II Timothy Chapter 2

II Timothy Chapter 2

vs. 1-2

- Be strong! The Lord is our Strength. Be strong in Him and in the grace that He bestows!

- footnote- “How can someone be strong through grace? Grace is God's undeserved favor on our behalf. Just as we are saved by God's grace (Ephesians 2:8,9), we should live by it (Colossians 2:6). This means trusting completely in Christ and HIS power, and not trying to live for Christ in our strength alone. Receive and utilize Christ's power. He will give you the strength to do His work.”

- Romans 5:12-21, 6:1-23, 11:5-36

- Galatians 2:17-21

- Titus 3:3-8

- James 4:4-10

- We have been taught from the word by our pastors, and in our own study. What we know to be truth, that which has been confirmed by our teachers and in our own study (not just on your own, but with both), we are in turn expected to teach others. Or at least share our experiences with others. Then they too can go forward and teach others. So then the gospel will continue to spread.

- I was talking to a friend the other day and she made the comment that I couldn't bring any of that religion stuff in with me... And I really... didn't know what to say to that. I can't just peel off this faith as I would a coat and leave it at the door. It doesn't work that way. This faith and this God are part of me. They have to be shared with the rest of me.

- I'm a story teller. I always have a story to tell... and most of my stories about my life in general usually have SOMETHING to do with a God moment or an event God used to teach me a new lesson. I don't know that any one conversation with me would last very long without my stories. I mean sure, I have farm stories and stories about the crazy things my students say sometimes... but even those most of the time have something related to God in them.

- If we don't share our life stories and our knowledge in our faith with others, who will? In Luke 19:40, Jesus is entering into Jerusalem and the people are praising Him. The Pharisees got upset and told him to keep His followers quiet. Jesus said if they didn't speak up, then the rocks will cry out with His praises. (My NLT says that “if they keep quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” I like that one... : ) There will never be a time when there is not a witness, because even creation speaks of a creator. But I would much prefer that my place as a witness, as a praiser, didn't have to be taken up by a rock or a tree...

vs. 3-7, 15

- Paul is relating our walk in this faith to the life of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

- He says that “soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.”

- When I was thinking about this, I was thinking about the Minute Men of the American Revolutionary War. The story goes that these were men who weren't really soldiers... they were just regular men... kind of like the army reserves of today... not full-time soldiers... However, when the alarm sounded, they were expected to be geared up, ready for battle, and on the town square within a minute. Now... I doubt that it actually took only a minute... but the point is, that these men were expected to be ready to go at a moment's notice. They couldn't get caught up in the plowing, or the milking, or their business... they had to be ready to drop everything and go to battle.

- In the old testament, in Nehemiah, chapters 3 and 4 are telling about the people rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. In verses 15-18 of chapter 4, Nehemiah is telling about the threat of enemies and so the men who were working on the wall carried their weapons with them. “But from then on, only half my men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail... the laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand holding a weapon. All the builders had a sword belted to their side.”

- Ready to fight in an instant.

- If we get caught up in the cares of life, the next thing we know, the enemy will attack and our weapon will be far from our reach.

- I don't know if you ever watch spy movies or whatever, but in some of them, they show the spy's house, and there's weapons hidden everywhere! Under the table, in the drawers, under the drawers, under the bed, in the bed, in the window, in a secret compartment in the couch, behind pictures, and so on and so forth... if someone were to attack them in their home, they are completely ready to take on the enemy because within their reach at all times is some kind of weapon.

- I think it was the second or third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Elizabeth and some of the other characters were entering the Chinese warlords lair and they wanted all their weapons... and Elizabeth just kept pulling out these random things... she had little guns, big guns, swords, knives, grenade type things, everything you could think of... there was no way she was carrying it all hidden... but it was all there...

- In our own walk, we should be like that of the above. Ready at an instant to engage in warfare, prepared and armed with our weapon (the Word of God, and the power of God Himself), knowledgeable about our whereabouts or our surroundings, and knowledgeable about the kind of enemy we face.

- Ephesians 6:10-20

- “An athlete cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules.”

- If you are a sports fan, you know that the leagues makes all the rules that the teams and individual players are supposed to follow. If the rules aren't followed, then there are consequences to the players. These rules sometimes govern the players not only on the playing field, but off of it as well.

