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1 Timothy 4:1-16 Devotional – Day 4

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

GOD IS FAITHFUL
Out of His faithfulness God honors His covenants and fulfills His promises. Our hope for the future rests upon God’s faithfulness. Psalm 89:1-8 

Psalm 89:1-4
I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.” You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’”

Praise God for His Faithfulness
Every promise God ever made, He has kept. It is no effort for Him to act faithfully and keep His word. He IS faithful. Praise God for faithfully keeping His covenant. Praise God for your future hope, because He is faithful to keep His promises.

CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100

SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.

  • Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
  • Pray for Christian Challenge. Ask God to minister to students tonight through the worship, through the teaching, and through the fellowship time. Pray that students who don’t know Christ would turn to him. Pray that students would be strengthened in the faith.

SCRIPTURE READING:
1 Timothy 4:1-16 – The Message
Teach with Your Life
4 1-5 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

15-16 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.

Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:

Olympic runner Eric Liddell who died on the mission field famously said about his physical training, “When I run I feel his pleasure.” He understood that all he did, he was to do as unto the Lord. For him faithfulness was the key. Whether he was training for an athletic event or sharing the gospel in another country, what mattered the most was being found faithful. Be careful that you do not divide your life into the “spiritual” and “non-spiritual.” Everything you do as a child of God is “spiritual”, to use that vernacular. Or perhaps it is better said, matters eternally. Changing a diaper, mowing the grass, doing good work, suffering with an illness, all of this, if done from a position of faith and love, matters eternally. We have the opportunity to “feel his pleasure” whatever we do. This is going to be true insofar as we train for godliness, not just in the “spiritual stuff” but in every single component of our lives. Do you have mundane things ahead of you today? See them as opportunities to train for godliness. Be faithful in the little, the small things, the hard things of your day. Train to know and love God.

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