Today's Passage: 2 Timothy 1
Dig Deeper:
COVENANT CONVERT: Paul is often thought of as the ultimate born again Christian because of his amazing conversion experience that occured on the road to Damascus. Sometimes it's easy to think that you're not a 'real' Christian unless you too have experienced some sort of amazing encounter with God that turned the course of your life. But in opening his second letter to Pastor Timothy, Paul doesn't point to the moment that he was knocked to the ground while he was enroute to persecute Christians, rather he acknowledges that His faith is passed down to him by the generations that came before him, in the same way Timothy's faith was handed down by his grandmother and mother (v5). Know that God sees all believers on the same level, regardless if you can point to several generations of Christians who precede you or if you're the first to come to faith in your extended family.
FOR MOST OF US IT TAKES SOME KINDLING: Maybe you're one of those rare people like Paul who went from having a stone cold heart to one that exploded into flame into love and service to Jesus. But such an explosion is not the norm. Most of us need to "fan into flame (literally: rekindle) the gift of God (v6)." We've seen over and over so far in the New Testament that faith is totally a gift from God, as v9 says,
He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace, given to us before the beginning of time...
Yet at the same time, we must put effort into building that burning coal we've been given into a rolling bonfire, using the gifts He has given us: "power, love and self discipline (7)."
MEMORY VERSE:
Because I know whom I have believed in, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God of our Fathers (whether biological or spiritual) - v3
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to equip you to live the holy life He has saved you to (v9)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
