My lIfe's purpose

Scripture:
2Tim 3:10 But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.

Observation:
Here Paul tells Timothy "you know what my purpose in life is". What a remarkable statement. Today authors write best selling books and overbook conferences having to do with any one person finding their life's purpose. Here Paul says a crazy statement. "Tim, purpose should be clear enough for even others to see in me" perhaps we have this whole purpose thing all messed up. What if our life's purpose has nothing to do with what i get out of the deal? What if our life's purpose has more to do with living a crucified life then a glorified one?

Application:
I want my life purpose to be clear for all to see. I think the moment my life's purpose becomes unclear to others it has long since been unclear to me! I want to keep my life's purpose clear and visible.

Prayer:
Lord would you simplify my life. I want to live for you. I want the very reason I breath to be to bring you glory and there in fulfill my life's purpose - I love you Jesus

Honorable use to the Lord

Scripture:
2Tim 2:20 In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. 21 If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.

Observation:
Keeping myself pure. Some how I think that purity or impurity will only have an impact on my individual life. We read here that purity or lack there of, actually qualifies you or disqualifies you for the work of "honor" in the work of the Lord. We live such a selfish existence. when will we realize that the Lord wants us all to be honorable and useful to Him. He intended us to all be of special use to Him. Purity therefore, must not be an option. our purity must be motivated out of a love for him and his availability not our of my emotions or feelings on the subject

Application:
My ability or desire for purity needs to be established in a willingness to be obedient to Him. Simply put. I want to be pure therefore like it says in the following verses "run from youthful lusts". My life is to be lived out of a love for whats right not out of the fear of reproof or the lack of fulfilling a youthful lust. I want purity simply because i love Jesus and want to be of special use to Him

Prayer:
Lord help me to run in a way that pleases you. I don't want to flee sin only to not get hurt. I want to flee sin because it is then that i am of special, and honorable use to you. - I love you my Jesus

Fan into flames

Scripture:
2Tim 1: 5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Observation:
I love here that the gift was given by the Lord. What an awesome thing that is. I also love the fact that he has levt it to us to "fan" into maturity the gift given. How is it that we are to "fan" into flames our gift? I think it is when we begin to mature in it. When we finally begin to say. "i have a gift" and start doing something to grow it into a useful part of the life God gave to you. IOW: I have been given the gift of being a Shepherd (pastor). it is now my obligation to learn how to be the best pastor i can be. (leader, disciple, father, husband). When I begin to grow in my gifting, I "fan" the flames. Paul here says to "fan" them in to flames" i love that.

Application:
In order for me to be the best pastor I can be, I need to be a life-long learner. I need to position my heart to always be able to learn from any person or circumstance I find myself. Like David being trained in the sheep fields of Isarael for Kingship, I must learn from the places He places me

Prayer:
Lord, help me to learn from you in any way I can. I know you are so intrested in me. I know your love for me so goes before me in all I do. Will you lead me into being a great leader in your eyes? I want to fan into flames all that you gave me in hopes that one day you say to me "well done Lance" that is what i live for - I love you Jesus

contentment with godliness

Scripture:
1Timothy 6:6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

Observation:
So often we want to define great wealth by standards that seem so temporary. bigger house, larger income or even great family's. All these age nice and even almost necessary. So what does the Lord mean having Paul write here that true godliness with contentment is great wealth? My heart tells me that true contentment is the greatest thing on earth. the cessation of striving for anything other than godliness is an awesome goal

Application:
i want to strive for contentment with where the Lord has me today. i can still have plans and even goals. the real problem with my discontentment is when i look too far into the future and try living my life into it. If however, i live today, in today I find it easier to live a contented life

Prayer:
Lord, help me live in today. contented, but in today - i love you Lord

Gods battle plan - True worship

Scripture:
2 Chronicles 20
War with Surrounding Nations 1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[a] declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[b] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[c] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)
3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.
5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. 6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war,[d] plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
13 As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, 14 the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.
25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,[e] and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,[f] which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies. 28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the Lord.

Observation:
insurmountable odds. there was no way the people of the Lord could win. there was no way out. what could they possibly do? The Lord here tells the King three thing to do
1. March out
2. Take your positions
3. Stand still and watch
I find it funny here that there is not one battle strategy given here from the Lord. earlier in the passage the message was given that the battle belonged to the Lord and they need not worry.

Application:
There are times in my life when i want to take up battle stance. Some offencive stance. When I want to stand and fight. I want to fight with persuasive words or old methods. Only to find that I get tired, worn and faithless. I like here the counsil given by the Lord. to march out, take my rightful position and stand and watch. This I can do.

Prayer:
Lord remind me to fight your way. I grow more like you. I love you my Jesus

Simply obey

Scripture:
2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn't’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir,[c] if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!

Observation:
Naaman was inches away from forfeiting his healing. God had instructed him to follow a simple order (go down and wash 7 times). The crazy part of this order is that seems too easy. for some reason obedience to what the Lord should not be as hard as we make it.

The inability to simply obey almost cost Naaman a healed life. How much more me? when has the Lord simply asked me to follow a simply order, (tithe, seek forgiveness, reconcile with someone, keep short accounts ...)?

Application:
I need to note well that the Lord will not give me the next thing until i have finished the last thing He asked me to do. I don't believe obedience was ever intended to be a difficult thing. I think God wanted us to see what needed to be done and do it.

Prayer:
Lord will you help me to simply obey? I don't want to walk away from a healing or a blessing because I think your requirements are silly. - I love you Jesus

Real Love

Scripture:
1Timothy 1:5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 6 But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions. 7 They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they speak so confidently.

Observation:
Love that comes from a
1. pure heart
2. clear concience
3. genuine faith
the point here is very clear. Paul here, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us that "love" is the big issue. not emotional love that stems from a set of "feelings" rather, genuine, pure and thoughtful Love.

Application:
I want my love to flow from a decision in my brain. I want to "feel" as a result of my choice to do that which is loving.

Prayer:
Lord, teach me how to love. Even the unlovely. I want to love like you love. I want my life to filled with your Heart for that which moves your heart - I love you my Jesus