By His Will

DEVOTION
2 TIMOTHY
BY HIS WILL
2 Tim 1:1-2
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
NIV
What is of value for me in the greeting portion of a letter from one man to another? Why does God want this to be recorded for me to read and glean some truth for my life? Maybe I am to see that I too am who I am by the will of God according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. True, I may not be an apostle, but then maybe I am, because in the original language apostle means an ambassador of the Gospel, or a commissioner of Christ. What believer is not that? Are not all believers ambassadors of the Gospel? Are we not all aliens in this world? Is not my citizenship in Heaven? If that is true, then have not I been sent to this place as his ambassador? Am I not a commissioner of Christ? I certainly believe this should be true of all believers. Although I live in the world I am not of this world, I am of the Kingdom of God. Therefore I am here to represent Christ to this foreign land. I am to speak on his behalf. I also am not subject to the law of this world, I have diplomatic immunity. That is I do not have to live as the world lives, I do not live according to the plan of man, but rather the plan of God. I am not subject to death, for I have life. This world and its ways bring nothing but death, and therefore as an alien I am not a citizen of this world and do not have to abide by its ways. I live by the word of God, and am a citizen of his Kingdom and am here at his will doing his business among this land I am in. I may not be a dear son to Paul, but I am quite sure I am a dear son to my Father who is in Heaven. And once again, I will accept all the grace, all the mercy and all the peace I can get from God and Christ. I am more than willing to have God act in a gracious manner toward me, as well as have his divine influence upon me. I will accept his compassion, his mercy toward me and without question I need all the peace, or increasing of my spirit I can get from him. I need to prosper in my spirit, to be wealthy in my spirit as well as live in rest. Of course all that was already accomplished on the cross of Calvary. What larger act of graciousness could he do? What greater influence on my life could there be? How much more rest could I get or how greater could I prosper in my spirit? I think there is more of all. God is continually about all of that in my life. He never forsakes me, but is always showing himself in these ways to me. Every time I fail him, he reminds me of his graciousness. Every time I fail him, he reminds me of his mercy, his compassion and forgiveness, his love for me. Every time I fail him, he reminds me to be at rest, he is helping me to be victorious. Yes, I am an apostle, an ambassador of Christ, by the will of God.