2 Timothy 1 , Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

 Max Lucado Daily:  KEEP THE POWER SUPPLY OPEN

The Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm, compassion, or bravado. He might stimulate such emotions, but he himself is a person. He determines itineraries (Acts 16:6), distributes spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), he comforts (John 16:7). Jesus promised, “He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17). Occasional guest? No sir. The Holy Spirit is a year-round resident in the hearts of his children.

As God’s story becomes our story, his power becomes our power. Well then why do we suffer from power failures? We turn to him to get us started, and then continue in our own strength. The same hand that pushed back the rock from the tomb can shove away your doubt. The same power that stirred the heart of Christ can stir your flagging faith. The same strength that put Satan on his heels can—and will—defeat Satan in your life. Just keep the power supply open.

2 Timothy 1

 I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God’s plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!

To Be Bold with God’s Gifts
3-4 Every time I say your name in prayer—which is practically all the time—I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors. I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.

5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.

11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.

13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.

15-18 I’m sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many’s the time I’ve been refreshed in that house. And he wasn’t embarrassed a bit that I was in jail. The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up. May God on the Last Day treat him as well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus—but you know that better than I.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion    
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 7:10–14

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: The virgin[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.[d]

Footnotes
Isaiah 7:14 The Hebrew is plural.
Isaiah 7:14 Or young woman
Isaiah 7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they
Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God with us.

Insight
The book of Isaiah is the second most referenced Old Testament book (after Psalms) in the New Testament, with about sixty-six direct quotations and 348 allusions to it. While Isaiah 7:14 finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus (Matthew 1:22–23), some scholars believe the prophecy was first fulfilled at the time of Isaiah. Around 734 bc, an Israel-Syria military alliance attacked Judah. Isaiah 7:14 is a promise and a sign given to the faithless King Ahaz of Judah that God would destroy this alliance. The sign tells of two events. First, a specific “virgin” (Hebrew ?almâ, meaning “young woman of marriageable age”) would conceive and bear a son to be called Immanuel. Second, the threat from this enemy alliance would end before the child was weaned (vv. 15–16). According to this view, this sign was fulfilled in 2 Kings 16:7–9 within two years after it was given (732 bc).

Christmas Presence
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son. Isaiah 7:14

“No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” Those words from Phillips Brooks’ much-loved hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” point to the very heart of Christmas. Jesus came into our broken world to rescue us from our sin and give all who would put their faith in Him a new and vital relationship with God.

In a letter to a friend decades after he wrote the hymn, Brooks poignantly described the outcome of this relationship in his own life: “I cannot tell you how personal this grows to me. He is here. He knows me and I know Him. It is no figure of speech. It is the realest thing in the world, and every day makes it realer. And one wonders with delight what it will grow to as the years go on.”

Brooks’ calm assurance of God’s presence in his life reflects one of the names of Jesus prophesied by Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). The gospel of Matthew gives us the meaning of the Hebrew name Immanuel: “God with us” (1:23).

God drew near to us through Jesus so we could know Him personally and be with Him forever. His loving presence with us is the greatest gift of all. By:  James Banks

Reflect & Pray
What does it mean to you that God loves you so much He wants to be with you always? How will you draw near to Him today?

Loving God, thank You for giving Yourself to me through Your life on earth, death on the cross, and resurrection. Please help me to live for You today and forever!

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
Christian Perfection
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect… —Philippians 3:12

It is a trap to presume that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do— God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements tends to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you accept this concept of personal holiness, your life’s determined purpose will not be for God, but for what you call the evidence of God in your life. How can we say, “It could never be God’s will for me to be sick”? If it was God’s will to bruise His own Son (Isaiah 53:10), why shouldn’t He bruise you? What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to Him whether you are well or sick.

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship with God that shows itself to be true even amid the seemingly unimportant aspects of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that hits you is the pointlessness of the things you have to do. The next thought that strikes you is that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives may leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary— that through your own human effort and devotion you can attain God’s standard for your life. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in such a perfect relationship with God that my life produces a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God’s purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He wants.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The truth is we have nothing to fear and nothing to overcome because He is all in all and we are more than conquerors through Him. The recognition of this truth is not flattering to the worker’s sense of heroics, but it is amazingly glorifying to the work of Christ. Approved Unto God, 4 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
A Big Platform For a Big Performance - #8843

It was the largest cooperative effort ever among the churches of this county where we were about to do a community-wide outreach. It's something that we did call the full-scale mobilization of God's people, a Make a Difference Week in an area to reach lost people with what we call "non-religious" evangelism. One of the outreaches, the youth event, was especially targeted to reach lost young people. One main attraction was going to be a concert by one of America's best-known contemporary bands. And the committee for that youth event was a little overwhelmed when they saw the size of the stage this group was going to need. But they went to work like beavers, and they busily rose to the challenge of constructing a very big stage for a very big event. When you walked into the gym the afternoon of the outreach, you might well ask, "What's all this for?" Answer: a big platform for a big event, which turned out to be the biggest youth event anyone could ever remember in that county! An event where, praise God, hundreds of young people began a relationship with Jesus Christ!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Big Platform For a Big Performance."

God might be building a big platform in your life right now. Oh, it doesn't look like a platform. It looks like a big problem, a big threat, a big pain! But actually it's a big platform on which God is about to give a great big performance!

There's a great example of how that works in our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Kings 18:36-37. Elijah is up against something huge; he is confronting 450 prophets of the god Baal who much of his culture worships. It's a showdown with the odds being 450 to 1. A sacrifice has been laid on the altar on Mt. Carmel and Elijah lays down a challenge to see whose God, Jehovah or Baal, will consume that sacrifice with fire from heaven. Then Elijah builds a bigger platform for God by drenching the sacrifice, the altar, and the whole area with water.

Then the Bible says, "At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'O Lord, let it be known today that you are God in Israel. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back again.' Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and it also licked up the water in the trench."

Whew! I love that! There was something here so big only God could do it. And this huge challenge provided a huge platform for God to show up with a huge performance of His power. That huge challenge may be facing you right now - God didn't bring it or allow it to hurt you. It's there to provide a stage on which He can show up for you in a way that you and those you know will never forget.

Elijah here shows us a powerful way to pray: that God will answer in whatever way will let everyone know that He is God. If you're facing a need so great that only God could meet it - a problem so impossible only God could solve it; something so big only God could do it - well, get ready for God to show up big-time! And pray as Elijah did - not just for the situation, but for God to do this in the way that will give Him the greatest glory and you and the people around you the biggest view of His greatness and His love. I love the prayer of Moses when he said, "Show us Your glory."

The bigger the challenge becomes, the bigger the platform for your God to do His amazing thing - maybe something bigger than you've ever seen Him do before!