2 Timothy is a letter Paul wrote to Timothy while being imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Nero. He was quite sure he was not ever going to be free again, and was giving Timothy guidance on continuing his mission.

In 2 Timothy 4:3,4, he tells Timothy, “For there is going to come a time when people won’t listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. They won’t listen to what the Bible says, but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas.”

I think if you look around at events in our present day, Paul’s words could easily apply to modern times.

In verse 5 he tells Timothy what to do. “But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”

This guidance applies to us as well as it did to Timothy. We need to stand steady and not be afraid of suffering for the Lord. For us, that suffering is not imprisonment or torture, it is likely to only be the “embarrassment” of believing in Biblical teaching, Christian values, and living them.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the words of Paul, encouraging us to hold to your values and beliefs. Help us stand steady, fearless in our faithful Christian lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

When we need God’s help, the essence of having faith is trusting he will help us, without knowing how.

There is a story about Elijah in 1 Kings 17:8-16 that describes this. God tells Elijah to go to a town called Zaraphath where a widow will feed him. Elijah finds this widow and asks her for a piece of bread. The widow tells Elijah, that she had no bread, and only enough flour for one meal for herself and her son. She expected that would be their last meal after which they would have no more food and would die.

In verse 13-16, Elijah says, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”

She could not have known how things would work out, but she trusted and did what God had told her through Elijah. There was always enough food.

It is often very difficult to believe problems will be solved, troubles will be avoided, and things will work out for the best when we don’t know how they could. Those are the most important times to have faith, because those are the times God is the only way.

Dear Lord, You control all things and all circumstances. Help us remember to ask for your help with our challenges, particularly when they seem impossible. Help us believe that you have a way even when we cannot see the way. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Paul tells us in Eph 6 “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand against the Devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places….Pray in the Spirit at all times.. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

You may feel it too, but it is very clear to me that we are spiritually at war in the US and in the world. It is a war primarily unseen as the enemy fights to destroy us, our families, relationships, organizations, neighborhoods, states, and countries. The enemy, the Devil, manipulates people to separate them from God, and and separate them from God’s love and salvation. The battlegrounds are our governments, courts, schools, the entertainment media, the news media, and the internet.

Much of war is about deception, and it is often difficult for us to know which side of this battle people and organizations are on. Paul gives us an idea how to recognize this in Romans 10:9-11 “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

It appears that, in military terms, the enemy has the “high ground,” controlling most of the battlegrounds. It is our responsibility to be discerning, vigilant and true to our faith, particularly in the democracies that allow us to influence these battlegrounds.

Our most powerful weapon in this battle is Prayer which allows us to ask for God’s unlimited power to fight our battles.

Dear Lord, we battle evil, treachery and tyranny in our world. Protect us and those we love, support us and our leaders to be strong and move our world toward you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I think we are all familiar with the account of Jesus feeding the 5000 with five barley loaves and two fish, recorded in each of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In addition to the fact that Jesus performed this miracle, I think there is a message in how He went about it.

John 6:11, says, “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

I think one lesson, for us, is found in Jesus’ actions. He didn’t explain how He was going to feed all these people, He just thanked God for the things he had to work with, and then got started with belief for success.

So often we have trouble believing in God’s power to make things happen, because we cannot explain how it can be done. What we need to do is, accept that we don’t know how God will resolve things, just thank him for the resources we have, and move forward in belief that God will provide a solution.

I like the quote from Arthur Ashe, the Tennis Pro in the 1970’s, who said, “Start where you are, Use what you have, Do what you can.” I would add, “believe in God’s power.”

Dear Lord, You can do anything, we just need to believe, be thankful and move forward. Help us really trust your power to answer our prayers, especially when we don’t know how it can be done. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.”

And he says in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

It would be reasonable then to believe that the opposite of these characteristics “fruit” would go something like this: “The fruit of our sinful nature is hate, gloom, stress, worry, fear, impatience, meanness, dishonesty, harshness, and lack of self-control.”

So when we see characteristics from this second list in ourselves or others, it is not from God.

Dear Lord, Help us model our lives on the example Jesus gave us. The perfect example of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.