I Timothy Chapter 6

I Timothy Chapter 6

vs. 1-2

- Slaves are to show respect to their masters... even if their masters are Christians.

- This sounds a little odd to us today. If their masters were Christian... wouldn't that mean that the Christian slave would be more likely to love and respect their master? And the master to be more kind and considerate? Why would there be a lack of respect?

- footnote- “ In Paul's culture there was a great social and legal gulf separating masters and slaves. But as Christians, masters and slaves became spiritual equals, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Paul did not speak against the institution of slavery, but he gave guidelines for Christian slaves and Christian masters. His counsel for the master/slave relationship can be applied to the employer/employee relationship today. Employees should work hard, showing respect for their employers. In turn, employers should be fair. Our work should reflect our faithfulness to and love for Christ.”

- Ephesians 6:5-9

- Colossians 3:22-25, 4:1

- Titus 2:9-15

- Philemon 1:8-20

- So whether you see yourself as an equal to your boss or not... you should show him/her the respect that their position dictates from you. Even if you know them personally, or they're family, or they're Christians as well... maybe even go to your church... The same respect should be evident no matter what your relationship to/with your boss.

- My uncle used to teach science at my middle school... it was incredibly hard to remember to call him “Mr.” as opposed to “uncle”. He insisted on it though. And the same went for him when he became the assistant principal at my high school. Just because he was my uncle... didn't mean he wasn't also Mr. Murray... in charge of discipline... In some ways I think he was harder on my brother and I just because we WERE family... but at the same time... he drew a very distinct line there that wasn't to be crossed.

- Had I walked into class or around the high school joking around with him and picking on him back and forth like we do when we're home... there may not have necessarily been a loss of respect on my end, but the other students looking in on our conversations and interactions would have had a much different view of him than they did. He was kind of the enforcer at the high school... and to have me seeming very familiar with him and showing a very goofy side of him... would have undermined his authority as a principal.

- So even though he was my uncle, while we were at school... he was my principal first and foremost.

vs. 3-5

- And yet again here we are with an admonition from Paul against false teachings.

- If something is worthy of repetition... then repeat it... so here we go again...

- Paul and the disciples were spreading the teachings of Jesus. They were moral and wholesome teachings that promoted a godly life.

- If anybody comes teaching something other than a moral and wholesome way of life... then they're not in line with Jesus. Paul calls them “arrogant” and “lacking understanding” with an “unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words.”

- While I was reading over this... I was thinking about talking back to God.

- I had a first grader today take my instructions and turn and twist on them until they could get what they wanted out of them... and then when I said I don't think so... these were the directions... she just flat out told me “no”. Oh boy...

- But in her twisting of the directions and things... I can see what Paul was getting at here.

- I gave instructions to promote safety and the surety of a successful end product. But this little girl took my words and made up her own rules... rules that would benefit mainly her and ones that had little or no regard for others or safety in general.

- Jesus' instructions and teachings were the same. They were crafted to promote good living. Godly lives. A clear conscience.

- But others were coming to teach things that promoted a feel good attitude. They were causing arguments and divisions among the church... and for what? So they could justify their sins or their fleshly desires in some way.

- They were using their teachings for monetary gain. They were greedy and corrupt. They had turned their backs on the truth and were seeking after personal satisfaction and comfort.

- They have in essence told God “no”, and are turning to do things the way they want to do them. And to justify telling God “no”, they are instructing all their classmates with the same twisted way of thinking so that not only do they feel justified because their sin or desire is justified in their mind... but now they also feel justified because other people are joining with them in their thinking. And if someone contradicts their way of thinking, they're going to get defensive and pull away from the person who is standing by the right teaching, thus causing a division within the believers.

- If a kid turns around after my dance instructions or project instructions and either just does something else, or does indeed turn and tell me “no”... I see that kid as being rebellious or deliberately hard-headed.

- And that all sounds a little harsh... it's just a kid! Maybe they forgot! Or maybe they just didn't understand completely!

- So I'm thinking about my classroom system...

- I have my rules posed in massively huge letters on the main wall. It's in plain view of the kids. (MUSIC- Manners, Use Your Ears, Safety, Instrument Care (book care), and Cooperation). Also in plain view are my behavior charts. Each class has a chart where I keep track of warnings and check marks and absences, etc. They know all the rules and the consequences.

