Paul
writes to Timothy 'I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which
is in you' (2Tim 1:6)
so,
to help the church with this, Heavenfire offers this brief word, because
'“Is
not my word like fire,” declares the Lord' (Jeremiah 23:29)
Finding and Fanning
Seek the LORD while
he may be found; call on him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6).
So many of us put up
with ‘second best’ blessings, a diluted discipleship, or a watered-down
walk with God! We live out a compromised Christianity, because we fail
to search for his presence and his purpose with all our heart, all our
soul, all our mind, and all our strength (Mark 12:30). Don’t think for
one moment that I myself have found perfection in this! No, not by a very
long way, but like the apostle Paul I press on to take hold of that for
which Christ Jesus took hold of me (Php 3:12). Our struggle exists, in
part, because we are a ‘work in progress’, a new process of recreation
(2Cor 5:17, using the true meaning of the Greek), and because “our God
is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29 and Deuteronomy 4:24). He consumes
us! He consumes our attention, our focus, but he also consumes our energy!
When the meeting is over or the event ended, we find ourselves drained,
exhausted, consumed. Not until we allow ourselves to be fully consumed
by him, and our weakness is fully allowed to become his strength (2Cor
12:10), will we find ourselves living, and ministering, in the consummate
capacity of the power that he gives to us. Put another way, because of
our flesh we get tired, we lose sight of our heavenly (and earthly) goal,
and we compromise with our time and our efforts.
The answer is to seek
the Lord while he may be found, and while he is near! In truth, he is
always near and can always be found by those who seek him. The scripture
tells us:
“if from there
you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with
all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29) and
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock
and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”
(Luke 11:9)
Oftentimes I hear Christians
say ‘I don’t feel that God is near to me’. This is a deception of the
Devil or a consequence of our sin. If we have repented and sought to come
to close to God, then he is near to us. It’s not a matter of what we feel,
it’s a matter of the truth of the promise and the grace of God. The bible
says:
“The LORD is near
to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm
145:18) and “The Lord is near” (Php 4:5)
But there is a day and
a time when the Lord comes especially close to his people, a time of visitation,
when – though he sees and knows all - he comes especially close to oversee
our work and our life to inspect the fruit, and to see if we recognise
his closeness. At that time we must be alert, or we may miss the very
best rewards, the best ministry opportunities, the best blessings of his
presence, purpose, and power, that he has come to lead us into. Luke writes:
“They will dash you to the ground,
you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone
on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to
you.” (Luke 19:44)
But if we will raise
ourselves out of our apathy and complacency to seek him, then he will
be found, along with all his best for us. Isaiah calls this ‘shaking off
the dust’ (Isaiah 52:2). Paul calls it ‘fanning into flame’ our gift (2
Timothy 1:6).
“Shake off your
dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains
on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.”
“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 did not give us
a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
For some of us it may
be such a time, right now! A time to fan into flame and to shake off dust;
a time to not let hours – and the blessings that are ours – pass by, but
to take hold, to rise up, and burn brightly in the Lord’s service! Living
the life and the ministry which we have and to which we’re called, in
whole and not in part.
