Through tears, she told me that her marriage was over. Her husband filed for divorce and the shock and grief shattered her. “Wounds are contagious”, she said. Heartbroken, I prayed for her and looked for ways to minister to her, and my mind revisited that phrase over and over: Wounds are contagious.
Several months ago, a broken sprinkler head under high pressure sent muddy water spraying across the front of our home. The deep front porch took the brunt of the filth, with windows, shudders and our pretty red door dirtied. Though it was cleaned up promptly, it wasn’t until this week that I noticed the porch lights that flank our doorway. Stepping out one evening, I wondered why the light was so muted, and noticed that the glass in the lamps was dingy and smeared with the muck.
I am so thankful that God called Jeremiah and not me to be His voice to His people. Jeremiah, at God’s behest, preached gloom and doom to the people of Israel and Judah because of their sin and rebellion.
“But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols”, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 2:11). How could they? God had done so much for them. He had showed Himself Great and Glorious in their presence. He had been faithful, patient, loving. Yet His people had embraced idolatry of every form. Just a few verses later, God says, “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). His beloved was looking elsewhere for satisfaction and sustenance and didn’t even realize that the hunt was futile. What a sad commentary on God’s chosen ones.
“Hang in there” is an expression of encouragement in today’s world. It’s a way to say, “Don’t give up.” Recently, I needed to apply the hang in there concept to my prayer life.
As a young wife and mother, I thought I had the perfect blueprint for our family. My intention was to have two children. No more. Within a few years we had two wonderful little boys. When I learned that I was expecting baby number three, I was extremely upset.
In the days before HGTV revealed the intricacies of home decorating, I naively decided to redo the wallpaper in our bathroom myself. Why hire a professional when I could do it, right? Little did I know how tricky it would be to remove the existing paper or how tired I would become before finishing the project.
One summer our family toured Luray Cavern. Our guided tour took us deeper and deeper into the earth. As we walked the well-lit path, our leader pointed out the natural wonders on all sides.
Several years ago, “What Would Jesus Do?” was a popular phrase among Christians. This was the measure to use in decision-making. Pattern your behavior after Him. Not a bad idea, right? It’s a little harder to put into practice.
When I was growing up, I imagined how cool it would be to have a videophone. This was a futuristic idea only seen on TV at the time. Well, it’s not futuristic anymore. It is common practice for the next generation.
I have to admit, I don’t really like a quiet house. If I am alone, I’ll turn on the TV for some background noise. When fixing dinner or cleaning up, I like to watch or listen to something. I immediately sense the urge to turn on a little HGTV, etc. Even in the car, I am listening to something. Not that this is wrong, but I have allowed this to become a habit for me.
When I was a child, there was a “Mr. Men” and “Little Miss” book series written by Roger Hargreaves. The characters in the stories had dominant personality traits that either caused them problems or showed another character how to engage in the positive quality. Everyone learned something through the moral lesson of story.
A few months back I came to an intersection. As I looked to my right, about 100 yards down the road, a truck was spinning out of control and came to a stop just off the road. He apparently had a tire blowout. As I watched, one of his wheels came hurtling towards me, rolling and bouncing all the way. As it got closer, I eased forward a little, and it crossed the road about 15 feet behind my car.
Correct, rebuke, encourage; challenge, warn, urge (MSG). Paul ends his passionate charge to Timothy by drilling down on teaching what God has to say, not on what man wants to hear—correcting/challenging false impressions, rebuking/warning against wrong actions, encouraging/coming alongside to urge others on to do all things for the glory of God. Man has such a tendency to twist the truth of the Word.
What a story Paul had. Certainly he had many opportunities to tell it—in prison in Jerusalem (Acts 21-23), in Caesarea (Acts 23-26), in Rome as he writes this letter to Timothy—and he never failed to rise to the occasion.
You cannot preach the Word, proclaim the Message, tell your story with God, unless you are prepared to do so. In fact preparation is the key to living, anyway you look at it. If you are going on a mountain hike you lace up your sturdy shoes, pack some water, grab your hiking stick, put on your sunscreen, check on the weather—you prepare as best you can.
Sensing this is his final letter, Paul sets out with even more than his usual fervor to impress upon Timothy the details of his calling. Not a word is wasted: preach the Word; or as the Message translation says: proclaim the Message with intensity.
Last page, last letter—the time has come. Paul gives his protégé, Timothy, a stirring charge. At the beginning of this letter he told him that he, Paul, was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the gospel (2 Timothy 1:11). Now he places his ministry of the gospel in Timothy’s hands. In effect, he endows his son in the faith with his legacy. He solemnly offers to Timothy, before God, what is tantamount to a binding oath. The Message translation is pretty onerous: I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder.
Most bibles include maps with colored lines detailing Paul’s travels. The lines wind from city to city, port to port. Within a few sentences found in Acts, we glimpse the depth of the relationships Paul established among the groups of believers comprising the early church. In Acts 20, we see Paul rushing to make it to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost. Instead of stopping in Ephesus, he invites the leaders of the church to meet with him for some final words of encouragement.
