What legacy are you leaving?



I just returned on Thursday from going with the youth at Oak Hill to the Xtreme Winter youth conference in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  I cannot even begin to express to you the joy at seeing approximately 6,000 of the youth in our country worshiping the Lord all at one time and with such passion.  This is just one of FOUR of these conferences going on over the next week in the southeast featuring huge names such as Toby Mac, Newsong, and the David Crowder Band.  All you hear about in our world is how horrible our youth are and what terrible things they are doing all the time.  You also often hear of people saying they are worried about the future of the leadership of this country because of all the negative talk about our youth in the media.  Well let me just tell you that there IS hope!  We have some absolutely AMAZING Christian young people in this world that are out there doing God's work and advancing His kingdom!  I saw it first-hand at this conference and see it everyday in the youth at our church!!!  It is so neat to me how this ties in with the books of 1 and 2 Timothy and the fact that Timothy was a young person that was being mentored by Paul.  As Jaybrena so eloquently talked about in her post yesterday, mentoring younger people is absolutely critical to the raising up of strong Christian adults.  Paul saw the value of pouring himself into Timothy to pass on his legacy of being a strong, bold, Godly Christian leader and I believe we should follow this example that Paul set for us.  Timothy's mother and grandmother also saw the value of this and Paul tells us in chapter 1 how they poured their faith directly into young Timothy.  Paul admonishes this to Timothy in chapter 1 verses 13 and 14:  "What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.  Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."  My question to you is...are you doing this?





These words that Paul wrote to Timothy that are preserved here in the precious pages of Scripture are probably the last words he wrote as he awaited death at the hands of the Romans.  Paul knew his time on this earth was about to come to an end.  So don't you think we should really listen to what Paul is saying as he is writing this to Timothy?  What words would you write to a loved one if you KNEW you were going to die soon?  Wouldn't your words be strong, important, heart-felt, and admonishing certain VERY key things to that person?  The Legacy Bible states this at the introduction to this book:  "Paul wrapped up his letter with exuberant confidence in God's care even in the face of his impending death...Paul's poignant words remind us of God's love and strength."  So I wanted to point out some of the key things that Paul said to Timothy in this book that we can take into our own lives and hold onto.

Chapter 1 verse 7:  "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  BE BOLD FOR THE LORD!!!!  We have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead living in us!!!  Did you hear that and do you REALLY believe that?  USE that power...it's yours to use!!!

Chapter 2 verse 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."  Have you ever felt ashamed of how you handled the Gospel?  I know I have.  There have been times that I handled things so poorly that I wanted to bury my head in the sand and never come back up!  BUT God can use anything for His glory.  But the more time we spend in His Word and in worship to Him, we will handle things "correctly".

Chapter 3 verses 1-5:  "But mark this:  There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."  Sound familiar???  It should!  We are seeing this exact behavior in our world all around us today!  And here's the bad news...it is only going to continue to get worse as we get closer and closer to the end times.  This is the EXACT reason we MUST be grounded in God's Word!  In order to protect ourselves from these evil and wicked things we HAVE to be firmly rooted in our faith and in God's Word.  Otherwise we will find ourselves falling into the ways of the world and being easily swayed!!!

Chapter 3 verses 16 and 17:  "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."   Do you see how Paul creates a progression in this book?  He tells us what is going to happen and then he tells us exactly what we need to do to handle what is going to happen.  God's Word is PERFECT and is exactly what we need to do His work!  It is our ONLY offensive weapon against Satan...use it!!!

Chapter 4 verses 3 and 4:  "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."  Our churches are FULL of "watered down" doctrine so that they can fill huge numbers of seats in a church to bring glory to the leaders of that church.  This is a VERY dangerous place to be and the wrath of God will fall strongly on these leaders.  Half-truths are very slippery and deceptive and those that are not grounded in God's Word easily fall into their trap. 

Chapter 4 verses 7 and 8:  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day..."  I hope that at my funeral these words would be said about me.  Do you ever think about what people are going to say about you when you are in heaven?  I think about this a lot.  I want people to remember how much I adored Jesus and how much fun I had using the spiritual gifts He gave me.  I want people to remember my work for God's Kingdom and what I did for Him with the time I had here.  What do you want people to remember about you?

Chapter 4 verse 11:  "Only Luke is with me.  Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry."  There is a critical point here that is easy to miss.  Do you remember back in the book of Acts when Barnabas and Paul parted ways due to an argument they had over the fact that Barnabas wanted to take him on their next missionary journey but Paul was adamant that they NOT take him because he had deserted them in an earlier missionary journey?  Well, apparently Paul forgave Mark at some point because Paul wants Mark to come back to him.  Forgiveness...something we are COMMANDED to do by Jesus over and over.  Paul set this example for us as well.  Forgiveness is more for you than it is for the person you are forgiving.  It releases YOU from bitterness and anger that will eat you up from the inside out.  Is there someone in your life you need to forgive?

