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“For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.  One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.  To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”
Titus 1: 10- 16

Bryan Chapell in his commentary on Titus says the following about these verses:

“If our deeds do not conform to the gracious character of our God, then we deny his nature and deny ourselves the opportunity to serve him.”

We know that is grace that upholds us, sustains us, and lead us to repentance over and over again. But this week, as I have been mediating on these verses, I kept thinking on how many times we –I– have hide under the precious truth of His never ending grace to excuse a sinful behavior in our lives. No, I am not talking about those who abuse grace by openly sinning against God saying that God is always merciful and all good, and will always forgive. No, I am talking here of the subtle lie, the one that is not easily seen. The one that hides behind a pious character, behind empty talks and deceitful appearances. I am referring to the sinful ways in which we live while excusing ourselves saying, “That is the way I am. I am a sinner. I am still living in this sinful body” while at the same time we wrong our families, and our family in the Lord’s Church.

The Word of the Lord has rebuked me sharply. If by faith I live,  then I must live accordingly to it. My deeds must show Christ, and do not deny Him.

J.C. Ryle said,

“To say that we are sorry for our sins is mere hypocrisy, unless we show that we are really sorry for them, by giving them up. Doing is the very life of repentance.”

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

*This last line is based on one of Jonathan Edward’s prayers

Titus 1

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

How are you doing with this week’s memory verses? I must admit that for me it has not been easy. Normally the opening and greeting in the epistles are somehow easy to memorize; but this one has been tougher.

I have “broken” this set of verses in a manner that will help me understand with more clarity what the apostle is saying and at the same time memorize with ease:

Paul was two things: 

First of all: a servant of God

Second: and apostle of Jesus Christ


For what reason: 

1. For the sake of the faith of God’s elect (and here, as I have been repeating these words slowly as to eat them them without chocking, I see the doctrine of Divine Election. It is so clear. Faith belongs to those who have been elected by God!)

2. Their knowledge of the truth [which accords with godliness]

Now see this beauty, the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the Truth (yes, we must have knowledge of the truth, we must study the Word) accord with godliness. They go hand in hand with godliness, not with arrogance and a prideful heart, but with godliness.  When you meditate on these words, one by one, you see this, and let me share with you that the Holy Spirit has convicted me in some areas of my life in which I have professed to have the faith, and I certainly have the knowledge but clearly lack godliness.

The saints can persevere in godliness because of the hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. Do you see this? WOW! I get all excited when I read these words. We are not hopeless, we don’t desperately mourn the loss of those whom we love and have gone to be with the Lord, because of this hope. We can live like many saints have lived before us, without fearing death, because of this hope. We have hope of eternal life. God’s elect have hope in the eternal life He has promised. And He never lies.

He never lies.


He never lies.

Now verse 3 tells us the incredible way God has chosen to make known his Word, and that is through the preaching of it. I pray God will give me a heart that burns within in me to preach the gospel to those who have not heard it. I fear that sometimes I am more worried to have a sound doctrine -and defend it- than to reach for those who have not heard the gospel yet.


And the closing line in these verses: 

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 

Grace: what makes this word so special is that there is another one on the other side: guilty. We can not be amazed by God’s grace if it were not because He has taken away all guilt and sin from us.

Peace: True peace is only found when Grace has met us. First comes grace, then peace, in that order.

“Grace began in eternity, and it extends to eternity. we don not have to worry about exhausting the supply of God’s mercy because of the duration of grace: forever.”         Bryan Chapell

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

My Moleskine is ready. I am ready. I want to hide these words in my heart, and chew them, and be transformed by them, and be mastered by them.

Are you planning on joining us? May I suggest you two things to help you be ready –besides having your PDF files printed and ready to go; having a Bible commentary ready,  and a journal to copy the Epistle-?

1. Read Titus from beginning to end once this week -in one sitting- and once next week (Our project officially starts on the Lord’s Day February 5).

