“Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God which is in you by the putting on of my hands. 7. But God has not given to us a spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.”
I will admit that I am coming into the middle of a much longer story in this passage, but I want to focus on the reminder that Paul gave young Timothy about stirring up, or as I wrote, “rekindling” the Holy Spirit’s gift for service that Paul knew that he had received. Evidently Timothy was in a spiritual low point, and that the constant persecution and the responsibility of the ministry in the Ephesian church were overwhelming him, and perhaps he was somewhat afraid. There is a message here for us, but we have the same problems, and we should not let them get us down, but we should rekindle the original flame. How can we “rekindle the flame.” First, we need to remember our spiritual gift(s). Every born-again child of God has gifts for service by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps in a lot of cases, the flame does not need to be rekindled, but actually needs to be discovered. But we need to remember that the Lord knows what our gifts are, and will even use our gifts in spite of ourselves. He has probably used your gift(s) in the church that you attend. I know that the Spirit has given me some gifts of service, but I had one gift for years that I did not even know that I had, and that is the gift of “encouragement.” In every personality test that I have taken, I have been identified with Barnabas, “the son of encouragement.” A few years ago, it dawned on me that by main gift is the gift of encouragement. The Lord has used what other gifts I have has led to encouragement. For a few years now, I have been rekindling that gift. Second, we need to remember our resources. God did not give us a “spirit of fear (or timidity.” But the devil knows our weaknesses and he will put fear in our hearts to keep us from using the gift(s) that God has given us for service in His kingdom. God has given us a spirit of “power and of love and a sound mind.” We have the great resource of God’s power on our side. Have you ever realized that He has given you His power in whatever He wants you to do? Have you ever realized that He has given you the power of His love as you do what He has called you to do? Have you ever realized that God has given you a “sound mind” that you can use in your service? Don’t let Satan convince you that you are a spiritual weakling. Either rekindle, or discover, your gifts and use them in power, love, with a sound mind, and do them with joy in your heart. God really wants to use you in a positive way. Find out, or rekindle, His gifts to you. Third, you should never be ashamed of what God has gifted you to do. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or me His prisoner; but be tAhou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.” If you really want to enjoy your service for the Lord, rekindle, or discover, what God has actually empowered you to do in His kingdom work. Selah Bro. Joe
2 Comments
Tommie L Collins
11/29/2018 07:22:45 pm
Very inspiring!!! Happy Holidays.
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Tommie L Collins
11/29/2018 07:24:34 pm
This is such a interesting scriptures.
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