- At the beginning of our first class, we go through all the rules and talk about what each one requires. Manners could be anything from making sure you raise your hand if you have a question, to not talking if someone else is talking, to just basic pleases and thank yous. So on and so forth. If they can make it 4 or 5 classes (depending on the grade level) without any check marks, then they get to pick something out of my prize box.

- I give my kids two warnings. Can be for any one of the 5 rules on the board. Once a kid has to be reminded of the rules a third time, it's a check mark on their chart which means their prize box privileges are postponed another 4 or 5 days from that time and they start losing recess time for the next time they have recess.

- However, if there is a major school rule broken like cursing, or fighting, or destruction of school property... then we forget the warnings... it's an automatic check mark, and automatic loss of recess according to their regular classroom teacher's dictation, and a trip to the principal's office with a discipline form...

- So knowing all this, when a kid deliberately goes against my authority... we have a major problem.

- God has laid everything out for us. He has given us His rules, His instructions, His expectations. If we follow all the rules, we get a prize at the end of the designated time. However, if we look at His rules and decide that they're not fun enough for us... or decide that they are restricting our freedom too much... and turn to do something a little different... then there are consequences.

- It might only be a warning at first... maybe it's just something little... you're not really turning away... you're just kind of becoming apathetic... just not really making time for God right now... maybe next week... So maybe God gives you “the look”, or a little spiritual nudge to say “hey, still here... be careful of what you're doing...”

- However, if you look God in the face and tell Him absolutely no... or turn and deliberately walk away from God... it's not going to be pretty... forget the little nudges and looks... There's going to be a trip to the principal's office... maybe not right this second... but it's coming soon...

- The teachers that Paul was talking about were preaching for money. They were looking at Jesus as a way to manipulate for personal gain. They were causing quarrels among the church by their teachings as they manipulated their way into people's pockets.

- Think of the kid who sits around on the playground inciting other kids to get into trouble... “hey, that kid was just saying they didn't like you...” “hey, you see that kid over there? He thinks your sister's ugly...”

- These people were causing arguments over word issues JUST so they could argue and then sit back and watch everybody else hash it out... or so they could be right in the thick of it because they live for confrontation...

- I've watched the men in my family do this so many times over sports... They sit and argue over play calls for 20 minutes with no resolution. They'll rewind the play to watch it again... then they'll sit and watch the ref's replay camera to see if they see anything different... and then they'll still sit and argue about something they can't really tell anything about... just so they can argue... Or politics... my uncle and my grandfather do the same thing with politics... Sometimes I think my uncle just takes a side he knows will upset Pap just so he can argue with him for a little while... what's the point in that?

- footnote- “... A person's understanding of the finer points of theology should not become the basis for lording it over others or for making money. Stay away from people who just want to argue.”

- My friend from a couple of weeks ago who got caught up in the false teaching thing? He liked to argue. He would call me to come up to meet him for lunch just so we could sit and argue... He would bring up the same topics over and over again... We rehashed SO many things... And when I finally told him that I wasn't going to argue anymore... I'd discuss, but I wasn't going to argue... he just quit talking to me. He just loved to argue.

- Paul says that these people lack understanding... I think more than anything, they lack an understanding of how this walk is supposed to work. A building up of one another, in relationship with Christ Jesus, a living growing unit.

- I was thinking about teenagers driving... It's been pouring snow here for a couple of weeks and I had to follow this guy home from work the other day... we never went above 15 miles an hour, he literally stayed in the middle of the road, and he rode his brake the entire time...

- Now if you know anything about driving on wet or slick roads... yes slow is good, but you still have to stay on your side of the road, and you don't want to hit the brakes unless you have to... gears are much better...

- Now this guy, swerved all over the place when he met somebody coming on the other side of the road, and was sliding around going down really steep hills with drop offs over the edge.

- Now if you never experience icy or wet roads... you'll never know how to drive on them. You'll never understand all the alterations you have to make to the way you drive when the road conditions change. However... it's probably smart to start driving on nice dry roads with no weather conditions throwing a wrench in the works... Beginning driving is hard enough just worrying about everybody else on the roads without worrying about weather too...

- A lack of understanding... Before you start teaching or expounding on your vast amount of knowledge on a given subject... first make sure that you understand what it is you're talking about... Discussions that delve into theology can be good... but they can also quickly turn into an argument.