- I'm from WV, so we get a lot of Pittsburgh news. So the quarterback for the Steelers at one point was involved in a motorcycle accident. Not even related to the game... other than if he got hurt... it was going to mean that the team would lose money in an investment. So it's in his contract now (and maybe then too... can't remember...) that basically... he can't ride a motorcycle again... because it falls under doing something that could be detrimental to his health/life.

- God also governs our lives with the same sort of rules. There are things that could be considered as natural rights that God puts restraints on... Like sex outside of marriage. I know people who say that it's a basic natural thing that should be okay to engage in regardless of situation. There's not a lot of government laws in the vein of sex unless it's within the bounds of prostitution or human trafficking... Otherwise... pretty much anything goes according to the government. (Unless you're in another country... in which case your laws may be different than mine...)

- However, just because our government doesn't necessarily have a law against it... doesn't mean God doesn't see things a little differently. Just as there is no law necessarily against riding a motorcycle, but the since the quarterback was in contract with his team... he himself has a rule over his life that people outside the contract don't have.

- We are in contract with God. We have to live by HIS rules according to our contract...

- Without following the rules, we don't get the prize. Now I know there's been professional athletes who have been kept out of the hall of fame or who have had their records taken out of the running for different awards because they were found to be on steroids, or cheating in some way, or their character was such that the league didn't want to be so associated with them.

- God is not going to give us a prize for cheating. There are some athletes that may get away with things for a while... then the league finds out and fines them or something. There was a football player a while ago who had won the Heisman coming out of high school... and years later was stripped of the award because he broke a rule during the draft process...

- God doesn't have to find out years later... He knows now... and if you don't follow the rules... you're not getting the prize.

- Now that may sound a little harsh... God is a loving God after all... however, there are still consequences for our actions... because otherwise... what was the point in Christ coming to die for our sins if it didn't matter that we committed them in the first place?

- God gave His own life for us... and He expects us in return to live a life worthy of this calling... can we be perfect? no... but we can at least work at this faith.

- Psalm 1:1-6

- Matthew 5:17-20, 22:36-40

- Mark 7:5-23

- John 1:16-18

- “Hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labor.”

- Farming is a time consuming process. We live on a little subsistence farm. Which means we just farm for us. We're not growing to sell anything.

- Every year, mom plants our garden... and every year, she waits on the first fruit whether it be a tomato or a pepper, or an onion... Mostly we wait on tomatoes... LOVE tomatoes in the summer...

- But before there can be fruit, there's a little work that has to go into this thing. At the beginning, you have to plow up the ground. Make sure all the weeds are uprooted and the ground is broken ready to accept seeds.

- Then you have to make rows... paths for the seeds to grow in. As straight as is possible... usually ours look like we were sleep walking or drunk or something... lol

- Then the seeds are put into their places. Sometimes they're just thrown into a row, sometimes they're placed in a hole... then there has to be water and maybe some fertilizer of some kind.

- Then the seeds are covered.

- Now... the seeds have to die in order for the plant to start to grow. If the seed doesn't germinate... it'll just sit in the ground... a dud.

- Our ground is hard. We have really hard clay soil with a ton of rocks everywhere. So after we plant, we watch for weeds, and rocks, and we also have to keep the ground hoed up around the plants so that the seeds will grow up through the ground. If we don't, then the plants will either not break the surface and continue to grow under ground for a while, or they'll break off at the surface and never get to the top.

- Water is another thing. You have to keep the plants watered. Because our ground isn't the greatest, we usually keep fertilizer on our plants right up until the time that they start blooming. Fertilizer will kill the fruit if you put it on after the plants start blooming, but we push it right up until the last possible second.

- Now... there are times that things happen that are just out of our control... like windstorms that whip everything around and completely demolish the plants. Or like hail that comes and beats holes through everything. Or freezes that weren't supposed to come but came early or late and burn everything to a crisp. Or droughts that just can't be beat and all the water you pour on the plants just seems to evaporate on contact with the hot earth.

- But after all that work... and patience... and time... we start watching for fruit. Every little visible sign of progress is a celebrated event.

- We look forward to the bearing of the fruit and most definitely to the ripening of the fruit.

