Rekindle: July 15, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR TUESDAY JULY 15, 2014.

REKINDLE

DEFINITION:

Set on fire again; stir up and inspire; to excite.

SCRIPTURE:

Therefore I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:6-7.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

What do you do when you have lost your enthusiasm for something you once were totally committed to? Many people just give up and move on to something else. Have you stopped to think what caused you to lose that enthusiasm?

When something becomes difficult it takes perseverance to continue on. People tend to give up too easily today. If a job becomes too difficult, they quit. If there are serious difficulties in their marriage, they walk out. The fire of love and desire that once was felt for someone or something can quickly die out when dampened by obstacles and difficulties.

When a person loses the fire of enthusiasm in their spiritual life it is serious. When our faith grows cold it affects our relationship with the Lord and our desire to serve Him. The lack of faith leads to discouragement and an attitude of indifference that says “I do not care about God, the Bible or anything spiritual.

II Timothy is Paul’s letter to Timothy, his young assistant, written while Paul was in prison in Rome and knew he could soon die. There is a sense of urgency in Paul’s letter. Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus to deal with some difficulties that had risen from some immoral people and from some false teachers in the church. Some in the church opposed Timothy’s leadership and Paul was deeply concerned that Timothy’s enthusiasm for his faith might die in the face of this opposition and persecution.

Paul wrote to urge Timothy to “kindle afresh the gift of God that is in you” (II Timothy 1:6-7). Paul was trying to remind Timothy about the training Paul had given him from God’s Word. Satan is continually at work to destroy our faith so that we become spiritually empty. Paul was writing Timothy warning him not to allow Satan to destroy his faith. His words to Timothy are relevant for us today.

The following are five “R’s” that will help you rekindle the gift of God that is in you.

First you need to REFILL. Get on your knees and ask God through His Holy Spirit to give you a refill, a rekindling of your love for the Lord. Examine your life, repent of any sins, and then submit to His leadership in your life.

Secondly, you need to REFOCUS. Take your focus off the problems in your life that have caused you to lose your enthusiasm for the Lord. When we focus on obstacles in our life they become bigger and nothing will dim the flame of enthusiasm in your life more than fixing your thoughts on the problem that caused your to lose enthusiasm. Thus, what you need to do is to fix your eyes on Christ, forget the problems and He will become bigger than any problem you may face.

Thirdly, when we are spiritually down, the devil whispers lies into our minds such as: You can’t do this, no one appreciates you, why not call it quits. You need to recognize that these discouraging thoughts come from the devil and you need to REJECT them.

Fourthly, you need to get away from life in general and get alone with the Lord to rekindle your relationship with Him. This RETREAT will allow you to turn off the phone, shut down your computer and be by yourself. This will allow the Lord to speak to you.

Finally, RELY on the Lord and He will empower you to live your life for Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 8:18.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

PRAYER:

Keep my faith in You strong so that the fire of the gift of God does not die in me. Keep me faithful in reading Your Word so that my love for You will be continually rekindled. Help me to refill by studying Your Word, refocusing on You, rejecting what is of the devil and taking time to be alone with You. Mold me to be what You need me to be so You can use me to bring honor and glory to You