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Get Real
- David Brown
- Jun 7, 2009
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Passage: 1 Timothy 1:1-7
Get Real!
1Timothy 1:1-7 NKJV
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope,
2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
Paul called Timothy a true son in the faith.
(Evidently he had had “sons” who were not true…not real sons)
Paul encouraged Timothy to be a real leader, teaching real truth and leading others into real ministry and godly edification.
Paul said that the purpose (bottom line) of God’s commandment is love which comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. Real love!
Some, Paul said, have turned aside from sincere, true, real faith unto idle talk (Other translations = meaningless talk, vain arguments and discussions, purposeless talk) Some want to influence people with God’s word but have strayed from reality abd don’t know what they’re talking about.
If we don’t understand that our Christianity is to be real, then we don’t even know what we’re talking about!
Our faith must be real, genuine, authentic… to be powerful!
Jesus is real. (He’s not plastic, plaster, marble, oil & canvas)
We are to be real in our commitment to follow Him!
I like real people. (I even respect doubt and disbelief if it’s honest)
I like people who are real, say the truth and show you who they really are!
* Ray Cox
I like real believers.
I don’t care for flakey, fakey, unreal Christianity.
If it’s not real…it’s not believable!
If it’s not real, it’s not effective or powerful! It’s repulsive.
I don’t care for unreal, unbelievable Churches…
Some churches don’t believe anything, some just run programs but don’t build relationships, some are Copy Cat ministries without any original thoughts or real heart. Some are Show Biz churches…the smiles come on when the lights come on and the music starts. Churches made up of Stars and Fans!)
Some Christians are Unreal…and therefore unbelievable and unable to make real impact and have real influence!
Some Christians are Super Syrupy, some are Judgmental and others aren’t real at all because they’re living a double life!
We Christians and our Churches are to have pure hearts, clean conscience and sincere, genuine faith…in order to be true to Jesus and to ourselves and to release real power, impact and influence to those around us!
I want to encourage you today to…
Get Real.
Realize who you are, what you are and where you are for real.
Develop a love for the Real.
Develop an affinity, love and appreciation for what is real, true, honest, genuine. Desire it. Look for it and find it. Inject it into your life at every opportunity.
Keep it Real.
Conduct reality checks regularly! Ask God and people for honest assessments. Don’t slip into a double life.
And You will Live, Love and Laugh for Real!