficult times will come." It makes me wonder about what kind of "last days" he's talking about. End times? Our last days? Are we in the last days?


I think the last question carries the most merit. For when I read the list of things men will do, I see a description of myself, a description of today. It's kind of scary to read. It cuts to the heart of what I've made faith to be in my life instead of allowing God to develop my faith toward Him. See if a description of yourself comes out of the passage.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,  always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

2 Timothy 3:2-7 (NASB)

Really, we don't have to look very far to see prime examples of this. But the stuff that sticks out me are those things that I constantly struggle with. Every day it's important to ask for God's grace to be upon us that He would give us the strength to overcome, especially since He already has.

In our culture, we've become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. I know I have. There are moments I sacrifice what God desires of me for a moment for myself. Not all pleasure is bad. God made all things to be enjoyed, but not at the expense of Him. This cuts me to the heart. I can hear Him calling my name, asking me quietly, "How about a moment of just you and Me? I have something I want to share with you." But it's so much easier to say, "When I go to bed or in the morning. It can wait. Right now I want to watch my show." And that's when I see that I love pleasure over God. I'm beginning to feel like throwing up.

There's another section right next to it that haunts me: "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." Ugh! What does the power of godliness look like? Do I not know? I fear that I don't! But it's not that I might not know, it's that I deny it's power of having any influence in my life! There's no credit given to godliness and the power it holds to destroy a worldly life! And maybe that's why Paul put things in that order. With God being second-rate to my pleasure, what kind of power is godliness even given? None.

With these things in mind and beginning with myself, that's when I turn faith into an area of manipulation. Maybe I don't go into people's homes and captivate them, but maybe I do with this blog. If I'm not coming to a knowledge of the truth by actively allowing God to cut away the things this world has tied me down with, then my motives don't ever become pure, my heart isn't genuine, and my love is a face that I put on to cover up what's burning deep within. I think I've got that feeling coming back again in my stomach.

Is it possible to live a life of complete godliness? Does the knowledge of the truth have a chance in my life to bring me to maturity in Christ?

There's a way.

It's never easy to be persecuted for following Jesus. But if we expect it and know that it will come, it's a way to know we are really following Him. "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (verse 12)

There's something else that sticks out to me a little later on toward the end of the chapter. Godliness comes with training. And for the training, there's a manual directly from the mouth of God. And those things that I once was don't define who Christ has made me to be today if I continue in what I've learned.

This post sounds so depressing. But following Christ isn't always easy. It's difficult when He starts cutting away at you to get more of Him living in you. I don't think He'll stop until there's nothing of us left and it's all Him. But God has given us something to equip us for this life. He is the One who makes us adequate for the work He's prepared for us to do.

It's all in His Word. It's all done through Scripture. The power that works within us to produce godly lives is found in His Word. Take a look and see. Learn to love it and use it. This is what God has given us to see what He desires of us. This is what points out the areas that need to be trimmed from our life to allow more of God in. And, yes, it's difficult. But now we can expect it.

Paul is also talking about Timothy's evangelism. He's encouraging him to hang in there, to remember what he's learned, how it's been passed on to him, that the conviction is something that runs deep, and that the conviction should lead him to continue on. Sure it's difficult to have God chip away at what's left of the "us" in our hearts. But training people to see God for who He is what He longs for us is also difficult when most believe the lies of the world. However, the power of the Word of God brings godliness even to those in whom we least expect.

It's time to stop denying. It's time to remember and know. Continue.

A Useful Vessel Part 2

This is a continuation of yesterday's post. It was getting pretty long so I decided to cut it in half. And there was a lot to take in yesterday too. Here's the passage I'm going through again:

Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 

2 Timothy 2:20-26 (NASB)

We discussed briefly on being made useful for God. It takes a pure heart and fleeing from youthful lusts to pursue the things of God. I left you with the description of what a bond-servant (also bond-slave) is according to the Bible, and how the picture Paul created for becoming a useful vessel to God begins with that kind of mindset.

We are all slaves to something. Unfortunately, we are slaves to things we think we need to have. We can tell what we serve by looking at our time. The more time we spend with something, the more we wrap our lives around it. We serve it. We buy things to enhance it and our experience with it.

Television is a great example. Let's move from the classic tube set to the flat-screen, hi-def, LED, 3D TV and think I've got it all. But you know what would make it better? A blu ray player and satellite dish. But I can't just get the regular satellite, I need the hi-def package that includes all the channels, most of which I'll never watch. That way I can make the most out of the HD TV I just got. And you know what will make it even better? Surround sound! That way my 240HRZ 3D HD LED TV will make me feel like I'm actually there in the movie! Hang on a sec! Is that a bump in my TV chair??? Replace with a sectional, complete with cup holders and a small fold out table in the middle. That will really help me so I won't have to sit next to the sweaty guys I'm going to invite over to watch sports with me. Speaking of guys coming over, this whole experience would be so much better if I had a wet bar in the basement so I won't have to get up and walk all the way upstairs to the kitchen to get a...

