Everybody needs someone to help them navigate through their life. Timothy had the best of mentors in the apostle Paul, who wrote two letters to encourage him in his life and ministry. During his missionary journeys, Paul had left Timothy behind in Ephesus so that he could grow the ministry that Paul had begun there. His first letter to Timothy is full of wisdom and guidance about how to do just that.
Our lives can be such a challenge, and we often struggle to make sense of our suffering. Sometimes we feel a little like Job—as though the bottom has dropped out of our life and everything we thought we could depend on has disappeared from view. The book of Job doesn’t provide us with neat and tidy answers about all the suffering we face, but it points to God as the One we can trust when things seem to be falling apart.
There was a man who was lost in the desert, and he had no water to quench his thirst. He was tired and exhausted, and his throat was parched. He longed for a cool drink of water. Looking into the distance, he saw an old shack, so with the little strength left within him, he made his way there.
Paul closed his first letter to the Thessalonians with the glorious promise that Christ would soon be returning. So, he called the Christians at Thessalonica to stay awake and remain alert in view of the second coming of Jesus.
Second Samuel has so much drama and excitement that one can’t help but think it would make a great movie! It picks up where 1 Samuel left off and focuses on the story of King David. As the book opens, the former king, Saul, is dead. Now David, the hero of so many military battles, is crowned as the new king of Israel.