Faith School - 2 Timothy 1:13

2 Timothy 1:13           What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

            When the apostle Paul was writing to his protégé Timothy, he was trying to ensure that the next generation of believers would hold fast to the faith that Paul personally experienced and taught. This would be have been written about thirty to forty years after the Resurrection of Christ. During those 3 or 4 decades, Christianity had flourished across the Mediterranean, especially in the southern region of what we now call Turkey. However, with this wonderful growth, there also came a plethora of different teachers and preachers who all had their own personal ideas of what constituted the Gospel Truth.

            Paul’s personal appeal to Timothy in writing reveals to us that the apostle, who was imprisoned at this time, was gravely concerned about the faith of the new churches being hijacked by false teachers and greedy preachers. Paul advised to Timothy to be on his guard against such unscrupulous people who would use their charm, influence, and power to mesmerize believers, in order to lead them down the wrong path and away from Christ. Paul also knew that Timothy, who was destined to become the Bishop of Ephesus, would be very influential among his peers. If the fledgling faith was going to survive in the region, it would require Christian leaders who had been inspired by sound teaching, and who expressed their beliefs through their faith and love in Jesus.

            With the amazing amount of information available to us from the Internet, we can sometimes experience difficulty in discerning what is true or false teaching with regard to our Christian faith. New ideas, fresh perspectives, and novel opinions can sometimes attract us, but they may also detract us from following the truth. I personally go back through the four Gospels whenever I’m faced with a new approach to my faith. If I can’t find something that would corroborate the new idea, I set it aside. That may be too simple for some folk but, after almost forty years of trying to be a Christian, I have learned that it works for me.

            May God bless you as you grow in faith and enable you to share the love of Jesus.

Questions for personal reflection

Who initially taught me about the Christian faith? How have I passed on my faith experiences to the next generation?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, we thank You for the gift of faith which has influenced, shaped, and directed our lives. We praise You for Your true teaching about God. Grant us new opportunities to share our faith and love in You with others around us. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com. Please also feel free to share or forward this message to your own family and friends.

Today’s image is one of my Celtic Cross drawings called ‘Celtic Heart.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click on this link: Cross.

Christian devotional: Real Faith - Matthew 9:29-30a

Matthew 9:29-30a   Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; and their sight was restored.

            Faith is a very rare commodity these days. I’m not talking about a religious notion, or a spiritual feeling, or even a mystical experience. I’m talking about real solid faith in Jesus. I've been a pastor for almost thirty years and during that time I've seen many people mistakenly think that what they believe in is faith. What they actually hold on to is wishful thinking, just like in the old Peter Pan stories, where if you think good thoughts and add some pixie dust, you can really fly.

            Faith isn't a feeling, nor is it a daydream. Faith in Jesus actually requires focus, commitment, service, and humility. Because people are so one dimensional in their thinking, they naively believe that just thinking good thoughts about Jesus is all that is required. They delude themselves into the notion that being nice is what counts, and they wrongly equate that with being faithful.

            Faith is much more than a spiritual trivial pursuit; it is the life quest that we are all given from the moment we are born to the day that we die. We have one opportunity to get it right, to be found by God through faith in Jesus. If we set Him aside or falsely think that everything we do is blessed, approved, and condoned by Christ, then we’re tragically and eternally fooling ourselves.

            Faith, real faith, is not just something that we live for, it’s also a divine gift that we die with. If we go to meet our Savior without following, worshipping, or serving Him, then we won’t find Him at all. The Gospels give us all of the material, resources, and clues that we need about what real faith looks like; if we think that we can make it up for ourselves and wing it through life, then we’ll end up on the wrong side of glory. Faith requires commitment, but commitment is so inconvenient at times.

            So, let’s all truly, sincerely, and honestly ask ourselves this today: to whom am I being faithful? To Christ or myself, to His teachings or my own ideas? We cannot hide the truth from ourselves, and we certainly cannot fool Jesus either.

Questions for personal reflection

Am I faithful to Christ or am I just living a lie? Am I committed to His Church or am I just committed to myself?

Prayer:          Lord Jesus, we all want to have real faith in You. We really want to be Your followers and servants, disciples and messengers. Forgive us for playing at religion, or for feigning spirituality. Challenge our choices when they conflict with Your guidance. Change our lives when we contradict Your Word. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to ask questions or make comments about today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s latest artworks. It’s called ‘Chalice,’ and it was made using paper sculpting and crayons. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: Chalice.