See what I'm saying? It's easy to do the same thing with clothes, gardens, landscaping, houses, cars, and appearances. We become servants to them, bound to most of it even in debt. We don't own any of those things until they're all paid completely off. But we got a good deal on financing. That decision, however, has made us slaves to it. We've built a "bigger barn" to house all our junk. Then we spend time with it, caring for it, loving it, and we worship it by spending absorbent amounts of time with it. It consumes our thoughts, attitudes, hearts, and wallet.

Aren't even those things included in the "youthful lusts" we talked about yesterday? Ultimately find that youthful lusts keep us from becoming a bond-servant to God because we've tied ourselves to all these other things we thought were something we wanted. And now we're back to the pure heart thing. God desires us more than we realize. Maybe these things that we're running after to bring us happiness or some sort of self-fulfillment, the attitude we have toward the pursuit of these things needs to be the same toward God. But the only way to get there is to flee this stuff and pursue His stuff. So what is it that consumes us? What consumes me and what consumes you?

This is turning out to be a lot deeper than I realized. The picture of a bond-servant to God runs deep, and in order grasp the rest of the passage, we have to think with that type of mindset. Our relationship with God begins with knowing and understanding that He knows what's best for us, and I'm powerless to take care of things on my own. Thus a complete trust and reliance upon Him as our Master.

With a mind focused on the Lord, we are not to be quarrelsome, but kind to all. All means everyone. You know who popped into your head. That guy will work for the example himself.

Another thing is that God expects us to teach and train others in the Way. A good bond-servant knows what his master requires of him and helps and teaches those who don't know what's required.

We're to be patient when we're wronged. How often are we wronged in traffic? How often does someone at work push our buttons to set off the fuse of wrath within us? Even God teaches us to slow down and count to 10 before we respond when we're wronged. If we truly desire to be the bond-servant used to the fullest potential, we must always remember that our anger won't bring about the righteous life God desires. Think of it from God's perspective instead of our own. I'll get to that in a little bit.

We're to correct those in opposition with gentleness. Easier said than done, of course. In the heat of the moment it's always easy to be harsher than we'd like to be because we'd rather have the result we've been looking for. We want obedience from our kids. Gentle correction is out of the picture when they don't do what they're told immediately. It's frustrating. But if we tell them to wait on us because we're preoccupied, should they expect anything different from us? Aren't we supposed to treat others the way we want to be treated? Maybe the gentle correction comes from a desire to understand and then relay our desire afterward. What ends up happening in gentle correction is the development and nurturing of a relationship. God is this way with us. The only difference is that He already understands where we're coming from. We just need to learn to trust Him.

We do all those things to lead to this: God may grant them repentance and their eyes may be opened to the knowledge of the truth! They could get out of the trap they're in! The selfish pride that brought the fall of Satan is what's holding them back from seeing the truth! Their rescue begins with a pure heart demonstrated by us!!! The truth is, they're lost. Even if God has set them free, if their heart isn't pure and seeking God, they're still in need of more of Him and they are lost too.

From a personal standpoint, I wonder if when I fail at a pure heart, that I'm doing the will of the devil. This brings a shiver to my spine and tears to my eyes. I know that if I'm not pursuing the things of God, I'm pursuing something else. A youthful lust. This shows me how much I have to grow yet and how much more God needs to take from me to make me His bond-servant. But those of us who are mature must be doing this to help those who aren't, to rescue them, to untangle them from the snare of the devil.

God, grant me repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth! Help me come to my senses in my life about what's important to You.

A Useful Vessel

Interesting title, but appropriate.

I'm still in 2 Timothy 2. It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but this just took some time to grasp for me. I've been trying to apply it to my life and have been watching it slowly take over and create a newer lifestyle. It's like getting the long-awaited update to the software that runs my being. But I'm using dial-up instead of something faster, so it takes a while for it to download and install.

Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

2 Timothy 2:20-26 (NASB)

 This passage cut so deep I had to memorize it and begin applying it to everyday life. This past week I talked with our Worship Department about this passage, and I think I'm finally getting to a place to understand what the first few verse of the passage mean with the rest of it.

God has so many good things in store for His people if we would just stop filling ourselves with trash and dirt from the world. Sure, we will get dirty from use, but we must first be cleaned from the inside or we spend too much time in the sink and won't get used again. I don't like eating using dirty dishes and uncleaned silverware. Imagine how God feels when He's cleaned us but we've put in stuff that makes us un-useful to Him.

