Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
… nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.
Summary: Nourishment is essential for healthy living. This is true for our faith as well as our bodies.
Good nourishment is essential for growth. This is true for house plants, garden vegetables, and people. People who don’t get proper nourishment struggle to survive, let alone grow.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:6b – Spiritual Food”
If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus…
Summary: Paul’s admonition to “point out” certain things makes us wonder what Paul was referring to.
Have you ever wondered what Paul means by “these things” in this passage? Is he talking about just the things in the last paragraph, or is he talking about his whole letter so far?
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:6a – Paul’s Points”
… and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
Summary: Paul’s instruction about food provides a jumping-off place for understanding the frictions between Jew and Gentile and a warning against falling under false “religious laws.”
When I was about five years old, my parents moved to a small mill town on the Willamette River. Our house overlooked the river, and the street we lived on was named “River Street.” Most of the property around our house was undeveloped woods, but nearby was another house owned by the town dentist. He had two children about the same age as my brothers and me.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:4b-5 – Achin’ for Bacon”
For everything God created is good…
Summary: “Good,” it is said, “is relative.” That can mean a lot of things, but mostly it means we need to see things as God sees them.
“If everything God created is good, why is there so much evil in the world?”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:4a – Strange Stories”
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
Summary: Paul’s message in this passage might seem complicated to some, but to those who know God’s Word, he is pointing the way to the answers to our questions.
Before we dive too deeply into this passage, let’s review the larger context.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:3 – Secret Decoder Ring”
Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
Summary: What is the Gospel and what isn’t? This is the question that Paul wants us to be able to answer with confidence.
If I am being honest, I have to admit that writing meditations on Paul’s letter to Timothy is difficult.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:2 – Discerning Truth”
[The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith] and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Summary: Paul points back to the origin of deception to help us see the danger of listening to anything other than Christ.
In our last meditation, “For or Against?,” we explored two possible views about what “abandon the faith” might mean.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:1b – Calling Jesus”
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith…
Summary: Paul’s statement about “later times” leads us to wonder what he means by “abandon the faith.”
Believe it or not, this passage is a troublemaker.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 4:1a – For or Against?”
Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
Summary: Looking back at the whole passage allows us to consider what it really is.
Before we move on, let’s take a moment to look at this verse as a whole.
Continue reading “1 Timothy 3:16 (All) – All About Jesus”
[He] was taken up in glory.
Summary: To be ‘taken up in glory’ suggests that someone was there to give glory to Jesus. Who, what, and how become the quest in this meditation.
The last line of Paul’s poetic description of “the mystery from which true godliness springs” is that Jesus was “taken up in glory.”
Continue reading “1 Timothy 3:16g – Glory, Glory! “