Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if any praise, think on these things.  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you.  (Philippians 4:8,9)

As I look forward to the next year may I strive to follow Paul’s example of knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering, and being made conformable unto the death of self, may I forget these things which are behind and press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  So as this year is about to come to an end and as I look forward to the start of a new year I should strive to keep at least one resolution for next year and that is to mediate on God’s word both day and night.  By striving to stay in God’s word daily and letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide me in the process of applying these words to my daily meditation; I hope I can become a vessel of honor sanctified and meet for the master’s good work, adequate, and equipped for every good deed that God has prepared for me as I make on our journey upon this earth.   I must keep on remembering that the key to my daily life to let others see Christ in me.   May this be the goal I set for the new year “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.”.

In II Timothy 2:8-12 Paul writes to Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, who has saved us and has called us to an holy calling for his purpose.  Paul also writes to Timothy in verse twelve that he was not ashamed, for he knew whom he had believed and was persuaded that Christ was able to keep that which Paul had committed unto Christ against that day.  These verses points to Paul’s desire not only for his ministry, but also for the life he lived daily.  In this letter to Timothy Paul gives his beloved son his final words of encouragement as well as a warning to fight the good fight for the gospel. These words that Paul wrote to Timothy over two thousand plus years ago can also be used by us as we strive to fight the good fight as we strive to fulfill the great commandment of our Lord in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

During the question-and-answer section of my ordination process I had to give my life verse and explain why I choose this verse.  My life verse at that time was Romans 15:20 “Yea, so I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:”.  Before I could give the reason one of the professors ask me what version of Bible I was using.  I told him the King James Version.  He looked it up and stated that in all his studies of Paul he had never recalled this verse.  He asked me the reason I chose this verse, and I told him my desire was to preach Christ name to those who have not heard the gospel.  For in Romans 15:21 Paul writes to the Romans the words of Isaiah 52:15 “They who had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.”  That was over fifty years ago, and I can see now how much more the words that Paul wrote to Timothy can related today to the preaching of gospel. 

Paul writing to the Romans of his striving to preach the gospel to where Christ’s name had not been preached also took on an added changed to his charge to Timothy during the final days of the life of Paul.  The charge that Paul gave to Timothy was to preach the word in season and out of season: to reprove, rebuke, exhort, and with longsuffering teach sound doctrine, as he sat in a Roman prison awaiting his final days.  For Paul saw in these final days of his ministry the great falling away of the faith into an apostasy that centered around men being lovers of their own selves, covetous, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.  They have a form of godliness, but deny the power and resist the truth, even learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  So as the new year approaches, we as believers should have two messages; preaching the gospel to the lost and striving for the prize of the high calling of God by not walking in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful, but delighting ourselves in the law of the Lord.