2. Read the introduction to the book. (This week I am reading from the Introduction of the ESV Study Bible to the Epistle of Titus)

“The theme of Titus is the inseparable link between faith and practice, belief and behavior.”

It is also interesting to find out how Paul referred to Titus in other Epistles, consider for example these two verses:

Titus was a comforter:

“For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,  and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ” 2Cor. 7:5-7

Titus had a compassionate heart and was willing to serve the Church.

“As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”  But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.” 2 Cor. 8: 15-17

I can’t but smile at these words after considering certain words of phrases that we have dismissed from our vocabulary: “thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus.”

UPDATE: I forgot earlier to include this quote from J.I. Packer’s book, A Quest for Godliness; The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life

“Before and after you read the Scripture’, says Baxter, ‘pray earnestly that the Spirit which did indite it, may expound  it to you, and lead you into the truth.’

Also, Scriptures teaches us our duty. Its instruction is for practice. It must be studied, therefore, for the purpose of setting our lives in order. And God will only prosper our study if we continually exercise ourselves to live by what we learn. Then our knowledge will deepen and expand; but otherwise it will run out into sterile verbiage and mental error…

He who would interpret Scripture aright, therefore, must be a man of reverent, humble, prayerful, teachable and obedient spirit; otherwise, however tightly his mind may be ‘stuffed with notions’, he will never reach any understanding of spiritual realities”

Now is your turn; search the Scriptures and find more about Titus and his partnership with Paul.

Coffee is awaiting as well as a day with 24 hours to do what God has prepared for me to do. Have a most blessed day, my friends!


Under His shadow,

Becky

Elizabeth has been a good friend to me; we have worked together in encouraging one another to memorize the Scriptures for over a year now. Elizabeth has put a lot of effort into putting together the epistle of Titus, our first memory project of the year, in three PDF files for your convenience. I am very happy to have her as a guest today. Be encouraged and join us!

As I reflected upon our Philippians memorization project, I began to see that memorizing long portions of Scripture was much like running a race (a fitting metaphor, I think, because that is to what Paul compares our spiritual journey). I started out with some uncertainty as to whether or not I could complete such a large goal. However, I was also full of energy and excitement as we began. As we progressed, it began to feel like an uphill battle, constantly fighting the flesh. It was as though my mental “muscles” were burning with the strain of the “exercise”. I cried out to the Lord in anguish, “I cannot do this, but I know that this honors You. Please, help me!” It went on like that for some time…constantly crying out to Him to carry me along. Toward the end of the project, came another “burst of energy”…renewed vision, excitement, and commitment. Throughout the project, as we memorized each chapter, I was amazed at what God was allowing and enabling our minds to retain. At the conclusion of the project, I found myself simply astounded at His grace and the way that He carried me through. It was truly evident that we work because He is at work in us (Philippians 2:12-13).

I know that I should not have been amazed; He wants us to know His Word more than we want to know His Word, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to make this possible. He also knits us together with other believers who encourage us, pray for us, etc., especially when our strength and/or faith are weak. (Thank you, Becky!!! You have been a huge means of grace in my life through this endeavor!!) God does not promise that the race will come easily, but He is faithful!

In A Godward Life, John Piper writes: “I have never heard anyone say, ‘The really deep lessons of my life have come through times of ease and comfort.’ But I have heard strong saints say, ‘Every significant advance I have ever made in grasping the depths of God’s love and growing deep with him has come through suffering’ (pg. 287).

Truly, memorizing large portions of Scripture is not suffering…quite the contrary, but it does require much effort, at times. However, the rewards far outweigh the “cost”. Just as Scripture says, “…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:7b-10, ESV).

It is with this in mind that I pray that many of you will consider the benefits of memorizing Scripture and strive alongside us, setting your hope on the living God. We’ve compiled a booklet for those of you who wish to have something small to carry along with you throughout the day. (To allow maximum space for a readable font, the margins are rather narrow so many of you may have to check a box saying “Fit”, “Fit to Page”, “Fit to Size”, or something similar. You can find folding instructions to make the single printed page into a booklet at the PocketMod site.)

