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Gleanings From The Word

Category: 1 Timothy

  • Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

    resprouter, a tree growing from the stump of an older logged tree. Its standing on the shoulder of giants

    This resprouter caught my eye. It’s a tree that’s growing directly on the stump of an older tree that’s been logged. Trees like this are literally standing on the shoulders of giants.

    From the very earliest days of the church, we’ve been standing on the shoulders of Giants.  Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna and Papias of Hierapolis all had close ties to John the Apostle. Perhaps those names mean nothing to you, but they are some of the early church fathers who held the gospel dear in the generation that followed the first Apostles.

    Clement of Rome and Linus (the first pastor or bishop of Rome) knew Paul personally.

    Both Linus and Polycarp knew Timothy. Paul admonished Timothy about his doctrine.

    Hold to the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 1:13-14

    Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16

    The line of people who, with the power of the Spirit, helped write, preserve, transmit and protect the Scriptures through the ages is incredible. Men and women gave their lives to protect the Word. Countless people risked their lives to distribute it.

    Men and women have fought to keep true doctrine and to clearly articulate the traditions and theology we hold dear. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.

    We have the Scriptures in many languages and translations. We have the extant writers of the early church fathers. We have the thoughts of the great theologians and preachers available at our fingertips. We have the works of many related disciplines to help us study.

    Commentaries. Lexicons. Dictionaries. Maps. Sermons. And more are more available to us than to any generation that went before us. Yet our Bibles are often dusty, and we frequently remain babies in the faith.

    We are without excuse in not knowing more. This side of glory, we will never understand it all (and maybe not even then), but God has generously given us the tools we need to grow.

    What’s holding you back?

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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  • There Is No Fruit of the Spirit without Holy Spirit

    There Is No Fruit of the Spirit without Holy Spirit

    puffball mushrooms

    Ah, the humble mushroom. There are approximately  20,000 classified varieties, with more being catalogued all the time. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. These colorful and often strange-looking organisms have been used in cooking and traditional medicine for millennia.

    This morning’s pic is a puffball mushroom, one of several varieties. Actually, that isn’t quite accurate. This is the fruit of a puffball mushroom.

    The puffy bodies of mushrooms that we are familiar with are only a small part of the mushroom. The larger portion of the fungus is its extensive mycelium, hidden beneath the earth or other substrates.

    The mycelium can be massive. According to one source, “The largest known living organism on earth is a fungus – an underground mycelial mat of the honey fungus in the Blue Mountains of Oregon, covering an incredible 2,385 acres.”

    If there is no mycelium, there is no mushroom fruit.

    The same holds true in the spiritual realm. If there is no Holy Spirit at work in us, there can never be fruit of the Spirit.

    For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:11-14

    The Holy Spirit allows us to discern things of the Spirit. It gives us the seed to grow spiritually. We nurture those seeds through spiritual disciplines such as reading Scripture, prayer, worship, serving, fasting, confession of sin, and more.

    All the spiritual disciplines in the world cannot grow the fruit of the Spirit if we don’t have Him. People of many faiths practice spiritual disciplines, in truth, often putting Christians to shame with their devotion and faithfulness. Yet, in the end, their efforts will prove fruitless because they don’t have Him. 

    Are you seeing the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Certainly, fruit is seasonal, and some fruit takes longer to mature than others, but if there is none, there is a problem.

    You may need to stop and ensure you are right with the Lord. Then you need to nurture what He has provided. 

    My prayer is that you become increasingly conformed into the image of Jesus and bear a vast harvest of the fruit of the Spirit. May your life reflect Him well.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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    Fruit of the Spirit
    Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12