2 Timothy 06 Word Pictures for Life

Jesus told stories. Read this book and it is filled with parables, metaphors and similes. Word pictures of the Christian life. Why is that? Why stories? As Warren Wiersbe has noted in his splendid book Preaching and Teaching with Imagination, Parables [and other illustrations] start off like pictures, and then become mirrors, and then become windows. First theres sight as we see a slice of life in the picture; then theres insight as we see ourselves in the mirror; and then theres vision as we look through the window of revelation and see the Lord.181

5* Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6* The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

We are like soldiers

What is it about being a soldier? 3* Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Willing to suffer
On August 6 a helicopter carrying 30 US Soldiers including 22 Navy Seals of Seal Team 6 went down in a firy heap in the mountains of Afghanistan. How many were killed including members of the elite Seal team six. Largest loss of life in the war. Tragic. Support of an operation to get a local Taliban leader. Narrow gap. Lucky shot from an RPG. Men were lost. What inspired me most, was the way people closest to them responded to the death. One news agency did a piece on the seals lost in battle, Kevin Houston Kevin Houston's mother says he was born to be a SEAL. "If he could do it all over again and have a choice to have it happen the way it did, or instead work at McDonald's and live to be 104? No. He'd do it all over again," Jan Brown told the Cape Cod Times. Jason Workman The Mayor of his hometown said,

Three metaphors. Word pictures describing the Christian life. 3* Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4* No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
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Swindoll, Charles R. (2010-12-07). Insights on 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Swindoll's New Testament Insights) (Kindle Locations 3988-3990). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Swindoll, Charles R. (2010-12-07). Insights on 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Swindoll's New Testament Insights) (Kindle Locations 3987-3988). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

"He fulfilled his dream and his ambition," he said. Workman had a wife and a 21-month-old son. Brown brought up her son in Hyannis, Mass., as a single 2 mother. Those are the kinds of things these men lived and its how they will be remembered. Sacrifice. Service. Paul said, thats us! Thats how we are to do it. Suffer hardship. Be willing to sacrifice personally.

consider the claims of Christ in your day to day routine? Are you looking at every person as a possible contact for a presentation of grace? Or are you tangled up. Lets not get out of balance. The affairs of life are always on us. We have to rear children, work a job, do life. Pauls not saying ignore that. Hes simply saying, dont get all tangled up in it. Stay focused on your life purpose. Man this is so tough. We have to do all that stuff. All of these things are fine and good. But if you get so absorbed with them that it hurts your service to Jesus then they arent good. And if you care more about whether LSU is going to win the next national championship than you are with the fact that everyone in your office is lost then something is terribly wrong with your priorities. If you care more about your portfolio than the spiritual disciplines of your life then something is skewed. You are entangled with the affairs of everyday life.

Stay focused
No soldier in active service . . . Active service. Strateuomai. Its a derivative of the word for strategy. When you are engaged in strategic things. When you are in a combat operation. Beautiful imagery of the soldier all tangled up. Can you imagine a group of seals going for Osama Bin Laudin, riding in the helicopter, several on the telephone trying to explain to their daughters that they cant wear that skimpy dress to prom. One guy is looking at his ipad checking the dow jones averages. Another is on ESPN to see if his team has dropped in the rankings. One guy is thumbing through a hunting magazine for a new deer stand. The other five are on facebook writing to change their status. I think the great strategy of the enemy this day isnt so much to defeat us as it is to distract us. Think about it. Do you
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Your focus is to please the one who enlisted you. The message of the gospel is that God loves you and has a plan for your life. Jesus died for you. When you give your life to him your sins are forgiven and heaven is secure. He has a plan for you. But it is his plan. We no longer live for ourselves, but we live to please the one who enlisted us.

