-

 1 Timothy 2:8 - Free from Anger and Controversy

        Seven centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ the Prophet Isaiah preached a clear message from God.  It was this, trust God alone.  Not nations, or kings, or politicians, or alliances, or wealth.  God.  Alone.  Still true today.

        The Father laid on Jesus the sins of us all (Isaiah 53:6).  Jesus’ young life was cut short.  Jesus, the suffering servant, died with no descendants and was put in a rich man’s grave (Isaiah 53:9).  Isaiah got it right, down to the detail.  This was God’s plan.  Because of Jesus’ pain, sorrow, grief, and anguish, we now have life.  Those who believe in Jesus, reborn by the Holy Spirit, we are Jesus' descendants.

        All honor goes to Jesus.  He was a soldier’s soldier.  A man’s man.  He did not fear death.  He laid down His life for us.  Jesus is our Victorious King.  The King of sinners and rebels.

        Jesus went through the torture of the Cross because He wants every person to be saved and to understand the truth (2:3).  God wants His church to pray.  And to live lives worthy of the sacrifice made for us on the Cross.  All of our hope is in Jesus.  Jesus died to purchase our freedom from death and punishment.  Now, do our lives and our places of worship honor God and His message of faith and truth?

        We have work to do.

        Christian places of worship should be filled with men and women in the right relationship with God and each other.  We should enter the worship place knowing how blessed we are to have a relationship with the Holy God.  We are His humble servants.  We are sinners saved by Jesus, through God’s eternal plan.  God is our only hope.  We don’t earn it.  It’s by Grace.  We accept Jesus’ gift by faith.  God forgives us our sins and so we forgive those who sin against us.

        We who worship the Most High must be free from anger and controversy.  Are we?

        Is there any anger in our men?  Any rage, bitterness, dysfunction, and dispute?  Free from anger is a high standard.  It is the standard of Churchmen.  Those called by Jesus.  Men, let’s live up to God’s charge here.  Let’s raise our hands up to God.  Clean hands and clear consciences, free from anger and controversy.  Not just two or three in a congregation.  Every man, to a man.  And let’s show by our thoughts and actions that we live out the Lord’s Prayer.  We forgive each person who has harmed or cheated us.  We give those over to the Judge who judges fairly.  We let the anger go.  And trust our Rescuer who is also our Judge and Fierce Defender.

        And free from controversy?  Yikes.  Are we?  Has a member of our church been in the news?  Scandals?  Cheating?  Worldy activities?  Have we repented of our sins and reconciled with those we’ve injured?  Are we treating our wives right?  Are we fighting with them and not serving them the way a man of Jesus should?  We must get this right.

        As servants of the Suffering Servant, we must act like it.  Let us raise our hands up to Jesus and show by word and deed that we have repented for any personal controversy right now.  Make it right.  Live justly.  Live holy lives.  Followers of Jesus are to be free of controversy.  It is a high standard.  So be it.  That is our standard for our relationships with God.

        We must have clear consciences and show that we do no wrong.  If we have wronged others, then we repent of that.  Immediately.  We make it right and apologize.  We live free of controversy.  This means that we live holy lives every day.  Hard, yes.  But it is our standard.

        We are intentional about the way we live.  We are cautious and plan well.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  We live free of anger and controversy meaning that we comply with the Law of Christ written on our hearts   And we comply with the laws of the authorities that God institutes - by God’s standards.  Every day and in every way.  It is no mistake that God first deals with the men in this chapter before talking about the women.  Men, the charge is first on us.  In our families and in every one of our communities and businesses, let’s work to live to the standard passed down from God’s command given here through Paul.

        I pray that we live up to God's standard, Amen.


Benjamin, ready for Christmas.


Comments

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear your comments, and if you have questions email me at dcbell1111@gmail.com.

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
 2 Timothy 3 - Are You a Christian, Christian?           Early in my legal career (I'd been practicing about five years and about five years into my Christian walk) I had an interesting encounter with the CEO of one of our firm’s clients.  It was 2001 and technology companies were thriving.           My neighbors in S.W. Calgary were Lebanese immigrants and faithful members of their mosque.  They were some of the best neighbors we’ve ever had.  They owned a bakery that made Pita bread.  I’ll never forget the day we took possession of that house.  As they often would in the eleven years we lived there, they brought me a big bag of fresh bread.  We shared many good conversations with them over the years.  I love them and I pray God blesses them.           My neighbors had a friend from the mosque who was the CEO of Wi-LAN - a publicly listed tech company that held patents for technology that was key to the Blackberry - and later many other mobile phones.  Wi-LAN made many in the mosq
Read more
-
Image
 Hebrews 6 - Faith and Endurance These next two chapters of Hebrews are incredibly encouraging for the Christian.  God gives us confidence and courage to do what we must.  When the whistle blows, be ready to go.  God in Heaven is developing your character; He’s preparing you to fight His battles.           We are responsible to grow.  We know that God repays people for the wrong they have done (Jeremiah 50:24).  And that God uses whomsoever He chooses as His instruments of justice (Jeremiah 50:20).  “For the LORD is a God who gives just punishment; he always repays in full” (Jeremiah 50:56). Thinking of God’s character is sobering, and good.  We know Jesus is the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.  In the next few chapters, we hear the truth about who Jesus is and our responsibilities to Him. Nearly 2,000 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of our King we are reminded that there are false teachers today - those leading people astray for power and greed - just as there
Read more
-
Image
 Hebrews 2:1-5 - Signs and Wonders - Miracles and Gifts I can shock myself at my inability to learn simple lessons.  They say just showing up is 90% of success.  Well, I’m confident inattentiveness, waffling, and ambivalence are keys to failure. In this passage, we hear yet again a warning to “listen very carefully” to God’s message or we run a real risk of total failure - drifting away from God (2:1).  With responsibility comes consequences.  Just ask any sentry, goaltender, place-kicker, or pilot.  You have a job to do - if you don’t do it well the results are clear.  So, let’s do it well. It’s the same as we develop and grow as Christians.  We have to make a decision to grow.  I've been reading about growthmindset lately and I think God is finally getting through to me.           It will not come as a shocker to any dad hooked on porn, a mom who has dabbled in an office romance, or the pastor who’s craftily swindled money from the church.  Christians can’t just casually li
Read more