Category: QuietTimes

“…formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 1:13-14 -> me: Today my passage of study was 1 Timothy 1:12-17. These 2 verses above stood out to me for a couple of reasons. 1) The reflections of Paul on Christ’s enabling power only magnified his own sense of unworthiness. 2) God recognized in Saul of Tarsus a servant of mighty potential once he was enlightened. 3) Grace is an operative and formative force dominating both thought and action. 4) Grace is super-abundant in its ability to overwhelm any sin that has come or will be. I have felt this continual unveiling of my sin the closer I get to my Savior that Paul talks about. I have come to pray for it now; asking that the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, would reveal my tendencies toward sin so that I might act against it in His strength giving power. Acceptance of grace with just a simple faith leads to a life abiding in Jesus Christ where we receive an ability to love and grow our faith. This in turn becomes the evidence of that grace that started it all. I must allow myself to stay in this cyclical place – a vortex of peace, clear conscience, and hope to be with my Savior in heaven forever. What a gift God has given us in the ability to taste a little of heaven right here on earth in the here-and-now.

“…the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,” 1 Timothy 1:9-10 -> me: Today my reading was 1 Timothy 1:8-11.  Paul is laying out the purposes of the law for the two classes of people.  1) Those who are in fellowship with Christ Jesus through the acceptance of Him through faith that He died on the cross to pay for all our sin.  2) Those who are rebellious against God and others.  God created the Law before Jesus as way to give His children a way of identifying their sin.  In fact that law served as a way to hold sinners captive to a judgement they were due because of their willingness to sin.  In verse 8 Paul says ‘Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully’.  What the heck does that mean??!!??  I have spent quite a bit of time today researching this through scripture and the help of scholars and I believe I now have a good grasp.  Rather than talk about what the Law does for the non-believer lets talk about what we as Christians should do with the law.  In Romans 3 Paul says “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” and then he says “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law”.  So what do we do if the Law is good but we should no longer be slave to the Law?  It means that the Law is no longer our means of justification.  That justification comes through faith in Christ alone.  So my focus, my whole being, should be to look first to Him for my salvation and justification…at the same time, the way I can use the law for the right purpose is to dwell on it (like it says in my life verses in Psalms 1:2) as a way to remember what Jesus has done for me.  I cannot use the law to win my salvation but I can use what the law represented in who I was before I met Jesus and use that to glorify His wonderful gospel all the more.  To remind myself of how much thanks and gratitude I owe Him for allowing me to die to that Law in order to live in HIS righteousness; a righteousness I did not earn and that I do not deserve.

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:3-5 -> me:  At the encouragement of one of our pastors at church, I am taking a small break from Jeremiah to make my way through 1st and 2nd Timothy as well as Titus.  Today was 1 Timothy 1:1-7.  Here is my takeaway from today -> False teachers are more interested in their own intellectual satisfaction than what they should know by faith.  The gospel and obedience to God’s work are all about FAITH.  Most importantly, LOVE springs from faith.  This love comes about through a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith itself.  Just like Timothy, I have a duty to protect my church from false teaching.  By losing their Christian bearings, these false teachers drifted into a trackless waste.  Without love they produce meaningless chatter…their focus is on their own people pleasing perception.  The irrelevance of the content of a message is a hallmark of a false teacher.  So what does this tell me – I must watch my own motives; first and foremost my heart is made pure by the word of God (John 15:3) and not only that but Jesus said that there is a special reward for those pure of heart —> They get to see God!  My faith must be sincere, not just a pretense without a solid foundation.  I must check my conscience (by listening to the Holy Spirit) that it is clear.  Finally, I must act by ‘charging’ or ‘commanding’ those who are false teaching to cease.  This is huge…and scary. 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”” Jeremiah 17:9-10 -> me: I was only able to get through 3 verses today.  These verses are best summed up with the ‘Meaning’ written in my Tyndale Commentary -> ‘The sinful ways of individuals and the people as a whole will lead to disaster, because they have forgotten the Lord. Whatever is hidden in people’s hearts is not hidden from God. He will reveal the truth about every human being. This is true of the nation and also of individuals. The choice between God and the idols, truth and deceit, is ultimately a choice which will result in blessing or curse.’  When I live my life with the understanding that God sees the inner sanctum of my heart, mind, and thoughts, I am vigilant about crucifying my sin at every turn I get.  As a sinner I strive to live an upright and righteous life, but I do this clinging to the perfection of my Savior Jesus Christ.