- A good way of looking at discussions are as meetings to fellowship or meetings to share. They are times of sharing what God is doing in your life right now, or perhaps sharing something that God has taught you through scripture or a sermon or a book that would help your friend.

- They are not times to tear apart all the intricacies of doctrine or the date of the last days or the final coming... Those are things that do not have a solid answer. It doesn't do anybody any good to sit around and argue over the pros and cons or the possibilities of something that has no answer... it's like my men with their football games... it's over and done with... the ref called the game... and you can't do anything to change it... especially a week after the fact... so move on. Talk about things that matter right now...

- II Timothy 2:10-26, 4:1-8

- Titus 1:8-16

vs. 6-10, 17-19

- “True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.”

- We came into the world with nothing... and that's the same way we'll leave it. “Naked we came, naked we'll leave.”

- Have you heard the saying that “whoever dies with the most toys wins?” I hate that saying... What do they win? To be remembered as a greedy, selfish, materialistic, man/woman for 5 or 10 years until everybody forgets all about them?

- I was reading up on mental illnesses a few months ago... the statistics are ridiculous... One of the major listings for causes of or as a mental illness is now listed as depression. There are a TON of people who go to psychiatrists for depression issues or who take medication for depression. Have you watched TV lately? How many depression or sleep aid commercials are there in an hour?

- Why are we such a depressed society? Well I think partly because we're told we should be. We're told that our lives are mediocre. We're not movie stars. We're not rich... in fact we're in debt. Our houses and cars are refinanced to the max. Our kids see more violence and sex on the school bus or the playground than they do on TV. They are constantly exposed to our adult world. They see us worried about bills and divorce... So they too start worrying about bills and divorce because it worries them that we're worried...

- But that's normal right? Well unfortunately it's becoming that way...

- It's normal to have bills pile up, to not trust spouses, to have kids who are angry and rebellious, to be afraid of your neighbors... who wouldn't be depressed?

- I had a kid last year at one of my schools that they were trying to diagnose as depressed... At first they wanted to diagnose as schizophrenic... and then they said well maybe bi-polar... and then they said well maybe they're just depressed... what was depressing was the home situation... the parents were always fighting... one ended up in jail... the other lost custody... so the kid was living with the grandparents... who didn't really know what to do... they were older and not really able to handle a little kid... you'd be depressed too... the answer? Not to talk to the kid... not to find something they could involve the kid in outside of school... Not to help the parent regain custody... Medication. And the stuff they put them on completely drugged them out of their minds. They couldn't function at all. Oh yeah... they were happier... because they couldn't comprehend anything that was going on around them...

- Contentment. What does it mean to be content? Dictionary.com says that it is being “satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.”

- If you want for nothing... how can you be depressed over not having something you think you want?

- I was talking to a friend the other day about the fact that I would like to eventually get married... sooner than later... but it doesn't do me any good to get upset or worry about it... To rush into something just to GET married... would just make the situation worse... I'd rather wait until I knew it was a God thing and something that was of design... not something just because I have moments of loneliness...

- I could sit around and think about it all the time... could sit and dream about Mr. Perfect... could sit and complain because all men are jerks and I'm never going to find a good one in the mess of humanity...

- However... if I look at it from God's view? God's plan doesn't follow a time line. God's plan follows our hearts.

- Have you ever taken a dog for a walk? Or a kid about 3-5 years old? They have to stop and look at EVERYTHING. Dogs have to stop and sniff at every bush and tree and fire hydrant and if anything moves... they have to watch it... or go off on a wild goose chase after it until they get tired...

- We're kind of like that sometimes... and if I allowed marriage to become that bush or tree or flower or bird off the path... then I'd never get where God needed me to be. God doesn't sit down and plan out that on May 21^st, 2013 you'll meet your spouse. And on April 17^th, 2014 you'll have your first kid. And so on and so forth...

- God sees souls... and they're lost and drowning in a sea of sin. They are crying out for help. God is trying to get your attention to go be a lifeguard. Go jump in and save some of them. If you'll be more effective with a partner, or if you insist on a partner, God puts that in your path...

- But if you're better off swimming on your own, He's not going to put a distraction in your path.

- “But God! I NEED a spouse!” maybe you think you do... God knows better than you what you need. He wants to be all you need and all you want... He wants to be your all in all.

- And that can be applied to anything... a new car, a new house, a new job...

- If you allow God to meet your needs; your physical spiritual, emotional... depression what???

