May the peace of God fill you with His love for you and all of His creation. In Jesus we have hope for an eternity filled with the graciousness of God in our ordinary everyday lives who gives us Holy Spirit for guidance in all areas of it. I am full of gratitude for the love of the Father who cared enough to send Jesus to offer us salvation! We are able to love because He first loved us. Carla
1. Allegiance.
First, Paul used the example of a soldier to talk about allegiance: "No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him" (2 Timothy 2:4). Soldiers have to surrender many things to live up to their calling and obey their commanding officer. In the same way, as followers of Jesus Christ, when our hearts are aligned with His, our allegiance to Him breeds opportunities for others to observe His work in our lives and for us to share our faith.
2. Actions.
Our allegiance to the Lord overflows into our actions: the way we live. Paul said "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules" (2 Timothy 2:5), and we live by God's rules or commandments. But we don't do this out of fear of condemnation. Our obedience comes from our love and gratitude for Jesus.
Other people can witness our faith in action when:
● We are gracious instead of bitter, even toward our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).
● We pray (Matthew 6:9-13).
● We refuse to gossip (Ephesians 4:29).
● We forgive (Ephesians 4:32).
● We display the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).
These are just a few examples, but God has given us His Word as the go-to manual for how to live faithfully and fulfill His command to love Him and love people (Matthew 22:37-40).
3. Attitude.
Lastly in today's passage, Paul talked about "the hard-working farmer" (2 Timothy 2:6). This really points to a humble attitude. The farmer does many things that aren't glamorous and that no one sees but that he knows are important for a good harvest. This is so crucial for us to remember as believers because our attitude often contributes to our actions. It's important to pause and ask, Am I doing this for the approval of others or out of love for God?(Galatians 1:10).
Sharing our faith can sometimes mean talking through our testimony. But let's remember that while words are powerful, the way we live is a testimony too. Sometimes people don't care to know about our Jesus until they see the reality of Jesus in our lives. First5
Sometimes we need a different way to measure what really matters.
This brings to mind my mentor, Lew Smedes’ reminder, "Gratitude dances though the open windows of our hearts. We cannot force it. We cannot create it. And we can certainly close our windows to keep it out. But we can also keep them open and be ready for the joy when it comes."
Living one open window at a time.
I once did a workshop where I asked the participants to describe life. One woman said, "Life is so… life is so… life is so… daily."
Yes. She's right. And that is the secret.
The miracle is that there need not be a miracle—just a slow drip of experience. Being mindful of small things; the ordinary is the hiding place for the holy.
Places where we are able to receive. And places from which we give: wholeheartedness, joy, grief, compassion, sorrow, kindness, grace, forgiveness, gladness. And until I understand that truth (until I take it to heart), I miss the point.
Or, in the words of William Kittredge, "Moments when nothing happened. What sweet nothing."
In other words, we don't run from the moment (even moments that unnerve and distress).
We don't suffocate the moment with stuff (physical and mental).
We don't sanitize the moment with platitudes.
We sit. We listen. We look. We taste. We smell. We see.
We look for the light of God in the most ordinary, and even the most dull, of contexts. Sabbath Moments
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