"This is a trustworthy saying; If we died with Him we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we disown Him; He will also disown us; If we are faithless, He will remain faithful." 2 Timothy 2:11-13
The Bible is of course completely trustworthy. Every word. It is after all, His Word and true. Therefore, when Paul gives Timothy a trustworthy statement and sets it apart like this, it must be something especially pertinent. When we share The Word with people, we try to do so in such a way that the Spirit can use it in the life of the individual. The Bible was inspired by God for all the ages, for everyone, but it also is specifically applied to each of us individually too. I believe this was a saying that Paul expected Timothy to teach with, and use to help clarify the misunderstandings in the early church.
No matter who you are, these verses apply to you, whether today or two thousand years ago. Timothy knows from Paul's teaching that we are crucified with Christ, meaning that we die to self and are born again in the Spirit. It is the living with Him, in Him, that is the proof of dying with Him. If we endure or are faithful, we also reign with Him, or are victorious in this life. It is also true that if we disown Him, we are not really in Him, and never really knew Him, so we choose to have Him disown us. He, of course wants us to be with Him and to be in us and we must totally reject His power over us, in order to be disowned by Him.
The last stanza of this trustworthy saying for me is the most precious. Imagine... If we are faithless, He remains faithful!! Amazing huh? That is Grace defined, getting what we don't deserve. Of course He won't disown us; if we are truly IN HIM, then He is IN US and we are one with Him and that is why He will never leave us or forsake us, because He must be true to Himself because He is The Truth. This is such wonderful encouraging news. Enjoy a deeper understanding of being In Him.
As Always and In Him as usual,
Pastor Fred,
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A couple of days ago, I had a mini-meltdown that followed a semi-successful attempt to hold my tongue and control my temper at a time when I seethed with anger. It was “semi”-successful because I was able to keep my mouth shut and angry words at a minimum, but at the expense of my manners. I hung up on someone. Quite poor phone etiquette, right? Though I’m not sure things would have been any better had I not hit my phone’s “end” button, I do know that I still failed to honor God in my actions, both before I hung up and also after. I began to sob. Even though I knew God was with me, I didn’t feel His presence and I told Him so. “I know You’re here, God, but I can’t feel You. Where are You? I need You to be here, God, I NEED to feel You” I cried in despair. I felt nothing. I’ve always heard stories about people feeling an immediate release of burden or a calming sense of peace at times like this, but I never have. God seems to communicate with me differently. After sobbing uncontrollably for what seemed a lifetime, I finally rose from my knees and stared blankly into the dim lit room. Suddenly, I remembered that I hadn’t looked up the scriptures that accompanied my Sarah Young morning devotional. I reached for the devotional book and my Bible and began to search. Remember what it was I cried out to the Lord only moments before - “I know You’re here, God, but I can’t feel You. Where are You? I need You to be here, God, I NEED to feel You” and now read the scriptures:
ReplyDeleteIsaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, FOR I AM WITH YOU; DO NOT BE DISMAYED FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU AND HELP YOU;I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Zephaniah 3:17 – THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, HE WILL QUIET YOU WITH HIS LOVE.
Psalm 34:19 – A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
After reading Psalm 34:19, my eyes lingered on the page and moved upward to a line that I already had highlighted in bright pink (God knew He was going to get my attention with that pink highlighter long before I did!), and it said:
34:15 – The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and HIS EARS ARE ATTENTIVE TO THEIR CRY.
The words in all caps are the ones that immediately spoke to me when I read them. If I questioned whether or not God was with me and listening to me before, He was reassuring me in the very first scripture that I need not doubt. When I asked Him “Why aren’t you here?,” He responded by assuring me that He was (see first two scriptures in caps). How awesome this moment was! And then He told me again in Zephaniah, the second scripture to which I turned. His message was clear and I was suddenly comforted by the gentle reassurance that He was indeed with and in me. To sum it all up, He told me He was attentive to my very cry in that moment. It was precisely what I needed to know right then and there.
His Word is trustworthy indeed and your devotional was written the day after this incident happened. How generous and loving of Him to reaffirm things through the following words written by you: “if we are truly IN HIM, then He is IN US and we are one with Him and that is why He will never leave us or forsake us, because He must be true to Himself because He is The Truth.” He didn’t leave me in my time of need. He was there all along as He always so faithfully is.
Thank you, Pastor Fred.