- Contentment comes when you are satisfied with what you have in life. You aren't looking for anything and everything bright and colorful and fast along the path.

- I know that sounds hard... and it is. It's easy to look at your life and ask God a lot of questions... But the thing is... we can't take anything with us... whatever we gain in this life... is useless in the next... other than our faith.

- So if we have food... and clothing... let us be content.

- That's not a lot to go on... I mean Paul didn't even mention a house... seriously? Nor did he mention family... or kids... or spouse... or tons of friends...

- All we need is food and clothing to survive... and God Himself watching over us.

- If we can learn to be content with that... then anything we get on top of food and clothes will just seem like the greatest thing ever. We would be much more thankful and happy people.

- It's like a kid at Christmas or a birthday... on one hand... you have the kid who doesn't really get what he wants... like... books... and he's like... gee... thanks so much gramma... um... where's my race set?

- On the other hand... you have the kid that gets his presents... and the thing he's the most excited about? The box. Because he can make that box into anything he can think of...

- We need to be like the kid with the box. To be so excited about getting ANYTHING and to see the potential. To be positive about what COULD come from that box... not looking at all the stuff we get and going... gee... couldn't I have gotten something better?

- Paul says that “people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.”

- “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

- The love of money can cause a lot of issues... Everything builds one on another.

- When we start living to get money... it may just start as trying to make a little extra money for a retirement fund... or for your kid's college fund. And then you're looking at new cars and better houses... And then you're working all hours of the night to get a promotion to make a life for your kids that you never had. And then you're taking extended trips or staying at work for basically days at a time just trying to get that next raise... And the next thing you know... your spouse leaves because you never spend time with them... or you turn around and your kids are grown up and you don't even know them.

- Loving money means that we become very selfish. It may start as trying to do something for someone else... but if we're not careful... it becomes all about us. We forget that people need our interaction. We forget to reach out to the neighbors. We forget to take the time to talk to a stranger. And we forget that the people closest to us cannot be taken for granted.

- In the case of loving money more than anything else, it becomes our idol. It becomes the thing that we worship, the thing we crave, the thing we spend all of our time with or thinking about...

- People who crave money wander from the true faith. They choose to forget that God is our provider. Our sustainer. The One who we are to look to for all our needs. They choose to spend all their time and energy on something other than the things of God. (Which includes their relationships with other people because God is a God of relationship.)

- They have “pierced themselves with many sorrows.” How many times have you seen someone, whether a friend, or a neighbor, or just a character on TV, who suddenly turns around and realizes that they have all the money they could ever have wanted... but they are lonely, depressed, and bitter?

- They have pierced THEMSELVES with many sorrows... they have brought it upon themselves... all because they loved money more than anything else...

- “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.”

- Money in and of itself is not a bad thing... it's the LOVE of it that gets you...

- When we put our trust in something other than God... we are destined to fail. I was thinking about the Great Depression after the stock market crashed... Overnight, people lost everything material. They lost everything that they had worked for.

- Money is unreliable because anything could happen... your bank could be robbed tomorrow... and not be able to recover from the loss... or you could lose your job and suddenly have nothing... Tomorrow is never certain... we can't even put our trust in that...

- but God, we can trust. He gives us all we need for our enjoyment. He provides all we need.

- If you have money, you should do something good with it.

- I know an elderly lady who is horrible about her money. She's in her 70's or 80's... and she has worked all her life... Every cent she gets she puts away for the future. She doesn't have any kids, her husband died a long time ago, and lives away from the rest of the family. She is a bitter old woman... with nothing but her money to comfort her. She's been sick for a couple of months. They wanted to give her this medication. It would cost her a couple hundred dollars a month. However, her insurance would cover the majority... but she won't buy it... even if it would help her... because it just costs too much. It's not that she doesn't have the money for it... it's just that she's that tight with her money.

- What good will it do her? She's not young. If she doesn't take the medicine, she's probably just going to get worse. But even though it will benefit her, she won't buy it... just so she can save some more money.

- She can't take it with her when she dies! And it's not even that she's saving up to give it to the family when she dies... it's just the idea that she has to HAVE it.

- My grandmother is the same way with a lot of things... I don't know how many times mom tells her “just go buy one!”

- Mom has often said that if she had money she wouldn't know what to do with it... she'd probably end up just giving it away just because we live on so little most of the time.

