Never Stand Alone

Hey everyone.

As I have continued my study of II Timothy, I wanted to share something with you from chapter 3.  In the first 9 verses of II Timothy 3 Paul has painted a picture of some unholy men who may appear godly but deny the power of God.  They are the kind of men who try to take advantage of people, and Paul likens them to Pharaoh's magicians back in Exodus.  He tells Timothy to have nothing to do with such men. 

Then starting in v. 10-11 he draws a comparison between these unspiritual men and himself.  he tells Timothy that he knows all about Paul's way of life, purpose, faith, love and the like.  Paul then talks about how Timothy knew of the persecution Paul endured in the cities of Antioch, Iconium and Lystra and how God rescued him from all of those troubles. 

So to better understand what Paul was talking about, I went back to the book of Acts to see what type of persecution he endured.  So here is what happens:

In Antioch (Acts 13:13 - 52) - Paul and Barnabas teach in the synagogue and people like their message, until a number of the Jews see the crowd that Paul is getting, become jealous and start stirring up trouble, and Paul and Barnabas are expelled from the region.  In spite of their expulsion, the word of the Lord spread (13:49) and the disciples were filled with the Spirit. (13:52)

In Iconium (Acts 14:1--7) - Paul goes next to Iconium, where he and Barnabas go to the synagogue to teach, but those who rejected their message stirred up trouble for them and there was a plot to stone them.  The plot was revealed and Paul and Barnabas fled the city.

In Lystra (Acts 14:8-20) - They go next to Lystra where the people think that they are gods and try to worship them.  Those that had created trouble for Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra and stirred up trouble for them.  The people of Lystra dragged Paul out of the city, stoned him and left him for dead.  Acts 14:20 says however that after the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city, then left for Derbe.

So back in II Timothy, Paul refers to these three cities where Paul was kicked out, threatened, stoned and left for dead.  His response to this was that the Lord rescued him from all of this.  (Acts 14:21 says that after teaching in Derbe he returned to those three cities to encourage the disciples there to remain faithful.)  Paul was an amazing guy.  No matter what the situation he really relied on God.  His persecution, make my troubles seem so small.  No one has ever thrown a rock at me because of my faith. 

Later in II Timothy 4:16-17, Paul says that at his first defense, no one came to his support.  It seems so sad, that Paul had no one with him at his trial, but his says in v. 17, "But the Lord stood by my side."  No matter what Paul just looked to God, and that was enough.

Tom  

Why I'm so normal.

Hey everyone.
I'm going to share with you a brief self-assessment.  I think that I am a pretty normal.  I think that other people see me as reliable, as someone they can count on.  I hope that this is accurate.  (If it is not please break it to me gently.) 

Any way, assuming that my self-assessment is accurate, the question I want to think about today is, "How did I get that way?"  In II Timothy 1:7 it says: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  This is a great verse and many lessons can be drawn from it, but I want to focus on the spirit of self-discipline.  When I read this verse in the King James Version, the word "self-discipline" is translated as "a sound mind."  A sound mind is an awesome thing and is somewhat different from self-discipline.  So which is it?  I looked it up the Greek word "sophronismou" in the Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament Words.  Guess which one it means.  Both.  Warren Wiersbe described the word this way in his commentary Be Faithful, "it describes a person who is sensibly minded and balanced."

God has been giving me this spirit of "sophronismou" (sound mind and self-discipline) for a little over 24 years now.  Why am I so normal?  How have I become someone that can be counted on?  Because God has been working on me and made me that way.  I hope that God has been making you "sensibly minded and balanced" too.

Tom