Looking back/forward...

looking back/ forward....

After visiting over the holidays with some of my children and grandchildren, and looking for forward to the next set of holidays and more visiting with more children and grandchildren...the times together make me reminiscent of their growing up years, their lives into adulthood, each of our journeys/paths...the fires and joys we/they have seen, taken and will potentially face...
I can't worry about our futures, but plan as well as I possibly can with the proper documents for estate planning in place...but more than those documents, it is the example of Paul in 2 Timothy, that looms more important ...it is the interpersonal relationships of the past, present and future...

I am not trying to be morose or defeated or looking death in the face, but making sure to the best of my present ability I finish well, and that my descendants have that opportunity  and example...have I done my best, what do I need to improve... When to speak and when to stay silent...when do I need to encourage or admonish...when do I need to back off or move forward ...when do I hug or keep my distance...those fine lines of caring...

Thank YOU...for the family you have placed me into and given ....each is so unique...so special...and such a gift...guide us all in our lives, help us to listen to your voice in everything we do...


"The Power of His Presence

Looking Back

A daily devotion for November 29th

From your friends at RayStedman.org

Read: 2 Timothy 4:5-8
 
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

Paul uses three phrases that sum up his life's accomplishments. What would you say about your life if you were looking back and summing up in brief words what had been accomplished? Here are the apostle's words.

First, he says, I have fought the good fight. It is very important to see he did not say, I have fought a good fight, as he is often quoted as saying. If he had said that, it would be indicative of his view of how well he had done. It would be boasting: I've fought a good fight. I've pitched in there and done the right thing. But that is not what he says. He says, I have fought the good fight, meaning the significant fight, the great battle that life had presented to him.

Paul says, I have finished the race. That is another common figure in his writings. In Philippians 3 he describes that race: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, he says (Philippians 3:13b-14). The race, of course, is the Christian life itself, which is lived moment by moment, just as a race is run step by step. The question is whether you live each step in the flesh or in the Spirit, whether you are walking in the power of the new life you have from Christ or whether you are still running in the old ways of thinking, the old self-centered, fleshly, self-serving attitudes. Every moment is either contributing to reaching the goal for the prize or delaying it, wasting time in the flesh. Christians are called to run that race.

Third, the apostle says, I have kept the faith. He means by that the whole body of truth that is involved in the gospel, what he calls in 1 Corinthians God's secret wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:7a). This wisdom is totally different from the wisdom of this world. It is the truth that God tells us about ourselves and about Himself, about this world and why it is the way it is. It is the truth about the power of evil, the secret power of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7), and the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16) with which we can counteract evil. That is the faith that Paul is talking about. On the very edge of eternity he can say of himself, I have kept the faith. I have not lost any of the good deposit that God has entrusted to me. He has guarded it as a treasure, and he tells Timothy in turn to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you (2 Timothy 1:14). Paul has kept this treasure from being mistreated or distorted by those who would try to twist it and use it for their own purposes. He has answered its critics. He has warned those who would take it astray, as he does in this very letter; thus he has kept the faith.

Lord, grant me the grace to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith. Thank You that You are faithful to enable me to do that.

Life Application

Finishing well is a worthy aim. Are we clearly defining the journey? Have we grasped the power available in Christ to regularly encounter obstacles and counteract evil?

Related Message

For more on this portion of Scripture read the message:
The Passing of the Torch
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