FAN THE FLAME!

In the 1st chapter of 2Timothy,Paul is telling us that it is imperative to “Fan the Flame” of our faith in Christ.Sometimes,if you don’t fan a flame it will begin to cool down,and become what Jesus talks about  n Revelation3:15-17->”I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, NOT REALIZING that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”.If we are not Fanning The Flame of our Faith in Christ,we become luke warm->neither hot nor cold!When this begins to happen in our lives,we begin to lose the sense of Jesus’ Spirit in our mind/heart/life,& the sense of His Strength emPOWERING love & self control/discipline in our mind/heart/life(2Tim1:6-7,”fan into flame the gift of God which is in you...for God gave you NOT a spirit of fear,but of power and love and self control.”).Paul then tells us HOW to Fan the Flame of our Faith in Christ->”THEREFORE! DO NOT BE ASHAMED of the testimony about our Lord,nor of me,but share in the suffering for the gospel!(2Peter1:8-9)!He is encouraging us to NOT be ashamed of the TESTIMONY of our Lord/The Entire Word of God! The Bible is The Written/Recorded Testimony of our Lord! This is why the enemies of our Lord have always sought to discredit and/or malign The Bible throughout all history!When we allow this to happen,we are NOT fanning into flame the gift that God has given us!When we “fan a flame” into a fire that we are trying to start,we will shield the burgeoning “spark” from things that deter the “spark”,while we diligently fan the “spark” into a growing flame.Satan is quite OK with “SPARKS”,but he is NOT OK with God’s Flames!Therefore,we have challenges with correctly fanning into flame the gift that God has given us when we allow ourselves to lose our reverence for the entire Word of God!The next thing the devil will atTEMPT on us is a lack of mind/heart/life reverent response to God’s Word,& why the next thing Paul encourages Timothy with is to “FOLLOW THE PATTERN of the sound words that you have heard from me,in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us”->Paul is warning us that unless the pattern of our mind/heart/life does not align with the instructions of God’s Word & Spirt,we are exposing ourselves to another way that our faith in Christ will “cool down”...& The Flame will begin to die down.Then Paul says what may be the strongest part of the lesson in 2Timothy when he says “GUARD the good deposit entrusted to you”.(2Peter1:14b).Once we take as our own the amazing gift of God’s Mercy&Grace through Christ,& Jesus gives us His Spirit to live in our mind/heart/life,we are to GUARD this MOST VALUABLE/PRECIOUS/SIGNIFICANT GIFT...protecting it with the TRUTHS of The Testimony of our Lord,and the mind/heart/life lessons & disciplines HE blesses us with for our personal BEST eternal interests!Dear Lord Jesus,thank You for The Testimony of Who You are;of Your Love;of Your Grace&Mercy that You have miraculously made possible for me to have...& for the Gift of Your Spirit to live within me!I need Your help to persevere in fanning Your Flame in my life and through my life...and Rightly Guarding all of these in all of my mind/heart/life....

Thoughts from a friend

A friend of mine was also reading through 1Timothy while I was journaling/texting over the last few days,& he responded to me with a text/journaling of his own that the Lord has used to work on my mind/heart/life that last few days. With his permission,here is his response...and a huge reason that I thank Jesus for bringing friends/brothers in Christ like him into my life!

“My thoughts in reading this(last few days of texts/journaling) were about a leak in my ship, likely several...not too big to really worry about...its a pretty good ship...a good old boy of sorts...biding its time... but thinking I can take care of those things later...no big deal...they might even take care of themselves  in the long run...probably caused by a little complacency...not a really bad thing ... but that is the downward spiral...the loss of focus that draws us way from the real Truth about the direction we are moving...lacking endurance to stay the course ...and the answer is always Jesus...and His guiding loving Spirit of mercy and grace..moving us to acknowledge our sin that creates the leaks that ultimately will push Him aside for our way....our pleasure...I agree , Lord, that I easily get distracted, Complacent, ornery, impatient and lacking in seeking you with my whole heart... Thank You...for drawing me back, accepting me as I am into your fellowship... and eternal life and peace!! Amen”. Dear Lord,thank you for the way you have brought this friend into my life,& for the ways that you have used him to open my eyes to so many things in my life...& encourage me with Your Mercy&Grace drawing me back to You as well!

