Compiled By: Lisa K Gonzales
From: The Life Application Study Bible
1 “Timothy, my dear son, be strong with the special favor GOD gives you in Christ Jesus. 2You have heard me teach many things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:1-2
How can we “be strong with special favor”? That “special favor” refers to grace, GOD’s undeserved favor on our behalf. We are saved by GOD’s special favor – 8 “GOD saved you by HIS special favor when you believed. And you cannot take credit for this, it is a gift from GOD. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 – Our salvation and even our faith are gifts, we should respond with gratitude, praise, and joy. We should live by this gift – “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to Him”. – Colossians 2:6 – Receiving Christ as Lord of our lives is the beginning of life with Christ. But we must continue to follow His leadership by being rooted, built up, and strengthened in the faith. – “Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done.” – Colossians 2:7 – Christ wants to help us with our daily problems. The more we draw our strength from Him, the less we will be fooled by those who falsely claim to have life’s answers. If Christ is our strength, we will be free from human regulations. This means trusting completely in Christ and His power and not trying to live for Christ in our own strength. When we receive and utilize Christ’s power, He will give us the strength to do His work.
If the church were to consistently follow this advice, it would expand geometrically. Well taught believers should teach others and commission them in turn, to teach new believers. Disciples need to be equipped to pass on their faith; our work is not done until new believers are able to make disciples of others. – 12 “Their responsibility is to equip GOD’s people to do HIS work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of GOD’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:12-13 – GOD calls us as members of HIS body. Some of us can do one task; some can do another. But, together we can obey GOD more fully than any of us could alone. Working together, the church can express the fullness of Christ. – “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from GOD.” – Ephesians 3:19 – This “fullness” is fully expressed only in Christ. In union with Christ through His empowering Spirit, we are complete. We all have the fullness of GOD available to us. But we must appropriate that fullness through faith and through prayer as we daily live for Him. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is also for us. We can ask the Holy Spirit to fill every aspect of our lives to the fullest.
YOU saved us by YOUR special favor when we believed, Father GOD. We know that our salvation and even our faith are gifts from YOU, LORD, and we respond with gratitude, praise, and joy. We are strong with the special favor YOU give us in Christ Jesus.
Father, we pray that from YOUR glorious, unlimited resources YOU will give us mighty inner strength through YOUR Holy Spirit. We pray that Christ will be more and more at home in our hearts as we trust in Him. May our roots go down deep into the soil of GOD’s marvelous love. And may we have the power to understand, as all YOUR people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep YOUR love really is. We pray LORD, that we will experience the love of Christ, though it is so great we will never fully understand it. We pray that we will be filled with the fullness of life and power that come from YOU, Father GOD. We ask YOUR Holy Spirit to fill every aspect of our lives to the fullest. In Jesus name we pray.
Photo: Bar Harbor (Maine)
Photo By: Lisa K Gonzales
Click on photo to enlarge
