I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:1, 2.
This solemn charge to one so zealous and faithful as was Timothy is a strong testimony to the importance and responsibility of the work of the gospel minister. Summoning Timothy before the bar of God, Paul bids him preach the Word, not the sayings and customs of men; to be ready to witness for God whenever opportunity should present itself—before large congregations and private circles, by the way and at the fireside, to friends and to enemies, whether in safety or exposed to hardship and peril, reproach and loss.
Fearing that Timothy’s mild, yielding disposition might lead him to shun an essential part of his work, Paul exhorted him to be faithful in reproving sin and even to rebuke with sharpness those who are guilty of gross evils. Yet he was to do this “with all longsuffering and doctrine.” He was to reveal the patience and love of Christ, explaining and enforcing his reproofs by the truths of the Word.
To hate and reprove sin, and at the same time to show pity and tenderness for the sinner, is a difficult attainment. The more earnest our own efforts to attain to holiness of heart and life, the more acute will be our perception of sin and the more decided our disapproval of any deviation from the right. We must guard against undue severity toward the wrongdoer, but we must also be careful not to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. There is need of showing Christlike patience and love for the erring one, but there is also danger of showing so great toleration for his error that he will look upon himself as undeserving of reproof, and will reject it as uncalled for and unjust.—The Acts of the Apostles, 503, 504.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 280
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Richard who has stage three throat cancer. Pray that the treatments will be successful, and that God will use this to draw him and his family closer to Himself. Rose
—-Please continue to pray for E and children. This has been a tough week. R
—-Please continue to pray for Jaclyn. There was an opening with the doctor tomorrow for a sleep study. Since her seizures are happening during sleep she’s hopeful they will get some answers or at least get an idea for a treatment plan. Jennifer
—-Christen my nurse and her family lost their home. she was off 2 years as she had a brain tumor and has a shunt in her head.
her husband works in plumbing and heating for a company that also supplies restaurants. They have 4 daughters, the younger one is 10 years old and up to teen years. That surgery put them in a hole and they ended up losing their home. They are in a hotel trying to keep family in tack and get a place as soon as possible. I am asking for prayer for this special lady and her family. Betty
—-A really close friend/like sister of my daughter’s is very ill with double pneumonia after kemo. She is in remission from the breast cancer after a mastectomy. Please lift her up. Lord God be with Tammy as she battles these diseases and illness. Debra
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
When Eileen was four, we lived in rural Pennsylvania. It snowed so much that winter that the snow was about seven feet deep on the level. Ron decided to make Eileen a snow cave in the back yard. He was sure that she would have many hours of fun in it. He worked and worked to make it a fun and safe place for her. Then he and Eileen crawled inside. They played together happily.
Eileen really liked her snow cave, but didn’t play in it like we thought that she would. Day after day, the snow cave stood empty. Ron was a little disappointed. I urged her to play in the nice cave he had made for her, so she would go outside for a few minutes. Soon she was back inside. Finally she explained that it was only fun if we were in there with her. She was lonely for our companionship.
So it is with our Great Creator, the One Who, “created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.” Isa 45:18 “In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day” in that perfect world of His creation. Ex 20:11 He, Who looked upon the work of His hands and pronounced them “very good” did not create an empty world. Gen 1:31 He created beings who could spend time with Him, who could love Him, who could appreciate the blessings that He daily showered upon them.
Each day the Great King of the Universe spent time with Adam and Eve in close fellowship. He walked through their garden with them and explained the marvels of creation to them. The fellowship and sweet harmony that they felt, filled them with joy and great happiness.
But one day when Adam and Eve “heard the voice of the LORD God [as He was] walking in the garden in the cool of the day [for their normal time of meeting]: Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” Gen 3:8 They had listened to the evil one, who wanted to spoil God’s happiness. And through that sin, they had lost that sweet communion that they had had before.
God’s Great Heart of Love was filled with unutterable grief as He saw the beings that He had created in His own image, begin to take on the characteristics of the evil one. Their sweet harmony was forever broken. Their evening walk together in close communion was a thing of the past. The worship of all of the angels and all of the unfallen beings on all of the unfallen worlds held no joy for our Creator now. He longed to have sweet harmony with these fallen children of His. He could not bear the thought that they would have to bear the consequences of their sin. Christ Jesus volunteered to make “himself of no reputation, and [take] upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” to restore us to fellowship with Him forevermore. Eph 2:7,8 What love! What sacrifice! It is beyond comprehension.
May we love Him with all of our heart, mind, and strength and show that love by spending time with Him each day and by obeying His commandments is my prayer.
Rose