1 Timothy 6:11-14

Paul has been encouraging Timothy with lessons for anyone seeking to live in a way that will keep them from “wandering away from the Faith”(1Tim6:10)and losing our RIGHT FOCUS!He has given us instructions on the value of finding “true north” for life/RIGHT FOCUS for life,and how we can stay the course of a trusted/true course for life that will keep us from shipwrecking our faith by warning us of what are the strongest atTEMPTS of the devil to draw us away from the only eternally trusted/true course for life there is!Then in 1Tim6:11-14 Paul gives us a list of things that will help keep us on the right/true course->the things to seek;listen to;& use as distillers for all that we allow to become a part of our mind/heart/life....the very things that ultimately determine the choices we make;the decisions we make;the disciplines we have;the way we make priorities;etc.->”But you, man of God, FLEE from all this, and PURSUE righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.Fight the good fight of the faith.....I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our LORD Jesus Christ,”.Paul tells us what to turn away from/not pursue,& now he tells us what to pursue so we will not be so tempted to veer off to a “shipwrecking course”!In essence Paul is giving us filters for life->the qualifying “essence” for all things that we allow to become a part of our mind/heart/life!These are righteousness, godliness, faithfulness,love, endurance and gentleness.All of these are rightly defined & described throughout the Bible,as well as demonstrated through the lives of the Faithful recorded in the Bible and many others throughout history,& in our current world/lives.When we allow things that are NOT righteous,NOT godly,NOT faithful, UNloving,IMpatient,or UNgentle into our mind/heart/life...we could very well be changing the course of our mind/heart/life toward shipwrecking our faith....and our mind/heart/life.The devil is sly and creative with tactics&strategies In these areas of our mind/heart/life!This is why we cannot be slack in our ENDURANCE for righteousness,godliness,faithfulness,love,& gentleness in all areas of our lives!Hebrews1:1-2 makes this simple by saying,”Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us RUN WITH ENDURANCE the race that is set before us,FIXING OUR EYES ON Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”.When we maintain/endure a RIGHT FOCUS for our mind/heart/life,we will be able to maneuver our lives/“endure our lives” through whatever waters we may be sailing through on a course that will keep us from becoming shipwrecked!Dear Lord Jesus,I desperately need Your help in my mind/heart/life with these lessons....I am also thankful for Your Mercy & Grace for the times I have “shipwrecked” and then turned to you to SAVE me.I pray for Your sovereign help to keep me focused on You as You Alone grow and perfect my faith....

