1 Timothy 6 "Money"

Paul writes in this letter to Timothy about instructions for him, slaves and those who are rich.  I was thinking again about a conversation I had with my Youth Director and mentor about how when you don't have money you don't have to worry about how to spend it.  Which is truth.

Though my family is very well off I find myself feeling as someone who would be ok not having the money to do things other can't.  I find that I think some day I will not live in a big house will not have the lifestyle I have now.  I am ok with that.  Not that I would prefer it but it doesn't sound bad to me.  I feel I am comfortable where ever I am in life.   I say this all when I am on the top of the hill.  I do also feel I wouldn't know what I had untill I lost it.  

But I look at the job field I want to go into and realise I won't make a lot of money and I am ok with that, I know God will provide what I need, when I need it.  Though I have plans to make sure I have money coming from other places such as a side business and God willing some form of military work, not cause I want/need the extra money but my sacrifices aren't my families and I need to make sure they are ok.

Long rambling story short.  I feel I would be ok with no money, cause I know God is with me; and I would rather not have money so I don't have to focus/worry about it, but I will earn what I can so I can help my family as well as others if fanancial needs aren't being met.

God please bless me and keep me.  Amen.

1 Timothy 5 "Widows"

I didn't know we were supposed to treat widows that are old different from widows that are young.  Apparently if widows remarry they are breaking the vow of the first marraige?  Huh.

1 Timothy 4 "Instructions for Timothy"

In this chapter Paul writes instructions for Timothy as a person and also things he should tell others, most of which are the same.  It can be assume based on what Paul says that Timothy is relatively young. I am going to ask my Pastor how young he was.  What stood out to me though was verses 7 and 8.

⁷ Don't have anything to do with godless stories and silly tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ Training the body has some value. But being godly has value in every way. It promises help for the life you are now living and the life to come.

This is something I have come to realize myself.  It is ok to add rules for yourself and set boundaries but we can't truely be Godly unless we change ourselves and train our minds and spirit to be Godly.  The world tries to be better by making more and more rules changing the outside (the body) not the mind or spirit.  It is harder to do but I have found after only a little time that the rules are as neccessary if you have your mind and spirit are trained.  Temptations to do evil things almost completely disappear and all it takes it to stay fit, the weight is off all you have to do now is watch it and make sure you don't put it on again.  

1 Timothy 3 "Elders and Deacons"

This is directions from Paul given to Timothy to give to the Elders and Deacons of the Church; it shows how they must live to lead in thier role of the Church.

1 Timothy 2 "Huh"

Paul talks about worship in this chapter, about prayer and specifically about how we should pray for those who lead pray they are guilded by God and that their way is right, God wants everyone to trust in Him.

What caught my eye in this chapter was something that I had seen before but not really thought a lot about.  Paul many a times says he is the messanger for those who are not Jews, his task is to tell them about Christ.  What is interesting is that Paul is very straight forward in his teachings and speaks as if what he says is the truth (which it is) but what is interesting is that those he preaches to are non-Jews, those who do not have faith or a faith inconsistant with the God Christians believe in, certainly not inline with Jesus' teaching.  

Today we spend so much time trying not to offend, when we need to speak the truth, though we do need to do it in a non threatening way(not the same as offending).  But how is the hard part.

1 Timothy 1 "Rules and Faith"

Why is there so much emphisis put on teaching and enforcing the rules of the Christian faith and making sure we and especially others follow them; when we teach later that it is ok and the rules don't really matter, what matters is Jesus and believing and trusting in Him?

Didn't Jesus say that is all that matters.  Weren't the rules just a guildline to give us so that we fail and Jesus can save us from it?  If we stop worring about following the rules and more about following Jesus and more so having a relationship with Him, won't it be easier to follow the rules and thus second nature rather than a goal?

Something to think  about, a difficult way to run your life, mostly because you must give up control, really give it up, not fake give it up.

2 Thessalonians 2 "Man of Sin"

This chapter talks about a man of sin, a man who places himself in the church but apposes everything God is about, someone who performs fake miracles. My guess is this is Satan coming to earth in human form. The man of sin will fool people into thinking they are dieing, but they are only dieing because they don't look for the truth. So stand strong, keep your eyes on faith and all that is good and always question what you see and know that it is the truth cause if you believe the lie you will be judged accordingly. God wants you to be saved.

2 Thessalonians 1 "Revenge"

This chapter doesn't talk that much about revenge but it does say that you should let God be the one to make right the wrongs people committed against you, he can make them fair and he will repay the trouble others have caused you.  Meaning if you take revenge God will repay the trouble you gave too.  Repent and rejoice.