GOD Morning! October 21 / Shipwrecked Faith!

GOD Morning!

October 21 / Shipwrecked Faith!

1 Timothy 1 (Amplified Bible)

1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by appointment and command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), our Hope,

² To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace (spiritual blessing and favor), mercy, and [heart] peace [be yours] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on where you are at Ephesus in order that you may warn and admonish and charge certain individuals not to teach any different doctrine,

⁴ Nor to give importance to or occupy themselves with legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which foster and promote useless speculations and questionings rather than acceptance in faith of God’s administration and the divine training that is in faith (in that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence)—

⁵ Whereas the object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith.

⁶ But certain individuals have missed the mark on this very matter [and] have wandered away into vain arguments and discussions and purposeless talk.

Purposeless talk. I engaged in purposeless talk for more years than I can count. Seriously, I did not know when to shut up. The more I talked, the worse I talked myself into a corner. As a result I felt unbelievable guilt and shame for the hurtful words I spoke. I actually wrote a song about this many years ago.

“Words of hurt to precious friends I have spoken

Hearts of those I love I have broken

Though I’ve failed miserably, still deep inside of me

I long so desperately to be like Jesus, to be like Jesus

As the thorns pierced His brow, He loved

As the whip tore through His flesh, He forgave

As He hung dying on the cross, still He was reaching for the lost,

No matter what the cost, I want to be like this Man!

Cho: I want to be like Jesus, I want to be just like Him

I want to be like Jesus, I want to be just like Him

To have, with every word I say, His caring smile on my face

To reach out along the way, with His hands of love, I pray

To be like Jesus, I want to be like Him!”

Jesus, thank You for changing me from the inside out!

⁷ They are ambitious to be doctors of the Law (teachers of the Mosaic ritual), but they have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions.

Have you ever heard someone babble on and on about a subject they know very little about? They can cause much confusion to new Christians!

⁸ Now we recognize and know that the Law is good if anyone uses it lawfully [for the purpose for which it was designed],

⁹ Knowing and understanding this: that the Law is not enacted for the righteous (the upright and just, who are in right standing with God), but for the lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who strike and beat and [even] murder fathers and strike and beat and [even] murder mothers, for manslayers,

¹⁰ [For] impure and immoral persons, those who abuse themselves with men, kidnapers, liars, perjurers—and whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching and sound doctrine

¹¹ As laid down by the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted

¹² I give thanks to Him Who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able [for this], Christ Jesus our Lord, because He has judged and counted me faithful and trustworthy, appointing me to [this stewardship of] the ministry.

¹³ Though I formerly blasphemed and persecuted and was shamefully and outrageously and aggressively insulting [to Him], nevertheless, I obtained mercy because I had acted out of ignorance in unbelief.

¹⁴ And the grace (unmerited favor and blessing) of our Lord [actually] flowed out superabundantly and beyond measure for me, accompanied by faith and love that are [to be realized] in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ The saying is sure and true and worthy of full and universal acceptance, that Christ Jesus (the Messiah) came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am foremost.

We can all say this with hearts full of thanksgiving! Christ came into the world to save sinners such as me! I still marvel that the King of kings came and died a horrific death for my salvation. Read on…

¹⁶ But I obtained mercy for the reason that in me, as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might show forth and display all His perfect long-suffering and patience for an example to [encourage] those who would thereafter believe on Him for [the gaining of] eternal life.

Sometimes I choose to forget this seemingly small, yet all important element of my salvation. Jesus forgave me as an example! I must unconditionally forgive others! I must strive to forget as well! Because Jesus forgot my past exactly like He forgot the Apostle Paul’s past!

“Come now and let us reason together, says the LORD, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

"For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:11-12

Hallelujah!!!

¹⁷ Now to the King of eternity, incorruptible and immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever (to the ages of ages). Amen (so be it).

¹⁸ This charge and admonition I commit in trust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning you, so that inspired and aided by them you may wage the good warfare,

¹⁹ Holding fast to faith (that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence) and having a good (clear) conscience. By rejecting and thrusting from them [their conscience], some individuals have made shipwreck of their faith.

²⁰ Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan in order that they may be disciplined [by punishment and learn] not to blaspheme.

“The inference intended is, that though Hymenaeus and Philetus had professed their faith in Christ, they did not turn away from evil. There is no doubt in regard to the identity of this Hymenaeus with the person of the same name in 1 Tim. Accordingly, the facts mentioned in the two epistles must be placed in the following order: That though Hymenaeus had made a public and Christian profession of faith in Christ, yet he had not turned away from evil, but by his profane teaching went towards more ungodliness. This led to his abandoning his faith and a good conscience, thus he brought about the end result of his faith being shipwrecked.

The error, therefore, of Hymenaeus and his two companions would amount to this: They taught that "the resurrection is past already," circa 50AD–65AD, and that there would be no future resurrection, but that all that resurrection means is that the soul awakes from sin. This teaching of Hymenaeus had been so far successful: it had "overthrown the faith of some" (2 Tim 2:18).” Wikipedia

“Dear Jesus, help me! Help me to never think so highly of myself that I start mixing my own ideas with Your word and veer off in the wrong direction! There are people (souls who will live forever somewhere) who are listening to me and looking up to me! I must not abuse this. I must humbly speak only Your pure word. I need Thee every hour, every second of the day. I have a heavy responsibility, dear Jesus. I must not take it lightly. Thanks for loving me all those years when I was not pure hearted.  You are amazing. Your love is pure. Your love is my example. I must love others the way that You love me. Thanks for showing me the Way, my dear Jesus. AMEN.”