God speaks today Thursday | December 14, 2023
And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.
(Joshua 14:10)But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
(2 Timothy 4:5) A Life Well Lived: Let's Run In Such A Way That We Get The Prize At The End
The Man with the Golden Helmet is a famous painting by Rembrandt that depicts an old soldier with a melancholic expression. This man has lived well and has not wasted his vitality on destructive pleasures or dishonest acts. Similarly, the apostle Paul was always on guard against himself and aimed to finish his ministry with honor. To achieve this, he embraced disciplines such as prayer, fasting, self-examination, and renouncing personal glory. Paul's farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus and his words to his spiritual son Timothy encourage running the ministerial career with legitimacy and finishing it with honor. The Christian life and service are filled with spiritual traps, and a glorious and worthy end is only attained through moral decisions made each day and a continually renewed vow of fidelity. Principles like honesty, humility, mercy, dependence on God's power, and a continuous search for fresh anointing will keep us spiritually vigorous and carry us from victory to victory in our Christian walk.
Read more...
Cross Reference
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
(2 Timothy 1:8)Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
(2 Timothy 2:3)And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
(Acts 21:8)And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.
(Colossians 4:17)Comments: