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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
1 Timothy 04: Give It Everything You've Got!
What does it take to live up to God's vision for your life? Pastor Brandon illuminates the apostle Paul's guidance to Timothy in an engaging episode titled, "Give It Everything You've Got." We explore the richness of 1 Timothy, chapter 4, focusing on the profound wisdom Paul shares about devoting oneself fully to the faith. Pastor Brandon delves into the importance of avoiding legalism, honing in on the essentials of Christianity, and how training oneself in godliness mirrors the rigor of physical training. The conversation highlights the significance of sound teaching, prayer, and community engagement in fostering spiritual growth while warning against the distractions of non-essential arguments. Young leaders will find encouragement to confidently uphold and teach these pivotal principles.
In "Live and Teach With Purpose," Pastor Brandon offers a heartfelt reflection on the necessity of authenticity and consistency in living out our faith. Anchored by 1 Timothy 4:12, this discussion emphasizes the call to be exemplary in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, regardless of age or external criticisms. Pastor Brandon shares how having a relationship with Christ should guide our actions and emotions, even amidst life's challenges. Concluding with a powerful prayer, we seek God's strength and faithfulness to fulfill His purposes daily, fully trusting in His ultimate plan. This episode is brimming with practical wisdom and spiritual encouragement, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking to grow in their faith journey.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today. 1 Timothy, chapter 4, and today's title is Give it Everything You've Got. Give it everything you've got. Remember, the theme of the entire book of 1 Timothy is this old, veteran pastor teaching this young guy coming up and he's saying this is how you live up to God's vision, god's idea for you. And what he's going to tell us in this chapter is man, this isn't a ride in the park. This isn't something simple. You got to give it everything you got, but the rewards are definitely worth it. We're going to jump into that in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you are leaving us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you are joining us at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook, because the more we dig, the more we find If you have your Bibles.
Speaker 1:I want to open up with me to 1 Timothy, chapter 4. One of the things I love about this is this is kind of that insider conversation. I mean, I've always wondered how many things are going on through the Apostle Paul's mind when he's writing to these churches and we read the book of Acts and we see him going from city to city and he's planting these churches and he's raising up leaders. Like, what's the behind-the-scenes stuff? What's going on? I've noticed that a lot of times when I meet with pastors and leaders and different people and different spheres of influence pastors and leaders and different people and different spheres of influence they have this persona they put out of the way they lead and what they do, and all of it's true, but then you notice that behind the scenes there's a lot of other things going on that makes all of the other stuff run. It's how you take care of things and how you promote things and how you teach leadership, and there's just all these other things that never make it to what most people see. It's the behind the scenes stuff, and that's what we're getting to see in 1 Timothy. We'll see it again in 2 Timothy and in Titus how the apostle Paul is training up this next generation of leaders, and so we could look at it as the mentor mentoring us as well, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:And so let's see what the mentor has to say to us today as we read 1 Timothy 4, verse 1. It says this Now the Holy Spirit tells us that in the last times, some will turn away from the true faith and they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars and their consciences are dead. They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods, but God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it because we receive it with thanks, for we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer. Now, what's he talking about here? He's talking about that during the time there were all these different excesses that was coming into the church, because, if you remember, a lot of this teaching comes from the Old Testament, and the Old Testament was pure and wonderful and great.
Speaker 1:But a lot of these Jewish teachers would come in and they would add all of these other kind of fences around God's word to say, well, if what God's word says is wrong, let's start way away from there, so we never actually get to something that's wrong. And so they created these unnecessary barriers to living for God. Today we call it legalism. And so they started doing the exact same thing with Christianity. And today we still grapple with this.
Speaker 1:And some people would say that in order to be a Christian, you shouldn't get married. You know Jesus wasn't married, so we shouldn't get married. And Paul's saying that is not true at all. And then they were saying that if you eat certain kinds of foods because you know especially some of the Jewish people you know they were still living that kosher lifestyle then you can't please God. And Paul's going that's not true, everything is okay with prayer. And so he's saying make sure we keep the main thing, the main thing, and not get distracted by the non-essentials of our faith. And, as you remember, we've already talked about that in 1 Timothy. There are some essentials and there's really important but non-essentials. But to make sure we keep the main things, the main things, all right, verse 6, he says this If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed.