“Blessed is the man who trusts IN the LORD, whose trust IS the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not  anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 -> me: What an amazing set of verses to run into today in Jeremiah.  My life verses are Psalm 1:1-3 and so these verses resonated with me so well!  Today my reading was Jeremiah 17:1-8.  First God uses imagery to explain how embedded the sin of Judah is. He says that their sin is written on the tablets of their hearts with an iron stylus with a flint tip.  There is so much here – 1) the sin is deep: iron was very heavy and drove itself deep into the rock. 2) sin catches fire: the flint tip would spark and flame when struck and dug into the stone of their hearts.  3) tablets of sin had replaced tablets of the law on their heart.  Israel’s greatest sin was turning to other earthly sources for protection, happiness, and strength.  Israel turned to Assyria for help instead of God, they trusted in their own intellect instead of leaning into God’s wisdom and purpose.  God says that people who forsake Him are like bushes in the desert; even in the rain it will not survive and the person who lives in the desert will have no support because it is void of God’s hand.  BUT!!!  Then we come to verses 7 and 8!  Who doesn’t want to be a tree planted by a stream, tapped into living water, where they are always full of God’s grace, where there is no fear of a year of drought, and because of the consistent living water always bearing fruit!

“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” Jeremiah 16:21 -> me: Today I went through the whole chapter of Jeremiah 16.  This is another chapter where we see the protection of God over Jeremiah.  He gives Jeremiah instructions for how to live in the land during this time so that he does not get exposed to the emotional horror that is about to befall the Jews.  He tells Jeremiah not to marry or have children because they will die of horrible diseases.  He tells him not to enter a house where there is a funeral meal because He has withdrawn His blessing, love, and pity.  He finally tells him not to enter a house where there is festive eating and drinking because He plans to bring to end and silence all sounds of joy and gladness.  God tells Jeremiah that there will likely be 3 questions he is asked and then follows with 2 answers – Q1) Why has the Lord declared such disaster on us? Q2) What wrong have we done? Q3) What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?  A1) Because your fathers forsook Me and followed other gods and served and worshipped them.  A2) Because you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers.  You are each following the stubbornness of your evil hearts rather than following Me.  God follows this up by saying – “Because of these things – I will show you no favor.”  Yikes.  In verses 14 and 15 there is a ray of hope in that God will at some point restore them out of bondage and the children of Israel will no longer talk about the God who brought them out of Egypt but the God who brought them out of the land of the North (Babylon).  The chapter ends with today’s QT verse.  God will receive and confirm the glory due His name.

“Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them.” Jeremiah 15:19 -> me: Passage today was Jeremiah 15:10-22.  All I can say is wow!  I spent a good portion of the day dwelling on and then writing up a whole devotional focused on verses 19-22.  Sooooo good! I will post that devotional once I can get it transcribed from my notebook.  🙂  My main takeaway from today was that God reaffirms His call on Jeremiah’s life.  Jeremiah laments about his fear of God leaving him but God brings him comfort; not by solving his problems but by reiterating His calling and protection over him.  God reminds Jeremiah that He will not leave Jeremiah’s side.  When you have a calling on your life by the One True God (we all do if we are genuine believers), we have God’s promise that He is right there with us. He may not solve our problems or get us out of the sticky situation we are in, but He does promise to give us the strength to persevere to the end.

“You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep going backward, so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting.” Jeremiah 15:6 -> me: My reading today was Jeremiah 15:1-9…Here we see an Old Testament example of church discipline played out.  When the Jews continued in their rejection of the Lord, continued their backsliding, and refused to change their ways; they are released to an existence without the intervening hand of God.  He even says “Send them from My presence, Let them go!”.  This scares me for those that continue in habitual sin where church discipline is required.  The removal of God’s hand from your life allows the evil one an open door to further deceive and destroy.  Super scary.  Jeremiah does speak of hope for the Jews but only in the context of recognizing sin and guilt.  My life application takeaway from today is to keep this ‘removal of God’s hand’ in mind when the church is pushed to exercise church discipline.  The weight church leadership bears in the execution of this process is heavy (the entire process is structured to bring the wayward soul back into reconciliation with God and the church body) is heavy and should be done with reverence and prayer seeking first, then executing God’s will according to His word.

“We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us. Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.” Jeremiah 14:20-22 [ESV] -> me: Through my passage today – Judah (through Jeremiah) makes their pleas heard to the Lord.  They were asking things like “why are You like a stranger in the land?” and “are You like a traveler who only stays for a night?”.  God’s response sears right through their cries; He reminds them that their wickedness and worship of false gods has shown Him that they no longer see Him as their Sovereign Savior.  God discerns the heart.  Jeremiah did his best to speak on behalf of his people but the Lord will not be moved by empty/shallow petitions.  In the QT verses today – Jeremiah uses a weird combination of flattery and challenge in his ask for God not to ruin His own name by punishing His people.  My God will not be mocked, I need to be sure of my heart condition whenever I come before my King.  When my motives are based on the truths of God’s word, He is faithful to guide!

“For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.  For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 -> me: Today I was drawn to this passage as a reminder of Whose I am and the power that God gives me when I submit to and am obedient to Him.  Tyndale’s commentary on this passage discussed the military terms that Paul used here and their paraphrasing of verse five is “The arguments Paul destroys are the ‘strongholds’ in which people fortify themselves against the invasion of the knowledge of God (the gospel).”  This is so right on when it comes to our current situation in our country.  We all have these intellectual strongholds, but when I submit myself to God and His Word, then His gospel and Holy Spirit give me the ability to not only to demolish false arguments but also to bring people’s (and my own) thoughts under the lordship of Christ.