- So should it be in our ministries and our witnessing. We should patiently put the work in... even though anything could mean that our work has been for naught. We should look for fruit at every turn. Give support and encouragement any time we can. But we also need to see that sometimes, fruit may not come when we want it to.

- In our garden, we have plants sometimes that come up as volunteers. We change what part of the garden we plant things in to keep the ground from becoming overworked. So one year, we'll plant tomatoes where the potatoes were the year before... or something like that... But sometimes, these volunteers come up where they were planted a year or two before. The seeds just decided that it was time to grow this year.

- Sometimes we may plant a seed in a heart and never see it grow... but someone else may see it come to fruition.

- In I Corinthians 3:6 Paul said that “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.”

- So even if we don't get to see the fruit for ourselves, we should still continue to plant and work the ground.

- It is a great joy when the fruit does come however. And Paul says that hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labors. If we are persistent, but caring... eventually, even the hardest of ground will bring forth fruit. And it will be a celebration not to be missed...

- Jumping over to verse 15, Paul says that we should all “work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive His approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

- If we go about our mission, our witness, our walk, with the mindset of a soldier, the ethics of an athlete and the work ethic and patience of a farmer, we can stand before our God with a clear conscience that we have done our work well.

- I Corinthians 9:7-27

vs. 8-10

- Paul states a few things relative to Messianic prophesy. He was a descendant of David. And He died and rose again.

- This is the basis of our faith. Jesus was the Messiah and He died for our sins and rose again from the dead on His own power to prove His divinity and His power. This gospel message says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but God Himself has provided a way for salvation.

- Acts 2:22-36

- Romans 1:2-5

- Paul says that he has been imprisoned for this cause. His promoting of the gospel was the cause of his suffering.

- “I have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.”

- Philippians 1:12-30

- Colossians 1:24-29

- Are you willing to face criminal charges for the sake of the gospel? Are you willing to be chained in a cell, punished, starved, beaten... all for the sake of the gospel?

- Paul said he was “willing to endure anything if it would bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.”

- How devoted are you? Gosh that's a hard question. Am I willing to suffer all that for Christ? I would like to say that when it comes down to it I could... But it seems a little arrogant to assume that I could hold up under pressure with no doubt in my mind...

- but Paul is in the middle of it all. He's right there. Enduring, suffering, and still remaining faithful.

- When I think about Paul in this, I think about the story about he and Silas, singing in their chains. I think that is a prime example of having faith that God is in control first and foremost of every situation regardless of what it looks like.

- footnote- “Paul was in chains in prison because of the Good News he preached. The truth about Jesus is no more popular in our day than in Paul's, but it still reaches receptive hearts. When Paul said that Jesus was God, he angered the Jews who had condemned Jesus for blasphemy; many Jews, however, became followers of Christ (I Corinthians 1:24). He angered the Romans who worshiped the emperor as god, but even some in Caesar's household turned to Jesus (Philippians 4:22). When Paul said Jesus was human, he angered the Greeks, who thought divinity was soiled if it had any contact with humanity; still, many Greeks accepted the faith (Acts 11:20, 21). The truth that Jesus is one person with two united natures has never been easy to understand, but that doesn't make it untrue. The truth of God's Word is being believed by people every day and changing their lives for eternity. Despite the opposition, continue to proclaim Christ. Some will listen and believe.”

vs. 11-13

- Some think this section was probably an early church hymn...

- “If we die with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny us. If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.”

- If we die with Christ, either in the sense of dying to our sin or to ourselves in order to be raised to new spiritual life with Him, or in the sense of dying physically while still remaining faithful to the Name of Christ to ultimately gain our eternal life with Him.

- If we endure hardship or persecution for the Name of Christ, then in the end we will reign in heaven with Him.

- Romans 8:17-39

- I Peter 4:12-19

- footnote- “...Although we may suffer great hardships here, God promises that someday we will live eternally with Him. What will this involve? It means believers will live in Christ's Kingdom, and that we will share in the administration of that Kingdom...”

- “If we deny Him, He will deny us.”

- Now this could be flat out denying that there is a God, or consciously denying God access to our lives, but this could also mean your actions in general. Titus 1:15-16 says “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their mids and consciences are corrupted. Such people claim they know God, but they deny Him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.”