1 Timothy 6:6-10

In the next verses of 1Timothy6:6-10,Paul is giving a “heads-up” to a smart;ambitious;energetic young man...about what will atTEMPT to set the rudder of his him away from the TRUSTED/TRUE course for his life.The sailor analogy from the other day has 2 parts to it. The first part is seeking and receiving the TRUTH and setting our sails to know the feeling of our sails filling with the unseen power of the wind.The second part is adjusting our rudder according to the “TRUTH/SOURCE” of the unseen wind so that we keep aiming toward THE TRUE COURSE for life,instead of drifting off THE TRUE COURSE&away from THE TRUTH/SOURCE.We may set our sails correctly,but unless our rudder is adjusted RIGHTLY toward THE TRUE COURSE/THE TRUTHS for life,we will soon face the peril of going off THE TRUE COURSE, or even worse flipping over and losing the safety of a sailboat’s ballast/TRUE FAITH.There are always adjustments in sails AND rudder that give us the greatest potential for an “UNshipwrecked” journey through life’s challenges.Many times we will set our sails to catch the Wind/The Spirit and feel the exhilaration of the sails of our soul/spirit filling with God’s Presence,but then be TEMPTED to adjust the rudder/direction toward a course away from THE TRUE COURSE for life INSTEAD of seeking HIS PRESENCE in our lives by turning the rudder of our mind/heart/life toward HIM.1Tim1:18-19 says this,“Timothy, my son, I give You this instruction in keeping with the prophecies made about you(heeding God’s Word),so that by following them(rightly adjusting the rudder/direction of our mind/heart/life)you may fight the good fight,holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have REJECTED these and so have shipwrecked their faith.” This is a primary purpose for Paul’s letter to young Timothy....to give him the wisdom/instruction needed for an UNshipwrecked journey through life.The devil is all about leading us to being shipwrecked by messing with the way we set our sails AND by atTEMPTING to have us make the wrong adjustments of our rudder and pointing our lives toward a course away from THE TRUE COURSE for life/THE TRUE PURPOSES for life.In the lives of Christians,especially in today’s environment of mega churches and awesome worship experiences available to us for “filling our sails” with the Presence of God,the devil will turn to his more effective&more sneaky way of “shipwrecking” us - which is the second part of the sailing analogy->how we adjust the rudder of our mind/heart/life to stay the course of SEEKING/FOLLOWING GOD!1Timothy6:9-10 tells Timothy what a most effective tactic of the devil is-“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation,into a snare,into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.It is through this craving that some have wandered away from THE FAITH and pierced themselves with many pangs.” The TRUE COURSE/TRUE PURPOSE of our lives is to know the GLORY of GOD...through the Mercies and Grace of Jesus Christ!When we “aim/focus and adjust the rudder of our mind/heart/life” through anything else & toward anything else,the course we set for our lives will be far from the JOYS and the PEACE that God desires to bless us with/the TRUE DESIRES of our heart...,and not the false desires that eventually shipwreck our lives (Psalm37:4”Delight yourself in the LORD;And He will give you the desires of your heart.Commit your way to the LORD,Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”).As in the time Paul is writing this letter to Timothy,so it is in ours...a most effective way the devil will atTEMPT to get us off of THE TRUE COURSE/THE TRUE PURPOSE for life will be by putting before us temptations that lead to traps/snares, that at their core are senseless and harmful desires put us into a course of being shipwrecked/plunged into ruin and destruction.Dear Lord Jesus,make me so aware of how I am making adjustments in the sails and the rudder of my mind/heart/life...that these are the first things I check in the morning...and a priority to check throughout every day....work freely in my heart to convince my “head” and “body” to choose the right adjustments throughout every day that will keep me on a course toward YOU...and far away from all “conditions” that would shipwreck my mind/heart/life.

1 Timothy 6:3-5

After giving a call for staying a course for “TRUE NORTH” in our lives,1Timothy6:3-5 talks about the very thing that is at the root of stealing us away from “TRUE NORTH”!1Tim6:3-5,”If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth(The Word of God), imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”.This reminds me of what I heard Pastor Tony Evans say during an interview about one of his books.Tony Evans said,”....if you are not regularly digging into God’s Word to learn what God has on HIS Heart for you personally....,then do not read my book....until you are regularly feeding on The Word of God and tuning into HIS Spirit through prayer...,do not read my book.”.The point Tony Evans is making is relative to these verses in 1Timothy! With the plethora of “Christian Resources & Materials” available to us today,there is an overwhelming abundance of “information&knowledge” that we need to have discernment about,& prepare ourselves for by seeking the discernment that God offers us through HIS Word,HIS Spirit,&HIS Creation!This is what 1Tim6:3 tells us->”If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness...”(The Word of God!)!SO,we need to have a regular digging into God’s Word too have the right/appropriate tools that enable us to rightly discern any “information/knowledge” that comes against “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness..”!During the course of his day on the open ocean,a sailor will regularly pull out his sextant and get a true reading of his position...so he can make adjustments in his sails & rudder that will either keep him on the right course or correct his drifting due to the change in winds and currents(drifting from TRUE information&drifting from TRUE knowledge)and get him back on the RIGHT course.In our hearts/minds/lives we need to do the same thing...as Joshua1:8 says also,”This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it(set the sails and rudder of our heart/mind life).For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success(we will have a RIGHT course for our heart/mind/life).Dear Lord,I pray for Your Spirit to help me to be prepared for all things that seek to draw me off the RIGHT course for my life....may I have Your HELP in drawing me ever closer to You through Your Word & Your Spirt,so I will truly know the joys of meditating in Your Word and observing Your Word in my heart/mind/life.