Hello to each and every person who comes across these words that I am writing! You know as time goes on I realize more and more that God gives us great advice. Terrific advice really. People will give you their opinion; but God will give you the answer that nourishes your soul.
ANYWAYS; today is part two of the blog post I started writing yesterday! I hope you enjoyed part one and have pondered it these past twenty four hours. The great thing about God’s word is that we can meditate upon it. Sometime it takes a couple days for a certain point or thought to truly sink in. Psh, who am I kidding.. it usually takes me weeks for the word of God to permeate into my soul and make the necessary change.
OK. ANWAYS, LETS START THE BIBLE STUDY NOW, HERE ARE TODAY’S VERSES ^_^
1 Timothy 6: 5-6 (KJV)
“Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
There’s so much contained in just a couple of sentences! The bible is so good. Once again, Paul is warning, explaining and then encouraging Timothy in that order. The warning is: people who want to engage in an argument or debate, who lack the basic understanding of the truth; thinking that to gain worldly possessions is godliness- withdraw yourself from these people.
GASP. In that single sentence, Paul is conveying so much. The type of people that he is talking about are people that are quick to judge, quick to fight, and quick to justify their own wrong behavior- lacking truth. He further explains that these people are misled- they believe that gaining possessions and “things” in this life can get them closer to godliness. Now why would Paul urge Timothy to withdraw himself from these kind of people? Well, it makes perfect sense when we understand these parallel truths from the bible as well:
Proverbs 13:20 (KJV)
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
If bad company corrupts good character, then Paul is asking Timothy to withdraw himself to save himself from a potentially bad situation of Timothy, or any one else, getting caught up in the sins of others. What a caring guy Paul was!
Ok, the final thing Paul says to Timothy is an encouragement. It says in verse 6:
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Let’s break this down! Godliness is: belief in God, and reverence (deep respect) for his character and laws. Proceeding from love and reverence (deep respect) for the divine character and commands; obedience to God.
So how can we possess that? I’ll tell you! It comes from having a mind-altering, life-changing, passionate and intimate relationship with the Creator of the Universe! Remember, we just learned that we become like the things/people we surround ourselves with. So we if seek and surround ourself with God and the things of His kingdom, then we are allowing the Holy Spirit to work godliness within us and therefore produce life. Now, Paul isn’t saying to just have godliness. He is saying to have godliness with contentment i.e. a state of happiness and satisfaction.
Now where does contentment come from? It comes from a deep relationship with God! And where does godliness come from? Surrounding your heart, mind and being with Him and the good things of his kingdom! Happiness and satisfaction are directly dependent on your relationship with God- they go hand in hand.
This kind of relationship is great gain in this world. It is the greatest thing we ever could contain or possess in this life. This kind of relationship will remain through the tough times and the bad. To be happy and satisfied in your relationship with the Lord will be the catalyst for each of you to have the kind of lives you’ve always wanted and the peace you’ve always longed for. He’s right here waiting.
And with that: I will conclude this segment in a PART III of this blog!
Until next time:
Good night and God bless!!
Lifted Vision Ministry 