- I've been saving up cash... just so I can send it to the mission field. Lol I've never been in debt. I never had to take out loans for college. God provided all the money in scholarships that we needed. I bought my car free and clear of debt. I'm not rich. I'm not living in a mansion with a ton of servants waiting on me hand and foot... but I have what I need... and then some. It's enough that I can support my church, and I can still put a little savings by to hopefully buy my own house someday. Granted... I'm still living with the parents... which has helped immensely... but you know... mom is a substitute teacher. Dad was a janitor, now he's a maintenance worker for the county... they don't make a lot between them... I'm teaching... in one of the lowest paid counties in our state. My brother's still in college. And I'm taking grad school classes... And we're fine. Living on the edge occasionally... but still okay.

- I know growing up, there were a lot of times that we were barely making it. Mom wasn't working and dad wasn't making a whole lot... we hardly ever bought new clothes. We always had hand-me-downs from the older cousins. We never bought anything extra. I remember mom walking through the store with a calculator in the shopping cart keeping track of what we had to have and trying to calculate tax and all to make sure we were going to have enough to get everything.

- But God always provided enough. And then some. We still had enough left after groceries etc. to pay tithes, and sometimes to even give some away...

- We used to do youth nights at the house, so in addition to feeding her own kids... mom also ended up feeding and taking care of about a dozen other kids on the weekends...

- I remember dad saving up money for something he wanted... and God told him to give it to a traveling evangelist... and he did. And then mom found a random $750 in our washing machine... in our house... with no other people around... definitely wasn't ours... but God left it there for us...

- What God gives you, is not always just for you.

- God has given my family a house, a kitchen, and a love of people... mom feeds so many people in our house. We have done so much ministry, just because we decided to open our doors up for visitors.

- Dad used to pick up hitch-hikers and bring them to the house to feed them before taking them on their way. Lol I think he probably scared some of them bringing them so far into the backwoods of WV...

- But by being “rich in good works and generous to those in need [and] always being ready to share with others, we will be “storing up [our] treasure as a good foundation for the future so that [we] may experience true life.”

- Philippians 4:10-20

- Hebrews 13:5-9

- Ecclesiastes 5:8-20, 6:1-12

- Job 1:21

- Proverbs 30:7-9, 23:4-8, 28:22

- I Corinthians 10:1-15

- Luke 12:13-34

vs. 11-14

- “You... are a man of God; so run from all these evil things.”

- Paul doesn't just say to stay away from it... he says to RUN from it. That says action.

- Instead “pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.”

- Some of the fruits of the spirit. Again, he says PURSUE... not just to watch for it or to try and get there... but to actively pursue...

- “Fight the good fight for the true faith.”

- FIGHT. Don't back down. Don't avoid confrontation when it comes.

- “Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.”

- HOLD on. Don't let go. Don't stray, don't lose your grip, don't start to become apathetic.

- “And I charge you before God... that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.”

- OBEY without wavering.

- These are all verbs... and strong ones. Very straight forward ones...

- To me this speaks of a very active Christianity. To RUN from evil. Not to give it even a second to take hold in your life.

- If you're in a war zone and you hear a bomb whistling down... you don't walk away... nor do you kind of look around trying to figure out where it's going to land... or stick around to see what happens.... you RUN! AWAY. Not towards it...

- We're in the middle of a huge spiritual war every day... if we see an enemy attack coming, we don't stand around waiting to see what will happen to us. You RUN.

- to PURSUE means “to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, etc.; chase” or “to strive to gain; seek to attain or accomplish” - dictionary.com

- We can't just start this walk and expect to become more righteous or have more faith as we go. We have to actively pursue those ends. We have to get down and seek God and to strive to accomplish that which He desires in us.

- We have to FIGHT for this faith. If you can't run from evil... then you stand up and you fight against it with your last breath.

- There was a guy in WWII, Audie Murphy, he was this little short guy... He is remembered because he took it upon himself to take on a tank. Lol He fought a tank... and won... then he captured like 40 people on his own... Why? Because he was determined and he had a purpose in mind.

- Had he walked into that battlefield with the attitude of just putting in his time until his army contract was up... he wouldn't have made it off the battlefield. As it was... he went at it with all his being. He was the most decorated Allied soldier of the war... he received medals from every Allied country... not just for that one battle... but that one sticks in my mind more.

