Today's Verses: 1 Timothy 6:11-12 (ESV)
Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, jO man of God, kflee these things. lPursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 mFight the good fight of the faith. nTake hold of the eternal life oto which you were called and about which you made pthe good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
j 2 Tim. 3:17
k 2 Tim. 2:22
l See Prov. 15:9
m [ch. 1:18]; See 1 Cor. 9:25
n [Phil. 3:12]
o 1 Pet. 5:10
p See 2 Cor. 9:13

The background of this book, of course, is Paul's advice to Timothy, a seemingly timid young man, but a leader in the church. The time is just prior to Paul's execution in Rome. This was the time in the church when there were second and third generation believers, and it was a time in which Rome would soon be taking their official stance against Christianity. The church was also full of false teachers and those whose lifestyles and beliefs were warped. Thus, Paul was imparting his wisdom to those who would be following him in the leadership of the church. And such wisdom is important to our understanding, even in these modern times.

Today's Comments: It looks like the church of today is still full of false teachers and warped lifestyles. If we look at these two verses, there are some key words that we should focus on:

• O man of God: Paul considered Timothy as one of God's chosen. He was one of the elect. If we are to lead, we also must be men of God.
  
• flee: get away from. Here Paul is referring to the false teachers and doctrines. We are to get away from those things which separate us from God.
  
• Pursue: This means go after chase. We are to pursue those things that bring us closer to Jesus Christ, or those characteristics of good Christians:
  

• righteousness
• godliness
  
• faith
  
• love
• steadfastness
  
• gentleness

.

• Fight: This is much more than a chase. Being a Christian can put one into an all out skirmish.
  
• Take hold: grasp, don't let go. Hold on fast to faith and those characteristics that separate the Christian from others.
  
• eternal life: This is the reward for our faith in Jesus Christ

Our solution is not to flow with the rest of the world, our solution is to flow with the Word of God.

Hymn of the Day:

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT WITH ALL THY MIGHT
John S. B. Monsell, 1811–1875

Fight the good fight with all thy might!
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right;
lay hold on life, and it shall be
thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God’s good grace.
Lift up thine eyes and seek His face;
life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the path and Christ the prize.

Cast care aside, lean on thy Guide;
His boundless mercy will provide;
trust and thy trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its life and Christ its love.

Faint not nor fear; His arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear;
only believe, and thou shalt see
that Christ is all in all to thee.

Osbeck, Kenneth W.: Amazing Grace : 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Kregel Publications, 1990, S. 316

Poem of the Week:

If, like Paul advised Timothy, we are in a fight for our lives against the devil, we might want to remind ourselves of the recent war that started on 9/11. While we may not consider it a holy war, there are others that do.

I present this poem of the week by Bev Caruso.

Ground Zero

The earthly giant fell to the ground

Steel melting, blood spewing,

Guts crushing

Papers, papers, with figures

of worldly fortunes turned to DUST

falling with slow motion

for some there was time...time to

say "goodbye, I know it is time

time for me to Die"

"Snatched into eternity FOREVER one brilliant September day

Went some off our nation's finest

Minds full of promise

Satan bellowed his face

from a cloud of Dark black

In Mockery of "In God we Trust"

Three thousand never came home from work

Uproar in the big city

As the world's Giant fell apart

All this "horror" could not crush the

Steel of a Big Hero's heart...

The words of Jesus echoing in the streets

"No greater Love than this, that

A man lay down his life for his friends"

But these hero's of the City of New York

cried out.

..."Let's Roll..as they

charged into inferno's roar

WHO IS GOD..His word says that"god is Love" and that is why Satan's face was blown away that memorable brilliant September day.

But in the rubble under millions of tons

of concrete and steel

A cross,untouched,Imperishable,

Eternal did LAY

A New spirit is in our land...and thanks

to our Hero's who died that day

We will never forget them,

for they taught us what it takes

TO BECOME A MAN

By Beverly Caruso

John3:16 "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that we should not die,but have eternal life."