This is the third and final part of the devotional series Be Strong.

2 Timothy 2:6-9

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You then, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul gives us three examples of ways to be strong, to be focused like a soldier, to compete according to the rules, to cross train like an athlete. And now he gives us one more example in verse six of Second Timothy, chapter two.

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Timothy 2:6-7)

To be strong, Jesus gives us this encouragement. Work hard. And apply that to yourself. And as you do that, maybe just think about your Christian life and think about what would it look like if I was working harder? If I was working like a farmer who just needed to put in the time to be able to see the results? Now that can be a dangerous thing for us because, like all people, we want to put that pressure on to ourselves and say, if I just work a little bit harder then things will go better and I’ll accomplish more, and it can be absolutely exhausting. So we need to remember to stay strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ.

The only way to have power to go out and work hard in our Christian life is to look at and be inspired by, and to know our Savior, Jesus, who came in and spread seeds of the gospel like a hard working farmer who went to the cross, even giving his life unto death to be able to forgive all of our sins who came and worked hard in this world so that we can work without pressure and work with joy, knowing that we’re doing that for the Lord. And then God gives us some promises first, and then some more encouragement after that, as we do that.

The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. (2 Timothy 2:6)

There’s some neat blessings that happen when you go out and share Christ with people and share your lives with them. Sometimes you get to see the crops grow. There’s just incredible joy. As a pastor, I probably get to have a front row seat at this more than some people, but to be able to see the lights go on for somebody as they realize that, wait a second, there’s no hard work that I have to do to earn my salvation to get into God’s good grace? No, nothing. Jesus did it all for you. When you get to share the love of Christ with others and see them start to understand it, see them change their life, see them start working hard for Jesus too, that is an incredible blessing.

So how do we do that? Well, verse eight of this section is so beautiful. It says,

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, (2 Timothy 2:8)

Remember Jesus, remember who he is, your Savior, who took your place on the cross. Remember who he is. A true human descended from David, the King of the universe, descended from King David, raised from the dead. Did not stay dead, but rose again to prove that his victory is yours. To prove the heaven is yours. That’s the gospel. The good news for which I’m suffering. There’s there’s still going to be suffering in this world, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. The Apostle Paul is in prison at this time. But, listen up. God’s word is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:9)

You go out working hard like a farmer, casting seeds recklessly. And you know that God’s powerful word that you’re sharing is just that. It is not chained down. We just do the easy job of sharing his message. And God does the extraordinary, miraculous work of changing people’s hearts. So my prayer for myself and for you is let’s work hard, and by God’s grace, he’ll show us some exciting results.

(This is part 2 of a 3 part series titled Be Strong.)

2 Timothy 2:5

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God’s Word says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. In second Timothy, (2 Timothy 2:3-7) the Apostle Paul gives us three examples of ways to be strong, and he tells us to reflect on them. And the Lord will give you insight into all this. He talked about being a soldier. The next thing he says is in verse five he says.

Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. (2 Timothy 2:5)

So what does it look like to be strong? Well, it looks like following the rules of the race, of the athletic competition. The only way to win is to compete according to the rules. Otherwise, you can be disqualified. And without naming any particular names, I bet you can probably think of some high profile times when people have been excluded, disqualified from athletic events. You can think about baseball or swimming or cycling or gymnastics. And even though a person seems to perform well, if they don’t perform according to the rules, they’re out.

Dear Christian friend, I don’t want you to be disqualified from running this race and winning this race. So how do we do that? Well, first of all, if we want to compete according to the rules, we should have a good idea of what the guidelines are. So we’ll get to know our Bibles well, and we’ll see what God’s Word says to us. And God’s Word and his promises might even inspire some real changes in your life. If you see that I’m not competing according to the rules, and I’m on a dangerous track, that actually leads me away from Christ, it’s a beautiful thing when people repent and turn and change. And the only way that we can do that is by knowing how this race actually goes. What are the rules to this?

And as I reflect on that, the Christian faith is not all about Following rules. It’s about standing in the grace that comes from Jesus and the one who kept all the rules for us. In fact, the Christian faith really looks like you’re cheating because there’s actually no rules that you have to follow. You simply look to Jesus, who kept every rule, every stipulation, every commandment perfectly in your place. And you trust that he took all of your failures to the cross, and that he gives you his perfect life, that he’s actually carried you across the finish line, and that you’ve won the race and that God has taken away and doesn’t count any of your sins against you. You have the victory because Jesus won it for you.

That grace, that undeserved love, is the only thing that creates a desire for us to look at God’s rules and follow them with joy. So dear Christian compete as an athlete. You’ve won the victor’s crown.

This is part one of a Three Part Devotional called Be Strong. The next parts will be posted in the coming weeks.

2 Timothy 2:1,3-4,7

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This is part one of a Three Part Devotional called Be Strong. The next parts will be posted in the coming weeks.

How do you get strong? Now, if you look at me, I’m probably not the guy to answer that. I’m not doing a whole lot of weight lifting. But you’ll see that I am holding a Bible, and God’s Word gives us some encouragement on how to be strong. I want to just take a few devotions and look at Second Timothy chapter two, where the Apostle Paul writes to this young Christian, this young pastor Timothy, and he starts out by saying,

You then, my son, be strong… in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)

But that’s not all that he says. He says,

…be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)

And that’s what we’ll see as we look at this. The way for a Christian to be strong is to dig deeper and deeper into the undeserved love of Jesus, and appropriate that to ourselves and live in God’s love. He’s going to give three different examples here of how a Christian can be strong. So today we’ll look at this first one. He says,

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

And at the end of each of these illustrations, he’s going to say,

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. (2 Timothy 2:7)

So that’s what I want to do today, to reflect on that. What would it be like to be strong by serving like a soldier trying to please his commanding officer, not getting entangled in civilian affairs? I think what Paul is getting at here is that we have a single minded focus. What would it look like to have a single minded focus in your Christian life? To avoid being distracted by all kinds of other things that come up, whether it’s sinful temptations or just good things that take us away from really a focus on Christ and His grace and his forgiveness?

So we act like a soldier. And as we do that, we recognize that Jesus gives us the weapons, the armor, the means to do that. Back in Ephesians six, it talks about how as we go out as a soldier with a single minded focus on Christ, we’re struggling against not other people, but against Satan and against his demons. But he gives us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. Jesus has clothed you with his breastplate of his righteousness. He’s given you his perfect life as a gift. He sees you as holy and perfect, and he gives you one weapon. And it’s not political influence. It’s not weapons or guns, but it’s the sword of the spirit. He gives you his powerful word, that very grace that rescued you and focused your mind on him, is the thing that will rescue others.

So be strong and go into battle like a single minded, focused soldier of Christ.