- Our battles are not against flesh and blood... but it doesn't mean that the battle is any less real. We are to step onto this daily battlefield with the attitude that we will fight to the death. That we will never give up our ground. We know TRUTH. There is no backing down or giving up. Our duty is to stand for that Truth until the end.

- HOLD on TIGHTLY. I am thinking of a lifeline. Whether dangling from a tall building or staying afloat in a raging sea... Hold on to that thing which is keeping you alive. No matter how cold the water gets or how tired your arms become... hold on. TIGHT. It might look rough, or like this is the end... but the rescue is coming. Don't give up. He's right there...

- OBEY. Without wavering. No matter what God asks of you... do it.

- Remember Abraham? First God asked him to trust Him that he and Sarah would have a son. In their old age. There were a few times that Abraham started to doubt... but eventually, Isaac arrived! A miracle! And then God said, okay... good. Now kill him.(Offer him to me). What???? But Abraham was faithful. And God blessed him for it.

- No matter how off the wall it might seem... if God says go do something, we have to obey Him. There is a purpose in all things.... even if it doesn't seem like it... (Just make sure it's God speaking—to many people are listening to “voices” without walking with God)...

- Paul uses Christ as his example for this. “Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate...”

- Jesus stood in front of the ruler of the land and spoke what had to seem insane. He was standing up, holding on to truth, and fighting for what He knew to be true... Obeying even though it was going to mean His life.

- And Pilate could find no fault in Him. Paul says that no one will be able to find fault in us if we obey God and fight for truth and hold tightly to the eternal life to which we have been called. Just like Pilate could find no fault in Jesus... (John 18:28-40, 19:1-16)

- I Corinthians 9:24-27

- I Thessalonians 4:1-12

vs. 15-16

- No one will be able to find fault with us from now until the day that Jesus comes back again.

- “At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”

- God has a plan... it's not dependent on a time line... It's dependent upon when things are in place and ready.

- I was listening to a preacher the other day. He was talking about our lives already being written down. I can't remember all the scriptures and so on, but the basic idea was that there's not just one book. We think of God having the Book of Life... but he was saying that there's a book where our lives have already been recorded. With all the things that we were supposed to do in this life pre-written.

- But we have a choice to make still... This is the plan God has for our lives... but we still have a choice whether or not that we follow it...

- He had a story about this guy in England who started this ministry... and when God came to this pastor to ask him to start this ministry... He said “you're the fourth minister I've asked to start this ministry... will you do it?” And the guy said, you won't have to look for a fifth. I'll do it.

- However, because others hesitated... God had to postpone His plan for this ministry until He could find willing workers.

- Now granted, God knows our hearts... but it's still our decision.

- I heard a thing a while ago that the Chinese church had started to look to missions in the west into the Arabic arena. Iraq, Iran, Turkey etc. Because they felt that Christianity had started in Israel... and had gone steadily west... and now it had reached them and it was their duty to take it the rest of the way home... That it would have then come full-circle.

- God's timing is God's timing... He'll come back when things are in the place they need to be in the world. And it'll be JUST the right time. Not a second too early, nor a second too late.

- It's kind of like waiting on a comet or a shooting star. They only happen so often. And you have to be out at just the right second for them to come around. They come in their own time... you can't rush them... But their timing is always perfect in the scheme of things.

- God alone can never die. He lives in a light so brilliant that no human can approach Him. No human eye has ever seen Him, nor ever will. All honor and power to Him forever!

- I can't imagine the splendor and awesomeness that is our God. I don't think that even the brightest of our lights can come close to what God must be like. To think of pure white light... to be exuded from a being of such beauty that is so totally beyond our comprehension... I mean... Moses saw the back of God and his face literally shone from the encounter. How awesome is that?

- Deuteronomy 10:17-22, 11:1-32

- Exodus 34:5-11, 29-35

- Psalm 104

- John 1:16-18, 5:19-30

- Luke 12:35-48

- Matthew 6:19-34

vs. 20-21

- “Guard what God has entrusted to you.”

- Everything we have been given is just like the master who entrusted his servants with the talents when he went away on a trip. They were to show themselves faithful with what they had been given... We are the same. Whatever God has given us whether it be simply our home and our family or a billion dollars... we are to do with it what would glorify God.

- “Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness.”

- Paul is yet again warning us to be careful of getting too involved with false teachers and those who just want to argue. (Something worth repeating is worth paying attention to...) So be careful.

- “May God's grace be with you all!”