Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Communion of Saints ” for Sunday, 2 November 2014 - 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Communion of Saints
” for Sunday, 2 November 2014 - 2 Timothy 1:1-2 I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God’s plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus. I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!
To Be Bold with God’s Gifts
3-4 Every time I say your name in prayer—which is practically all the time—I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors. I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
5-7 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
8-10 So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.
11-12 This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what he’s trusted me to do right to the end.
13-14 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.(Hebrews 12:1 (NRSV))
I love “All Saints Sunday” when we celebrate the saints among us who have gone on to heavenly glory. In worship that day we read the names of those who have died in the faith during the previous year. As their pastor, I have powerful memories of the many persons whose names are read, memories of stories and experiences and prayers we shared — holy moments. These people are examples of lives well lived, and so it is right for me to honor the memory of those, such as my parents and my grandparents, who have contributed so richly to who I am.
Maybe I love this Sunday so much because it is the Christian church’s way of announcing to the world that there is a glorious heaven and that Jesus is the one true light to lead us there. We who believe know absolutely, for certain, things that non-believers cannot know. Maybe I love this Sunday because of the time of Holy Communion when I am aware of that phrase we say in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in the communion of saints.” Each time I strongly feel surrounded by the great “cloud of witnesses.” And it is all very good. That’s why I love this Sunday.
The Author: Dan G. Johnson (Florida, USA)
Thought for the Day: Every day, each one of us stands in company with all the saints.
Prayer: Dear God, help us live in gratitude for all the faithful ones who have gone before us. May we follow their example in living so that others come to know Christ. Amen.Prayer focus: Those who model the faith for me
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