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Good Monday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Today I invite us to consider the wonderful reality that God has made us needing relationships. The best relationships in our lives help us flourish like spring flowers in the sunshine, do you agree?
Perhaps you remember, as God began the human race He started with only one person, Adam. Even though Adam was surrounded by magnificent beauty and perfection, God made a very powerful statement: “It is not good for man to be alone…”! (Gen. 2:18)
God designed us to live life benefiting from the ‘synergy’ of relationships. That word ‘synergy’ means the blending of two or more things produces something wonderful and even better than what the individual parts could ever be alone. So may I ask this Monday morning, that we all take a few seconds to think about the people God has brought into our lives, with whom we’ve had really wonderful, mutually beneficial relationships. You are better person because of the involvement of these special people in your life, and they also have benefited greatly by your friendship. Can you name a few? I urge you to take a moment and thank God for them. This is one of the great miracles of God as He brings us together, in special friendships with people, who stimulate us to becoming better people.
As Paul closes the first chapter of his second letter to Timothy he’s reflecting on someone who was that type of friend to him. Listen: “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains…” (2 Tim. 1:16) Is your reputation that of being someone who refreshes other people? Onesiphorus is only mentioned here and in chapter 4:19. All we know about him and his family is that they worked hard at finding Paul, where-ever he was, and bringing help to him, refreshing him. That might have been food or clean clothes, but I think mostly it was words of friendship and encouragement! Oh wouldn’t it be great if all of us were known as encouragers of others?
Do you remember a man named Barnabas? That was his reputation. In fact his real name was Joseph, but “Bar Nabas” meant “son of encouragement”, and this seems to suggest both he and his father were known to be men who encouraged others. We meet him first in Acts 4:36 where he is described as bringing a financial gift to the Apostles to help with the needs of the rapidly growing group of Christians in Jerusalem. Later I find him in Acts 11:24 as he is sent to Antioch to find out about the reports that followers of Jesus in that city were having a significant impact there. Luke describes him as a “…good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith.”
You may recall that Barnabas was the first to risk trusting Paul after his conversion, (Acts 9:26,27) and Barnabas traveled with Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2,3). Seems a big smile came on people’s faces whenever they heard Barnabas’ name. Paul’s hard life was blessed by people of encouragement… how wonderful it could be if the Holy Spirit helped each of us be those kinds of people today, and for the rest of our lives!! There’s no doubt you and I know plenty of people who need encouragement, right?
As Timothy reads Paul’s description of how much Onesiphorus helped Paul through the years, I wonder if Timothy was thinking to himself… “And what about me, what is my role in Paul’s life?” If so, he didn’t have to wait long for his answer. Look at what Paul wrote next: “You then my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:1,2)
I imagine Timothy smiled. “My son”. What a very special relationship he and Paul had.
We know that ‘grace’ means undeserved kindness. Paul is urging Timothy to find his daily strength in the continual outpouring of God’s kindness into his life. Have you figured out how to do that my friends? One way is to frequently look back and look for the tangible evidence of God’s goodness, His kind blessings on your life. When you see them, celebrate them and take note of them so you will remember them in the hard times. Let those memories encourage you, strengthen you, and assure you that God is watching over you and giving you what He knows you need to help you in life. Several Scriptures give us this truth. Here is one of them: 2 Chronicles 16:9 says “The eyes of the LORD roam to and fro across the whole earth looking to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
Paul was speaking to Timothy from personal experience. The only way Paul was able to keep going day after day, as he faced the opposition, rejection, even persecution, was in the strength of his Savior and Friend Jesus Christ. That’s why he wrote to his friends in Philippi “I have learned the secret of begin content in each and every circumstance… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:12,13) As Timothy continued to read, you’ll see Paul gave him three specific examples of how this works in real life…
First, in verses 3,4 Paul urges Timothy to have strong endurance, like a soldier in battle. But not just any soldier, a solider whose commander is Jesus Christ, and the battles are against the enemies of Jesus. These enemies are fighting to hold people in bondage to fear, shame, failure, and anger and all types of evil shackles. As a soldier of Jesus Paul and Timothy, you and I are battling to help free these people through the liberating power of Jesus.
But then in verse 5 Paul uses an athletic example to help Timothy understand that winning in life as a Christian means following Jesus carefully enough that all who watch us see God is honored as Holy in every aspect of our lives.
And in verse 6 Paul uses a hard working farming example for Timothy, assuring him that his faithful labor will yield a harvest and he will find great fulfillment and joy in that harvest.
And then in verse 7 Paul calls Timothy to prayerful contemplation of what he has written, expecting the Holy Spirit will teach Timothy what God wants him to learn through Paul’s words applied to his life.
But did you notice, right in the middle of this section is Paul’s commission to Timothy, his purpose for the rest of his life: 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” I imagine Timothy set down the scroll here and pondered. He had been privileged to travel with Paul and listen to him preach the Gospel Jesus had given to him. Timothy had delivered Paul’s letters to cities where people had responded to Paul’s Gospel and house churches had begun. Timothy had been sent to Ephesus by Paul to lead the Christian movement there and now with a very specific focus… Disciple-making.
But Paul was only one man, and now he was in prison, and actually near death. How would the Christian movement continue without him? What plan of spiritual multiplication could assure that the Christian movement in the towns and cities where Paul had preached would continue to grow AND the many places where the Gospel was not yet known would somehow hear this life changing Gospel?
Do you see four generations of Christ followers mentioned by Paul in that 2 Timothy 2:2?
Generation one is Paul.
Generation two = Timothy, who learned of Jesus from Paul.
Generation three = ‘reliable men’ whom Timothy would teach what he has learned from Paul.
Generation four = the ‘others’ whom these ‘qualified, reliable men’ will teach what they learned from Timothy.
Here, in one verse, is the strategic plan of God for the evangelism and discipleship of the world. This is spiritual multiplication!
May I challenge your mind with this thought as we close today? It’s been 2000 years since Jesus was here and then sent His disciples, including Paul, into the world to share what He had taught them. And today, with a world population of 7.7 Billion, more than 6 Billion of them have either never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ or have chosen not to believe it. Why?
Oh I suppose there are many reasons, but may I invite you to consider making 2020 a year where you and I nurture our relationship with Jesus so His love, His encouragement, pours out from us on every person we have contact with, so we are a blessing to all people!
Second, I invite you to join me in strengthening our spiritual maturity, our understanding of God’s truth, so we can be of help to our floundering world as we speak God’s wisdom to every person in every situation. This is why I am investing a big chunk of each day in preparing “Walking with Jesus” for us. As you and I walk each day closer to Jesus, we will draw every person we are in contact with, closer to Jesus!
Then as we do what Paul urged Timothy to do… as we share wisely with others what we have learned from Jesus, and they share with others what they learn from us, we will see spiritual multiplication flow out from each of us. Starting with those closest to us… our families and friends. Think about being part of that my friends, in 2020!!
Oh Lord Jesus thank you that you want us to walk closely with you and through our encouraging relationships, draw others close to you. Help us to be encouragers today, in our world filled with so much pain.
Click to read today’s chapter: 2 Timothy 1; 2 Timothy 2. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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