Day 1

1 Timothy 6

7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

Most of the time, when we talk about the rich, these are people we envy. These are people about whom we wish it were us. You know, when we think about the rich, we often think of them as being happy and joyful all the time.

When I was writing my book on The Secret Of Contentment, I read an article that talked about many of the rich people. Astudy had shown that many of the people who are rich were not happy. In fact, for example, on marriage, for the very rich, their marriages are not stable or joyful for long. You would have assumed that now that the husband and the wife are enjoying wealth, their marriage would last, no.

So you can see that Paul knows human beings and therefore he talks about riches that way. First Timothy 6:9 says;

those who want to get rich fall into temptations and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Why? Verse ten gives the reason

for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Paul is warning us that we are likely to backslide from our faith in Jesus, probably when we get wealthy than when we get poorer. Poverty seems to throw us into God”s hands ,into a time of prayer, a time of seeking and searching for God. When we get wealthy, it is the other way round.

I read something some years ago, about somebody who had been in China before all missionaries were thrown out in 1948. He says by the time they left China, the estimates were; there were five million Christians in China before religion was outlawed. Remember it is almost a subcontinent. For the next forty years, Christianity was suppressed, many of the Christians were thrown into jail, and they suffered greatly. What”s called the revolution was terrible for the believers.

Once China opened to capitalism , they opened for tourism. This person went as a tourist but to do a survey. To his surprise, there were more than fifty million Christians, up from the original five. Yes , there were more than fifty million Christians in China by 1988.

Let”s compare it with Britain, where the study showed that the church attendance level just after the 2nd World War was high but continued to drop all the way so that by 1988, only a tiny fraction of people in Britain go to church. But the economy had experienced tremendous growth.

What does that tell you? The suffering and persecution of China, grew its Christianity. Britain kept growing wealthier during those post-war years, and the impact of that was backsliding such that the next generation was not interested in church. So, we need to know the same about you and your wealth. Paul wants Timothy to teach on it.

That wealth will not help you to know God more or get contentment. Wealth will not help you to please God. You are likely to end up losing your faith as you grow wealthier.

Of course, that doesn”t mean that all become less Christian as they grow wealthy, no. Once you get the right perspective about wealth, you can become a trillionaire,if there is something like that, and it will not affect your faith because you and the money are not the same. Money does not define you.

It is just like your clothes; you wear them by choice. Today, you are wearing a red dress; tomorrow, you are wearing a green one. You are same person. You are not the dress; it is just on top of you.

Day 2

1 Timothy 6

8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

It will still be the same with wealth. You are having lots of it, but it is not you. You are different from your wealth. So if you are to lose all your money ,you will still be ok. If you have food and clothing, you will be just go as contented and happy as you were before. This is because even when it was there, your joy did not come from the money. That”s what the bible wants us to know.

Those who want to get rich, if that”s what you are going for, then you will fall into many temptations. Your spiritual life will be quite a challenge if that”s the way see things.

But let”s start with you, do you have an insatiable desire for wealth? Then you are the one Paul is describing. You know the desire is the issue not the wealth itself.

But it is not just poor people who desire wealth, the rich desire even more of it. You are driving a big car only to discover somebody else has the newest model, and you feel that even I should have it, it is not because you don”t have a car, you drive a pricey car, but competition, comparison is the way of people who desire wealth.

You know, people that are poor and are godly will be happy and joyful but people who are poor, but not godly will lead a complaining life .Therefore, we can see that wealth is not the issue. Some people who are poor cannot trust God. They believe God but do not trust Him,similarly to some rich people . They don”t trust God either. So you can see, therefore it is not the rich versus poor that we are talking about.

However, there are many men in the bible described as very wealthy, whether you talk about Job, about Abraham,etc.they were rich people but they were deep in the faith with God.

Yes veryvery rich. David was rich, Solomon was rich of course. Solomon later got lost but you need to understand that there is nothing wrong with being rich. What is wrong is defined by the riches.

You know Psalm sixty-two verse ten says;

when riches increases do not set your heart on them.

So, you can see the issue is not wealth increase. It is that even if they increase, do not set your heart on riches. So, welcome the people who desire riches, to a lot of temptations. I think it is because the desire is a temptation. It tempts our hearts away from trusting God to trusting these things that we are pursuing and becomes like a snare, a trap that catches you without you realizing and you might end up jailed by it.