WOW!  What an amazing book Paul wrote to the young man Timothy that was like a son to him.  Whose life are you influencing like Paul did with this special young man?  Anyone?  There are plenty of young people out there (a lot at our churches).  What legacy do you want to leave?





Paul and Timothy, Fellow Sojourners

I signed up for a mentoring group a few years ago. And, another a few years before that. In fact, I've been a part of three organized mentoring emphases, each being successful in it's own way. However, some of the most meaningful mentoring-type relationships I've experienced were not organized by a third party at all. Rather, these relationships were formed on the journey of this path we call "life." Fellow sojourners, who locked arms alongside myself in service and love, developing a relationship that will forever be precious to me.

What a special relationship Paul had with Timothy! And as God would have it, Paul's letter to Timothy is just as relevant today, as it was in their time. It is sound doctrine for congregation and it's pastor. It provides instruction concerning the church congregation's behavior in many areas, as well as that of it's members individually. Paul wrote things in this book that our "politically correct" society would have banned, burned, or buried! Knowing it's infallible mark, however, I will not disregard any of it's advice. Speaking of advice....as any good father would do, Paul also includes loads of advice for young Timothy in this letter! Clearly, God received great glory through the work of these two men. How can we have this type of relationship today? I'd like to consider how such a special bond is formed by looking at these two points: Pursue a Paul and Train a Timothy.

Pursue a Paul. Paul was by his own admission like a father to young Timothy, calling him his "true son in the faith." Paul wrote this letter to instruct and encourage Timothy in his spiritual leadership role. Is there someone in your life whom you love and admire in the faith? Maybe more than one? Submit yourself to that person, serve alongside that "Paul" and learn. Mentoring is not something that you do at 5:00 on Tuesdays once a month....rather a relationship that is born out of common interests and service opportunities. As we watch, listen, serve, glean, and learn from our Paul, we are encouraged in our faith. We grow spiritually. We learn as disciples. I believe we can even have mentors by way of books, movies, conferences, and social networking! We live in an age where the possibilities seem endless. Pursue that relationship today.

Train a Timothy. Timothy was hungry for the word! He was eager to serve and to learn all that He could for and about Christ. Although Timothy of the Bible was a young man, your Timothy does not have to be any certain age. Is there someone in your life, whom the Lord has laid on your heart to invest your time with? ...perhaps a child? Is there someone who has recently come to knowledge of Christ and would benefit from your encouragement? ...perhaps an older person? ...perhaps even a family member? God's word is meant for all ages. It is meant for child and adult alike, that each may "become wise unto salvation." One of my favorite reminders is found in this book, 1:15-16, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But, for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life." And, I love this quote:

"[The Bible] is like a river: so deep in the middle that an elephant may swim in it, but along the shore a lamb may wade, and not be drowned."

All throughout this letter, Paul encourages Timothy to stand firm. To persevere. To remain true to his calling. (sound familiar??) He tells Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith". Who will you encourage today? Who will be allowed to encourage you today?

Hold Fast

In this letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul is attempting to correct a misunderstanding about the Lord's return. It seems that some church members were teaching that the Lord's return had already occurred. Paul noted that this could not have happened because certain things must precede the second coming of Christ. He speaks of the "man of lawlessness" (the Antichrist).

Paul offers encouragement to the church members to remain faithful to all they had been taught. He told them that God would continue to direct their paths, and they must keep working until the Lord's return. In Chapter 2, verse 15, Paul says, so brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught by us, whether by our word of mouth or by letter.

Traditions, what are they and what does it mean to hold fast to them? Traditions are the passing on of something of importance from one generation to the next either by word of mouth or by example. And what do stand firm or hold fast mean? The word "stand" in the Greek means "to continue, to abide." The word "hold" in Greek means "to keep in memory, to seize on , possess, to stay." So, the question is - what are the traditions that Christians have passed on from one generation to the next to hold fast to and stand firm on? Here are some that I thought of:

Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another (Eph. 4:32)

Children, obey your parents in everything for this is pleasing to the Lord (Col. 3:20)

Study to show yourselves approved unto God . . . rightly diving the word of truth. (2Tim. 2:15)

Let us not neglect the assembling together (Heb. 10:25)

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16)

The list could go on and on. We need only to read the Word to find more. Are we holding fast to these traditions that have been preserved for us and try to live them daily and be good examples? Are we passing them on to our children and grandchildren?

As we close this year of 2011 and look forward to 2012, my prayer for all of us is that we do just that - stand firm and hold fast to what we have learned this year from reading through the Bible and participating in this Blog, and to keep those honored "traditions" that we have gleaned not only from written Word, but from the Living Word, our Lord.