WEBVTT

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Day 342, or December the 8th. I know I can trust

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you, God. Our thoughts today are from 1 Timothy,

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chapter 1, verse 12. I thank Christ Jesus our

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Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered

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me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.

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And now the big picture surrounding this verse.

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In addition to the nine letters written by Paul

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and addressed to churches, he also wrote a further

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four letters to pastors in the early church.

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These are called the pastoral letters. There

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are two to Timothy, one to Titus, and one to

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Philemon. The longest and most detailed is 1

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Timothy, which warns about false teaching which

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is already taking place in the church, and the

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quality of leadership that is required to combat

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this with the help of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes

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to Timothy, who is leader of the church in Ephesus.

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And now today's action step. I am sure there

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were times in the lives of Abraham, Moses, the

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prophets, etc., etc., when words similar to those

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used by Paul in our passage today will have passed

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through their minds. Just why did God choose

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me? I don't know, but I'm really glad he did.

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Fancy the idea of God trusting me. He trusts

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you too. Paul reminds us that God strengthens

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us in addition to considering us trustworthy.

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That's what the Bible says here in our verse

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for today. Whatever he has chosen for you, remember

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that he will strengthen you in order to get the

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job completed. Paul is writing to young Timothy,

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a man who is not as mature as Paul, and has far

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less experience, but Paul confirms to Timothy

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that Christ is the giver of strength, and we

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have a sufficient supply when we are doing God's

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work. Forget the word failure. You can only fail

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if you try in your own strength. With God you

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cannot fail. In my life there have been many

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times when I thought I might have bitten off

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more than I could chew, but God strengthened

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my wife and me and saw us through. This same

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God will strengthen you too, and see you through

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whatever your difficulty may be. Just trust Him.