Rekindle the Gift!
1 Paul, an apostle of King Jesus by God’s will, according to the promise of life in King Jesus; 2 to Timothy, my dear child. Grace, mercy and peace from God the father and King Jesus our Lord.
3 I serve God with a clear conscience, as my forebears did, and I am grateful to him that I remember you all the time, as I pray for you night and day. 4 I remember how you cried when I left, and I’m longing to see you and be filled with joy. 5 I have in my mind a clear picture of your sincere faith – the faith which first came to live in Lois your grandmother and Eunice your mother, and which, I am confident, lives in you as well.
6 That’s why I now want to remind you that God gave you a gift when I laid my hands on you, and that you must bring it back into a blazing fire! 7 After all, the spirit given to us by God isn’t a fearful spirit; it’s a spirit of power, love and prudence.
Don’t Be Ashamed!
8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as his prisoner. Rather, suffer for the gospel along with us, in accordance with God’s power. 9 God saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace in King Jesus before all time and ages, 10 but has now made it visible through the appearing of our saviour King Jesus, who abolished death and, through the gospel, shone a bright light on life and immortality.
11 I was made a herald, apostle and teacher for this gospel; 12 that’s why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one I have trusted, and I’m convinced that he has the power to keep safe until that day what I have entrusted to him.
13 Keep a firm hold on the pattern of healthy teaching which you heard from me, in the faith and love which are in King Jesus. 14 You have had something very important entrusted to you, too; make sure you look after it, through the holy spirit who dwells in us.
Foes and Friends
15 You will know that everyone in Asia has turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord give mercy to the household of Onesiphorus; he has often refreshed me. He wasn’t ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he was in Rome he eagerly hunted for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well all the things he did for me in Ephesus.