This Is Our Story and We (By the Grace of God) Are Sticking To It

127 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 4:10,11, “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach. (1 Tim 4:10,11) Paul and the Holy Spirit are relentless here in hammering home the points of the credal statement of 1 Tim 3:16! Stick to the story he says! Labor at it! Strain to keep it straight! Jesus is God in the flesh, (the living God!) He rose from the dead! After which he was seen by the apostles who were then instructed to bring the gospel message to the world. This message would be believed by many and result in the salvation of their souls. After He passed this message and subsequent command of the great commission. He ascended into heaven. Command and teach these things church! Labor to do it because the temptation will come to ignore this basic message for the sake of turning the Bible into a “how to” manual. Don't get me wrong, the Bible is the greatest book ever written for instructions for living, but these instructions must never supplant the message of this creed. The message of salvation! Don't ever think that this basic message is too boring to preach, too routine! We need to hear it! The world needs to hear it. God took on flesh, died for our sins, rose from the dead, commissioned His church to spread this message and then ascended into heaven! The Apostles, including Paul and other ministers like Stephen, Phillip, and young Timothy put their lives on the line and suffered greatly as they persisted in telling this unchanging story. They stuck to their guns, and so should we. They suffered reproach and the word means they were defamed, railed at, chided, taunted simply because of what they proclaimed about Jesus. Paul told Timothy to command the church that would follow to teach these things! It would be good to revisit these teachings on a regular basis to make sure we are still on the track of the early Apostles. This was their story and it's our story and we are sticking to it. Mock us taunt us, persecute us, but we still believe that Jesus alone is the Savior of all men, and no one gets to heaven except through Him!