Paul Archives – Page 3 of 5 – Sonshine's Journal

March 25, 2015

The Power of Words

According to statistical studies women speak far more than men. In fact a study revealed that women speak an average of 20,000 words while men only speak 7000 words in a day. Paul encouraged Titus to “speak (to older men, to older women, to younger men and bondslaves) the things fitting for sound doctrine…speak and exhort and reprove with all authority” This is appropriate for us as well for we are to be about sharing the gospel message of the one who “redeemed us from every lawless deed to purify for Himself” a people for Himself.

As we speak do we speak with all authority? Both Moses and Jeremiah were aware of their weakness in this area: “Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough” God reminded them both: “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” [Exo 4:11] God reached out and touched the mouth of both that they would have the words to speak for Him. The psalmist wrote: “My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be understanding” which only can come when we take time to meditate upon His Word and as Paul told the Philippians to “think about whatever is true, respectful, just, pure, lovely, commendable” and to “practice” it moment by moment. [Phil 4]

May this be our prayer today “You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it would give grace to those who hear. “[Eph 4:29]

March 20, 2015

How Forgiving Are We?

Today as in the days of Paul, we may face circumstances when all those who once stood by our side forsake us and we stand alone. How do we respond when this happens? Paul has learned his lessons well and he learned the art of forgiveness from the lips of Jesus “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” and the first martyr Stephen, whose cloak he held, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” [Acts 7] Now Paul can say about those who have abandoned him in his time of deep distress: “may it not be counted against them.” That is true grace.

We must be ready in season and out of season because there will come a time when we must be ready to offer forgiveness for these who once stood beside us but now have forsaken us and like the words of Jesus: we must forgive not seven times but forgive with no limits. [Mt 18] It is now that we come back to the Word and remind ourselves, that we have “been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…” We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who gives power to forgive even the most unforgivable remembering this truth: although men may fail you the “Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”[Deut 31/Heb 13] This is mature faith, true grace and true humility.

February 25, 2015

People of the Cross

This image has gone viral across the internet. The words of ISIS reverberate across our consciousness and the question arise: Are we really the people of the Cross? It is then that I recall the words of Joseph: “Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose….” What good can come out of something like this? It is this that OM Harris a blogger friend recently wrote: “We have a mandate to live in anxious anticipation, and in so doing I preach a gospel of repentance” Am I living in anxious anticipation? Do I really believe that God’s good will come from this? That is what a true “people of the Cross” do.

This is the same message Paul left with the Ephesian elders as he met with them for the last time. “testifying …about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus….But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.” [vs 21/24]. Later Paul would write: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!” [2Ti 4:7]

But the race is not over! Until then we are the “people of the cross” with the message of truth: Jesus alone is The Way, The Truth, and The Life! We are to be busy about testifying about the gospel message even when the wolves rear up. Remember this promise: Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has a plan,” and it will be fulfilled. [Isa 14] Listen to these words: “Obedience is better than crumbling to the fears of speaking out.” [O.M. Harris] Be faithful to pray that God release his angelic legions, miraculous signs and wonders so that the wolves’ mission of destruction is hindered; that they may have dreams that will convict and turn them from unbelief to the true Messiah. And how do we pray for ourselves? We must pray that we remain steadfast as the “people of the cross” and join Paul in saying: “I do not consider my life worth anything to myself.”

Are we truly the “people of the Cross?” That is the question of the day.

February 17, 2015

Give God Glory

Luke wants us to follow his train of thought as he seeks to remind his reader of these principles: “The chief end of man is glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

Herod was an example that lived by neither and in fact sought his own glory. Luke teaches us through the illustration of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, where a lame man is healed, that it is God alone who deserves glory. Seeing a lame man healed, the entire town erupts and seeks to glorify them. But, unlike Herod who accepted what was due God, Paul and Barnabas shouted, tore their clothes and said: “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.”

When pagans (unbelievers) know not the living God and seek to glorify us we must do as Paul; present God as Creator and ourselves as the creation always seeking to give God his glory and the praise due to him alone. Paul wisely used God’s creation first for this reveals “God’s invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature.” Yet is not creation that points men to the Savior and their need of salvation; it is the very breathed inspired Word of God. Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [2Ti 3:16] “so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”[Rom 15]

June 8, 2014

Proverbs gives us clues on true friendship: Note: there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother; or a friend loves at all times. At the end of this precious letter to the Ephesians we come across this statement: “Tychicus, my dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know about my circumstances, how I am doing.” Digging through Paul’s letters we unearth some points of who he was and lessons we can glean from his life.

Tychicus is mentioned in the book of Acts where Paul identifies him as from Asia Minor. It is here that we meet him as Paul introduces him to us as a friend of Trophimus and together they join Paul and his team. Paul entrusted the collections for the saints in Jerusalem to him along with a group of men who accompanied Paul on his way there which gives us another clue to his character. Paul included him in four of his epistles and he accompanied Paul on his journey from Macedonia to Jerusalem where this collection was given. It appears that he was with Paul when he was in prison in Rome and became the courier of the letters of Colossians and Ephesians, Philemon and perhaps 2Corinthians. As a trusted servant, Paul gave him the task of returning the converted runaway slave Onesimus back to Philemon. In Ephesians 6, Paul describes him as a dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord. He includes the word “minister” in his closing of the letter of Colossians.

