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my dear beloved Timothy. Your mother told me about the letter you got from Paul. Well, we are all just so proud of you. And to have him mention my name and your mom's well,

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It was humbling to say the least. You know, faith is such a precious thing. It's hard to know if what you really care about is actually being heard when you talk about it with others. I'm just so glad that Paul said in his letter that he sees the same faith in you that lives in your mom and in me.

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What a proud moment for me. As I think about my life, my prayer to God has been that if there is any good in me, let it be seen in my children and my children's children. May the legacy I've been given be handed down to them.

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And praise be to God. Your mother is a woman of faith and she has passed that on to you. But I've got to say, I couldn't have been a person of faith without the rabbis who taught me the Torah and who first told me about the love of God. in the midst of everything, I knew that I could turn to God and God would listen.

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And then when Paul came to our synagogue, whew, he sure shook things up. He came in telling us that Jesus, a Jew like us, was God in the flesh, God humbling himself to become one of us. and dying for our sins, saving us, that Jesus who died on the cross had risen again, and that this Jesus promised us new life, not just after we died, but right now. I can't tell you all the ways that has changed my life.

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I've wanted to live my life differently ever since. And even in my old age, Jesus is still making a difference in my life. The promise of new life seems even more vivid as I know my own death could come at any time. But why am I going on about all this?

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I know you've felt all this too. You know the difference that Jesus has made in your own life, Timothy, or else Paul wouldn't have seen you as a leader already. But it's important to remember, to remember all that Jesus has done for us because the times are hard. You know the suffering of the people as a leader in our community.

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You see it firsthand how the Roman soldiers continue to persecute the Jews and those of us who follow Jesus and wreck violence in our community. You've seen the poverty, the illness, and other sorrows that people carry. Especially as our leader, you are carrying a heavy, heavy load. And I know that load comes with a cost.

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Paul mentioned your tears, and I know your heart breaks every day for the suffering that you witness, the worries that you carry for the people of God that God has entrusted to your care. Which is why faith is so important. Why you must hold onto it at all times. Cling to the God who has promised us life in Christ Jesus.

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You heard it from Paul. Rekindle the gift of faith that God has given you. And in the power of God, through love and self-discipline, commit yourself to the Lord in all things and Timothy remember you cannot save your people you cannot save yourself you will never be able to stop all the Injustice in the world you will never be able to stop all the suffering

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you have such a good heart but if you take it upon yourself to try and save the world it will crush you you are Jesus's faithful follower but you're not Jesus himself trust that God saves Jesus saves not you God is at work in the world, and I want you to trust in that. And I also want you to let go of the need to see a difference in the world as a result of the work that you do. Because with all your efforts, you may be planting seeds that won't get watered until long after you're gone.

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And thank God for that. Remember Paul's words to you that God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. Not according to our works, Timothy, but according to God's own purpose and grace. Listen, my dear Timothy, be attentive to God's purpose for you and especially God's grace.

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Now, you may know all these things already, sweet Timothy, but as your grandmother, I care about you deeply. And I'm so, so proud of you. Never forget how beloved you are. And remember that God has given you to be a light to this weary, weary world.

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With all my love, Grandmother Lois.