Two Things Are Going to Happen

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:14-17 KJV)

Have you ever walked into a completely unfurnished house? Do you remember sensing an empty feeling or like the house was lacking the most essential things, the things that made it a comfortable and perfect home? It can be a long process to take an empty house and turn it into a thoroughly furnished and functional home.

God desires every man and woman of God to go through a process of becoming perfect. We are to become who God truly created us to be.

That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17 KJV)

God has planned good works for you to complete! He has a plan for you! There is hope and a future for you! God desires to use you to impact other people and be a blessing! And He will furnish you for every good work He has asked you to complete. He will place everything you need inside of you so that you can facilitate and complete EVERYTHING He has planned for you to do, every good work.

Why is this important? Why must we comprehend that we are thoroughly furnished and equipped to complete all good works?

Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12-13 KJV)

Because 2 Timothy 3:12-13 is just as relevant today as when Paul conveyed it to his spiritual son Timothy. We can be guaranteed two things, those who live godly will be persecuted, and evil people will become worse and worse.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 NKJV)

The above Scriptures come incredibly close to describing the current culture we live in today. No one wants to be persecuted, and no one wants to witness others becoming worse and worse, but these things will happen. So what can you do?

I invite you to watch this message, Two Things Are Going to Happen, and be encouraged to live a powerful life devoted to God and His Word. It is through the Word of God that you become thoroughly furnished, and only then can you begin to help future generations become thoroughly furnished and equipped to walk in the lives God has planned for them!

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE | NOTES MESSAGE

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Be Kind: Rewind

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

(Romans 2:4 NKJV)

The Bible says the lovingkindness of the Lord leads to repentance. Through repentance, we are encouraged to think about our ways and turn our feet back to Jesus and God's ways. We are encouraged to think about God's lovingkindness in our lives. His favor, His love, and His grace towards us. It helps us focus more on our blessings and less on our problems!

God’s lovingkindness is not just for you to feel better. God saved you to be better.

God’s lovingkindness should motivate us to serve Him with due diligence. We belong to the kind culture, not the cancel culture. We are to rise and be the army of God in our homes, workplaces, and communities! In a toxic culture, where crime, corruption, greed, and hate are rampant-YOU have the power to create change!

for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. (Jonah 4:2 NKJV)

God is so kind to us. He lavishly pours His lovingkindness upon us, and we can be used as His vessels to pour out His lovingkindness to those around us. This is what God truly desires from us! Be kind because it is the witness that wins over the world!

Check out this powerful message by Dr. Terry Swan, Be Kind: Rewind, and be encouraged to start living out Kingdom Kindness in your own life today!

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE | MESSAGE NOTES

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Three of The Questions We Are All Asking

There was a man in the Bible who had questions. Lots of them! He was going through a time of difficulty, and he simply didn’t understand why God would allow such a challenging season in his life. As a result of his distress, he began to search for understanding in the hope of having his questions answered, “But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know it’s worth.” (Ref. Job 28:12-13 ESV)

After some trial and error, this man, Job, later concludes that if you have questions, you go to God for the answers. Let’s look at three questions we wrestle with today, correlated with five answers God has already provided.

1. Why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?

According to Romans 1, God didn’t want evil and suffering to reign as it currently does. But if we as a culture continue to pull against the conviction God has placed in our conscience, then He “gives us (humanity) up” to the things our flesh desire:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind (absence of God-consciousness) to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:24, 26-31 ESV)

Take note of Paul’s prophecy of the last days in 2 Timothy 3, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV)

God’s answer to our first question: ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28)

2. What does God want from me?

Everyone is searching for purpose. Some people are just more aware of the search than others. To find purpose -- as elusive as it might be -- the first thing one must do is to realize that it isn’t about us as individuals or our personal success. We find purpose when we decide to put our relationship with God first, our relationship with others second, and ourselves last. After all, Jesus told us, “Seek first the kingdom, then everything else shall be added to you.” (Ref. Matthew 6:33) And, according to Paul it is never too early to get started in this pursuit, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12 ESV)

Defining personal purpose requires good understanding, and thankfully God has also given us a formula for that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Psalms 111:10 ESV) And, He stated it directly to Job as he answered our second question, “‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28 ESV)

3. Will God forgive all of my sins?

Yes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV) Because “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 ESV)

But, the fact that God will forgive all of your sins does not become an entitlement to keep on sinning, “Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (Romans 6:15-16 NLT)

Or, you may notice a trend here… God’s answer to our third question is the same as His answer to our first and second questions. In fact, I believe it is God’s answer to all of life’s most difficult questions. Just as he told Job in the midst of incomprehensible struggles and trials, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28 ESV)

May we all choose to live with reverential awe for God, for it is wisdom! And, in so doing, we will turn away from sin and evil and walk in the enlightenment of true understanding!