- These are the people who will stand before God on judgment day and say, “but God, didn't I serve You? Didn't I do these things in Your Name?” And God will say, “depart from me, ye workers of iniquity... for I never knew you.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

- Matthew 10:32-33

- I John 2:15-27

- I Peter 2:1-22

- Revelation 2:7-13

- God is not a God without a backbone. Nor is He a God of compromise. He will stick to His standards and His rules... if we don't follow Him, we won't be entering in to the Kingdom....

- Romans 7:14-25

- Galatians 3:1-22

- “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.”

- This SO speaks of the Mercy and Grace of God. Even when we fall, God is right there picking us back up again.

- Remember the story of Hosea and Gomer? Hosea was a prophet in Israel in the mid 700's B.C. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute to illustrate to the people of Israel the relationship that they had with their God. Time and time again, Gomer walked out to go back to her life of prostitution, leaving Hosea with their children. And time and time again, God told Hosea to go get her and bring her back home.

- God is FAITHFUL. Oh that we could be so too....

- Psalm 25, 92, 100

- Lamentations 3

- Hosea... the first 3 chapters mainly...

- How many times have we turned away to chase after the things of this world for a time? How many times have we let busyness and life get in the way of our relationship with God? How many times has He so graciously called us back to Him?

- The prodigal son is a great example of God's love for us. He always takes us back when we come home. Always. When we turn back with repentant hearts, God is right there saying, “You're home! I missed you SO MUCH! I'm so glad you decided to come home to let me live with you.”

- God is the perfect gentleman. He never forces His attention on you. He never forces you to come home. He doesn't tie you up and throw you over His shoulder to ensure that you're going to stay where you're supposed to... He waits on you to make the decision to follow Him, to love Him. It's all your decision.

- You know... the last few months, God's been kind of moving my heart to look at my relationship with Him as more of a marriage relationship. The same principles and concepts all apply.

- God is the perfect husband. He's the perfect man in all His ways. God marries us, enters a contractual agreement with us, because He loves us unconditionally. He is faithful to us no matter what we do. He will stay at our side in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until our death... and then it just gets better. : ) Because He already died... so when we die, we are simply entering into... retirement... lol no more obligations, no more job... just time to spend with Him. Without having to grow old... lol

- God doesn't change. He's the same, yesterday, today, and forever. No matter what we do, we can't change God's mind.

- So things we know to be true about God: He loves us. He is faithful. He is our redeemer. He is our judge. He is a jealous God. He is our provider. He is our healer. He is all we need and more. He is just. He is righteous. He is merciful. He is all-powerful, always present, and all-knowing. He is long-suffering. He is patient. He is kind. He is gracious. He is our savior. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our Shepherd. He is our Father. He is the conqueror of evil. He is the mediator between us and God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is Author and Finisher of our faith. He is the Resurrection and the Life. He is THE way, THE life, and THE truth. He is the Word made flesh. He is LOVE. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is the Prince of Peace. Almighty God. He is our Deliverer. He is Holy. He is our chief cornerstone. He is the head of the church. He is Messiah. He is the bright and morning star. He has no beginning and no end... He has just always existed. He is the creator of all things. He is our life sustainer. GOD IS!!!!

- Exodus 15:26

- Romans 8:15-16

- Genesis 22:14

- Isaiah 7:14

- Psalm 23, 36, 86, 115

- When God told Moses to tell the Israelites that I AM had sent Him... God being named I AM is so perfect. Because HE IS everything. He is everything to us in more ways that we can know.

- And that never changes! He will always be all of those things and more! He cannot deny Who He is. He can't go against His nature. So He will forever be faithful to us.

- Romans 3

vs. 14, 16-18, 23

- “Stop fighting over words...Worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior... this kind of talk spreads like cancer...”

- Titus 3:9-11

- Arguing never helps matters. It just makes all parties involved angry and upset with each other.

- footnote- “Paul urged Timothy to remind the believers not to argue over unimportant details or have foolish discussions because such arguments are confusing, useless, and even harmful. False teachers loved to cause strife and divisions by their meaningless quibbling over unimportant details. To explain the word of truth correctly, we must study what the Word of God says so we can understand what it means.”

