2 Timothy 3:1-5,10-17

Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
~ Apostle Paul

1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

A Final Charge to Timothy
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Ephesians 5:8-20

A psalm of Asaph.

1. Surely God is good to Israel,
   to those who are pure in heart.
   
2. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
   I had nearly lost my foothold.
3. For I envied the arrogant
   when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
   
4. They have no struggles;
   their bodies are healthy and strong.
5. They are free from common human burdens;
   they are not plagued by human ills.
6. Therefore pride is their necklace;
   they clothe themselves with violence.
7. From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
   their evil imaginations have no limits.
8. They scoff, and speak with malice;
   with arrogance they threaten oppression.
9. Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
   and their tongues take possession of the earth.
10. Therefore their people turn to them
    and drink up waters in abundance.
11. They say, “How would God know?
    Does the Most High know anything?”
    
12. This is what the wicked are like—
    always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
    
13. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.
14. All day long I have been afflicted,
    and every morning brings new punishments.
    
15. If I had spoken out like that,
    I would have betrayed your children.
16. When I tried to understand all this,
    it troubled me deeply
17. till I entered the sanctuary of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.
    
18. Surely you place them on slippery ground;
    you cast them down to ruin.
19. How suddenly are they destroyed,
    completely swept away by terrors!
20. They are like a dream when one awakes;
    when you arise, Lord,
    you will despise them as fantasies.
    
21. When my heart was grieved
    and my spirit embittered,
22. I was senseless and ignorant;
    I was a brute beast before you.
    
23. Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
24. You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.
25. Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26. My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.
    
27. Those who are far from you will perish;
    you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28. But as for me, it is good to be near God.
    I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
    I will tell of all your deeds.
    

Prayer for the Day

Father God, amid the struggle, be the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Though my heart and flesh may fail – be it temporarily or for a season – let Your goodness and grace carry me through in Jesus. Amen.

The struggle is real, but so is God.

Micro-Group 
Moment

Considering one’s growth as a disciple
as a case for participating in Micro-Groups

In which areas does a disciple need to grow? A mere understanding of salvation in Jesus doesn’t make a person Christ-like in action or mature in faith. Along with the Bible and Spirit, God uses multiple relationships to bring us to maturity.

Drawing from the book of Ephesians, author Jim Putman suggests four spheres of life in which a disciple grows under God’s hand: Relating to [1] God directly, to [2] God’s family (the church), to [3] one’s own family, and [4] to the world.

In each sphere a disciple is to

As a disciple, you might look at it this way: Jesus has called me to

• be a fisher of men… (Matthew 4:19)
• in whatever I am doing… (Colossians 3:17)
• as I am going about life (Matthew 28:19)