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⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (In short, thank you ladies for raising a godly man)

• Eunice was a Jewish believer who had been married to a Greek man, which would explain that, as an infant, Timothy was not circumcised as all Jewish boys were. It was the responsibility of Jewish fathers to oversee that rite, and since Timothy’s father was Greek, circumcision would not have been his custom. Paul had Timothy circumcised before they began their missionary journeys together to not offend their Jewish audiences.
• Lois was either Eunice’s mother or her mother-in-law. The fact that she helped raise Timothy may indicate that Timothy’s father had died or that the family all lived together, which was not uncommon in those days. The father may have died while Timothy was young since Paul takes on a fatherly role with Timothy and often refers to him as “my true son in the faith.”

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If I start quoting scripture on this book, this post will be longer than the Bible!  Click here (if you don’t have a Bible in front of you) and reread verses 6-12.  Now that you are a week away from reading EVERY word God wrote, what are you going to do?

⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

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Phygelus, Hermogenes, and Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus was from Ephesus and probably came to know the Lord during Paul’s 3rd mission trip.  The other two knuckleheads deserted him.  We don’t know anything about them, but I assume they “fell away” from all the false teachings preached from the “The Way.” The flesh is weak!

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Chapter 2- Three great examples are given soldier, athlete, and farmer.

• No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs but instead tries to please his commanding officer.
• Anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
• The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.

Dealing With False Teachers (verse 14-26)

• don’t quarrel about words; it is of no value and only ruins those who listen. 
• BUT do not be ashamed of correctly speaking the word of truth
• Avoid godless chatter; it only adds fuel to their fire (their teaching will spread like gangrene 😂 verse 17).
• Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus?  Free yourself up a little when words fall on deaf ears: “The Lord knows those who are his,” 
• Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because you know they produce quarrels. BUT be kind in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

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Chapter 3

So I hear people say all the time, “Look around, we are definitely getting closer to the End Times.”  Umm, here is my advice: Each day we check off the calendar-we are 1 day closer.   😂

Even Paul says, “MARK MY WORDS.”

“There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

Ummmm. Jesus said:

^{Matthew 24:42} “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

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So what are Paul’s final words to Timothy?  The same ones to us: (here are a few that stood out) for January 1, 2022, for you and me:

• ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it (from God’s Word), ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 
• I give you this charge: ² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

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A few names if you are interested:

• Demas– was one of Paul’s fellow co-workers (once) (Phil 1:24)
• Crescens and Titus-they have left, but it does not say they left him.  Maybe they went to share the Good News.
• Luke is still with him.  Probably as his Dr.
• Bring Mark back!
• Tychicus is actually mentioned quite a bit.  He is called a “dear brother” of Paul’s and a “faithful servant” of the Lord’s.  He was with Paul on Mission trips and stayed with him during a time of Prison. He was also entrusted to deliver Paul’s epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. While traveling to Colossae, Tychicus accompanied Onesimus, the former slave who was returning to Philemon.  Finally, Tychicus was sent to Ephesus as an “interim pastor” to free up Timothy to visit Paul.
• Some guy named Carpus clearly borrowed his coat! And his parchment paper 😝  JK.
• Alexander 🤬.  Do you remember way back in Acts 19 when Paul was in Ephesus, and there was a silversmith that was selling his trinkets at the Temple?  This guy rallied up other silversmiths and said, “Dude, if they become believers, they won’t buy our fake idols” (clearly not a direct quote).  Well, this is the guy!
• 
• Priscilla and Aquila-I think you remember them!   The Power couple! (Acts 18)
• Erastus-worked with Paul in Corinth- He was also an influential man in Public Works. So it made sense for him to stay in Corinth and represent.
• Trophimus sick in Miletus, Covid maybe??
• Eubulus, Prudens, and Linus  (historical writings have them as the ‘bishops.’
• Claudia- this is fascinating.  She knows Timothy, but hang with the 3 musketeers listed above. However, the name Cladia is only given to women in Rome that come from Royalty.  Some rumors have her as Pruden’s wife; others suspect she may have been Pilate’s wife.  (remember she was against the crucifixion).  She may have just been a woman of Royalty who left her comfortable life behind to serve the Lord through Paul.  Interesting possibilities.²² 

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.