- Churches have split over everything imaginable. Even down to the carpet color... But when we start getting into arguments about things that have no real answer... or when we argue over a pointless thing without meaning to come to an agreement or conclusion... just to argue... we just cause harm to one another.

- To argue over such doctrinal things as to whether to baptize in just the Name of Jesus, or in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... or exactly when the Rapture will occur... or how the end times will play out... there's no good answer or an answer that's explicitly right for those.

- Baptism is a symbol of us dying to ourselves to be raised to new life in Christ. I don't think God's going to turn us away from heaven's door just because the preacher didn't say the right words at our baptism...

- And the end times and the rapture? Good grief! None of us can foretell the future first of all... and secondly, it's something that God said no one knew the day nor the hour of except God Himself... so if only God knows... literally... why argue over it?

- I Thessalonians 5:1-11

- Paul says that this kind of talking and arguing spreads like cancer... the Greek here means like a form of gangrene. According to wikipedia, gangrene is “a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies (necrosis). This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The prime cause of gangrene is reduced blood supply to the affected tissues, which results in cell death.”

- Further definition says that “it is usually the result of critically insufficient blood supply.”

- okay so think about this for a second... When we allow false teachings to come in and cause disagreements among us, or when we allow people to step in and start arguments among the church... we are in effect allowing things to clog up our blood supply... our connection with God is becoming filled up with junk.

- Our faith and our spirit starts to die off. We are mortally afflicted. If we don't act soon before the infection and death spreads to the rest of us, we'll die.

- So to prevent our spiritually dying in this place of false teaching, we have to either cut off the affected area... get rid of the infected and dead tissue... or we have to restart the circulation. We have to go in and clear out the clots and reopen the veins and arteries so that the blood can flow through our lives again.

- In order to do that... we have to call upon the Great Physician... cause none of us can do surgery on ourselves...

- Paul lists a couple names here: Hymenaeus and Philetus. Not a clue who they are... Paul also mentioned them in I Timothy as being false teachers. But other than that, we don't know who they are.

- Apparently they were once on the path of truth, but they have now gone off course. They were teaching that the resurrection of the dead that's supposed to happen when Christ comes back had already happened. So people who were in the church who were looking forward to Christ coming back were told that Christ had came back and they just missed it.

- Can you imagine trying to hold onto your faith when somebody tells you it's over... don't try anymore... God came and you missed it... sorry... you just weren't good enough to make the cut.

- OUCH! Especially if these two were like most false teachers and were charismatic and convincing... your faith would start to falter...

- Some Christians apparently in their moment of doubt turned from God instead of seeking out His truth.

- When we hear a new teaching, no matter what it is... go back to the Word. If it doesn't fit with the Word... it's not God. When we seek out HIS truth, God will reveal it to us. “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” If we are truly seeking truth, God won't leave us hanging.

vs. 19-22

- “God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone.” Foundations are set to never falter... and God's truth is inscribed with “The Lord knows those who are His, and All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”

- God's truth never changes. Even though this world may change around us in a hundred ways... God's not going to change.

- So I looked up some things on the inscriptions on cornerstones cause I was thinking about ones I've seen on like hospitals or churches...

- Inscriptions usually indicate who the builder was, who the architect was, the date of the building, and something that describes the purpose of the building.

- So Christ is our cornerstone the foundation of our building... and in this stone have been placed two inscriptions regarding the character of this building. What the purpose is to be in this place...

- 1. That the Lord knows who are His. He knows every person's heart. He knows who does and does not belong in this building. There are those who may pass through the doors... and there are those who are put into the walls of the building itself.

- Numbers 16:4-5

- John 10:1-18

- 2. All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil. If we are His, we have to maintain the integrity of the building. We have to turn away from evil in order to belong to Him. His building materials have been tested and tried and have been found to be solid.

- Isaiah 52:11

- We all have purpose in this house of God. Paul is talking about a wealthy home having basically things that are used for everyday use and things that are only used for special occasions.

- Paul says if we keep ourselves pure, we will be a special utensil for honorable use... Our lives will be clean and ready for the Master to use for every good work.

- The Message translation reads “In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.”

- Wow... God's not going to serve His people out of garbage cans. He wants the best. He wants the gold and silver stuff. The good china.

