VIDEO What’s Most Important?

Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments. 2 Timothy 4:13

 

If you were exiled to a deserted island, what one thing would you take with you? While something similar happened to the apostle John (Revelation 1:9) and likely to others throughout history, the chance of it happening to us is nil. But it does raise the question: “What do we value most?”

The apostle Paul was exiled to a “deserted” place near the end of his life—the Mamertine Prison in Rome. A notoriously dark and punishing place, Paul seems to have been confined with little or nothing in terms of possessions. When writing to Timothy, he asked his young protégé to bring his cloak, no doubt to ward off the cold in his damp confines. But he also asked for something else: “the books, especially the parchments.” These were no doubt copies of the Old Testament Scriptures, in whole or in part. With the end of his earthly life in sight (2 Timothy 4:6-8), he desired his most cherished possessions: his copies of God’s Word to comfort and sustain his spirit.

May we never take for granted our access to God’s Word. May it be our daily source of strength and inspiration.

The health of our souls requires that we take the whole Bible as it stands and let it do its work in us. A. W. Tozer

---

Verse by Verse Bible Study | 2 Timothy 4 | Gary Hamrick

Happy Trust

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. Psalm 40:4

A woman rescued Rudy from the animal shelter days before he was to be euthanized, and the dog became her companion. For ten years, Rudy slept calmly beside Linda’s bed, but then he abruptly began to jump next to her and lick her face. Linda scolded him, but every night, Rudy repeated the behavior. “Soon he was jumping on my lap to lick my face every time I sat down,” Linda said.

As she was planning to take Rudy to obedience school, she began to consider how insistent Rudy was and how he always licked her in the same spot on her jaw. Sheepishly, Linda went to a doctor who found a microscopic tumor (bone cancer). The doctor told Linda that if she’d waited longer, it probably would’ve killed her. Linda had trusted Rudy’s instincts, and she was happy she did.

The Scriptures tell us repeatedly that trusting God leads to life and joy. “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,” the psalmist says (40:4). Some translations make the point even starker: “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust” (v. 4 nrsv). Happy in the psalms communicates abundance—an erupting, effervescent joy.

When we trust God, the ultimate result is deep, genuine happiness. This trust may not come easily, and the results may not be everything we envision. But if we trust God, we’ll be so happy we did.

By:  Winn Collier

Reflect & Pray

What makes it difficult for you to trust God? How does it alter things if you begin to really believe that trusting Him leads you to happiness?

Dear God, I want the kind of happiness that only You can bring. But it’s hard for me to trust. Will You help me?

The Damage of Prayerlessness

Discouragement comes when we try to carry our load alone, but help is just a prayer away Colossians 4:2-6

Jesus often slipped away to spend quiet moments with His Father. If the Son of God needed prayer time, then we surely can’t live well without it. Yesterday we saw that those who “go it alone” become weary from bearing unnecessary burdens. Now let’s see the results of carrying that extra weight throughout life.

When we’re drained spiritually, emotionally, or physically, we become susceptible to discouragement. Loss of confidence is soon followed by doubt. A believer immersed in prayer and Scripture reading will find security in God’s power and presence. Joshua was exhorted to meditate on the Law, because his success was dependent on following God’s will (Joshua 1:8-9). Keeping the Lord at the center of our focus, coupled with regular Bible reading and prayer, builds confidence. But someone who questions His faithfulness will seek refuge everywhere except in those disciplines.

Forsaking prayer causes a downward slide—but the direction can be reversed at any time. It’s simple: Confess your prayerlessness, and then make a priority of regular quiet time with God. In those moments of communion, He will make burdens light, offer encouragement, and fill you with confidence.

Tell Them About the Savior

“Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” (Exodus 2:7)

In Exodus, Pharaoh ordered the execution of all newborn male Israelites. Moses was spared since his sister intervened, and she later became his helper as he led their people to freedom. Throughout the Bible, godly women played important roles. In “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship,” such women are enjoined to pray for sinners and testify of His power to save.

Sisters will you join and help us?
Moses’ sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners
Who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior,
Tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna
Will be showered all around.

In the beginning, “God created man in his own image…male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). As God’s image bearers, godly women are equipped to minister to others, often being especially effective in attending to individual needs. In our hauntingly beautiful study hymn, such women are called to help trembling sinners convicted of and struggling with sin.