You spend your night and day just dreaming of how to be wealthy. Always as you get this one, you are still wanting something else. That”s what we really mean by the desire to be rich.

And you know the moment you start seeing the riches satisfying you, your desire for Jesus Christ and his word will grow inversely proportional. You will not be interested in spiritual things because you are pursuing material ones. Once that happens your comfort and contentment plummets.

Day 3

1 Timothy 6

9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction

So that”s really what you need to handle and ask yourself, do I want to be in that rat race which can only be won by a rat. Please understand that Paul is not suggesting that you should not be ambitious in making more money, because the more money you make, the more you can spend the money on Godly pursuits. So, make as much money as possible but don”t let it define you. You know the reason why he is warning you about the love of money, not money itself. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

By the way,it is not the only root; it is one of the many roots. It is one of the roots of all kinds of evil. So please differentiate: it is not the money itself but the desire and love for it that will start motivating you to do anything to get it. Anything works if it gives you money. You feel like Jesus Christ is interfering with your success rate, and you drop him and yet you know you need him for eternity.

Once you become materialistic, I don”t know what sin you cannot commit. You can do anything in order to get money. You will break every rule in the bible to make money.

And you know once that”s where you have reached , you can see then why the bible says it is like you have been pierced through many sorrows. Of course, you can talk about many people who have followed that route and where they ended. Just read biographies of the wealthy, or read the biographies of the famous, and you see how many sorrows they have end up in. Many of them die in drug addiction. Yet they are stinking rich. yeah, it is the fate of those who pursue money. They are looking for satisfaction that never comes, despite becoming billionaires.

You are looking for every opportunity to make an extra coin, only to discover it can”t satisfy. so, you start now to do all kind of evils hoping you get satisfied, and you are not.

But you know your contentment all stopped when you stopped trusting in God”s word to pursue wealth. Then, subsequently you can see the piercing of what you earlier valued. Pierce means it will cost you a lot of pain. rich but in pain.

Sometimes your marriage is broken. Sometimes you end up with HIV, unwarranted debts due to foolish risks. You are rich one moment the next moment, they are pursuing over many debts. I think it can be quite a problem.

Endless and needless discourses’€¦ The Greek word signifieth galling one another with disputes, or rubbing one against another, as scabbed sheep will, and so spreading the infection'” (Trapp).

So, you need to ask yourself does that describes you? In other words, when you pursue wealth, you start suffering while still here on earth. You lack joy and satisfaction, but also you just remember you have no heaven to go to. That will cost you a lot of trouble in the heart. It is important to ask yourself:is that what you are doing to yourself?

But please note; that the word of God goes on this issue of riches badly pursued. The bible says that the kind of things you go to are foolish. In other words, you wonder: how could I do that? You know like you end up with a small girl because she is taking you places, so you dump your family. Later, you just discover she was not interested in you, really. How could I be foolish and why? You have ended up with a harmful thing as you went on in your pursuit.

So, the bible is saying it plunges people into ruin and destruction.

9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction

But let”s look at verse ten;

for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, some people eager for more have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves many remaining grieved.

That”s really what you need to find out: is that what you are doing currently?

Look at verse eleven continuing with the same discussion;

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness

But you man of God’€¦. Timothy is being addressed. flee from all of these. In other words, if you want a life of joy then it is important that you flee; run away from such. Don”t walk away, instead flee from it ‘€¦is what the bible seems to be saying.

Day 4

1 Timothy 6

. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs

So, are you a man of God; or the one who has chosen to be a man of God,like Timothy was a man of God.. Paul is not suggesting he is commanding him to :be different from your culture, flee from what is wrong in it.The same thing he had told the Roman church in Romans chapter twelve: not to conform to this world. Be different from the pattern of this world. The pattern of this world is to pursue riches and wealth. Not only will you not pursue riches but run away from that kind of pursuit. He was to flee also from the proud arguments of those people around him who convince him that wealth is everything. Also, thosepeople who misuse God”s word. They are in the church, people who suppose that we should follow God”s word because of what we can get out of it. Instead know that, godliness for gain.

Yes, he is saying don”t just keep off, flee from them. He is saying although as a pastor you can make a lot of money, instead of thinking on how to win souls, man of God. If you do not flee, you start thinking about how those souls could be turned into cash. That”s part of the destruction that will follow you.

