What has God shown you? What great thing has He equipped you for?

 

SCRIPTURE:

READ: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)

 

• “All Scripture is God-breathed”
  • All of it is the inspired Word of God
• It is all useful – every bit of it can be used to make disciples
• We were given the Word so that we would have everything we need to be able to do the works that He has called us to do.
  • 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

APPLICATION:

• Trust all of scripture to be the Word of God.
• Don’t skip over any of it
• The Word is there to equip us to do the work that God has called us to do
• We need to spend time in His Word every day. This will further equip us.

 

As I am writing this, I am sitting in a bunkhouse at Camp Blessing Texas. We are here with a group of other volunteers and summer staff that are here to serve special needs campers. All week long I have witnessed young people serving and taking care of the needs of others. Say what you want about the young people of today, what I have witnessed this week, and many summers, is that there are a whole lot of young Christians out there who are more than ready to place others above themselves. Today, I witnessed a fourteen year old girl who was helping with the horse riding be more patient than most adults. We were trying to get this young man to get onto a horse, and he was very much afraid. He sat on the platform debating whether or not to get on the horse. This whole time there was a team of cabin leaders, counselors, and volunteers trying to coax him onto the horse. It took more than twenty minutes for them to succeed. Meanwhile Amy was standing there patiently holding the horse in place between the loading ramp and the steps. She said encouraging words, and smiled the whole time. I was amazed at this young woman’s fortitude and patience. Afterwards, I had the privilege to watch her share from the scriptures and to talk to the campers about how we can trust God to hold us just like their horse did. This kind of patience is rare and can only be attributed to the Spirit of God working in someone’s life. Amy is doing a work this summer that God has called her to do, and so are many others.

 

This week’s passage is a reminder that God has given us His words, they have been written down, and they are useful. Our scriptures were given to men, and as they were inspired by His Spirit, they recorded them down. One author explains inspiration this way, “Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed (theopneustos, “inspired”), that is, God’s words were given through men superintended by the Holy Spirit so that their writings are without error.”[i] Warren Wiersbe helps us to understand even further this way, “The Holy Spirit of God used men of God to write the Word of God (2 Peter 1:20–21). The Spirit did not erase the natural characteristics of the writers. In fact, God in His providence prepared the writers for the task of writing the Scriptures. Each writer has his own distinctive style and vocabulary. Each book of the Bible grew out of a special set of circumstances. In His preparation of men, in His guiding of history, and in His working through the Spirit, God brought about the miracle of the Scriptures.”[ii]

 

God gave us His word so that we may be “thoroughly equipped for ever good work.” When I look around Camp Blessing I see young men and women who have been equipped to do God’s work. They have grown up in churches all across Texas, Tennessee, and yes, even Arizona; where they have been discipled and have been taught God’s Word. They are taking what they have learned and are putting it into practice in ways that would make any parent proud! It has been an incredible honor and privilege to work alongside them.

 

We too have been called to use all that we have learned, and studied. Studying doctrine, going to Sunday school, and mid-week Bible studies are important, but studying just for the sake of knowledge falls short of God’s purpose. Wiersbe comments on this passage further: “The purpose of Bible study is not just to understand doctrines or to be able to defend the faith, as important as these things are. The ultimate purpose is the equipping of the believers who read it. It is the Word of God that equips God’s people to do the work of God.”[iii]

 

Church is like any other organization. There is always more work to do. There are always diapers to change, walls to paint, and folks that need a listening ear. Find a place to plug in and do what God has been equipping you to do! Find your place, get involved, and see what God can do with you, and those around you. Just like at Camp Blessing, God can do amazing things through us, if we are just willing.

 

 

PRAYER:

Pray that God will show you your place here at Grace or wherever it is that you go to church. What is it that God has equipped you to do? Ask Him and He would be more than happy to show you!

 

Each week’s Monday Motivation is taken from the reading schedule found in the Life Journal. If you are ready for the next step in your discipleship, then order yours today or see me for a copy.

www.lifejournal.cc

 

If you would like help in growing in your faith, or if you would like to know how to have faith in Him, then please contact us at (928)636-2949 or email me at pastorguy@cvgrace.com

 

 

[i] Litfin, A. D. (1985). 2 Timothy. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 757). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

 

[ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 252). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

 

[iii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 253). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.