Thursday 8 Mar 2012

Thursday Reading: 2 Timothy 4:14-18

Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:17
17  But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and that all the nations might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Devotion:
One thing that we all face at one time or another is someone who says they are a friend, only to turn out to be someone we don’t really want to know. People have this thing about them where they will say one thing and do another. Throughout God’s Word we have been shown time and time again how man has said one thing and gone off to do another... how can we place any faith and trust in someone who is willing to do that to us? Well, thankfully, God is nothing like us and He continues to uphold His Word throughout everything!

Then there are going to be the people who God has warned us about – those people who pretend to be on our side but are secretly working to their own designs. The men and women we meet that say they are here to help us but are working against us and against God. Oh how we try to not think about them and try to think good of everyone that we meet; but if people are not working for God they are by definition working against Him.

The disciples had their faith share of people that were working against God trying to get their own ways in life and not caring about those around themselves – and even some who did care about those around them but did not care for God. The more that we stand up for God, the more we may find out that there are some people out there who will rise up against us when we try to stand. It is not a nice thing to have your character damaged just by something someone else has said; so when people say that ‘words will never harm you’ you can take it from the apostles that words run deep and harm more than anything physical.

But as long as we are willing to stick up for God and to listen to His will, we will be able to see just how much He does do for us and how much He does protect us. When He said that we should not have any temptation given us that we may not be able to stand up to it was not a glib statement to say that we would never be tempted but one stating that we should not have to stand up to those temptations by ourselves. The more we work for God the more worms will crawl out of the woodwork and the more we may be faced with people working against us; but we can be sure that God is with us all the way. We must remember that our strength comes from God.

Points to Ponder:
What do others say when you tell them you’re a Christian?

Do you depend on God for strength?