First off, Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year holidays. I know I did; I had a great time with my family and friends. I’m looking forward to the many blessings of the new year and hope you are, too!

I mentioned before that I’ve started preaching again in church and every-so-often, I thought it would be good to post some of my messages on my blog – maybe not the whole thing, but at least a summary. So check back once-in-a-while and not only will I post updates on my health and how I’m doing, but thoughts and words that God has placed in my heart to share with you.

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of the year and I wanted to share a message that dealt with how we enter into 2011.

Title: Fan Into Flame

Theme Verse: ”For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:6-7

Do you realize that when you accept Christ as your Saviour, you have God, the creator of the entire universe, living inside of you? It’s what we refer to as the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we tend to take that fact for granted and forget at what cost it took to have the Holy Spirit reside within us; we forget what an amazing honor and privilege it is. And because of such a high honor, our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be more intimate and special that any other relationship we have here on Earth.

Paul, the writer of this book, tells Timothy the Holy Spirit is a gift from God that he must not hide or throw away. Instead, he must build a relationship and “fan into flame” this gift. Just as we develop and mature in our relationships with our spouse or friend, so too, must we develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

It’s easy to get caught up in the world – caught up with work, friends, school, problems, worries, etc. It’s easy to forget about developing a friendship with the Holy Spirit and that’s why Paul is encouraging Timothy, and us, to not overlook that relationship. It’s a gift! What do you do with gifts? Do you never open them? Do you leave them under the tree? Do you shove them in the back of your closet?

When you realize you have a gift, you open it, you discover the many different ways that it’s useful to you. When you have a gift, you call and tell people about the amazing gift you’ve received. But sometimes when it comes to Christianity, we tend to shy away from telling others about the gift we’ve received. Paul tells Timothy, God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of Power, Love and Self-Discipline.

Not timidity, but Boldness – Make a resolution this year that you will no longer be timid when it comes to sharing your faith because the Spirit that resides in you is NOT. Be humble, but never shy as to who you are and what you believe in.

Power – Know that when you pray, it is the Holy Spirit that is working in that situation, not you. Pray for supernatural results. Don’t let your situation or people around you cause you to doubt the power of prayer or the power of the Holy Spirit.

Love - Operate in love to anyone and everyone you meet. This includes our enemies. Don’t sit and gossip or criticize. Don’t let your heart be full of anger and hate. God has given us a spirit that wants to operate in love. Let it. Find solutions for building up relationships, not tearing them down.

Self-Discipline – Let us be known as men and women of God who are self-disciplined. In other words, let others see that we are not controlled by temptations or our own desires, but that we leave and trust ourselves to God’s will. When others see us and see how we live, let our behavior reflect Christ.

If all of this sounds to hard for you, then follow Paul’s advice of fanning into flame your relationship with the Holy Spirit. The stronger your relationship is with Him, the more control and influence you allow the Holy Spirit to have in your life and the more victory you will see over your situations.

If you have any questions or have a prayer request feel free to send me an e-mail. I love hearing from you!

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