Prayers for nights and days. Revelation tells us God inhales our prayers like incense. The candles represent lots of prayers. Days in prayer.
2 Timothy 1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,2
To Timothy, my beloved child:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to[with] a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,[before times eternal] 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.[or what I have entrusted to him] 13 Follow the pattern of the sound[healthy] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
15 You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.
The Scriptures have so many intimate details bringing the millenniums closer. Like Acts 12, when the Angel of the Lord has to tell Peter, "Get your coat." Peter was confused at the time, was he was having a vision or in actual time. Prison would be disorienting.
So Paul is telling us of suffering, egads these saints whine. Okay maybe not, see verse 16, Paul is in chains.
I was looking at family pictures of Rome, my mother was telling me about seeing Paul's Chains, in his Church namesake, where his remains are, in Rome. St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Wall. I was skeptical, asking if she felt anything seeing the chains, she said yes and she had done some research. They knew for certain what prisons operated during the time of Paul, these were the chains, as chains do not wear out. People wear out, chains don't.
The details. Paul tells us about his prayers for Timothy, the one Paul calls his child in the LORD.
I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day
Well let's think about prayer as a constant conversation. Paul also says this, in Philemon:
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
and tells Philemon, not only how Paul loves him, but the prayers about Philemon:
4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ
Now that is realistic prayer. We don't remember to pray for everyone, even loved ones.
Paul is a Jewish Christian, yet he does not feel cut off from his loved ones.
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
Paul is in prison proclaiming,
God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
If you needed one brief explanation to find out why Paul has given up a prosperous career; Why?
Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us
~ to light through the gospel
Ephesians 2:20
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me
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1 comment:
Hello Val,
Thank you for taking the time to comment on the blog. I believe very strongly in comments on teaching, good conversation is important to fellowship and growth. And kindly conversation.
Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
♔Lord Jesus Saves † I really love to have dialogue not beginning with the evil one.
Heaven, the Kingdom of God, is a very important part of the Christian faith. We are infinitely dependent on Jesus Christ our Lord for everything.
Luke 10
1 7The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Matthew 25:46
46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 5:22
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 18:8-9
8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire
Mark 9:48
Where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'
Jesus speaks.
Matthew 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt 25:30
And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[a messenger of God (the phrase echoes a common Old Testament expression)] may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Jude 6,7,13,
6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,[flesh] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
Joel 3
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
Acts 17:28
For in him we live and move and have our being’;as even some of your own poets have said,“‘For we are indeed his offspring."
Ephesians 2:20
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
Romans 10:9
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
♔Lord Jesus Saves †
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