May 10 - Abundant Blessings - 1 Timothy 4:1-5

May 10 - Abundant Blessings - 1 Timothy 4:1-5

Diane says:
In Acts 28:28-31, Paul had warned the Ephesians that false teachers would invade their church. These teachers would come from within and without. The time is now and continues to be now in all of our churches.

The beginnings of one of the largest heretical groups in church history was occurring as Paul wrote these words to Timothy. The Gnostics were just starting to formulate their teachings, one of which was asceticism - self-denial as a spiritual discipline. Paul wanted the church to understand that God's creation was something to be received by us with thanksgiving, not something of which we needed to be deprived.

Appreciating and using the God's creation comes with a price, though. Paul reminds us that if we receive it with thanksgiving, we do so because it has been consecrated (made holy) by the word of God and prayer. In other words, we aren't to be hedonistic in our appreciation of marriage, food and possessions. These are holy gifts from God.

Rebecca says:
I have a friend that makes life effortless for me. I never have to carry in groceries, pay for dinner, or really have to lift a finger as long as he is around. He moved my entire apartment for me in one night and never asked for anything in return. Sometimes because of his charitable attitude, this fair is fair, tit for tat mind of mine can get easily thrown of kilter. I am always trying to find some way of repaying him, or at least justifying all that kindness he shows me because as silly as it sounds, sometimes it is incredibly uneasy to always be on the receiving side of things.

Our flesh and pride just don't like it when the scales of a relationship aren't tipped in our favor or at the very least equal. I believe that is why sometimes we make God so much more complicated than He is. It sounds good in theory to believe that his yoke is easy and His burden light (Matthew 11:30), but the more we see Him, the closer we become with Him, the more weight and truth that verse holds. When we come face to face with how much He does for us and how little He asks in return, it can make this flesh of ours uncomfortable, to say the least. If we simmer in that discomfort for too long instead of kneading it down and transforming it into worship, the enemy can find a pathway into our mind and that 'searing' that Timothy was speaking about can begin.

Once the enemy finds a foothold he will begin to work in us to make us feel guilty or unworthy and convince us that we must 'work out our salvation.' It is when we are in this state of trying to vindicate ourselves and all of God's goodness, that we twist the words of Jesus like those found in Luke 9:35 where He tells us that "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross daily." When our mind is polluted and closed off to the Spirit it is a simple transition to begin believing that when He speaks of denying ourselves and carrying our cross daily, He is speaking of abstaining from certain pleasurable parts of life, be it food, or marriage or even financial blessing. Once we start toying with that idea it is seems obvious that we are called to live the life of a martyr and must shy away from anything that might bring or cause us pleasure. So many believers are living a life less than God intended because they have been taught by leaders caught in this gerbil wheel of thought.

That verse in Luke gives us a little insight into the reason Timothy said the conscience had been seared by those who taught abstinence. The conscience is only good when it is ruled by the Spirit. When we keep it open and receptive to those promptings it helps guide us into the fullness of God. To carry our cross does not mean to walk the long road of life with a heavy burden that would contradict what Jesus taught, but instead it means to continually be in pursuit of crucifying our flesh. When we daily use that conscience to reveal those parts of the flesh that must be tempered it helps lead us to abundant life, not a life that lacks due to abstaining from every good and perfect gift. The enemy knows this and so if he can seep into the mind and sear off the entrance to that Spirit, if he can close us off to being receptive to that guidance then that conscience is left to make decisions and commands based on its own misinformed perception and suddenly denying ourselves takes on a whole new tainted meaning. A seared conscience causes us to believe that we can even out the scales with Jesus, that maybe if we work hard enough, or abstain from enough we can earn our salvation, and the gift of grace is rendered useless.

The truth is that there is nothing we can do to tip those scales in our favor or even them out. He has not merely given us life; He has given us life eternally and abundantly. He continues to fill our life with blessings, favor, and goodness. To deny those things, those holy, holy gifts would be to deny His glory, His righteousness, His love.

It is hard to be on the receiving side of life all the time, difficult to come to grips with the fact that there is nothing I can do to justify that love, because I know I am not worthy. But I am continually prayerful that He enables me to receive all He has to offer, prayerful that He stretches me in my capacity to hold every bit of goodness He is graciously willing to give, be it food or marriage, or breath or salvation. It is a choice and ironically sometimes the very thing I must deny daily in this flesh of mine is its stubborn refusal to be outweighed by His goodness. But when that part of my flesh is denied, and I am fully aware of Him "who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32), I can scarcely take it all in and I am humbled by such an awesome God who so "graciously gives us all things."