The Necessities of Life (1 Tim. 6:8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-23-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  The necessities of life

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:8

            Message of the verse:  “8  If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.”  Paul continues his discussion on contentment in this verse.  He says that if a person has the basic necessities of life this should bring contentment to him.  It, however seems, that the more people have the more that they want.  Contentment comes from God, and knowing that He is in control of the things in ones life because He is God and He is in control.  These basic previsions are what we are instructed to pray for in the “Lord’s prayer.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t think that this passage is saying that there is anything wrong with money or the things that money can buy, however the key thing that is stated here is to be content, and contentment can only come from God.  I do not need feel guilty over the blessing that God has given to me, but I don’t want these blessings to own me.

 

The Word of God was refreshing and convicting to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want the Lord to continue to work on my heart concerning contentment, as He has gotten my attention.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

 

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

You Leave this Earth Like You Came into It (1 Tim. 6:7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-22-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  You leave like you came

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:7

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”  Paul is continuing his lesson on contentment in this verse.  He is also writing about the fact that money  cannot bring contentment to anyone, and by way of reinforcement he adds verse seven.  Just like Job said in Job 1:21, “He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."  Both men are saying that when a person is born he has nothing and when he dies he leaves with nothing. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I need to focus my life on the eternal things and not the temporal things that come with material things.

The Word of God was refreshing to me today.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I would like to say that I would learn contentment and not be so materialistic in my life today and all the rest of the days that God has allowed to me.  My prayer is that God will continue to teach me about contentment. 

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might  abound.  But where sin abounds, grace abounds much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Godliness and Contentment (1 Tim. 6:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-21-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Godliness & contentment

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:6

 

            Message of the verse:  “6 ¶ But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.”  Contentment means an inner sufficiency that keeps us at peace in spite of outward circumstances. Phil. 4:11 says, “For if have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  Paul realized what contentment was as evidenced from his writings and from his life.  It seems to me that in some ways Paul was like an alien who came to this earth with a purpose and a goal to accomplish and that he did not get upset over the circumstances he found himself in because he new where he was going when his job on earth was done.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul wrote this verse after writing about the reason false teachers did what they did, and that was for the money.  Paul says that if a person has the traits of godliness then he will have contentment in his life.  I must admit that there are many times when I do not have contentment and it does cause trouble in my life.  Things on this earth cannot own me if I am to be content.  God has blessed me with many material things and I need to realize that He has put me here on earth for a purpose and has entrusted me with things in order to accomplish the goals that He has for me.  I surely need to trust more in the God who has supplied me with these things than in the material things.  It seems to me that a person who is both rich in material things and in the things of the Lord is someone that the Lord has great confidence in.

The Word of God brought great instruction and also conviction to my life today.  The Word of God was refreshing to me.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To confess that I am not content, to realize the great need for godliness in my life, and to trust if I am honest with the Lord He will give me contentment.

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded grace abounded mush more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A Bad way to Make Money (1 Tim. 6:5)

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  A bad way to make money

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:3-5

            Message of the verse:  “5  and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”  In this section of this letter from verse three to verse five Paul is telling Timothy to stay away from men who have these poor qualities, for the are a waste of time.  In this verse he goes on to speak of these poor qualities.  These men cause  constant friction between themselves and the members of the church.  They are only learning the things that they learn for the sake of money.  They are selling the so-called knowledge for cash and this is all together wrong.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Like Timothy I need to stay away from people like Paul is describing here.  I am also looking forward to studying the next verse in this section as it will hit home to me.

They Word of God was instructive to me today.

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life thought Jesus Christ our Lord.    

Slaves With Believing Masters (1 Tim. 6:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-16-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: Slaves with believing masters

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:2

           

            Message of the verse:   “2  Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.”  Paul is writing in this verse about those slaves who are believers and have Christian masters that they serve.  He anticipates a problem thinking that a believing slave might want to take advantage of a believing master, and this should not be so.  In fact the opposite should be true.  The believing slave should work all the harder for his master knowing that he is actually serving the Lord by doing so.  He should do so because of the love that he has for his master also.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This principle is true in the workplace as well as the home.  I am very blessed and thankful that I have a believing wife and believing children, and I should not take advantage of them, but work all of the harder to get along with them because this is the will of God.

The Word of God was insightful to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I need to continue to trust in the Lord to get me through the things that can cause fear in my life, the things that can cause stress in my life.  I need to pray about them and give them over to the Lord, and if the Devil tries to defeat me then I need to challenge him with the Word of God and with prayer.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5: 20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life  through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Slaves Obey Your Masters (1 Tim. 6:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-15-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: Slaves obey your masters

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 6:1

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 ¶ All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.”  There were many slaves at the time of the early Church, as many as one half of the people in the Roman Empire were slaves.  Many of these slaves became believers in Jesus Christ, and so Paul addressed this issue in this verse and in others too.  In this verse he is writing about believing slaves and their relationship with their masters.  Interestingly Paul does not try to abolish slavery, but tells the believing slaves that they should “regard their own masters as worthy of all honor.”  He wants them to do so for the sake of the name of God and His doctrine will not be spoken against.  If Paul had been outspoken about slavery the Christian faith would not have advanced like it did. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I live in a day when there are few if any slaves in the world.  For sure there are none in the USA.  This verse applies to me in relationship with those whom I worked for when I was working, and even now when I work at the church I must obey those whom the Lord has put over me to obey.  It also applies to me in relationship with the leaders of our church, for I am to obey them too.  Here, I believe lies a large problem with the Church today, in that it does not take seriously enough the fact that the leaders in the Church have authority over the believers in it.  This is a trick of the enemy for believers not to believe how very important it is to obey the leaders in our Church today.  We, as believers are soldiers of the cross and our Commander is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and we are to obey him in all that we do, especially when it comes to following the leaders in the Church that He has set over us.  In our day and age if we do not like our leaders we just move to another Church where we feel more comfortable.

The Word of God brought much insight to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to take more seriously the leadership in the church that we go to and follow there teaching and take more seriously what they have to say.  I want to do this because I believe that they teach correctly the Word of God.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Your Sin will Find You Out (1 Timothy 5:24-25)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6-14-02

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Your sin will find you out

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Timothy 5:24,25

 

            Message of the verse:  “24  The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after.25  Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.”  What I think that Paul is telling Timothy is that you cannot tell a book by its cover.  He is still writing about qualifications for an elder in these two verses and he says that in some cases a persons sin will be evident so that it will be easy to see them, in the same way some men’s good works are evident and will be easy to see them.  However sometimes the sin or the good works will come out latter on in the process of seeing if a person is qualified to serve as an elder.  I think one of the points he is making is not to rush the process, be patient with is so you can come up with a good evaluation of the prospect.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Paul seems to be teaching, among other things, patience and this is something that most every person alive in these United States of America could use during this time of history.  Patience and contentment must go hand in hand, and I need a little or a lot of both.

The Word of God did bring some conviction and instruction to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I have read and heard that if a person prays for patience that adversity will come to them so that they can learn to be patience.  There is some adversity in my life and I hope that the Lord will use it to teach me both patience and contentment.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Romans 5:20,21

Moreover the law entered that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.