Additionally, if this is your first time attempting to memorize an extended portion of Scripture, you may find John Piper’s method (borrowed from Andy Davis’ booklet, “An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture) helpful. This is what was shared with us upon the commencement of our Philippians memorization project and has been a beneficial guide to me, personally.

Elizabeth

Click on each of the following links to download the PocketMod. (I, Becky, cut it and instead of folding it, I pasted it on my Moleskine. The size works beautifully too)

Titus Weeks 1- 3

Erratum:

Week 1 – verse 1: is missing “of the faith” after “for the sake” and before “of God’s elect”

Week 3 – verse 15: is missing the word “but” after “nothing is pure” and before “both their minds”



Titus Weeks 4-6


Titus Weeks 7-9

Our general schedule, as we had announced last week, is as follows:

Week 1 ~ Titus 1:1-4
Week 2 ~ Titus 1:5-9
Week 3 ~ Titus 1:10-16
Week 4 ~ Titus 2: 1-6
Week 5 ~ Titus 2:7-10 (A short “grace” week for those who need to play catch up.)
Week 6 ~ Titus 2:11-15
Week 7 ~ Titus 3:1-7
Week 8 ~ Titus 3:8-11
Week 9 ~ Titus 3:12-15

To see more recommended resources on how to enrich your memorization time go here.

We would really love it if you could join us, it will be a blessing!

Elizabeth Hankins and I met when we memorized Philippians together with Tim Brister’s group: P2R last year. After that big project, we journey together through the book of James, and let me tell you that the time we spent in those books, meditating on them daily for several weeks was life changing. I must admit, just to encourage you,  that even though I was able, by God’s grace,  to persevere and finish both books,  I attempted to recite both of them to my sister this past Holiday and I couldn’t do it without hesitating! From this I learned two lessons:

1. It doesn’t matter. The time I spent digging the books, studying them, mediating on them was a time well spent. The Word of the Lord doesn’t return void. Never.

2. I need to review more and more what I have already memorized because I really want to be able to recite those books fluently next time I see my sister.

Elizabeth and I are now ready to start a new memory project this year: the book of Titus, and we would love it if you decide to join us.

We think we should be able to memorize Titus by paragraphs (5-7 verses), however, there are a couple of paragraphs that will probably need to be divided into two sections. We are thinking that we can do it in nine weeks, which would have us finishing up around Easter Sunday.

The general schedule (that Elizabeth put together for us) is this:

Week 1 ~ Titus 1:1-4
Week 2 ~ Titus 1:5-9
Week 3 ~ Titus 1:10-16
Week 4 ~ Titus 2: 1-6
Week 5 ~ Titus 2:7-10 (A short “grace” week for those who need to play catch up.)
Week 6 ~ Titus 2:11-15
Week 7 ~ Titus 3:1-7
Week 8 ~ Titus 3:8-11
Week 9 ~ Titus 3:12-15

We will start on the Lord’s Day, February 5, and God willing we’ll finish on Easter Sunday, April 8. Sometime soon we’ll be sharing a PDF for you to carry in your purse, car, pocket, etc. or maybe you want to cut it and paste it on a Moleskine.

If you want to join us I would really recommend you to get a good Bible commentary on Titus and a journal. Each week copy the weekly verses and jot down your notes from the commentary you are studying. This is one of my favorite parts of these memory projects.

You may want to check these resources:

This photo shows my copy book (where I also jotted down the notes from the commentary I used), my journible and memory Moleskine that I used when memorizing Philippians.

If you rather listen or read to some sermons consider these:

Have a most blessed day, my friends!

Oh wait!  I almost forgot to tell you about these beautiful -and free- printables that Melissa has made for you!

Becky