Jesus the Strength Giver

I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service (1 Timothy 1.12)

Whether the morning skies are stormy, overcast clouds heavy with rain, or the sunbeams are bursting across the dawn dancing on azure fields, today is a day of rejoicing. We have reason to praise. We have reason to be thankful. Jesus is our strength giver.

When we were far from God, Jesus came near to us. He called us out of our weakness, out of our sin, and invited us to new life at the foot of the cross. Like the countless lame men and women brought to Jesus He stretched His hand out to us and lifted us to our feet. He filled our bodies with His strength to stand in salvation.

When we came near to the cross, broken in our sin, convicted of our failures, devastated by our unsurmountable debt, Jesus washed us in the blood of His sacrifice. On His sinless shoulders He took the weight of our sin. Our voices crack with the incomprehensible joy of redemption. Jesus gives us strength to worship God as the Father looks upon us with gladness and Jesus judged us faithful.

When we were still infants in faith, crawling and barely comprehending the magnitude of our forgiveness, Jesus our strength giver appointed us to His service. He did not leave us aimless, purposeless, wandering. Jesus our strength giver gave us a purpose, avenues through which we can bring him praise and glory. We can lift up gifts and offerings too great for us to accomplish on our own before His throne in His strength. And that is a glorious reason to be thankful.

Thank you, Jesus, for judging me faithful in your faithfulness, appointing me to serve you as you have served me first. I will bless your name with thanksgiving and resounding joy!

Jesus the Perfectly Patient One

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1.16)

The old adage is true, the only Bible many people will ever read is our lives lived out before them. Yet for some reason we limit our witness to the non-offensive things in our lives. We only want to share our victories in our Christian walk, the triumphant seasons and successes. We are willing to be examples of our christianity as long as it fits with our own sanitized self-narrative where we look good, clean, fully redeemed.

But there is so much more, so much that is far more attainable to the lost: failure. If our lives were truly perfect without failure or stumbling we would be irrelevant to the dying who need to see Jesus at work in us. Our attainable witness of failure and short-falling is where we meet with Jesus the perfectly patient one. It is also where others meet with Jesus too.

We can take joy in our discomfort and peace in our defeat because Jesus is perfect in His patience with us. Jesus does not rush to judgment. Jesus does not condemn us before inviting us back to His cross. Jesus reminds us of His redeeming love. He places His pierced hand on our shoulder and speaks peace. And from our place of weeping, of sorrow and struggle Jesus invites us to bring others because He is patiently recreating what we were destroying through sin. Jesus has chosen people for us to live our lives, our whole lives, for the sake of His glory and their eternal life.

Jesus, thank you for the long-suffering patience with me, your enduring love that continues to draw me nearer to you. Show me how to live my whole life before the lost.

Jesus the Hope

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1.1)

Our lives are filled with hope. We all have unfulfilled desires to see certain things come to pass, and we put our emotional energy into longing them into existence. We can hope for things that are exceedingly mundane like our favorite sports team winning the big game. We share the hope in it because we share a kinship with the players and experience community with a broader fellowship of fans. We can rejoice together in victory and that experience, once tasted, encourages us to hope for more. We can hope for greater things like the conception of a child. There is nothing so stinging as the hopelessness of a barren womb. Streaming tears on the face of a childless mother speaks to the resounding echoes of hope within her soul. Like Hannah, the mother of Samuel, she wept holding to an unseen hope in God's provision.

And above all these things is Jesus, our hope. Jesus is our only hope. Jesus is our only sure hope. Beyond the hope of shared rejoicing with our greater community, beyond the incredible hope of creating communities of our own, is the unparalleled hope of everlasting relationship with our Creator. Within the community of the Godhead, the Father, Son and Spirit have invited us to share fellowship with our one true God. We have a never-ending hope of eternal joy. We have been redeemed from our sin and raised to new life. As we follow the command of the Father in our day-to-day lives we hold a hope that no earthly aspiration can equal: eternity in our heart rooted in Jesus our hope.

Jesus, thank you for being my eternal hope. I can live each day, seeking to bring glory to the Father knowing that my hope is secure in your hands.