1 Timothy
1 Timothy 2
God our savior "who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:4.
Honestly this verse gets me asking "why" a little bit. It says that God does desire for every single person to come to salvation and the knowledge of the Truth. Not everyone does come to this knowledge, so it must come down to free will. If He really wanted us all to come to Truth, then He would have made it impossible for us not to come to the Truth. But He didn't do that. So He must have thought something else (free will) was more important.
It's so handy to be a mother when you see passages like this in the Bible because you understand that you always want your child to obey, be respectful, have integrity, and eventually to come to a surrendered like to Christ. So we nudge our children toward the Truth of the Bible, we expose them to it, we reveal it to them in every way we possibly can in the 18 years that we have them.
But we realize that, ultimately, a life fully yielded to the Truth is that child's choice, and we cannot make him choose it. God must be very grieved sometimes as a papa, at how His own children insist on rejecting His Truth after He has revealed it to us so clearly in His Word and so beautifully in HIs Creation. If we have a stubborn and rebellious child who refuses to accept the Truth, then multiply that by a trillion and that's how compassionately God can say that He understands: "I tried."
"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel," 1 Timothy 2:9.
Gotta be modest ladies. It's right there in The Word. What is it inside of us that wants to fight this? I believe God placed that naughty little spark of "hey baby" inside each of us chicks as a good thing to meet our husband's physical needs. Taken outside of marriage though, it's a part of our sin nature, to want to strut our stuff. To show off our womanly swag but check it out. God says cut that out right now and be modest except in marriage. If we are showing off some leg, some cleavage, trying to show how sexy we are and we're not in the bedroom alone with the hubs, then something is wrong in our hearts. Yes I went there. Somebody needs to.
"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." 1 Timothy 2:13-15.
Now ladies, this is why my blog is called Triumphant Chicks rather than Triumphant Peeps. I take seriously this situation here, that God is telling me as a female that I'm not supposed to be teaching the general population. Elsewhere in the Bible we are told that the older women are to teach the younger women so that's my heart in my writing. I'm not teaching dudes, just chicks. Does this insult me, does this deeply offend me, cut me to my core essence and threaten to strip away my very being while causing ripples of outrage throughout my powerful femininity? Nah, I'm good with it. If it's in the Bible, that's good enough for me. We can ask why when we get to heaven. If we even care by then because wow? Heaven is going to rock.
1 Timothy 5
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." 1 Timothy 5:23.
Got a whole blog that ponders this one.
1 Timothy 6
"But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6
Fist bump, Timothy. Put it right here.
"For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." 1 Timothy 6:10.
So if we read this carefully it is saying the love of money is the problem, not the existence of money. I don't think I like the sound of getting pierced through with many sorrows? So I'm fixing to try to not love money over here. I love God instead. Yes sirree Bob.
2 Timothy
2 Timothy 1
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7.
Paul writes to Timothy and, in another translation, this passage says God has not given us a spirit of "timidity."
Timothy Says No Timidity.
Say that four times really fast.
2 Timothy 2
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
Doing that right now, aren't we y'all.
"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes." 2 Timothy 2:23.
We shouldn't let ourselves get sucked into foolish, silly conversations that are going nowhere and just stirring up nonsense. All it causes is strife. Buh-bye.
2 Timothy 3
Well the bad news, sort of, is that "all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12.
I mean we're going to have opposition. People who are hostile to God don't generally find it very fun to hear the truth, so we can't be shocked when we face persecution. Paul does help us out though in the verse after next which says, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." 2 Timothy 3:14. So we stay in the word, we stay strong in the faith and that will see us through.
2 Timothy 4
"...exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:2
If we're fixing to exhort someone, it needs to be with a patient heart and with Biblical doctrine.
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness," 2 Timothy 4:8
Got my heavenly crown waiting for me, y'all.
"...the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me....And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work." 2 Timothy 4:17, 18.
I heard that. Love that.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7.
Paul writes to Timothy and, in another translation, this passage says God has not given us a spirit of "timidity."
Timothy Says No Timidity.
Say that four times really fast.
2 Timothy 2
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
Doing that right now, aren't we y'all.
"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes." 2 Timothy 2:23.
We shouldn't let ourselves get sucked into foolish, silly conversations that are going nowhere and just stirring up nonsense. All it causes is strife. Buh-bye.
2 Timothy 3
Well the bad news, sort of, is that "all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12.
I mean we're going to have opposition. People who are hostile to God don't generally find it very fun to hear the truth, so we can't be shocked when we face persecution. Paul does help us out though in the verse after next which says, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." 2 Timothy 3:14. So we stay in the word, we stay strong in the faith and that will see us through.
2 Timothy 4
"...exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:2
If we're fixing to exhort someone, it needs to be with a patient heart and with Biblical doctrine.
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness," 2 Timothy 4:8
Got my heavenly crown waiting for me, y'all.
"...the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me....And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work." 2 Timothy 4:17, 18.
I heard that. Love that.