Women can be powerful in prayer. Lasting fruit is borne in ladies’ Bible studies and in children’s Bible lessons taught by godly women. Many rescue missions, mission fields, and counseling rooms are primarily staffed by ladies unashamed of the gospel. Thankfully, God has chosen to shower “manna all around” through the ministry of godly Christian women. JDM

Today, Many Of Us Are Plagued By A Malaise Deep Within Our Soul

Beneath the surface of our lives there lurks a subliminal sense of disquiet… a despondency; perhaps a lingering struggle with depression… even to the point of despair. Let me suggest four reasons as to why:

1. Primal Wounds of the Heart

Most of us enter adult life deeply wounded. So unless and until we assume responsibility for the past, and allow Jesus the Healer to bind up our wounds, thereby giving us the grace to forgive, forget, and move beyond the past, we will continue on as spiritual and emotional cripples.

“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal.“(Job 5:17, 18)

2. Cynicism of the Mind

Secretly, many of us live in two worlds. Intellectually we believe the Word of God to be true. However, when Jesus calls us to steps of faith demanding vulnerability, we often respond with, “I can‘t,“or “I won‘t.“And by our refusal, we demonstrate our spiritual cynicism that God really cannot be trusted.

“But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.“(Hebrews 10:38 Phillips)

3. Paralysis of the Will

Many of us choose to continue to be victimized by our past, our circumstances, and our fears. Our motto is “I can‘t help it,“or “I can‘t do it.“So the freedom, the joy, and the victory available to us in Christ remain a distant illusion that recedes with each passing day.

“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.“(Romans 8:37)

4. Overcrowding of the Soul

We are exposed to too much noise, activity, information, and pressure. Too little time is taken for meditation, rest, contemplation and prayer. So the jostling encountered by today’s typical urban professional is usually unkind to the inner life of the soul.

“And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.“(Isaiah 32:17)

The enemy’s objective, to “steal, kill, and destroy“(John 10:10) the abundant life of Christ within us, is being realized if we fail to address these critical areas of life. Ultimately, the choice is ours.

If I be a Father, where is mine honour?”

Malachi 1:1-14

We have now arrived at the period when the last of the prophets came with a divine message, Malachi is called by the Hebrews. “The seal of the prophets,” because he closes the prophetical canon of the old dispensation. Malachi followed close on the heels of Zechariah, and found the people no longer idolatrous, but formal, cold, self-righteous, and unspiritual. His censures are very bold, and his prophecies of the coming era of the gospel very clear.

Malachi 1:1-5

They were discouraged because the temple had been built but the Messiah had not come, nor had the nation risen from its poverty into the glory which had been foretold; they therefore questioned the special love of God to them. The Lord replies by asking them:

Malachi 1:1-5

The overthrow of Edom was final, but Israel would revive. Was not this a sign of special love?

Malachi 1:6

Notice how thickly close questions follow each other all through the chapter. Shall we be able to answer the Lord when at the last he searches us?

Malachi 1:7

You do not serve me with your hearts; ye slur my service, and bring the worst offerings ye can find.

Malachi 1:8

To give to God what we should be ashamed to present to man is a grievous insult to his majesty.

Malachi 1:9, 10

Nothing was done out of love; no one had enough respect unto the Lord to worship him voluntarily. They were unspiritual formalists.

Malachi 1:11

Good news is this for us. When Jewish worship became unacceptable, a door of hope was opened for the Gentiles. Glory be to divine grace.

Malachi 1:12-14

he has the best, and yet gives God the worst:

Malachi 1:12-14

This chapter warns us not to worship God coldly and heartlessly. If we do indeed love him, let us give heartily to his cause, work for him zealously, pray to him fervently, and count his service our supreme delight, for without this our religion will be offensive in the sight of the Lord.

Tell the Whole Truth

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. (Titus 1:2)

It is sad indeed to know that there are Christian leaders among us who are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men and women to give to God only that which costs them nothing!

The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles.

Christ calls men to carry His cross; we call them to have fun in His name!

He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeois comforts modern civilization affords!

He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers!

When will believers learn that to love righteousness it is necessary to hate sin? That to accept Christ it is necessary to reject self? That a friend of the world is an enemy of God? Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are disadvantages to the life in Christ!