Tychicus is a picture of a faithful friend and servant; nothing asked was too hard or cumbersome. “Being ‘faithful’ also means that he was loyal to the Word. He was the ideal man therefore, to send to Colosse at a time when heretics were knocking at the door. He taught the Truth accurately and plainly, as one utterly bound to his high commission.” [Dr. Peter Masters] He was proven trustworthy, reliable, loyal and an encourager. Paul sent him to Crete to minister along with Titus and to Ephesus so Timothy could come to Rome and be with Paul for a season. In other words, Tychicus was ready to stand in wherever needed!

As you read scripture and come across names such as Tychicus, take time to ask who this person was. Study their lives and then ask am I a man/woman such as Tychicus? Do I seek not my own light but only the Light of the World, Jesus Christ? Tychicus is an example of one who learned at the feet of Paul and then was competent to teach others as well. He is the epitome of one who found his strength in the Lord as it says vs 10 “be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.” Are you a Tychicus?

March 24, 2014

Titus 1 “To Further the Faith”

I love this picture because it really speaks to my heart. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me, after studying Matthew 25 for my Bible Study, that there is a place in my life where I am not using the talents that God has placed before me. There may not be a place for me in “this church”…they seem to have no need for whatever reason (a.k.a. you have not been here long enough to which I said “huh?”). However, there is a neighborhood nearby and I should be impacting them in some way. I do pray for my neighbors but what am I doing practically speaking? Thus this brings us to this old saying that goes like this: If you fail to plan you really are planning to fail. That in a nutshell is what Paul is saying in vs 1 of Titus as he begins this letter. He notes that he is not only a servant (doulos…bondservant) of Christ but also an apostle (for us ambassador). He then explains his purpose in life which is to further the faith of God’s chosen ones. Hampton Keathley III gives us a way to see this phrase:

In the Greek the words “to further” is kata. “kata may be used of (1) the norm or standard by which something is done, “according to, in accordance with”; (2) of the goal or purpose, “for the purpose of, for, to”; or (3) of reference or respect, “with reference to, with respect to.”

The challenge before us is to determine what God’s purpose is for our lives and then implement that purpose in a radical way. For example, if God has given you the talent of teaching then you should be using it for His church. If He has given you the talent of hospitality you should be using it to reach others for Christ either in your church or in your neighborhood. If we fail to plan on using these talents then one day we might hear these words: “the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” When we take the risk and step out to use the talents God has given to us as Paul did then we are true disciples. Paul’s plan was to further the faith of the elect/God’s chosen ones. He was given a mission and as he told King Agrippa “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” He set out to not only evangelize but also to edify those whom God put in his path. Thus at the end of his life he could say “2Ti 4:7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!”

If we fail to plan then we have achieved nothing and in fact are being disobedient. Our timidity and lack of planning leads to a loss of joy, a loss of rewards in eternity, a loss of hearing “well done thou good and faithful servant.” We have failed to plan and thus have planned to fail. It is up to us.

Where will you and I leave our footprint in the lives of others this week? What plan will you and I implement this week as part of furthering the faith of those who are in the Body of Christ and to serve others outside the Body of Christ?

March 19, 2014

“Who is Your BFF and Are You a BFF?”

The teens of today have coined a phrase “BFF” to mean Best Friend Forever! I hear this a lot from them and it always brings a smile. If you ask them what qualities a “BFF” has, you hear always ready to listen, is there for me when no one else is and more. Isn’t it wonderful that our true BFF is Jesus who sticks closer than a brother and in return we show Him that we are His BFF by doing what he commands us to do. Today in our first chapter of the letter that Paul sent to Timothy there are two men who truly stand out as two of Paul’s BFF’s.

The first is Timothy. He is Paul’s dear child in the faith, and Paul longs to see him but because he is now incarcerated in a Roman dungeon cell with only a hole in the ceiling for air, food and water, it seems like a far off dream. He yearns that one day he will once again see his beloved Timothy. Therefore, Paul labors to send him an encouraging note to stay the course, “Hold to the standard of sound words that you heard from me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protect that good thing entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit.” He reminded timid Timothy that God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control and that he should not be ashamed of Paul’s imprisonment. God would use it for His glory.

The second is Onesiphorus, a quiet yet determined saint who traveled a long distance to encourage his BFF Paul in Rome having heard of his imprisonment. This precious BFF is one who searched all of Rome looking for him and what a blessed reunion when Onesiphorus found Paul! He stayed the course by coming to refresh Paul, openly showing his loyalty and true friendship in a time when the Emperor Nero was on the warpath looking for others to also throw to the lions and blame for his problems. Yet, Onesiphorus, unlike Phygelus and Hermogenes and perhaps Timothy, was unashamed and became the “wind beneath the apostle’s wings” when Paul was all alone. He truly understood that wherever one is they can be content and be used of God. Therefore, he came searching that he might fulfill this verse out of Proverbs: As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend. It was because of that that Paul could pray this for Onesiphorus: May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!

