Fan Into Flame the Gift of God Within You

“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:1-7 ESV)

For all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, God has a plan and a purpose for our lives which he had planned for our lives from even before he laid the foundations of the earth, and even before we were formed in the wombs of our mothers. God created us with a very specific plan and purpose in mind, part of which is his plan for all who follow him in truth, and part of which is his specific calling on our individual lives. And we are to be the people of God that he created us to be in his power, strength, and wisdom.

With regard to his general purpose for all of us, it is that he saved us and he called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-4). And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ.

For we are those whom God has called according to his purpose. And his purpose is that we die to sin and now live for him in walks of righteousness and obedience to him. And those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. So, as obedient children, we are not to be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance, but as he who called us is holy, we are also to be holy in all our conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Romans 8:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 1:14-16)

But, then like I said, he has a very specific purpose for each of us individually, as well. Like we read in Psalms 139:13-16, we learn that it is God who formed our inward parts. It is God who knit us together in the wombs of our mothers. And his works are wonderful. But he didn’t put all of us in homes where we were loved and cared for as we should have been. Some of us were severely abused as children and were emotionally neglected, and so we didn’t feel loved at home, even if we did know that God loved us, which was then a comfort to us.

But that was no accident. That was the home and family he chose for us to be raised in for his purposes. It doesn’t mean that he incited evil against us or that he supported such evil, but that he allowed us to endure such evil for his purposes in order to make us into the people he wanted us to be for his purposes and for his glory. For this Psalm also states that “in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” None of us are here by accident. And we have all had the histories we have had to prepare us for the present.

And then we read in Jeremiah 1:5 God’s words to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” And this fits with what we read in Psalms 139. But Jeremiah felt ill-equipped for what God had called him to do, and so the Lord let him know that he was to go to whomever God sent him, and he was to say whatever God gave him to say, and he was not to be afraid of the people and of their response to him, for the Lord would deliver him. 

[Jeremiah 1:1-19; Psalms 139:13-16; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 6:15-21; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 10:26-31; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3] 

And all this fits with what Paul said to Timothy about God’s calling upon his life and how he was to fan into flame the gift of God on his life, and that he was not to be afraid, for the Lord gives us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. And God is reminding us, too, that he has given each of his followers a specific calling that he has for us to do, and that we are to “fan into flame” those callings and those ministries and the giftedness of God to be able to do what he has called us to do. And we are not to be afraid of the people and what they will do to us or say about us.

And if we don’t know what God’s specific calling is upon our lives, then we should pray and ask him to make it known to us, and then we must yield to God’s will and purpose for our lives, even if we largely get hated and rejected in return. And we can’t worry about all the “what ifs” because we have no control over most things in this life. The only thing we really have control over is our own lives and the choices that we make, either to follow Jesus with our lives or to continue to live our lives for our own fleshly desires. We just have to step out in faith, take it one day at a time, and trust the Lord to guide us and to empower us every step of the way.

But the main thing here is to know that we are not on this earth for no reason, and we are not here just to please ourselves. We are here to live for the Lord and to please him with our lives and to do his will, and not to please other humans. For if our lives are truly surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, then we are going to be hated and rejected and cast aside as he was because we are living for the Lord and because we are speaking the truth of this gospel and because we are refuting the lies of the enemy, and so the enemy is going to be fiercely against us. So our trust must be firmly in the Lord and in the truth of his word, and we must rest in him.

Not Be Silent 

An Original Work / December 3, 2012

Based off Psalm 30 

O Lord my God, I’ll exalt You.

I called for help, 

And You healed me.

O Lord my God, 

You brought me from the grave. 

You spared me from hell.

Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;

Praise His holy name today.

Weeping may remain for a night; 

Joy at break of day.

Our debt He did pay!

O Lord my God, I said, “I will 

Ne’er be shaken.” Secure, I felt.

O Lord my God, You forgave me.

Confident I stand in You.

When I could not see

Your face I was dismayed.

I called to You. O Lord, 

You are my help.

You were merciful to me;

By Your grace set free!

O Lord my God, I’m so thankful for

Salvation through my Jesus.

You turned wailing into dancing;

Clothed me with Your joy today,

That my heart may sing

To You and not be silent.

Praise Your name.

O Lord my God,

I will give you 

thanks forevermore.

My Lord, I adore!

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