WELL STIRRED

2 Timothy 1:6-7 NKJV Therefore I remind you to stir up 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.

Every Christmas around this time of year we had a tradition of making our own cake and then each member of the family would help to stir up the mixture to make sure it was well and truly stirred. Happy days!😊

The Apostle Paul in this verse though is talking to Timothy and reminding him to stir up the gift that was in him and I used to think it meant a particular gift he had been given but discovered the Greek says, to stir up the ‘grace’ of God. 

In 1 Timothy 4:14 he uses the same word for gift which is also the ‘grace’ of God. We’re also being told to stir up the grace of God inside us.😊

We have all been given the grace of God in order for us to be saved and we need it every day of our lives to walk in all God is wanting to give us. We know His grace is undeserved favour, it’s all of God’s riches given to us because of Jesus’ sacrifice, and we can’t do anything to earn it but we receive it by faith. Romans 5:17 (NKJV) reminds us that those who receive the abundance of His grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life. I think we’d all like to do that, don’t you?😊

Now we may, or may not have received the laying on of hands but we have all been given His grace and one of the benefits of His grace is knowing God has not given us a spirit of fear, but He did give us His spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind, but we have to receive it all by faith. We accept it as an accomplished fact. It’s ours, it’s yours and it’s in abundance. The enemy will try to tell us differently but we don’t have to listen to him any more. Jesus set us free from his lies and tyranny of fear.

So, I’m here today to encourage you to stir up the gift of grace, of God’s favour, in your life. Declare it out loud to yourself wherever you are throughout the day, grab a hold of it, and start stirring yourself up knowing it is a gift of God already placed in you.😊

We have it, so we can put it to work and agree with God’s word that we are a child of God saved by grace through faith; we refuse the spirit of fear and we stir up the grace of power, of love and a sound mind already inside of us. It’s all ours in Jesus name. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Photo: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

TURN THE PAGE

Psalm 46:1 NLT God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

Well it’s another new week and some are on half term and some are not. Whatever we’re doing this week we can know that we walk through it with Almighty God, the One who watches over us and helps us to navigate whatever is going on.

Yesterday in church the preacher reminded us how with God there is always hope, because our God is greater than anything we’re being asked to deal with. God promises to be a very present help in our time of trouble and it makes no difference what kind of trouble it might be.😊

We can’t go by other people’s experiences because we’re not walking their walk, we’re walking our own and it will be different in each case. God does tell us all though to walk by faith and not by what we see or hear in the natural. He reminds us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, not yet seen. In other words those unseen things we’re hoping and looking for are still on the way, God is still working things out but they may take time.

Can I encourage us all to lift up our eyes to Jesus and His promises once again, otherwise we’ll get so bogged down with our circumstances we won’t be able to think and say what God wants us to. We’ll be tempted to speak negatively which is what the enemy wants!

Part of walking in the peace that Jesus came to give us, is to turn our eyes from our present reality, not ignoring it, but remembering that God can change our realities when we have faith. Even when our faith is at a low ebb we can always call on God for His faith because one of His promises is that He will provide all our needs according to Christ Jesus.😊

Whatever your story is at the moment, remember to turn the page, because God has written a lot more in your book which is yet to unfold and He has good plans for you.😊 Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking anything different because we know he is the father of all lies!

Let’s never forget God is for us and I pray the certain knowledge of that truth will sustain and strengthen us each day of the week to be the overcomers in Christ He has made us to be. Amen.😊