Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 4:9-22

⁹ Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ¹² Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. ¹⁴ Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹ Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. ²¹ Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. 

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 4:10

• What is surprising and tragic about the reason Demas deserted Apostle Paul?
• What is the relationship between being “in love with this present world” and deserting the work of God? (cf. James 4:4)
• What are the things I still love that can potentially become the reason to desert or dilute my faith and commitment to the work of God?

2 Timothy 4:16-18

• What enabled Apostle Paul to not hold a grudge against “all [who] deserted [him]”?
• What are the things Paul recognizes, that enable him to break out into praise despite his difficult circumstances — such as imprisonment and loneliness, to name a few?
• What are the difficulties that I am facing, and what are the truths I can remember, that will lead me to give thanks and glory to God in every circumstance? (cf. 1 Thess. 5:16-18)

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 4:1-8

¹ 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 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ 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. ⁵ As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 4:1-5

• What five charges does Apostle Paul give to Timothy? With what attitude should these charges be carried out and why?
• What is the role of a spiritual mentor and what makes it difficult?
• Who are the people, or what are some of the sources, in my life that tell me things to “suit [my] own passions”?
• What truths in my life have I turned away from and which myths do I turn to instead? 

2 Timothy 4:6-8

• How must I live in order to be able to say, along with Apostle Paul, that “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 3:10-17

¹⁰ You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, ¹¹ my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ 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.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 3:10-11, 14

• How extensive was Timothy’s knowledge of Paul?  How would such knowledge of Paul’s life and character have had an effect on Timothy’s own life?
• Who are the people I can reflect on in order to remain strong in the midst of persecution, difficulties, and “evil people and imposters”?  

2 Timothy 3:13-14

• What pattern characterizes “evil people and imposters”? What contrasting pattern does Apostle Paul urge upon Timothy?
• Are there times when I have wavered and not continued in what I have “learned and have firmly believed”?  What was it that caused me to waver?

2 Timothy 3:14

• According to v. 14, what is the basis for why Timothy could be confident to continue in what he has learned?
• What insight about the function of the church does this passage provide?

2 Timothy 3:15-17

• What are the Scriptures able to do, and what is the Scripture useful for?  Reflect on the times and incidents in which I experienced some of the above aspects of Scripture.

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 3:1-9

¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 3:1-5

• What are the characteristics of people in the last days and how is this an apt picture of people today?
• What can I learn from the fact that someone who has the “appearance of godliness” can be characterized as “lovers of self,” “lovers of money,” and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”?
• Apostle Paul instructs Timothy to “avoid such people” who have an “appearance of godliness but [deny] its power.” What warning does this serve me regarding the desires of my heart? 

2 Timothy 3:6-7

• How is being “burdened with sins and led astray by various passions” related to “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth”?  How can this lead to being “weak”?
• To what extent am I a “weak” person though I am given many opportunities to learn the truth?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 2:20-26

²⁰ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 2:20-21

• What are the dishonorable things I need to cleanse myself from so that I can “be an instrument for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master”?
• What are the good works that God has prepared for me to do?

2 Timothy 2:22-24

• What is the relationship between “flee[ing] youthful passions” and “pursu[ing] righteousness”? Why is it important to do so “along with those who call on the Lord”? How can I do this concretely?

2 Timothy 2:25-26

• How are people caught in “the snare of the devil” and “captured by [Satan] to do his will”?
• What are the lies of this world that I need to “come to [my] senses” about and repent of?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 2:7-19

⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. ⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 

¹¹ The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

¹² if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

¹³ if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 2:7-10

• Why does Apostle Paul encourage Timothy to “think” and “remember”?  How can I cultivate the practice of thinking and remembering?

2 Timothy 2:14-19

• Why is it important for me to “do [my] best to present [myself] to God as one approved, a worker… rightly handling the word of truth”?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 2:1-6

¹ You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. ³ Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ⁵ An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 2:1

• How does grace provide strength? What false sources of strength have kept me from experiencing grace?

2 Timothy 2:2

• How does this verse show that the gospel that has been passed on to me needs to be passed on to others? How is this a reality in my life? In what ways can I become more of a “faithful” person “who will be able to teach others also”?

2 Timothy 2:3-6

• What are the qualities of a soldier, an athlete, and a hardworking farmer that I need to emulate? How does this match my view of Christian life? What are the “civilian pursuits” that hinder me from being a “good soldier of Christ Jesus”?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 1:13-18

¹³ Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵ You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 1:13-14

• What is the “good deposit entrusted to [me]” and what does it mean to guard it?
• How does “the Holy Spirit who dwells within us” help us to guard this good deposit?

2 Timothy 1:15-18

• How was Onesiphorus able to refresh Apostle Paul?
• In what ways can I refresh others who are in chains or suffering for the sake of the gospel?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 

2 Timothy 1:8-12

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰ and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹ for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ¹² which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 1:1, 8

• How can Apostle Paul so confidently ask Timothy to “share in suffering for the gospel”?  In what ways am I “ashamed of the testimony about our LORD” or ashamed to “share in suffering for the gospel”?

2 Timothy 1:9

• How does the fact that I have been saved “not because of [my] works but because of his own purpose and grace” affect my attitude toward my life?

2 Timothy 1:10-12

• How confidently can I say, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me”? What implication does this confidence have on the kind of life I will live, especially in terms of suffering?

Prayer 

Journal

Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:

• A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
• A Guide to Self-Reflection
• A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text

2 Timothy 1:1-7

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, my beloved child:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴ As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,  ⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Reflection & Application

2 Timothy 1:2-4

• What must have been Apostle Paul’s relationship with Timothy as reflected in these verses? To what extent are my relationships with others in the body of Christ characterized by prayer, closeness, and joy?

2 Timothy 1:5-6

• From Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “fan into flame the gift of God,” what can be learned about the relationship between God’s gift and the Christian’s responsibility to develop, nurture and grow it? How can I concretely “fan into flame the gift of God”?

Prayer