Instead of that flee away from that kind of life. Paul is saying, pursue , number one one, righteousness, then godliness, faith , love ,number five, pursue patience and finally gentleness.

All that is the opposite of pursuing the pride of life and the bible says that”s what you need to do as a Christian leader. Ask yourself: is that what you are pursuing? If you are pursuing something, it means that you are disciplined in looking for it.

The list above are the things that human beings don”t value but Paul says, turn the attention from material things and pursue these spiritual things because they are important to God, and they will help you with your eternal perspective.

So how are you handling that challenge of leaving the things of this world and follow hard on the spiritual values that Timothy is being told about.

Day 5

1 Timothy 6

. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs

Let”s be clear, everyone who would be a man of God as opposed to a man of this world; must set out to agree what success is to him. Is success to you worldly defined?Or is success to be more righteous, more golden, than having more faith?

The first thing he is told, pursue the good fight of faith. What does that mean? Going against the flow of the world. You are swimming against the current. You must be determined if you must swim against the current. That means your children at times, but your close relatives also might think your mind has a problem. What you are speaking is totally different from what they are hearing from their friends. It is a fight of faith you pursue with all you have.

So, God is calling you to be a fighter, but you don”t fight other fights; fight the fight of faith. You need to make a commitment for the whole of your life to fight the fight of faith. The fight involves going against the current, going against the pattern of this world. You must be determined in this fight; don”t allow the world to just take you over without consciousness. Your real-life desire is to lay hold of Christ eternity. That”s what most matters to you.The earthly things will not help you win this war. No wonder we were singing in high school that I am a soldier in the army of the Lord.

Have you become that soldier who is fighting the war around you? but you know, in this fight you are not drafted, you are called by God to it .He does not force you but you are just a volunteer.

When you have confessed what Paul is calling good confession in the presence of many witnesses, people will know what is your stand. So you must make it public. What you are pursuing is public and Timothy is being reminded that you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses already. You know that confession gave him a new way of thinking, and he thus entered the fight.

God has called you, but he also wants you to confess openly, as you volunteer to be in that fight. You need to ask yourself: is that what you are doing currently? You know it is good to have volunteered, in the sight of God, and not just in the sight of many witnesses.

Since Paul is the mentor of Timothy whom he is reminding of the fight, it means he himself is also fighting, you are mentoring your mentee as you fight also. We are all fighting this fight of our culture, both traditional and modern .The orders are not given by the mentor, they are from God. So Timothy is not to do it to please Paul butone who called him .It is not Paul who called him, it is God. God expects us to be in the fight, he that created and equipped us for it.

You know, when you feel like you don”t want to see God as your creator, then you will soon stop the fight and go towards your culture and follow it. Once follow that route you end up not believing and serving your creatorYou become an atheist.Then we say but that guy used to be with us. Yeah somebody who trusted in God then he starts getting interested in pleasure, you are tired of your wife, you want to see how sleeping with another man will be. Within no time you have nothing to do with God and it can cause you a lot of trouble.

Please remember that your commitment is to Jesus, who gave you the command to pursue righteousness, and that”s not going to be an easy command. It is a fight Paul is calling it. but that”s you who was in your good confession.

Day 6

Luke 22

70 They all asked, ‘”Are you then the Son of God?'”

He replied, ‘”You say that I am.'”

Similarly, Jesus before Pontius Pilate, who later condemned him to die, made a similar confession and later died for it. In Mathew twenty-seven verse eleven; Jesus admits before Pilate that he was the king of the Jews. Of course Pilate could not see how it adds up. You know, here Jesus testifies to Pilate about the sovereignty of God, when he is says you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to you from above. That”s the kind of picture in your mind you need to go with, knowing that there is no enemy that can overcome you unless the Lord allows him and when he allows him there will be a reason.

That way, you will live a life of contentment, even with the challenges that you are facing all around you. This is because you know that your enemy has no power except that which the Lord allow him to have. That”s what Jesus told Pilate. Of course he was accused in many ways, but those ones were ignored until he was asked about who he is. He admitted who he is, because he was living his life for the will of God. Mathew twenty fourteen says;

He responded to Pilate not in many words but in reality, as Calvin said; that is because of his voluntary submission that he ended up in death. That”s what the great writer Calvin says.

