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Listen while you read: "Rise Up O Men Of God"1 (Lyrics) |
In conversation a few days ago with my good friend, Pastor John, I asked him this question, "John, how do you handle all that life throws at you, especially in times of illness?" His response was immediate and heartfelt. "God is always training us for something greater."
My response to him was to research how we can receive this training that he mentioned. Let's think about it for a few moments and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God's Word to us as found in this passage:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)
- First of all, we have to read and study our Bible faithfully.
- Secondly, we must listen to what God is saying to us as we read His Word.
- Thirdly, we must act on what God is asking us to do or not to do.
- Fourthly, we must be willing to be corrected and restored, and to live in harmony with God's will for our lives.
- Fifthly, we must be willing to be trained for something greater for His purposes and for His glory.
God's training in righteousness lasts for a lifetime. It can be rough, laborious, and strenuous. We will be challenged to the breaking point as we submit to His use of time and people and circumstances to sharpen us in self-control and patience. Just when we think that we have arrived spiritually, He asks us to love difficult people unconditionally, to accomplish His purposes on this earth.
This course begins the moment when we are saved and ends when we take our last breath. It does not qualify us for service outside the kingdom of God. It does not have a diploma that we can display. But we do get to hear from Him when we graduate, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23a NIV) I hope that you are as excited as I am about being enrolled in this training in righteousness.
Wouldn't all of us who claim to be followers of His Son Jesus want this amazing training in our lives to be complete, to be full and fulfilled so that we can be all that God created us to be, and be thoroughly equipped for every good work? I do!
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. We pray that You would use Your Word today to make us complete and to equip us for good work in Your kingdom all day long. O God, we love You and we love Your Word, and we pray for its full effect in our lives. We pray that You would help us to share this Word with others. We want to hide Your Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against You as we are being trained in righteousness. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!
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Amen, Stephen.
Good one. Thanks.
So true. God bless you.
Thank you, Stephen. Your practical advice from God’s Word is appreciated.
Thanks Stephen, a very thought provoking and learning devotional. Blessings.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging devotional with us today. To God be the glory! Blessings.
Great message to us all. We sometimes forget that we need to train in the Word in order to win the unsaved to Him.
I LOVE your prayer Stephen – and the principle of living a life ‘in training’. This is very encouraging. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Stephen, for sharing your thoughts today.
This devotional has helped me at a time in my life when I was feeling in need of direction.
Great, Stephen! You got it straight. Doesn’t make trials any easier, but there’s PURPOSE!
Bless you, once again for sound teaching!
Thank you, Stephen, for today’s devotion.
I like it very much.
Blessings,
(Québec)
Thank you for this. I was really moved by it because I am called right now to love two very difficult people, and it is a great reminder that the calling is from God Himself!
Grace and peace to you.
Wow, there’s a lot in here to process, I’ll need to read it a number of times to get it all. My first response was: yes, sign me up for this kind of training! Luckily God is patient with us, and we have a lifetime to learn.
Thanks for another great devotional, keep them coming!
Thank you, Stephen, for your excellent words in today’s devotional and the truly meaningful title of it. Yes, we sure need be obedient to God’s training and follow His guidance every step of the way in our daily lives.
Blessings for this very special writing and for your dedication to God’s training.
Good morning, Stephen,
In this world, we all need to be open to learning new things and God is always willing to help us be better. He never gives up on us, which is amazing. It might be two steps forward and one back; however we are still moving forward. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and helping us know that we can get through the good and bad times as long as we have faith. Blessings.
Thanks Stephen
You have reminded me of the prayer of Jabez, which I prayed fervently 23 years ago after moving from Ontario to BC. Within a short time, my life was so filled with the work God gave me that I thought I would be overwhelmed.
Today, still busy in retirement, I look back with much satisfaction on my engagement here, grateful for all God called me to, and its associated memories and friends.
God is good.
Good Morning,
Thanks for your devotional this morning. I have enjoyed reading what you have written.
My husband used to say that those verses in Timothy could be paraphrased this way: they show us – what is right, where we’re wrong, how to get right, and how to stay right.
That was always such a help to me when reading the Bible.
Thanks again for all of your devotionals. I volunteer as a chaplain at our local correctional center. I would like to photocopy and then read some of your devotionals or even parts of them to the inmates when I do a service. In the future, I may be allowed to visit one-on-one with the inmates again as I used to do. If so, I would like permission to give them a copy of your devotional, omitting your name for security purposes.
May God continue to bless you and again thanks for writing.
Thank you for your devotional, my friend!
Very encouraging!
Thanks.
Thank you, Stephen. I love this paragraph:
“This course begins the moment when we are saved and ends when we take our last breath. It does not qualify us for service outside the kingdom of God. It does not have a diploma that we can display. But we do get to hear from Him when we graduate, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:23a NIV) I hope that you are as excited as I am about being enrolled in this training in righteousness.”
A Ladies Bible Study I’m in has been studying David Jeremiah’s Slaying the Giants in Your Life, 12 chapters that get into the specifics of your devotional.