2nd Timothy 2

" 1-7So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.

8-13Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It's what you've heard from me all along. It's what I'm sitting in jail for right now—but God's Word isn't in jail! That's why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing:
If we die with him, we'll live with him;
If we stick it out with him, we'll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he'll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up—
for there's no way he can be false to himself.

14-18Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. Hymenaeus and Philetus are examples, throwing believers off stride and missing the truth by a mile by saying the resurrection is over and done with.

19Meanwhile, God's firm foundation is as firm as ever, these sentences engraved on the stones:
god knows who belongs to him.
spurn evil, all you who name god as god.

20-21In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

22-26Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands. "
-The Message

2nd Timothy 2 really speaks of having good Godly character. Maybe that's why I enjoy reading it. It lays it out pretty plain and simply what we are to do in order to be living the life we were meant to live. It speaks of becoming the person you should be, it speaks of what you should or should not allow in your life (certain habits, talking, etc). There's just so much. And I love it.

It's just so interesting. I really believe that I have changed so so much since I've gone on The Encounter That Stuck (I say it that way because I had been on three, I think, before I finally went to one that STUCK. I just didn't get it and then I got it.) And that also speaks of ME in the OTHER seat, at the very end of the chapter in 2nd Timothy. "You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands." And isn't that the dead truth! When you think of it, sometimes it's easy to think "Oh! Devil's errands! She's ripping off chicken heads and sacrificing small children to Satan!" But that's not even close to it at all! When I would go out drinking and flirt with guys to get what I wanted... That was me being a tool in the Devil's hands. Through me wanting to do "whatever I wanted", it not only tore ME up inside, but it also made it more possible for whoever I encountered to make wrong decisions and thus sin bred sin bred sin, so on and so forth. So you don't have to be sacrificing chickens to Satan to be running his errands. No. When you simply turn from what you know to be right and do THAT... you are allowing yourself to be his errandboy (or errandgirl). Your own choice. My own choice! Even though I hadn't seen it that way before, it doesn't make it okay.

It's like when you are driving and get pulled over by a cop. "Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?" "Actually- no. I honestly don't, sir. What did I do?" "You ran a stop sign back there. I'm going to have to give you a ticket." And you get all frustrated and angry. "But I didn't see the stop sign! That's not fair! It was hidden behind the tree! I didn't see it!" It doesn't change the fact that you're going to get a ticket for breaking the law.

It's the same thing. Just because you don't see how you can be an errandgirl (or errandboy) for the Enemy doesn't mean you're off the hook. Regardless of whether or not you saw it, it doesn't change that you've broken God's law.

Hope that's making sense. Anyway!

Jesus,
I thank you for today. I thank you that you offer kind correction. I recognize that if I don't listen to your kind correction, I know full well you'll send someone my way that will offer the same correction only... not so kind... So I pray and I command my soul to always be open to your correction, so that I may take it and learn from it and grow from it. Holy Spirit, I ask that you remain with me today, and into tonight while I'm at Mardi Gras working. I ask for opportunities to show your love in the simplest of ways. I love you like a fat kid loves cake.

amen.