One of the themes of this book will be to “Encourage One Another.” Would you say that you are an Onesiphorus or a Timothy to someone in need of refreshing? Who will you encourage today?

March 17, 2014

“With God there is No Fear”

King David seemed to always be on the run from King Saul’s army. David often found refuge in the Judean wilderness and in its many caves which were deep and cavernous. We read of one such time while hiding in a cave that Saul entered to relieve himself. What an opportune moment! David secretly cut off the edge of Saul’s robe but afterward his conscience bothered him and he restrained his men from rising up against Saul saying he is the “Lord’s chosen one.” This may or may not be the backdrop of this psalm but we can learn a principle from this psalm he authored: David was confident of the Lord God Almighty’s protection until God saw fit to remove Saul according to His time frame and in His way. Today, we all may be facing the foes, the stumbling blocks that the enemy has placed in our path just as David did. Can we like David echo these words: The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

The prophet Nahum knew this truth as David did. Listen to what he wrote: “The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.” Thus Nahum as David knew this truth: God is “is a more secure hiding place than any mountain, hill, or great city, like Nineveh, when people face trouble.” As we have been reading the life of Paul we have come to know him personally in his struggles, his commitment to the Lord. Thus when Paul penned the book of Romans he shared with this group of believers this same truth of why he had no fear of men or governments or any other foe that the enemy would place before him and why he was safe in the arms of the God he served: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Beloved, where has the enemy come to distract you through the avenue of fear? Will you like David, Nahum and Paul quote this verse as your defense against him and his forces that they may flee your very presence? “The Lord delivers and vindicates me! I fear no one! The Lord protects my life! I am afraid of no one!”

March 12, 2014

1Tim 2 “Prayer Warriors”

Do you know of anyone you might call a “prayer warrior?” I knew a precious lady who was in my Bible Study who was nearing the 100 yr mark in her life. She would often arise as early as 5 a.m. When I asked her why she got up so early she told me “if I don’t get up then I can’t get all my praying in before I start my day at 9.” Talk about being put to shame and what a model of living life in the presence of God! The NT is replete with men and women who model for us what it means to be true prayer warriors and Paul is one of them.

As Paul is writing to his beloved Timothy he urges him to remain in Ephesus to help this precious group of saints to remain faithful to the doctrine he had taught them. In chapter one he reminded Timothy of the God whom he serves. Today in chapter 2 Paul underscores the power of prayer.

First is the instruction for prayer and its subsequent reasons: “requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity”

Secondly the purpose of prayer: God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” thus echoing Peter’s words “The Lord ….does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” [2Pe 3:9] and the words of Matthew “ In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.” [Mat 18:14]

Thirdly, Jesus is our mediator or intermediary between God and humanity and thus when we pray, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us unlike the sigh of Job who said “Nor is there an arbiter between us…” Jesus has paid the price and thus has the right, the privilege and the honor of being our mediator.

Paul continues on with these words of counsel: “I want the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands and likewise the women.” Prayer is something both men and women can do with holy hands coming before the Father that His will for all men to be saved can be accomplished.

March 5, 2014

“Kept by God’s Power”

Andrew Murray was a prolific author who wrote over 240 books and as a man of prayer he has inspired many. It is said that “God used each trial to remove all that hindered his devotion to Christ.” In one of his publications he quoted Peter who wrote : “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which… hath begotten us again unto a lively hope …and are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” That is where we find Paul today in Acts 25…being kept by God’s power that he might fulfill His assignment that Paul would “carry the name [of Jesus] before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.” Yesterday, Paul had the open door to bring Jesus Christ to the Governor Felix but after two years he saw no fruit. Have you witnessed over and over and yet seen no fruit? Take heart you are not alone. Today, Paul will have the opportunity to present Jesus Christ and His resurrection to a new Governor, Festus and King Agrippa and his sister, Bernice. Tomorrow we will hear his message and see the response–so stay tuned!

What things do we learn in this chapter that should encourage us? One is that we are kept by the power of God until our work is finished on this earth and for Paul that is a future event for Jesus promised him that he would one day be in Rome to preach to Nero and other notables. Secondly, as Andrew Murray explained: “We are begotten again to an inheritance kept in Heaven for us; and we are kept here on earth by the power of God.” And so we see that God’s keeping power has preserved Paul for yet another opening to present the truth of the resurrected Christ to those in need of hearing the gospel. This reminds us of another person, Queen Esther, who was “kept” by God’s power in her position so that she might be available to seek the removal of an edict to destroy all Jews that Haman had sought through flattery and falseness (ring a bell?) from King Ahasuerus.

Stop Beloved stop and think…why are you here? It is so that you, like Queen Esther, Paul and many others through the centuries may be strategically placed to present Christ to those who are lost and will one day enter a Christ-less eternity if it were not for you. This should cause us to reflect upon each divine opportunity God gives to us each day. Will you humbly thank God for each one you meet either personally or in cyberspace and be prepared as Paul was to present Christ?