Gospel Reflections #534: Only through God's strength

II Timothy 4:6 “I myself have already been offered as a sacrifice. The time is near when I must leave the world."

When Paul was getting old and his life was coming to an end, he wrote down in a letter the devotional work he had run through and what he wanted to convey to the end.

The "self that I have offered up as a sacrifice," as Paul put it, was probably his own self, who had been evangelizing for Jesus with all his heart.

Paul said, "Preach the word. This is not so much an emphasis on evangelism as it is an exhortation to us to "let people lose patience with sound teaching, and let their own selfish preferences drive them away from sound doctrine and toward fables, trying to get them to talk pleasantly, Paul is emphasizing this because "there will come a time when people will no longer tolerate sound teaching, but will turn to fables, to their own selfish preferences, in order to be told what they want to hear.

Paul's ministry may be special in some ways. God does not want us all to do the same work that Paul did.

Jesus gave us a new commandment.

Jesus gave us a new commandment: "Love one another, just as he loved us.

This Jesus showed us as something that any of us can do.

No, this is not something we can do in our own strength, but it is something we can do in Jesus, and God will make it possible for us as our relationship with Him deepens.

Jesus is our perfecter!

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.