“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

For everyone sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible is God’s one and only necessary and sufficient means of reshaping them for the life of faithful service God has prepared for them to live. The Bible is God’s perfect, inspired, inerrant Word, given to teach YOU. To rebuke YOU when you’re wandering off the narrow path of following Jesus. To correct YOU when you’re wrong in your thinking, speaking, or acting. To train YOU to live out the righteousness of Jesus that has been credited to you as a gift of God’s grace.

If Jesus is your Lord, then there’s nothing that will change you more over time than daily encounters – substantive encounters – with God’s Word. Try to read your Bible every day. Do it systematically, not randomly, so you’ll hear the whole counsel of God over time. Do it carefully, making notes and thinking about what you read, prayerfully meditating about what it means, and what you should stop, start, change, or continue because of what you read.

The Bible is unlike any other book you’ll ever read, including wonderful books by great and godly authors. Those are terrific and meaningful but they aren’t God-breathed. Let God’s Word work on you, in you, and through you every day you possibly can. The Holy Spirit within you will use the Word you’re reading or listening to, to prepare and equip you to live out the disciple-making calling that God has placed on your life. #FollowJesus

“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” – 2 Timothy 2:2

As Paul wrote to his dear friend, Timothy, he had four generations of faithfulness on his mind:

• Paul (generation 1)
• Timothy (generation 2)
• Those Timothy will teach to follow Jesus (generation 3)
• Those they will teach to follow Jesus (generation 4)

Four generations of believers who receive the good news of Jesus Christ, believe it, are transformed by it, and then pass it on to others who likewise taught to take up their cross and follow Jesus daily.

That’s how the gospel spread all over the world! That’s how it must continue to spread, until it reaches people from every ethnic group, tribe, and language on earth. Faithful men and women must share good news with others and teach them how to follow Jesus. Including by sharing this same good news as they go through life.

So, what about you? If Jesus is your Lord, then you’ve been entrusted with the same gospel message Paul and Timothy were. Are you actively entrusting it to others? Are you helping them understand how to share it with still others? Are you swapping encouraging testimonies with them about sharing and discipling, the way Paul and Timothy did?

If so, God bless you and may you continue in the power of the Holy Spirit! If not, why not? What’s holding you back? What do you need to equip or encourage you to take your place in the long chain of faithful people stretching back 2000 years and continuing forward until Jesus returns? #FollowJesus

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” – 2 Timothy 1:7

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, meaning you’ve entrusted your life to Him in faith, then you have received God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit seals you, which marks you as authentically belonging to God. The Holy Spirit also lives in you. You’ve probably heard this many times, but stop now and actually think about it. God’s Spirit LIVES IN YOU! YOU have the Spirit of God in you!

So, what kind of Spirit do you have? Certainly a HOLY Spirit. He is perfectly holy and seeks to make you like Him. He will point out your sins to you, guiding you to repentance and strengthening you to resist temptation. He’s also a Spirit of power. He gives you the power to be a faithful, bold witness to Jesus. He gives you power to do the good works God has prepared for you to do. Works that show people the reality of Jesus and His love for them. He gives you the power to overcome the fears that hold you back from taking up your cross and following Jesus each day.

He is also a Spirit of love. He gives you the power to love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and forgive those who persecute you. Why? Because He is the Spirit of Christ Who did and commanded these things Himself. The Spirit gives you the power to love by speaking hard truth and to love by remaining Christ-like when the world and the flesh tell you to respond in an un-Christlike manner. The Spirit gives you the power to love when it’s messy, painful, and frustrating.

He is also a Spirit of self-control. That isn’t too popular in our day and age that celebrates doing whatever you feel like and letting it all hang out. But if you have the Holy Spirit, He will lead you to become more self-controlled. More submitted to God. More determined to glorify God by not doing whatever you feel like. Willing to lay down your freedom in Christ for the benefit of other believers. Committed to rejecting the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil to instead enjoy the quiet pleasure, power, and presence of the Lord.

That’s Who lives in you, if Jesus is your Lord. If you’re willing, He will radically transform you to be more and more like Jesus. He will make it joyful, blessed, and possible to truly #FollowJesus wherever He leads.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” – 1 Timothy 6:10

Money itself is neither good nor bad. It’s a tool. And, it’s a responsibility entrusted to each person by God, Who owns everything. What matters with money is what we do with it and how we think about it. Do you use it to provide for and bless God’s people and to build His kingdom here on earth? Or do you use it for selfish or sinful purposes? How do you think about it? Do you consider it to be a gift from God to be used for His glory? Or is it an end in itself that you are pursuing?

That is what Paul warns about here – when money goes from being a tool and a blessing to an unhealthy goal being pursued simply to have more. He talking about when our passion for money and its ability to control our emotions becomes more important to us than God (whether we realize it or not). When our sense of identity is rooted in whether we have money or not. When our sense of security depends on whether we have money or not. When we believe our happiness based on getting more money or having “enough”. When we trust that our problems would simply go away if we just had a bit more.

When we begin thinking this way, we’ve put money on a throne and given it a responsibility for our life that it can NEVER fulfill. We have, accidentally or intentionally, put it in the place of God. The truth is that our sense of identity should be rooted in the reality of being God’s beloved child, adopted when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. Our security should be rooted in His constant love, presence, and power. Our happiness should flow out of our relationship with Jesus Christ. And our problems will only go away, or at least matter much less, as we delight in our union with Christ and anticipate our problem-free eternity with Him.

Many Christians in our culture have accidentally replaced God with money without even realizing it. Has it happened to you? Take time to reflect on how much time and energy you put into thinking about money, worrying about money, desiring more money, or hustling for more money. Think about money’s power to affect your emotions. Does it make or break your day. Have you accidentally fallen into the love of money? If so, re-commit yourself to simply #FollowJesus

“Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
I do not forget your law.”
– Psalm 119:61

Like a creeping vine, in ways both subtle and obvious, the cords of evil are absolutely trying to wrap themselves around you. Your hands… your feet… your heart… your mind. Those opposed to God want to tangle you up. Trip you up. Tie you up. Make you one of them or at least leave you tied up on the sidelines. It may be people in your life who are pushing or pulling you toward their favorite form of sin. It certainly includes the pervasive presence of sin being demonstrated, normalized, and celebrated in practically every TV show and commercial. It’s our culture’s pressure (from many different directions) to fall in line with values and practices that go against God’s will, even when they sometimes present themselves as “Christian”. It’s in the algorithms that spoon-feed you content on various social media platforms.

Your best defense, if you’re a Spirit-filled follower of Jesus, is to know God’s Word for yourself. Read your Bible every day. Study it. Study how to study it. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Think carefully how to apply it to the situations and struggles of our world and your life today. The Bible isn’t just an interesting book from an ancient time. It isn’t just a beautiful thing to gather dust on your shelf. It’s God’s Word for you and your God-given defense against the relentless efforts of evil to entangle you. #FollowJesus