We are like athletes

5* Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/12/portraits-navy-seals-killed-inhelicopter-crash/#ixzz1YGXCVWKo

Athletics require discipline and training and I think this is in what hes saying, but the larger focus seems to be competing according to the rules. In other words, if you teach it or proclaim it then you have to also live it. We see this repeated in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, NAS95. If you play the game, you have to obey the rules. How many times have you seen this amazing performance by a world-class athlete and then some little broken rule causes chaos. In 1996 the USA womens softball team was roaring through the tournament. It was the fifth inning. Pitching sensation, Lisa Hernandez was throwing a no-hit shutout. Dani Tyler slammed a home run over the center field fence and commenced her victory lap around the bases. But then when she got to home plate, she jumped up to high five her teammates and inadvertently missed the plate. The umpire saw it and ruled it a single. The run was lost and the USA wound up losing 2-1 in the bottom of the tenth. She hit it over the fence. She had a home run! But the rule is the girl in the 1996 Olympic softball game against Australia. Pitcher had pitched a perfect game then gave up a two run shot. This girl hit a homer and failed to touch home. Ruled a triple. Lost 2-1.

Harsh. But fair. And we need to remember this. We cant live as if our lifestyle doesnt matter.

We are like farmers

6* The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. I love that idea. The hard working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. As believers, we have this amazing journey of faith before us. When we get our eyes off our own issues and focus instead on serving the commander we get the benefit of enjoying the rewards of a life well llived. Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the lord and you will get the desires of your heart. The key to the second part is in the first part. Delight means to be pliable or moldable. When I desire what God desires I get all that I desire. Its ironic. When you live for yourself you come up empty. When you live for Christ you find this amazing fulfillment. Its not that life will always go your way or that it will always be easy. But the rewards are there. Ive seen this in my journey. God didnt give me everything I ever wanted. He gave me so much more. Youve heard the expression you reap what you sow. Its usually used in the negative. And thats true. Sow selfishness and hate and envy and you will get it back. Law of Echos. Little girl lived in the mountains. Used to listen to the echoes. Hellohellooooooo. Hellooooo helloooo One day she was angry with her father and went

to the mountain to scream, I hate you and she heard the echo. I hate you I hate you I hate you It can be negative. But look here. Paul says it can be positive too. As a farmer, not only do you reap what you sow, you get to eat what you reap. We reap the reward of a life of ministry. Greatest job on earth and then you get heaven thrown in. Enjoy the produce. Hard working farmer ought to be the first to enjoy his share of the crops. We are to enjoy life! Unfortunately, that message is getting lost in the Church. Especially by those who take the first two word pictures seriously. Christianity is all duty and discipline but little joy. Tony Campollo once said, Sometimes that is hard to grasp when Im in the pulpit looking at the somber faces of those in the congregation. I hear them say, We know the joy of the Lord. And I feel like saying, Would you please notify your faces.3 Lighten up. There are occasions for joy all around you. Good friends and co-laborers bring it. Someone sent me this and I love it. The giraffe test. If youve heard it then let the fellow next to you enjoy it.

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way. 2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator? Wrong Answer. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.. 3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend .... Except one. Which animal does not attend? Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there. This tests your memory.. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities. 4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it? Correct Answer:? You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

the Giraffe test.

There are 4 questions. Dont miss one. 1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
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Campollo let me tell you a story. 55.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the Professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively proves the theory that most professionals do not have the brains of a four-year-old. You say what does that have to do with anything? Nothing really. Except that Ive shared ministry and been on mission trips with the person that sent it to me. He understands my sense of humor and figured Id get a kick oout of it. He was right. Thats my crop. Im enjoying the fruit. Meaningful relationships from doing meaningful things. The Psalmist saw this connection between joy and the winsome witness. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, The LORD has done great things for them. Psalms 126:2, NAS95. The hard working farmer has done the time. He slaved through the planting and preparation. He struggled to pour on the water in the drought ridden summer and worries over the price of diesel as he tries to keep the crop alive. Then finally, harvest. What a relief. What a joy to see those giant semi tractor trailers pull onto his land and the huge combines filling them to the brim with his precious crop. So he ends with the joy side of it. Sacrifice and focus like a soldier. Be disciplined like an athlete. And enjoy the reward like a farmer. You will not only be blessed by that, you will be a blessing.