2020 Refuge Church Bible Project

Day 332: 2 Timothy 1-4, Psalm 22. Video: 2 Timothy. When someone is nearing the end of their life, their words have a special weight. There’s a sense of urgency and a perspective that we just can’t have until we reach that season. Paul’s second letter to Timothy was his final letter. He wrote it from prison, knowing his days were numbered. 2 Timothy is my favorite of Paul’s letters. When you read it, you just want to lean into every word, knowing they came from a dying man,... passing on the torch of faith to another. While we could spend all day unpacking it, here are a few treasures to ponder. (Read this advice as if it’s from Paul’s heart, straight to yours): Pass on your faith to the next generation (1:5, 3:14-15). Use your gifts (1:6). You haven’t been given a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind (1:7). Hardships and persecution are a part of being a Christian., but Jesus is with you (1:8-12, 3:12-15, 4:16-18). You have been entrusted with the Gospel. Study it faithfully, guard it carefully, and handle it correctly (1:14, 2:15). You should be hardworking and self-disciplined in your faith, like a soldier, athlete, or farmer (2:3-13). Avoid foolish, stupid arguments (2:14, 16, 23-24). Stand firm against false teaching (2:17-19). Run from evil desires, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2:22). Stay discerning. In the last days, people will become increasingly selfish and evil. Some will have a form of godliness, but no real interest in truth. They won’t put up with sound doctrine, but only what sounds good (3:1-9, 4:3-5). Every word of the Bible was given by God’s inspiration. And every word is useful for your life (3:16-17). Stay diligent and prepared through all life’s seasons (4:2) Jesus will ultimately judge (4:1, 4:8). Fight the good fight, and finish the race well (4:7-8). Wouldn’t you love to get to the end of your life with the confidence of knowing you finished well? If that’s the desire of your heart, ask God to help you. You may have a track record of failure, but give that to Jesus. Commit to running well right here, right now. Because we know eternity is around the corner for each of us, we must stay focused as we run our race toward Jesus.

Day 331: 1 Timothy 5-6, Psalm 21. Ah, money. It’s such a necessary part of life. And perhaps one of the easiest things to get out of balance. The Bible has a lot to say about us keeping a proper perspective on money. That phrase, You can’t take it with you is from the Bible: ... For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it (6:7). Did you also know that the Bible does NOT say that, money is the root of all evil? Rather, it says, The *love* of money is a root of all kinds of evil (6:10). Listen to these other treasures Paul gives us regarding money (bad pun intended): Godliness with contentment is great gain (6:6); People who want to become rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction (6:9). Money can cause many griefs (6:10). Those are sobering words that have nothing to do with how much money we have, but our attitude toward it. You can have very little and still be generous. You can also have very little and make an idol out of money constantly chasing more. And it's not always greed. It can be chasing a sense of security. But at the end of the day, where is our security? Is it in our bank account? Is it in our economy which is trillions of dollars in debt? What an uncertain thing to put our hope in! The truth is, our net worth won’t matter in eternity. What will matter is how we stewarded what God entrusted to us. Take comfort in Paul’s words: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (6:17-19). If we want to take hold of the life that is truly life we must release our white-knuckled grip on our money. Even in uncertain economic times, we are called to work hard, be generous, and trust God. Our hope was never in our bank account, anyway. Our hope is in God the One who owns it all.

Day 330: 1 Timothy 3-4, Psalm 20. Have you ever been devastated when a Christian leader has a huge moral failure? I’ve been struggling greatly over the scandal regarding the late Ravi Zacharias. It leaves me wondering how someone who studied Scripture so diligently could utterly fail to live it out. While there are no easy answers, today’s reading gave me some insight to chew on. Listen to Paul’s simple (but profound) words to the young pastor, Timothy: Watch your life ...and doctrine closely (4:16). Timothy was presiding over the struggling church in Ephesus. The church was compromising both in morality and doctrine. The instruction to watch your life and doctrine closely is a call to integrity for Christian leaders. In fact, it’s a call to each of us who claims to be a Christian: If we fail to watch our doctrine closely, we are in danger of deceiving ourselves and others. There will always be theological fads that come and go. We must be certain we’re standing on the firm foundation of Scripture! If we fail to watch our lives closely, we are in danger of hypocrisy. Non-Christians may disagree with our doctrine, but they will sure notice if our walk doesn’t match our talk. The truth of God’s word should infiltrate every part of us, even the hidden parts. Both our public and private lives must reflect a heart that’s been changed by the Gospel. When pastors who have given their lives to the study of Scripture succumb to huge moral failures, that doesn’t mean Scripture is ineffectual. Rather, it reflects a failure on the part of the leader to watch his life. Regarding that verse, CJ Mahaney says this: [Do] you find it far more appealing and enjoyable to study doctrine than to study your heart? Isn’t it much more pleasant to examine our books than to examine our motives? Ouch. This admonition doesn’t only apply to pastors. All Christians are called to study the Word diligently (2 Tim. 2:15). When a Christian falls greatly, he may have been studying doctrine, but was most certainly failing to watch his life. Doctrine must always be applied *first* to myself: My heart. My attitude. My thoughts. My motives. My actions Sound doctrine and personal integrity are of equal importance. Paul’s challenge to Timothy is really a call to each one of us who follows Jesus: Watch your life and doctrine closely.

Day 329: 1 Timothy 1-2, Psalm 19. Do you pray for Joe Biden as much as you complain about him? Did you pray for Donald Trump as much as you complained about him? When the tense presidential election was at its peak, I was proud to see many Christians standing up to remind one another that no matter who is in office, we have an obligation to pray for our leaders. Now that the dust has settled on the election, it’s important to remember that God’s requirement still stands: ... I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (2:1-4). I love David Jeremiah’s commentary on this verse: Complaining about those in authority the government officials, civic leaders, supervisors is easy, but God tells us to do something else: pray for them! Paul tells Timothy to pray even for kings. (This advice is especially remarkable since the Roman emperor at the time was Nero, a cruel persecutor of Christians.) These intercessions should include requests for their wise and peaceable rule and also prayers for their salvation. Such prayers acknowledge that all authority is ultimately God’s authority and that God is the ultimate King. Christians: let's make sure that we’re praying daily for our leaders even those with whom we strongly disagree. Who knows what God can do in their lives through our prayers? Prayer has the power to change lives. It has the power to change our country. Let's persevere in prayer for our leaders!