Daily Devotions David H. Horner, Senior Pastor

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1 Day 1 A Solemn Responsibility 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 Timothy 4:1) Every church must expect and make it clear to their pastors that they see his role as a solemn responsibility before God. Everyone called to a pastoral role like Timothy held in Ephesus will be held accountable for that responsibility he will answer to God Himself. Jesus will be the judge of our ministry. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17) The Scriptures will be the standard for our ministry, for we are called to equip the saints for ministry, (Ephesians 4:12) and are given the means to do so. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The presence of God will be the evidence of our ministry. Unless we abide in Christ and His Word, there will be no fruit in our ministry, no spiritual power in our speech, nor presence of God in our midst. Only when we hold forth God s truth and submit ourselves to it will the presence of God and the power of the Spirit be evident among us. Pray that God will raise up powerful, faithful, diligent, determined, humble preachers of the Word, and that we will count it an honor to walk with them as they prepare, pray for them as they practice and stand by them when they struggle. Ask the Lord to call out pastors who will give priority to His Word, and who will abide in Christ in equipping the saints for every good work.

2 Day 2 Fulfilling Our Duties as Pastors/Teachers preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2) The instruction Paul lays out for Timothy has not changed over the centuries, and pastors/teachers are still responsible for these three duties. Preach the word! No other source for life-changing truth can be found anywhere. As others were abandoning Jesus, Peter understood the source for truth. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, (John 6:68) Always be ready! When it is convenient and when it is not convenient, you are to preach the Word. By being a student of the Word, you are like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit. (Psalm 1:3) God is a particularly powerful God who always honors the Word when it is preached. Not only is there power in the gospel, which is found in the Scriptures and leads people to salvation and new life, but the Word also offers sound instruction by which we can know how to live for Jesus Christ. Apply the Word! With the Word we can reprove (correct) in order to gain proper understanding of what is right and true. With the Word we can rebuke to stop someone from going in the wrong direction. With the Word we can exhort (encourage), to reinforce what is right in the lives of people, to let them know that you see the glory and joy of Christ shining through them. As we exercise these three responsibilities, remember it takes great patience and a determination to keep instructing others, to fulfill our calling as pastors/teachers. Ask the Lord to raise up pastors/teachers who are willing to preach the Word, at any time and any place, and to apply the Word so those who listen are encouraged to live lives that honor Jesus Christ.

3 Day 3 Don t Be Surprised What if you are speaking the truth, doing it in love, and people push back from God s Word and toss you out as God s messenger? Jesus warned that we should not be surprised. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20) As he instructed Timothy in how to pastor the church in Ephesus, Paul knew there would be many who would defiantly turn aside from the truth the Word of God. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound 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. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) In a culture that will buy almost any crazy idea and then dare anybody to say anything about it, we see first-hand how that culture will tolerate nearly everything but biblical truth. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13) Even though biblical truth squares with reality better than any other worldview, people will not endure what it has to say. They prefer to embrace broken cisterns over the fountain of living waters. Let us choose to stay in the Word and not be apart from Christ! Ask the Lord to give strength and courage to those who preach and teach the Word accurately and faithfully, so they can endure when faced by those who turn aside from the truth.

4 Day 4 Preach the Word! God wants us to know the truth, to live by the truth, to be liberated by that truth. and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32) People want to hear what they want to hear, and they will look for and gather around themselves the kinds of teachers who support their unbelief. They agree with what they hope to be true and are willing to hear the lie they want to believe, as Paul warned Timothy. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound 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. (2 Timothy 4:3) What happens when people turn aside from truth and seek to hear what they want to hear? Many wander off into myths, inventing realities from their own imaginations and then try to live as if they were true. They buy and read books that suit their passions and fill auditoriums and arenas as the false prophets tell them what they want to hear. The bottom line is that they wind up agreeing with what they hope to be true and are willing to hear the lie they want to believe. Jesus is the truth, and the revelation of that truth is His Word, so Paul says, Preach the Word! preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2) Let us pray for and encourage those who preach the Word, whose hearts are on mission with Jesus Christ and His pursuit of the souls of men. Ask the Lord to raise up those messengers who will preach and teach the Word in the generations to come.

5 Day 5 Faithful Shepherds There is nothing more essential for the flock of God than to shepherd them for the sake of the Great Shepherd of our souls, Jesus Christ. We need faithful shepherds who serve the Great Shepherd. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5) Turning people back to the truth is serious work and needs those who are willing to be soberminded, or to keep their heads about them. Serious thinking about the issues of life and death make it necessary for the shepherds of the flock, and the flock itself, to take such things seriously. Faithful shepherds should expect to endure hardship. Living in a counter-cultural way means that hardship will come your way and that you must be determined to endure it, or be swept away by it. Being a faithful shepherds calls for the work of evangelism. Notice Paul does not tell Timothy to be an evangelist, or to exercise the gift of evangelism. Instead, he tells him simply, do the work of an evangelist, which is to proclaim the good news, the gospel. That means the shepherd and his sheep are not just to be crusaders for a worldview that is true, but they are called to be messengers of a gospel that saves! Blind people cannot see eternal truth until their eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit and their minds have been made ready to receive and understand what God says and means. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14) The faithful shepherd s role is not just to convince people that he is right about God s truth, but to show them the truth about their sin and the forgiveness of the Savior, doing the work of evangelism. Ask the Lord to use you to share the good news of the gospel and bring the light of truth to those who do not know Jesus Christ.