2 Timothy 2:15 January 7, 2015

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of Truth.

We take our careers seriously.

We plan for our professional careers from the time we can begin to put our aspirations into words. We map out our educational goals fueled by the intent to obtain our goals. We spend years in educational institutions preparing for our future learning processes, procedures, new ideas and the history of our world. We devote much of our lives to preparing for our chosen path.

And once we get there, we work just as hard or harder to climb the proverbial ladder within. We work long hours, missing family and vacation time while trying to position ourselves to be successful. We watch mentors closely and emulate their patterns hoping to find the right combination that will propel us forward. Time off work is spent plotting and planning work. All justified by the notion that it will all work out in the end with bonuses, advancements and accolades.

And then we reach our "sweet spot". That place where we know we are in the zone. We've worked hard and it is beginning to pay off. This is what we have dedicated our lives to. The hours and work are still seemingly just as rigorous but the confidence in each moment and interaction exudes from ourselves. We can do this and do it well. Pride and the assurance of a job that started when we were young had been obtained and obtained well. Our dogged determination to make this happen has been successful. We have arrived.
Can you imagine what our spiritual life would be if we put that much emphasis on our relationship with Christ? Where would we be if we had that much dogged determination to place towards our faith? What would it look like if our spiritual journey would be just as intense as our professional journey?

Instead of a seemingly afterthought?

What if we were asking our children at the dinner table what they planned on doing with their faith as often as we asked what they want to be when they grow up? What if we asked them what God was doing in their lives today as often as we asked them how their extracurriculars were going? What would our world look like if the mentors that we searched for and emulated were true men and women of faith?

We've been lulled into searching for the worldly dream first and foremost. Faith seems to come later either after our dreams have been realized or we've stepped off the driven path. We tend to live worldly focused with just the right smattering of faith. Not too little but not too much. Enough that we can say we are but not enough to truly experience the freedom that we were meant to feel.

As long as we search for the world first, we will always see first through the lens of this world. We will. We will find ourselves forever trying to find peace that will never be. We can be successful, absolutely, but God is to be first. We answer to Him first. Too often we try to straddle the line and work both side of the fence but it doesn't work that way. Oh, satan will try to assure us that we can have it all but he will be the first to drop us down the deepest pit.
Work towards faith so that we are strong in Whom and what we believe. So that when the storms come, and they will, we will not be swayed by the winds but rather welcome the strength that comes from within a faith that is well-grounded.

Live different.

The Lord's Supper

We had the Lord's Supper today at church....

I have found that many things have taken on a different light so to speak since Taellor has died. And this is one of them. I used to approach the Lord's Supper with as much reverence as possible, use it as a time of personal reflection and examine my heart.

And then Taellor died.

While I am left with grape juice in a plastic cup and a cracker to honor my King, she is with Him face to face. Face to face. While I am left to examine my heart and subjected daily to the presence of sin, she is not. While I am left to scour the Scriptures to find out more about our Lord, she knows Him. While I am left with prayer and reflection to draw closer to Him, she couldn't be closer.

For she lives in the places of Scripture that are still a mystery to me. She walks the streets of gold and has seen her prepared place. She has seen it and walks it while I still read about it. She has been reunited with those who have gone before while I still miss them. She has traversed the great divided between this world and eternity while I still await.

There is something about burying a child before her parents die but there is something completely different regarding the child completing the journey before the parent. As I read Scripture, as I walk my chosen path and, yes, as I partake in the Lord's Supper, there is realness that is now there that wasn't there before.

My place at the table has been set but is still awaiting my arrival. My daughter's place has been taken. Her seat at His Table awaits no more. She no longer has to partake of a substitute body and blood for she walks intimately with the King. And there is joy found in that.

 

When We Loose Our Way 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with Him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with Him.
If we disown Him,
He will disown us;
if we are faithless,
He will remain faithful,
for He cannot disown
Himself.

He is faithful, always.

There are times in our lives when we seem to endure more than we can handle. We begin to live one moment into the next and seek normalcy in our lives. Our worlds are turned upside and inside out. Our heart hurts and stomach churns as we fight to just simply be.

We make ourselves get up and move or sometimes we don't. We struggle to stop the tears and sometimes they won't. We find ourselves in such a state of disbelief, despair and utter frankness that we simply don't know whether to sit or stand, walk or run.

And then our lives take a turn for the worst.

We thought we were there or perhaps we thought that we'd already walked the darkest path imaginable and, yet, the corridors that we now face are filled with rows and rows of anguish and sublime evil. Our darkest day now seems a distant memory as we find ourselves submerged into a new worldly hell.

And, sometimes, we begin to falter. Perhaps, it is the shock of it all or maybe the seemingly well- meaning advice that we have sought but we begin to loose faith in what we thought we knew. Our very foundation seems shaken to its core and our legs are no longer sea-worthy. Our mind begins to race and questions apart the pieces of what we thought we once knew.

And if we aren't careful, we fall deeper into a pit of darkness. Our faith slipping as we spiral down a dark lonely path. To some, it might appear that we are faithless. On some days, they may be right.

We are floundering in mind and heart but not in our soul.

He is faithful, always. Even when we seem to have lost our way, He is faithful. Even when we have have taken too many blows to even breath, He is faithful. Even when, we have nothing else in us, He is faithful. He has told us that He will be with us "to the very end of the age" and He is faithful to His promise. He never turns His back, never walks away and never forsakes.

So rest.

Simply rest easy knowing that even when we don't know which way is up, He does and He cares. When the world turns its back, when death reaches its steely claws, when evil abounds and we are surrounded we can always be assured that He has our back even when we don't think He does. And with this assurance, comes freedom. Freedom in knowing that He is who He says He is no matter our response. He is not dependent on us. He simply is and that is a foundation that is firm.

Live different.