Entrusted - 2 Timothy 1:14

You know how you can read Scripture a million times for yourself and nothing really jumps out at you? And then you have a great teacher help you pick it apart and you realize what you've been missing? 

That's how I've felt this week as I've gone through Week 2 of #Entrusted Bible Study by @BethMooreLPM. 

First off, I've never stopped to think and ask "What's the 'good deposit'?" As Beth explains, it's the Gospel PLUS our gifting. That's what has been entrusted to us...to me. 

The Gospel is all about Jesus Christ:

• What He came for
• What He fulfilled
• What He has done for us
• What difference it has made for me

This message is what needs to remain as pure today from my lips as it was delivered from the disciples' lips. 

The gifting is what is unique to each and every believer. And here was another "Ah-ha" moment for me, when Beth used the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 to explain our gifting. God has given me, you, all of us, a special skill set that is expected to be used as we minister. Here's the thing, while we can do good things with our skills, it is only with the administration of the Holy Spirit that we can do supernaturally good things with our skills - our gifting is multiplied, exactly like the talents in the parable. 

It is these two things that have been entrusted to us and it is expected that we guard these things will all of our might. 

In this first chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul writes that we should not be ashamed of the good deposit and that we will likely encounter suffering as we guard it.

So how has this changed my thinking? What does this mean for me moving forward? 

• It has renewed my sense of purpose with the Gospel. I see the connection now between the message within it and my skills to deliver that message.
• I'm encouraged to be more diligent in the areas in which I serve. And it gives me hope for when I am wondering about the effectiveness of my service, I can trust that through God's power my efforts will be multiplied. 
• Finally, I am reminded that I need to brace myself for the times when this 'good deposit' may come under attack. 

I recently watched a clip of Ocean's Eleven where the guys are using the EMP to turn out the lights on the Vegas strip annd all the different cons that they run in order to break into the vault at the Bellagio just to get their hands on $160,000,000. 

We need to have our 'good deposit' held close in our hearts like it was in this kind of vault, knowing that evil will try every trick of the trade to distract us so that we are not paying attention, hoping to rob us blind. 

So guard up my friends! 

-bethany.

Romans 5:8

Ugh. Today I have to tell you something that I really don't want to confess. So please be kind and gentle and understanding and forgiving as I share how God is working on me...

Last week I posted this on my Facebook page:

And it occurred to me yesterday on my (almost) daily 2 mile walk that lately, God has been telling me to "pull myself together", after all, I am a child of the Most High God. 

So here's the deal, a few weeks ago, I was reviewing another memory verse, Psalm 139:2-24:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Now usually, I focus on the "anxious thoughts" because, well, I tend to have anxious thoughts sometimes. But on this special day, my mind wandered over to the "offensive way" portion of the passage. And so I dared to ask God, is there any offensive way in me?

Me: God, is there any offensive way in me?

God: You want to know what I find offensive? I'll tell you what I find offensive - the words that come out of your mouth. 

Me: That?

God: Yeah, that. What about that other verse you've memorized...Ephesians 4:29-32?

Me: Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

God: Go on...

Me: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

God: Go on...

Me: Git rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

God: You want to be my witness? Work on this. You are my child. I love you. 

And so as I work on becoming more conscientious about the words that are coming out of my mouth, I am also processing Romans 5:8. 

Knowing that I am a sinner, knowing that I'd have imperfect issues, habits, behaviors, and thoughts...Christ still died for me. That is mind-blowing. He didn't die for me because I was already righteous or even a good person (Ro 5:7). He died for me precisely because I wasn't those things; because I needed him to die in order to be made right before God. 

God is a good, good Father (title of a great song by Chris Tomlin, by the way...) and there is no end to his mercy - not giving us what we deserve - and grace - giving us what we certainly do not deserve. 

His forgiveness is gentle and healing and draws us in to a deeper relationship with Him. 

His love cannot be measured or matched. And it is because of this love, that he disciplines his children. He instructs us and guides us, so that we can experience as the Psalmist writes, the way everlasting. 

So, if you happen to stumble upon this post and you haven't yet taken God up on his offer of eternal life because you think that you're not good enough, let me tell you that you'll never be good enough, but God definitely is. And that's all that matters. 

Let God love you and forgive you. Accept that you are one of the ones that Christ died for. Yes, even you. 

Romans 6.23

The wages of sin is death. Period. End of story. It's non-negotiable.

but (and I think that this is the best big "but" in the Bible)

the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

God has offered us an alternative to the consequences of sin. But it's only good if we recognize that it cannot be separated from what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. 

Our eternal destiny is not some unsolved mystery. We know how it'll end - death or eternal life. There is no other option. And it's completely our choice. 

So if we reject death and elect living eternally, there are terms & conditions to which we need to agree:

1 - Accept that it is a gift. It's not something that can be bought. It's not something that is earned.

2 - Recognize that you are undeserving of this gift, that it is completely out of God's love for you that He is even offering to you.

3 - Accept that this gift is made possible because God's one and only Son paid for it with his life. 

Knowing these things, we humbly bow before God and with a contrite attitude we take and treasure this gift. 

In response, we vow to live lives that demonstrate our gratitude and the hope that we now possess. 

Romans 3.23

Continuing on my quest to memorize 100 verses recommended by Robert J. Morgan in his book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, I'm now working on what is referred to as the Roman Road, a set of verses that provides a framework for sharing the Good News. 

This simple verse pretty much sums up our need for receiving Jesus as our Savior. There's no getting around the phrase, "for ALL have sinned". No matter how nice and kind and generous and compassionate we are, we are all sinners.

This concept, I don't think, is too difficult to accept. Sure, I easily acknowledge that I will never be perfect like God who is the essence of purity and holiness. And when I have had conversations with others about this, they agree that they're sinners too. After all, it's impossible to be perfect. 

And so many people want to have a comfortable agreement with God that living a "good" life will be "good enough" to spend eternity in the Kingdom. But the cold, hard truth is that it's not good enough.

But verse 24 gives us some much needed hope. It says, "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". 

Translation: We are marked for good and made legitimate for free, at no cost to us, other than our belief that the debt Jesus paid on the cross was sufficient to set us right before God. 

This is the part that messes with people's heads, I think, because how can just believing this message be what God wants from us? How does that take all the wrongs in my life and make them forgiven? Having faith in Jesus can't be enough, can it?

It is. 

Over and over again in the New Testament we are instructed that faith in Jesus is all that is required to be washed clean of the sin that has accrued in our hearts and minds. 

This is what makes the Good News, so very wonderfully good enough.