NEED HELP? PAUL GIVES US FOUR INSTRUCTIONS.

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,
do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your
ministry.”
(2 Timothy 4:5)

MEDITATION:
As believers, we all have a desire to measure our faith, don’t we? We
want to be pleasing God and serving Him while we are living our lives
on earth. When we read the verse above, we might wonder,
    “Who is Paul talking to in this scripture?”
He is giving Timothy instructions which apply to all believers as well.
When we look at his instructions, we can see the value in what he tells
Timothy (and us) to do.

MEDITATION:
Who is Paul talking to in this scripture? He is giving Timothy instructions
which apply to all believers as well. When we look at his instructions, we
can see the value in what he tells Timothy (and us) to do.

“keep your head in all situations”
How do we do that? We learn to depend on the Holy Spirit (given to
us when we were saved) to help us. Depending on God’s provisions is
important. Why? Because it teaches us that we are not self-sufficient.
God wants our ‘dependence’ and not our ‘independence’.

“endure hardship”
Again we have to rely on God to help us. No one enjoys hardships, but we
will experience them in our lifetime. Hardships can be a reminder for us
to refocus our priorities. We can miss out on this opportunity if we fight
against the hardships.

Instead, we need to focus on what we need to learn from the experience(s).
A happy life is not just filled with sunshine, but it is also a life that can
handle the rain. As a general rule, there are many musicians who know
how to bring a song out of sadness or hardship. Paul and Silas were able
to sing praises to God while in a dark jail in Phillipi. Their endurance of
hardships resulted in the conviction of the warden of the jail.

“do the work of an evangelist”
As believers we are all representatives of God; we are His agents of faith.
As a result, we are tasked with sharing our beliefs with others. It doesn’t
mean we have to preach to everyone we meet, or become pastors, but it
does mean that we should be prepared to share our faith with others. We
never know when or where God will give us opportunities to share our faith.

“discharge all the duties of your ministry”
When God gives us His gift of salvation, He also gives us spiritual gifts.
He doesn’t give us these gifts for us to admire them and keep them to
ourselves. He gives them to us to be used as we serve Him in whatever
capacity He chooses. He expects us to ‘discharge’ (use) our spiritual
gifts to minister to others. It is important for every believer to discover
their spiritual gift (or gifts) and then use them as God expects them to
as members of His ministry team.

ACTION:
Pray and ask the Lord to help you depend more on Him and less on
yourself. It doesn’t mean you are becoming weaker; it means you are
allowing Him to become stronger in your life. When we depend more
on Him, we develop a closer fellowship with Him.

A closer relationship with the Lord will help us to ‘endure hardships’,
‘do the work of an evangelist’, and use our spiritual gifts. It will also
give us the ability to ‘keep a level head’ and ‘develop patience’ when
everything around us seems very dark, or in turmoil.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me and equipping
me to become one of Your disciples. Show me the spiritual
gift You have given me, and teach me how to use it in my
efforts to serve where You have called me. Thank You for
loving me and valuing me enough to consider me as one of
Your evangelists. Remind me that You may not have called
me to be a full time evangelist or pastor, but You have called
me to serve You where I am. You have placed me in a unique
spot, with a unique gift to be used in pointing others to Your
Son, Jesus. Help me to embrace the value and responsibility
of this new role as a child of Yours, and to rely on You for
courage and guidance in my efforts to fulfill Your calling
for me.”

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