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KEY SCRIPTURE:1Ti 4:7 KJV” But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”

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May we remind ourselves that we are taking a study of Paul’s letter to Timothy, who was the pastor of the church of Ephesus. Although the advice and counsel are predominantly for pastors, the lessons are applicable to every Christian.

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This time, Pastor Timothy is counselled to refuse old wives’ fables or silly myths that have no touch with reality or to assist spiritual growth. Well, in our time, we may not be saddled by baseless superstitious beliefs but rather are occupied with the mobile phone. A brother shared an event of pastors  where an elderly man was unduly delayed in the washroom for a very long time. He said he climbed up to see what had happened to the man. As he looked, he saw the man was glued to his mobile phone, watching pornographic videos. This was a pastor using his precious time to demoralise himself. Sadly, there are many such men who spend their private hours attending to their phones. Apostle Paul instructs us to REFUSE to attend to such things.

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He counsels that we would rather train ourselves in godliness. The Greek word for train or exercise is gumnizo, from which we derived the word gymnasium. As we know, a gym is a place where people train themselves in many ways. The next verse says that bodily exercise profits little. Meaning its impact  or benefit would be only for our physical body. He added that godly training or exercises have a greater benefit. It benefits us now and in life after here.

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What are some of these godly exercises? They are as follows.

1 prayer

2 Scriptural reading and studying

3 Meditation on the Scriptures

4Fasting

5 GIVING

6 Evangelism

Please note that these scriptural exercises train our spirit man to be agile and strong. The scripture says the spirit of a man would sustain his infirmity. But who can bear a wounded spirit? A strong spirit would not give in to adversity. Our spiritual senses, like sight, hearing and general spiritual discernment, can be developed through these exercises.

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After certain periods of prayer and fasting, one can find his spiritual sight opened, and his ears also opened, such that he or she could see things in the spirit.

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When the Lord Jesus lived physically among men, he did not function by spiritual gifts but by a developed spiritual man. He could easily know what people were thinking. Jr discrrned spirits of infirmity. He healed at will and also knew when the enemy spoke through people. By the ability of His developed spirit. Satan or his demons were never able to outwit Him.

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THOUGHT: TRAIN UP YOUR SPIRIT AND BE MORE EFFECTIVE FOR THE LORD

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FURTHER STUDIES

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1Co 14:4 KJV He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

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Jos 1:8 KJV” This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”