Although I love the look of this modern lampshade in my hotel room, it does not function well as a mirror!

This passage brought to mind the importance of not just teaching to encourage others but at times to reprove or convince others of truth. This “convincing” may be misunderstood as an accusation (aka rebuke) when in actuality it may be what is needed to convince or drive a point home.

It’s stated well here@ BibleHub.com (parenthetical word added for context). “The word in this verse rendered “reprove,” does not imply (rebuke), but merely that one may be in error, and needs to have arguments presented to convince him of the truth. That word also implies no superior authority in him who does it. He presents “reasons, or argues” the case, for the purpose of convincing. The word here rendered rebuke, implies authority or superiority, and means merely that we may say that a thing is wrong, and administer a rebuke for it, as if there were no doubt that it was wrong. The propriety of the rebuke rests on our authority for doing it, not on the arguments which we present. This is based on the presumption that men often Know that they are doing wrong, and need no arguments to convince them of it.”

An effective leader knows when to teach using a method of reproving vs. rebuking and what type of audience should witness either one. For example, when a subordinate rebukes an authority figure, the effective leader must discern whether they are acting out of spite or ignorance. If ignorance, then it’s best to set aside the personal humiliation (if the incident occurs in public) to exemplify that the subordinate is valued (i.e. the leader is preventing the other’s demise and modeling the truth). On the other hand, if it’s expressed out of spite, an immediate meeting in private is the best outcome to effectively demonstrate the error of their thinking and the subordinate will be won over.

No matter how modern and appealing some teaching is, if it cannot convince us of truth (i.e. the truth always ends with love), then it is not sound.

Have I loved His appearing as Paul did? Christ is ultimately the righteous judge whose reward means all. He is the One who gives a crown of endurance to those who suffer for His name’s sake. -Teresa #fulfillyourministry

2 Timothy 4:1-8 (ESV)

4 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound^[a]teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵ But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

When we are “in Christ” not only are we a new creation (where the old has passed away), but we have a protected status that is brand new.

Similar to the “protected” status of the wetlands where we walked this morning, nothing on earth can rob us of our eternal protection (inheritance) based of the forgiveness of our sins.

Not only does God forgive, but he chooses not to remember because of His Son’s finished work on the cross- aka atonement for mankind.

This is stated so eloquently on the Biblehub.com site speaking of Jeremiah 31:4, (the forgiveness of sins is) “the basis of the New Covenant”.

God’s people are not made up of only believing Israel but all of the Church worldwide. He will be honored by multitudes of believers who have given up glory in this world to honor the most glorious One.

Lord, may we be caught up in devotion to you and not bogged down by worldly expectations. May we always bring honor to your name for we realize that Christ Jesus the Lord is the name above all names.

As far as the east is from the west…remember to live as those who has been forgiven and freed. – Teresa

Jeremiah 31: 31-34 ESV (Emphasis added)

³¹ “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ³² This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

³³ “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Our distress is great, O Lord, and there were times when your people of old did not turn to You.

May that not be Your Church today. We need You to notice, to hear our cry for help and remold us into useful vessels for You.

Help us to be reliable for the sake of Your name. Help us to repent of our evil ways and practices, so that we may be blessed with Your Holy Spirit’s comfort. #steadfastlove

We abhor stubbornness, willful sins and muddied paths. Please restore Your highway of salvation through the wilderness. Do not turn Your back on us.

We are the work of Your hand. Please give us a willing heart. -Teresa

Jeremiah 18:5-17 (ESV)

⁵ Then the Lord gave me this message: ⁶ “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. ⁷ If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, ⁸ but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.⁹ And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, ¹⁰ but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.

¹² But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”

¹¹ “Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”

¹³ So this is what the Lord says:

“Has anyone ever heard of such a thing,
    even among the pagan nations?
My virgin daughter Israel
    has done something terrible!
¹⁴ Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon?
    Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?
¹⁵ But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me;
    they burn incense to worthless idols.
They have stumbled off the ancient highways
    and walk in muddy paths.
¹⁶ Therefore, their land will become desolate,
    a monument to their stupidity.
All who pass by will be astonished
    and will shake their heads in amazement.
¹⁷ I will scatter my people before their enemies
    as the east wind scatters dust.
And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them
    and refuse to notice their distress.”

Psalm 138:7,8 (ESV)

[7] Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. [8] The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Being fruitful for God’s kingdom also means strength. The deliverance bought for us through Christ’s redemption is the foundation for a new beginning.

It’s like starting over, where our past has been written over with His powerful presence that is not only glorious but can endure for the long haul.

Look at Paul’s life (who wrote this letter to the church at Colossae). He was able to endure through mind-boggling hardships for the joy of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Not to mention it was also for the goal of bringing many to glory who would have otherwise missed their life’s purpose.

After all, being a religious Jew was not what the Lord had in mind for Paul. Instead, he was converted on the road to Damascus from radical zealousness for the Pharisaic traditions to no longer persecuting Christ Jesus, the head of the church.

When God’s glory left the temple, it allowed a new way for God to be represented to the world John 1:14. How impactful was the early church on the Roman world? Beyond a doubt, it went way beyond Jerusalem and Judea even to the outer limits of civilization at that time.

Why should we be surprised when God continues to show up in every nation and people group where lives are being transformed, bearing good fruit by the power of the gospel?

Fruit is not hidden but is witnessed in a life whose sins are forgiven, living in way that is pleasing to God. -Teresa #lightson

Colossians 1: 9-14 (ESV)

⁹ And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ¹¹ being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; ¹² giving thanks^[d] to the Father, who has qualified you^[e]to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.¹³ He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.