You know in all these things we are discussing; we are taking the example of Jesus in confessing. What”s to confess? It is to admit. he admitted before people and before God that he was in the fight of faith.

So, Paul is saying live up to that good confession which in verse twelve .He is simply being told copy your saviour. He is told, this idea of hiding your light isn”t something that Jesus tolerates.

You might ask how long am I going to continue with this fight? Until our Lord Jesus Christ appears. He is coming; sooner or later. This is how long you are to continue with the fight. .Either until he comes or he calls you home Continue with the fight. There will be no retirement in this fight of faith. Your culture will continue fighting you until you go home to your maker.

Whatever your spiritual age, however senior you are ,remember the fight is on and you must be careful that you continue to fight right up to the end. So, I want to encourage you to keep at it, knowing again who Jesus is; knowing how he has equipped you for the war. That”s what Timothy is being reminded, fight a good fight.

You know you are in an army, it may not be a physical army but you are in one and if you want victory, you must love and obey your commander. Jesus is our commander. Do you love him enough to obey him despite whatever challenges you will face along the way?

And you know Jesus is not only the commander, but he alone has all the power and strength, he alone rules over the whole universe. He alone occupies the throne of heaven, so commit yourself to him who can never lose the fight. All the other powers are small powers, created by Him. They should not frighten you, you are on the side of the one who cannot lose a battle. Isn”t it good that our God is king of kings and Lord of lords?It is a way of telling you that all other kings are his creatures, including satan.If you don”t want to call them kings, call them lords they don”t have the kind of power God our creator and their creator has. The majesty of an earthly king disappears when you compare with what Jesus has. The wisdom of this God has no comparison with the wisdom of the men of this world or demonic forces or ancestral spirit. So, whether you are rich or smart or intellectual, you are nothing before the King of kings; Jesus . will be important to understand, because Jesus, whom is the commander of this fight, is immortal. He will never die. He is with you all the days of your life.

Day 7

Romans 1:23

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles

And not only is He immortal, he also dwells in an unapproachable light, which no one has seen it. That”s where we are looking forward to go. Our bodies will be changed first. The Jesus we are talking about is holy. He is not a superman, he is God. okay he became man for a while, so we could say he was God-man, but now he is holy and immortal. He is one without a beginning and without an end. That”s why we know He is God.

And so his glory is beyond description. So I think it is important to understand that is what gives us the motivation to keep on the fight. It is because of who your commander is. Similarly, who you are you are dealing with. He is limited in power. That will be important.

that”s why Paul concludes by saying

to him be honour and everlasting power,

Now that you know he is everything,you will be able to fight because you are looking on how to bring honour to him, How to bring honor to him that has everlasting power. Give him glory.

You know he can do for you anything required for winning the fight; you should never give up the fight. Your response, as you face challenges, is to worship him. How? By declaring that he has honour and power. Yes, to him be honour and everlasting power who alone has immortality, he alone has immeasurable light.

So, may the Lord help us as we think about these matters of the fight. May the Lord help us to trust him fully .May he help us to know that he is trustworthy, totally trustworthy.

Let me repeat verse thirteen;

in the sight of God who gives live to everything and of Christ Jesus who will testify before Pontius Pilate, with the good confession I charge you;

That is Paul charging Timothy. What is he being charged with? Keep this command without blemish. In other words, you are in this fight to obey him until the appearance of Jesus Christ. Continue with it. The intensity of the fight should not stop you. It is Christ coming that will stop as the war is declared over in victory.

Verse fifteen says

which God will bring about on his own time;

Now the second coming is not something you can predict. It is God who will bring it to happen; in his own time. The blessed ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords is the one who will determine when the fight ends by sending back his son Jesus Christ. This God, according to verse sixteen

who alone is immortal;

Everything, everyone else .. even the richest guy will soon be dead. Everything dies , sooner or later . but He that we are dealing with is immortal, and he lives in unapproachable light. We cannot describe it for it him whom no one has seen. If somebody tells you they have seen God, they are lying. Paul declares nobody has seen God.

So, to Him be honour and might forever. So that”s the charge that Timothy is given: enter this fight, continue with it. For this, your motivation is so that you will meet the Lord and glorify him.