2nd Timothy study, Part 27

Hi y'all! Hope y'all are having a great week so far, and a good hump day! We just might finish the study today! Let's see! Remember to pray before we begin today. Oh, btw, remember how I had to cut it short yesterday? Well, today we get to see what Paul was going to say in verse eighteen.

18. And the Lord shall deliver from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for every and ever. Amen.

19. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

20. Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

21. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.

22.The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

Verse eighteen is a part of what Paul was talking about in the previous couple verses. That's why I wanted to do it yesterday, but didn't have time. The cool thing about this verse is that you can almost feel Paul's courage. You can see how sure he was, how much he relied on God to bring him through. He says, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom." He doesn't say that he thinks that God might deliver him from some evil works. NO! He says for a fact that God will deliver him, no doubt about it! God will not only deliver him, but he will deliver him from every single evil work! Amazing faith! What amazing faith!

And, not only deliver him from every evil work, but he says that God will also "preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom." I think, that that means that he knows that he is saved, and when he dies (died) that he will go up to heaven to be with God!

He ends that verse by praising God, he says, "...to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Basically, he is saying, not to me, but to God, be all the glory for ever and ever and ever! Never ending glory!

In the last few verses, Paul is telling Timothy to greet some certain people, and telling him that certain people greet him. Let's look and see who they were....

1. Prisca and Aquila. In some versions Prisca is Priscilla. I don't know why it's different, but they are the same person. Priscilla and Aquila were a couple that lived at the same time of Paul, they were Christians, and they opened up their home to be used as a church. To read more about Priscilla and Aquila, click here.
   
2. The household of Onesiphorus. Remember him from chapter one? Paul said that he did not desert him, but refreshed him, and was not ashamed of him like the others.
3. Eratus. I don't know anything about him besides that he lived in Corinth. So all I can do is guess. Since Paul tells Timothy to "salute" (greet) him, he is probably a Christian, and a good friend of Paul and Timothy. Also, since Timothy is told to greet him, he might be in Corinth, or is going to go through it soon.
   
4. Trophimus. This is a pretty sad thing. This is not the only time he is mentioned in the Bible, click here to read the other references to this man. Right here all Paul says is that he left him at Miletum sick, but one of the other references to him notes that he is an Ephesian, a man who lived in Ephesus. Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in that city, the book of Ephesians!
   
5. Eubulus. This is the only time he is mentioned in the Bible, and nothing is really said about him. All I know about him is that he is with Paul, he is probably bringing Paul food, and keeping him company; because Paul says that "Eubulus greeteth thee," he might also know Timothy.
6. Pudens and Linus. Same with them, they are probably with Paul. Also, they are not mentioned any other time in the Bible. (They are not a couple. :P I just put them together since they are in the same position.)
   
7. Claudia is also only mentioned once in the Bible, but Barclay thinks that she may have been a British princess that was sent to Rome after the rulers of Britain and Rome made an agreement, and when she was there she became a Christian. No one knows for sure though, there were probably a lot of people named Claudia back then! :D
8. All the brethren. The Christians.
   

In the beginning of verse twenty one Paul makes request of Timothy, he tells him to try to come before winter. The winters in Europe are cold as far as I know, and Paul did not want Timothy to make that long journey in the cold, and probably wanted to see him as soon as possible. Does that not sound fatherly to you? The further we get through this book, I keep seeing how Paul loved Timothy so much, and basically took him for his own son, he loved and cared for Timothy like a father, and Timothy probably felt the same towards Paul.

The last verse is Paul's farewell, he says, "The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen." One thing that I noticed as I read all of Paul's letters is that, he always ends with, "Grace be with you." Or something similar, it is kind of like his signature or mark, if you think about it! :D

Well, that's it. That is the twenty-seventh part of the four chapter letter written by Paul to Timothy. I hope you all enjoyed the study, and learned something from it too, if you did not get a chance to read them all they are all here, if you type in "2 Timothy" in the search engine, or go down my sidebar to "labels" and click "2 Timothy study" then they will all come up. :) Tomorrow I will try to do the recap for chapter four, then I will do a recap of the whole book sometime soon after. Thanks for reading.

Love you all in Christ,
Buttercup :)

2nd Timothy study, Part 26

Hey Y'all! I am very sorry for not posting in awhile, but I've been so busy! I have co-op three days a week, awanas once a week, volleyball three days a week, church on Sunday, and school five days a week; so, I'm pretty busy! Remember to pray before we begin studying today! :D

12. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.

13. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee , and the books, but especially the parchments.

14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:

15. Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

16. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid at their charge.

17. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

18. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In the first verse we are looking at today, Paul informs Timothy that he sent a man named, Tychicus, to Ephesus. Most likely to preach, and encourage the Christians there in Paul's absence. That's my guess, but I don't think anyone really knows anything about this man.

In verse thirteen Paul gives him a list of things he wants Timothy to bring to him.

1. His cloke. A circular piece of clothing with a hole in the middle for your head, and possibly a hood, it reached all the way to the ground, so it basically did the work of a blanket. Paul was most likely cold in that prison, and like a normal human being, wanted something to keep him warm, and possibly dry.
2. The books. I don't know which books these were, but they might have been copies of the Old Testament.
   
3. But especially the parchments. I did not know what this meant until I read what our friend Barclay had to say. :P He said that it was probably the early versions of the gospels! What did Paul say? He said "especially the parchments." More than his cloke, he wanted to read God's word. Where is a better place to find comfort and encouragement?!

Verse fourteen talks about a man. What do we know about him? Let's see!

1. His name is Alexander
2. He is a coppersmith. Someone who makes things out of copper.
3. He did much evil to Paul.
4. He withstood the works of the disciples.
   

What else does Paul say about him? He writes, "...the Lord reward him according to his works." Or, in other words, God will punish him according to his works. He also tells Timothy to beware, to stay away from him, not to be around him. Doesn't that sound fatherly? It does to me!

In the next three verses Paul talks about how all forsook him, but God stood by him, for he was doing the work God had planned for him. The first thing he says, is that all men forsook him, they all left him, no one was brave enough to stand by him for God. Then he does something that every Christian wants to do, and should do, a thing that Christ said when he was dieing on the cross; I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge." That, my friends, is true forgiveness, to be able to pray that God will not lay on their charge, the ones that are torturing you, and killing you, and putting you in prison. wow.

Now, he says, "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." He says that even though all men deserted him, the Lord stood with him. It is like an army going out to battle, the enemy comes on, and all the men flee, except one; he and his commander, stand alone on the battlefield facing a whole army alone! No doubt, that is how Paul felt. He says next that his commander, the Lord, strengthened him; so that he could keep on preaching so that all the Gentiles (all people except Jews) could hear the gospel. Paul says that the Lord didn't strengthen him for his own use and pleasure, but so that he could go on preaching!

The last thing he says there, is that he was, "..delivered out of the mouth of the lion." In other words, he was rescued from certain death.

Well, sorry y'all, I was going to do verse eighteen too, but I have to go. We might possibly finish chapter four tomorrow! God bless!

In Christ,
Buttercup :D

New Years Resolutions, #7

Ahhh! Sorry I forgot to update last month. :( Well, here's an update!

1. As for my Bible reading, it is going great! I have been reading a chapter (or, rather, a book the last few days :P) a day. Today I read Jude, it is only one chapter long, so, I just read the whole book!

2. To be honest, I KEEP FORGETTING!!!!!! Well, my sis and I just changed rooms (I'll talk more about that later :D) so, right now, it is very clean! :P

TTYL! (Talk To Y'all Later!)

In Him,
Buttercup :)

I want to be...

Have you ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up? Most everyone does. It's what most people call "normal." Are you normal? Do you want to be normal? These are some questions to ponder as we explore this subject. Please answer the question before you read on! It makes it more worthwhile to read. :)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be a doctor? Teacher? EMT? Firefighter? Police officer? Store manager? What? When you were young, you were probably prompted by your parents, teachers, grandparents, and friends to pick something to be "when you grow up."

Should we think about it? In my opinion, that is a good thing to think about, because (for example) if you are going to be a doctor in the future, then you have to have the eight years or so of training, so you have to think about it before you can be it. But, I think, that we think about it too much. We are so sure that we will live another day, that we don't even think about it any more. In the Bible, it says that we are not even promised to live today, every day is a gift from God.

What is normal? Normal means that some thing or some person is the same as most everything else. It means that it is not different, it is familiar, not random, natural.

Are you normal? Personally, I don't think I am normal. For many reasons, here are some; #1 I am homeschooled, not public schooled like "normal." #2 I am a Christian. #3 I dress modestly (in my opinion, people have different ideas about what is modest). But, I am also normal too, here are some examples of how I am normal; #1 I enjoy sports, photography, blogging, etc. #2 I like being with friends and family. So, on the outside I probably look pretty normal, but what matters is whats inside. God is what I want at the center of my life, but I fail, like a normal human being. :P

Do you want to be normal? Most people do, they want to "fit in," they want to be accepted. They want to please others so that they will be accepted in. But, would you rather live to please people or God?

