Thoughts on 1 Timothy 6

1 Timothy 6:12 “For the love of money is the root of all evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

In his letter to the young leader and preacher, Timothy, the apostle Paul was warned Timothy about the danger of desiring to be rich opposed to, and in contrast to, the beauty of contentment and godliness.  Before this famous quote about the love of money, Paul had been talking about the great gain of godliness and contentment when combined together and how ”…those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.”  Why?  What is wrong with riches and money?  Why is it wrong to love money? To me, it is an issue of the condition of our hearts.  It is a symptom of greed.  Greed is never satisfied and opposes contentment.

Paul exhorted Timothy to flee the love and desire for riches and to “…pursue r...

Sometimes, it is painfully difficult to look for the goodness of God, to believe we will see His goodness in our midst, in our life situation, in the season of pain, sorrow, confusion or the journey through the dry and dark wilderness.  Our soul may be full of the drink of fear, despair, or anger.  We may not even want to look for the goodness of God…  we’ve lost the “want to”.

Why should we look for the goodness of God?  Because He is intrinsically, wholly, purely GOOD and all that goodness is.  If we are His own beloved child, we have this promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.  Which means His pure, loving goodness will never leave us and His goodness is a transforming power.

King David knew this when he cried out that even in the uttermost part of the sea or in the darkest night, “Even there Your hand shall lead me and Your right hand shall hold me.”  (Psalm 139:10)

Looking for God’s goodness in our midst of today may require us to look back and remember/see all the ...

Because of life events, painful circumstances, shame or guilt, things done to us or things we have done or haven’t done, we as a branch, united to the vine or olive tree, may begin to wither and dry up as we succumb to unbelief and unbelief sets in our soul and our hearts.  We become more and more unable to drink from our source of life.  We are in danger of becoming, as Jesus described “cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). Such is the serious, severe effect, consequence, and fruit of unbelief.  Unbelief like an unseen pest eating up the branch from the inside, destroying, blocking, and preventing the absorption of the nutrient sap from the vine or oil from the olive tree. An interesting fact about the destructive little bark beetle is that it looks for the drought stressed trees to enter into that are not strong enough to overcome the invasion.  When unbelief begins to replace our abiding trust, our ...

Sometimes, life may require us to do things that are not joyful, but hard, tedious, time consuming or stressful. Or we may find ourselves in a dark valley where our hearts are weighed down by heavy burdens, pain and sorrows that are like dark stormy clouds blocking the sun.  These times, seasons and activities can be exhausting and take so much attention and life from us that JOY seems to be smothered by the demands, burdens and cares.  It is in these times, in this place and these seasons we must dig deep to find and draw forth the precious gift, strength and beauty of joy; to choose joy, to fight for joy…  to be joyful… to keep joy set before us, to create joy and discover joy in our midst, in the midst of the unjoyful.

I heard a quote in the last year, I’m not sure who said it, that went something like this: some people wait to by joyful or hope for joy when the hard times are over or passed, the victory won.  But others create and choose joy now, in the midst of, and in spite of, ...

There is peaceful rest for the soul that comes from the Spirit of God to the one who trusts in God with all their hearts, with an abandoned trust that forsakes all other refuge.  A rest that is tranquil, peaceful, free from internal conflict, quiet, still, and free from distress.  A condition and/or state of heart and soul regardless of outward conditions.  It is a bonus that comes with the gift of peace Jesus gives.  His peace to those who trust in Him… and is our eternal inheritance. 

I have experienced this peaceful rest at different times in my life.  Though it is mine, a gift given to me, I have not always been aware of it or received it in my heart.  I have discovered that it is deeply connected to a continual, growing, intimate walk with Jesus.  It flows from a simple, sweet, abiding trust in Him.  I must confess that the sweetness, the rest and power of abiding trust is not always my experience.  Sometimes I become frozen with fear, sometimes the cares of this world and my hea...

Why is it so important to declare the deeds of God, to mention that His name is exalted, to sing about the excellent things He has done, to declare His wondrous works and to cry and shout about how awesome and glorious He is?  Among many other reasons, it is because sometimes our burdens become so heavy and the afflictions of our soul and heart so “great” that they become what we focus on, what we speak about, what we are declaring.  We make them greater than the greatness of God Whose greatness cannot be measured (Psalm 145:2), Who is an unending well of salvation and source of everlasting strength.  He is the “greater” in our midst…  The “midst” being whatever we are living or experiencing right now, this moment.  When we declare that He is great, He is our salvation, He is our strength and song, we experience His comfort.  Comfort comes to the heart of those who have put their trust in God alone.  When we make our burdens “great in our midst” we are overcome with sorrow, exhaustion ...

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

In the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz” Dorothy, and her little dog Toto, were unexpectedly thrust into a dark, whirling, and destructive storm that lifted her house into the air and caused it to land in an unknown land far away from home.  Amazingly, Dorothy and Toto survived and were in wonder as to where they were.  The famous line from Dorothy “Toto we are not in Kansas anymore” expressed the wonder and fear as to where they found themselves.  The cry and prayer of her heart was how to find a way back home.  A good witch appeared and told her only the Wizard of Oz could help her and Toto back home.  Dorothy made “the decision” to find the Wizard.  The Good Witch gave her special shoes for the journey and told her to follow the “yellow brick road” which would lead her to the Wizard who could get her home again.

Her decision to go opened-up the way.  It would be an unknown, long, and dangerous journey, but she was determined to follow the yellow brick r...