- My first piano teacher was also a home economics teacher... and every recital when we were getting the food ready for the reception... “it's all about presentation.” So this year, she has a new preacher, and we got everything ready like always... little finger food things arranged just perfectly on the platters... and he thought we had the whole thing catered. LOL

- Had it just been thrown on a plate... yeah... it's still food and you can still eat it... but it would have a much less... sophisticated feel to the reception.

- Any time we have dinner or company at the house... the day or two before, mom goes through and cleans EVERYTHING from top to bottom. Sometimes we laugh about it because it seems like she just cleaned and now she's at it again... but she feels it's important to making people feel welcome and comfortable.

- However, I know I've walked into houses before and felt like nobody cared about their house because it looked like there were cobwebs here and stains there and stuff strung all through the house... and even though it may just have looked lived in... it FELT uncared for.

- God cares about His house. He cares enough about the people who live there and the people who are going to be coming that He wants to be the perfect host. Everything neat and tidy and welcoming. Everything clean and usable for service.

- footnote- “here Paul urged Timothy to be the kind of person Christ could use for his noblest purposes. Don't settle for less than God's highest and best. Allow him to use you as an instrument of His will. You do this by staying close to Him and keeping yourself pure so that sin and its consequences do not get in the way of what God could do in your life. While God can redeem any situation, how much better it is to stay close to Christ and ready to be used by Him at a moment's notice.”

- And Paul didn't just tell Timothy to walk away or to avoid... he said RUN.

- footnote- “Running away is sometimes considered cowardly. But wise people realize that removing themselves physically from temptation often can be the most courageous action to take. Timothy, a young man, was warned to run from anything that produced evil thoughts. Do you have a recurring temptation that you find difficult to resist? Remove yourself physically from any situation that stimulates your desire to sin. Knowing when to run is as important in spiritual battle as knowing when and how to fight.”

- “Pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace.”

- Galatians 5:16-26, 6:1-10

- “Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

- We should enjoy getting together with people from our church or people of like faith and passion. It should be just like getting together with family. We should take joy in our relationships with one another.

- Romans 9:14-24

- II Timothy 3:10-17

vs. 24-26

- Paul here gives Timothy some instructions about being a leader and being a witness.

- Don't quarrel or argue. Be able to teach. Be kind to everyone. Be patient with difficult people (man that's a hard one...) Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.

- I Timothy 3:1-13

- Titus 1:6-16

- If we argue or quarrel, we don't make any forward progress. Sometimes people want to argue just to see if we'll get mad and lose our cool. Make us commit the sin of lashing out in anger...

- Be kind to everyone. In dealing with people, no matter who they are, be kind. A lot of times kindness breaks down walls that other things never could. Sometimes it's better to wear the wall down than to try and bust our way through. Sometimes erosion works just as well as a wrecking ball... with less debris...

- Be able to teach. Be able to explain your faith with patience and all the intricacies on an understandable level. Don't just preach your faith AT people... but rather sit down and walk towards knowledge and understanding.

- Be patient with difficult people. There are those who try to run from the truth at every point. There are those who get angry when the truth is presented. There are those who argue or deny everything to avoid having to change anything about themselves... but they are still people whom God loves. He still has a heart for them just as He has for you... so love them as He loves, and be patient in your dealings with them.

- GENTLY instruct those who oppose the truth. Opposition often just leads to more resistance. If we slowly and gently show them the truth in our faith, the truth will do it's own work. This may mean that we simply live out our life in front of them. Live our faith visibly. Speak when asked to speak, comfort when necessary, and be ready to slowly reveal truth when the door finally opens.

- Paul says that “perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth.” Again... sometimes we may see it... sometimes we may not... but our job is to be faithful here and now... and not to worry about the outcome. The outcome is God's job.

- When people learn the truth, “they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

- When it says “come to their senses”, I think about like a movie where somebody is hypnotized and they do all these things according to what the hypnotist asks them to do... and when they wake up... it's like... “I did that???” or a sleepwalker...

- Satan has blinded so many eyes so that people will follow him and do his bidding. When God uses the truth to wake us up from our trance or from our sleepwalking... we can escape from our prison of sin and subservience to Satan and turn instead to a new walk and a new life in Christ.