The People Around Us
2 Tim 4:19-22
19 Please say hello for
me to Priscilla and Aquila and those living at the home of Onesiphorus.
20 Erastus stayed at Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.
21 Do try to be here before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings,
and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the others. 22 May the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
TLB
We have spent a quite a number of week in this beautiful
book of Timothy.
We have
covered a large number of subjects from qualifications of the people in ministry to the reward at the end of the journey. But you know what I love about the way the books in the bible end especially the letters
of Paul. They mostly all end with people’s names.
There
are ten names of people and two groups of people talked about in these last 4
verses.
You know
why there are so many names in the bible. Because that is what the whole thing is all about.
There
are whole books in the bible given to names. People are counted people are accounted for and there records are kept.
Life
is not about how much money you make or how great a profession you have. It is not about how far you travel or how important
you become. Life is about the people around you and how you relate to them.
If you
do not have time to as Paul did here sit down and write a letter to someone or share a few close moments with your family
or your friends you are doing the wrong things.
We need
people around us. We need to be concerned in a good way about the people in our lives.
We need
to be able to call people by name and know their needs and pray for their concerns and carry their burdens.
Jesus
life was all about people. He healed people he spoke to people he trained people and he cared for people. The greatest thing
I like about Jesus is that he loves people and when you know him you know that he loves you.
Look
at this verse in the bible.
Pleases
say hello. Is that important.
Don’t
you love it when people remember you in a good way.
The bible
exhorts us three times to:
1 Peter 5:14
14 Greet each other in Christian love. NLT
There is power in greeting one another. Greetings bring hope they bring joy they comfort
sadness they drive away loneliness and they heal broken hearted.
We live
in a world that is suffering from isolation and loneliness. Greetings are important. Learn to greet people with a heart felt
greeting and let them know that you care about them. We can’t heal every sickness nor solve every problem but we can
show the world that we care. Look around you today at the number of hurting people in this church in our neighborhood in our
community and go about to bring a ray of hope to the ones who need it today.
2 Tim 4:19-20
19 Please say hello
for me to Priscilla and Aquila and those living at the home of Onesiphorus. TLB
And look at this. There is Oney again. He is the guy we met at the beginning of the book
that used to come and visit Paul in prison and tell him the jokes and laugh together with him.
2 Tim 1:16
16 May the Lord show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because
he cheered me up many times.
TEV
Are you a
breath of fresh air to the people that you talk to.
Prov 17:22
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps
a person's strength. NLT
Doctors are discovering that those who have sickness with
a cheerful heart have a lot better recovery rate than the broken in spirit. Maybe we should have a Sunday where we all bring a good
joke to church with us. Jesus said I leave you my joy.
Now look
at this verse.
2 Tim 4:20
I left Trophimus sick at
Miletus. TLB
I am a great believer in healing.
I believe
that just as sin was taken care of at the cross so our healing was taken care of by his stripes.
1 Peter 2:23-25
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that
we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. NIV
I believe what the bible says
in James
James 5:14-15
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the
church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. KJV
I know that Jesus healed many of incurable diseases and sickness but I also know from reading
the bible closely that he did not heal everyone. At the pool there was a great multitude sick but he only healed one as I read it.
John
the Baptist died and he left him that way. His father seems to have died also.
I believe
that we need to learn to pray for healing and we need to learn how to have grace for sickness as well.
Sickness
can draw us close to God. It can work patience in our lives and it makes us more caring and understanding of others.
Sometimes
God can speak to us better in our sickness than in our health.
Sometimes
it is in caring for the sick that our lives become more Christ like.
Sometimes
sickness is brought on by life style that is not conducive to being Christ like. It is often a natural consequence of a poor
life style.
My understanding
of the meaning of this mans name Trophimus- is poor eater or fussy eater.
Sometimes
sickness is the only thing that will change our lifestyle.
Paul
himself had something that he sought God for deliverance from but never got it. Instead of being delivered from his thorn
he got a change of attitude because of the thorn.
2 Cor 12:6-9
6 even though I
have received wonderful revelations from God. 7 But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a
messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from getting proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9
Each time he said, "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to boast about
my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. NLT
The beautiful thing about knowing God is this. No matter which way it goes it is always
the best way for us.
2 Tim 4:22
22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you.
Amen. KJV
God isn’t someone we
learn about. He is someone who lives inside of us.
Someone
who can take us through whatever is in front of us and bring us safely home.
Amen,
God Bless You & Your Family,
Pastor John Stewart
