28th November 2023: Our Daily deLIGHT~3rd Day-Counsel
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Counsel
Timothy was a pastor at the congregation of Ephesus. Paul the apostle, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, put Timothy in this position and urged him to stay there. He also gave Timothy much instruction and warning to guard what has been entrusted to him. Paul proceeded to counsel him how to handle the various issues within the congregation so that it would remain a healthy and safe place for the people of Elohim. Today we will read a portion from the first letter and the second letter that he wrote to Timothy.
1 Timothy 1:1-7 says,
1 Paul, an apostle of Messiah Yeshua according to the commandment of Elohim our Savior, and of Messiah Yeshua, who is our hope,
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from Elohim the Father and Messiah Yeshua our Master.
3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct [counsel] certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of Elohim which is by faith.
5 But the goal of our instruction [counsel] is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,
7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.
The second letter Paul sent to Timothy he counsels this same concept once again.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 says,
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of Elohim and of Messiah Yeshua, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction [counsel].
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine [which entails wise counsel]; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The Spirit of Counsel, when sought after and taken, will always give us the healthy boundaries we need in order to stay on the right path. It is easy to chase the sensational and tantalizing knowledge of others, but this often leads us outside of sound doctrine that is established in the Word. We must be wise and discerning so that we don’t find ourselves so far from the truth that we hardly recognize it anymore.
Have a blessed and shalom filled day!!
Tammy
Courtesy of
River of Life Tabernacle
Tammy McLendon
Great peace have they who love Your law. Psalm 119:165a
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