What is the most important thing to you? For me, God. Then family, friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a very important question. If you answered truthfully, you might have seen a few problems in your life. This is an examination question, one that you use to examine yourself, and look at the way you use your time and thoughts and breath and, over all, life.

I hope that this helped you see how important it is to examine your priorities, and how you need to think in regards to what you will be "when you grow up." I want to end with this question. Do you think more about what "you" want to be when you grow up, or what God has already predestined you to be?

2nd Timothy study, Part 25

Hi Y'all! Sorry I've not been posting the Bible study. Remember to pray before we begin today. Btw, now, there isn't much meat, it is Paul's greetings and benediction.

9. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:

10. For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

11. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for this ministry.

The first thing Paul says is, "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me." Or, in other words, Paul is telling them to make it a top priority to come to him soon. Why would he say that? I don't really know, my guess is that where Paul was, there was a ton of people who wanted to learn more about God, and those that needed to be reached with the gospel; but Paul is only one man, he could not personally talk with everyone! So, he needed help. But we must also remember that this letter is to Timothy, Paul might want him to come not only for him to help him, but so that Paul can teach Timothy more.

He tells Timothy next about a man named, Demas. What about him? He says that he has forsaken him (Paul), and loves the world, and has gone to Thessalonica. What does it mean to love this present world? Well, "this present world" refers to the lusts and evil things of this world. For example money, clothes, stuff in general, etc. To love this world, means that you love things of this world more than you love God. A Christian should want to leave as soon as possible so they can go to be with their Heavenly Father! Where is Thessalonica? Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia/Greece at the time of Paul, here is a map.

Paul lists two more people, Crescens and Titus. I am not sure if these two people were also deserters, or if they were still spreading the gospel, or what. All we know is that Crescens went to Galatia, and Titus went to Dalmatia. I'm afraid I don't know where, and couldn't find a map of where Dalmatia is. :( It must have been too small for the maps. If anyone knows where in the world that is (literally!) then let me know! I'll post it! One other thing, I don't know if the Titus mentioned here, is the same that Paul wrote the letter/book of Titus to.

The next person he mentions is in verse eleven. His name is Luke. Luke was the writer of the books of Acts and Luke. He was also a doctor. What made Luke special is that he was a very learned man, a doctor; but, instead of settling down in a busy town and making some money, he accompanied Paul in his missionary journeys. He even posed as a slave so that he could go with Paul to prison! Also, Luke was kind and loyal. He was probably not a very good preacher, but his other qualities made him a very useful tool for God's kingdom.

Next is Mark. Who was Mark? His full name was actually, John Mark. I knew nothing about this man until I read about him in Barclay's commentary. What he says is quite interesting, I might type it out sometime for y'all. :) In short, Mark went with Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey, but Mark chickened out and went home. After that Barnabas wanted to take him on the next journey, for he was a relative, but Paul would not do it, so, Paul and Barnabas split up; and it looks like they never got back together. Mark's mother's house was probably the one that Paul came to after being released from prison, and it might have been the center of the Jerusalem Church.

Now we've had a switch, something had to have happened, but we don't know what; because now, in this letter to Timothy, Paul wants Mark to come to him. This is a mystery....

Next, he says that Mark is "profitable to me for the ministry." Now, Paul is saying that Mark is not a deserter or quitter, but that he is profitable, he can help Paul in the ministry! What a turn of events! Barclay says what could have happened during their separation, he says that "Tradition has it that he went to Egypt and that he was the founder of the Christian Church in that country. But, whatever he did , he certainly redeemed himself."

I think that's where we'll stop today. I really enjoyed it today, I never knew that about Mark, Demas, or Luke! How cool to see how Paul interacted with other Christians of his day! Hope y'all are havin' a good week! God bless!

In Him,
Buttercup :)

Windmills!

It is crazy how many, and how huge these things are! Btw, sorry about the background noise. :P



What did you think? Cool huh? Seeing how great and powerful non-living things like that can be, how great and powerful do you think God is? I like to see comparisons like this because what we gape at, God could simply pick up or crush like a blade of grass! How great and powerful and mighty is our God!

We praise the work of men for something like that, how much more should we praise God for creating all of us, all the animals, the earth, and the entire universe?! It's those small things, like these speck-sized windmills, that makes us think about how great and mighty and powerful is our God!

What do you think now? Our God is worthy to be praised and worshipped.

A Homeschool Family, by Tim Hawkins

This is hilarious!

Yes this is still my blog!

Yes, this is still my blog. :D I was gettin' tired of the plain minima background....So...BANG! I changed it! LOL.

~BUTTERCUP~