Speaker 1:Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying. Just like you train your body so your body can be healthy, you have to train our spirits so your body can be healthy. You have to train our spirits so our spirits can be spiritually healthy. Well, how do we do that? We do that by learning God's word, like we're doing today. We do it by prayer and spending time with God. We also do it by engaging with believers and non-believers, where we're encouraging one another, we're challenging each other, we're working out our salvation. And he's saying just like we work with weights and we exercise our bodies to the limit so we can be healthy, we should think of our spirit the exact same way. We should be training ourselves for godliness and not wasting our time with things that don't matter, but with the things that are important.
Speaker 1:Verse 11 says this teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity. Until I get there, focus on the reading of the scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers and teaching them. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your task so that everyone will see your progress and keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.
Speaker 1:Wow, what a challenge to him. There's three things there at the end, and then we're going to finish this up together. First of all, he says to not let anyone think less of you because you're young. And remember, as we've been saying throughout this book, we could take out the word young and put in anything that makes us feel less than other people. Don't let anyone think less of you because you haven't always been where you are now, or because you're still working toward getting rid of some things in your life, or because you're single, or because you're a widow, or because you're married, because you're an empty nester. Whatever it is. Don't let anyone think less of you, but be an example, so we don't just go around as a victim, but we take charge of our life and we be an example of what it looks like, to the way we live.
Speaker 1:To focus on the way we love, on our faith and on our purity and notice. He also says, until he gets there, to focus on the reading of Scripture, encouraging believers and teaching them. Can I tell you, I think, that that's one of the primary responsibilities for every pastor. That's what Paul is telling this young pastor to do. You know what you need? To focus on Teaching of Scripture, encouraging believers and teaching them to do the same. That's why it says in Ephesians to equip people. So the primary goal of a pastor is to teach the scriptures, encourage believers and teach them to do the same. And then, lastly, it talked about the idea of keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching.
Speaker 1:I think that as we end our time together, that's a great challenge for all of us. Remember, the title was to give it everything you've got. And I know we go through seasons where we're so excited and we're encouraged about what's going on in life and we just we can't wait to get up for the next morning, all of that. Then we also go through seasons when we're just bored, we're tired, we're exhausted. That's what life is, and it's okay to go through those seasons. It's not okay to stay there in those seasons.
Speaker 1:And so what we have to constantly do is there's a line between being self-aware and self-obsessed. We don't need to be self-obsessed to where we just become narcissistic and our life is constantly only focused on what we're doing and how we're doing and all that kind of stuff, but rather we need to be self-aware, to realize how we are, realize who we are and what we're doing, and keep a close watch on ourselves. So we can keep a close watch on how we live and on what we're putting out there to other people, because sometimes we can teach others by what we say, but most of the time we will inspire, encourage others by the way we live. And once again, it's going to be hard. We have to give it everything we've got. Sometimes we can't live by our emotions, and we should never live by our emotions. We should live by what we know.
Speaker 1:I'm not a Christian by how I feel. I'm a Christian because of who I know, and who I know informs how I should feel. Now, that doesn't mean we're robots. We all have bad days, it's just we don't stay there. So I want to say it one more time, and this will be a challenge for all of us today, and then we'll pray Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay pure to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and for the salvation of those who hear you. What an amazing challenge that we can embrace today.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. Thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and you encourage us, and you have a big idea for us. But, lord, also, you give us the honor and the dignity of working those things out in our life. I pray as we work those things out and make the most of the life that you've given us. We'll give it everything we've got, because we know, god, that you are the one who ultimately does it. You only require us to be faithful with what you've given us. Help us to do that today. In Jesus' name, we pray amen. Amen. God's word says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 12, don't let anyone think less of you because you are young or whatever it is that people want to do. Instead, be an example to all believers of what you say, and the way you live, and your love, your faith and your purity I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For 1 Timothy chapter 5.
