2 Timothy 4:9-22
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Final Greetings
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
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I love how personal Paul's letters are. He's asking for people to bring him things--you get the feeling he truly knows the people to whom he writes. He loves these people. As it should be.
Notice, too, the trust Paul has in God. When we ask for deliverance from evils, the temptation is to feel disappointed if deliverance doesn't look like what we want it to look like. When we pray for healing, we want physical healing, and when we pray for opposition to fade, we want it to go away now.
When Paul prays for rescuing from evil, he recognizes that evil will pursue him until he's in the grave. Evil will not give up. Paul will never shake it from his trail.
But he trusts that God will deliver him into the heavenly kingdom. That is true deliverance. We don't know what trials await us in this world, and the ones we do know can shake us to the core. But our core is strong, because our core is in Christ, and in Him evil will never destroy us. It may take us to the grave, but there is a rude awakening for it there, for it will discover the awesome power of Christ in its fullness, and it will destroy evil. We will see that same awesome power and fall in worship.
What a glorious day that shall be!
Blessings
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Final Greetings
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
*************************
I love how personal Paul's letters are. He's asking for people to bring him things--you get the feeling he truly knows the people to whom he writes. He loves these people. As it should be.
Notice, too, the trust Paul has in God. When we ask for deliverance from evils, the temptation is to feel disappointed if deliverance doesn't look like what we want it to look like. When we pray for healing, we want physical healing, and when we pray for opposition to fade, we want it to go away now.
When Paul prays for rescuing from evil, he recognizes that evil will pursue him until he's in the grave. Evil will not give up. Paul will never shake it from his trail.
But he trusts that God will deliver him into the heavenly kingdom. That is true deliverance. We don't know what trials await us in this world, and the ones we do know can shake us to the core. But our core is strong, because our core is in Christ, and in Him evil will never destroy us. It may take us to the grave, but there is a rude awakening for it there, for it will discover the awesome power of Christ in its fullness, and it will destroy evil. We will see that same awesome power and fall in worship.
What a glorious day that shall be!
Blessings