“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” – 1 Timothy 6:18
Pastor Wil Pounds wrote the following in his message “Living the Christian Life”:
“There is only one person who can live the Christian life. Yes, it can be lived, but only by the Lord Jesus Christ.
To live the Christian life you must have the right one living it. The Christian life can be lived by Christ. It is His life, and it is exclusively His to be lived only by Him.
Have you found yourself ever trying to live the Christian life and feeling like a failure? The reason is it can only be lived in complete dependence upon Christ.
The Christian life is an exchanged life. It is lived in dependence upon Christ. You exchange your life for Christ’s life. That way He lives His life in and through you.
The apostle Paul explains, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).
Your life can pulsate with the living wonder of the Son of God living His life in you as you appropriate it by faith. When you do every demand upon you is a demand upon the Christ who indwells and infills you by His Spirit.
Is there any demand upon Christ that He cannot fulfill? Are you inadequate to meet some pressing need or demand? You may be, but Christ is not.
The demand is not on you, but upon Christ. Therefore, let your life be an endless exercise of faith in drawing from Christ all He desires of you. Do you need patience, wisdom, unconditional love, and strength? You can draw it endlessly from the One who lives and abides in you.”
The Christian life can be lived as we place all of our faith in Christ. Today in prayer, thank the Lord for every opportunity to do good and to glorify His name.
"The greatest thing is to be found at one's post as a child of God, living each day as though it were our last, but planning as though our world might last a hundred years." - C.S. Lewis
God’s Word: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2009, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN 1 TIMOTHY