For a longer time, I couldn't figure out what the "these things" meant either. But part of the sanctification comes on our end too. God makes us holy, but living in a world corrupted by sin requires us to work at abstaining from it. Those things that made us "dirty" before are things we must now stay away from, cleanse our lives from in order to be useful to God.

"These things" I believe are youthful lusts. All of us have things we seek after. All of us have something that constantly pulls and tugs at us to get us away from following God to where He wants to lead us. Unfortunately, maybe those things will never completely go away. Even if they don't, we can flee from them. The idea is to run away from them as quickly as you can, with all your might, all the strength in your legs, moving faster and faster as you pick up the pace to get farther and farther away. That's what it's supposed to look like. Flee from youthful lusts.

I was reading in a the book "Real Marriage" by Mark and Grace Driscoll about the development of a male in our culture. There used to be two seasons of life: boyhood and manhood. Now there are three: boyhood, adolescence, and manhood. The sad truth is that adolescence is a state of mind that excuses irresponsibility because they're young or don't know any better. I don't think that's a right way to think of the development of a man. I agree with Mark. If we include adolescence in our growth, we have a much smaller chance of getting to manhood, of growing up and making something of our lives, or making a difference in the world. Including adolescence makes it easier to keep responsibility out of the picture and mooch off others who are responsible. And that way of life is very hard to get out of if it goes excused from the mature.

I think youthful lusts equals adolescence. For example, I want it so I get it. I don't want to work so I'll take an easier way. I don't like it so I'll get rid of it. It doesn't matter to me how you feel, I've already made up my mind. If you make me mad, I'm not your friend anymore. I don't like it when I'm wrong or don't get my way, so I'll throw a fit.

Notice the trend? I don't know about you, but those kinds of people drive me crazy. They're completely selfish, unable to think of others, and refuse to get their hands dirty. If they're hands do get dirty, the tend to complain about what it costed them or brag about their accomplishment as if it were only they who made it happen, as if only they were the ones who contributed. I can't stand to work with them and I don't invite them to serve with me.

Here's the question that brought conviction and caused me to think: Am I that way with God? My "youthful lusts" may look like something different, but they're still there. My life is in the world, and the world tugs and pulls at my heart to get me to think only about here, only about things that will make me happy or succeed here. God's mind is elsewhere, it's eternal, and He longs for me to be there too. But do I treat God's commands that way? Do I throw away what I don't like to keep my comfort? Is comfort what I'm really looking for or is it God?

In fleeing youthful lusts, He tells me to pursue something else. I'm running away from something and running toward something else. In my haste to leave behind what holds me back from being fully useful to the Master, I'm desperately pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace.

There's a key to the pursuit: A pure heart. How often to the things I pursue, the things I ask of God come from a pure heart, motives that come deep within from a desire for more of God instead of more for myself? The only way to be successful in pursuing the things of God is to begin with a pure heart. It's not about me, it's about Him. It's not for my benefit, it's all for His. I'm just the vessel, He's the owner. A pure heart is what makes us useful to Him.

The lesson for a leader goes much deeper. I believe all of us are leaders in some form. Someone is watching us to see how we'll respond and how we'll handle the situation. Those are our moments to lead by example.

I remember in Bible college students would spend time debating through the night terminology over words in the Bible. One argument that lasted for days was about baptism and what the Bible says about it. I'm going to go into detail because it was ridiculous. At the very least, Jesus commanded us to baptize before He physically left earth to go into heaven and sit at God's right hand. So do it and teach it. The things is, they had no idea what they were talking about. Their understanding of the scripture was limited. Most of the debates weren't even over scripture they did understand, but over speculations about what they believed and were taught grown up. It divided friends.

Remember those people who predicted the coming of Jesus? Again, a total speculation from ignorance because Jesus said that only the Father knows, not even Jesus knows when He's coming back. Those things are the things to refuse because it does produce quarrels.

Paul does tell us what we are to look like though. I'll go over it tomorrow. This post is really long. But before I finish, I'd like to leave one more thought with you about what the heart of a follower of God looks like.

"But the Lord's bond-servant (or bond-slave)." Wow! What a picture for a leader to take in! In the Old Testament, a bond-slave was a former slave having been freed from his master because his service was up or his debt had been paid. But the former slave would realize his situation as something like this: "My master knows what's best for me and my family better than I do myself. I need to stay with him because he will take care of me and I'm powerless to do so." The master would then take an all (a small nail) and pierce the former slave's ear with it by nailing it to the door of the house. Thus the former slave would choose to remain a slave for the rest of his life and never be set free again.

That's the attitude we need to have as leaders in God's church, as leaders in our homes and communities. Complete surrender to the Master knowing that His way is better than mine, I'm powerless to take care of myself and my family, and He knows what's best for me and will take care of me. Thus we should choose to be a slave to a new Master, to God for the rest of our lives and never be set free from Him.