Stir Up The Gift of God

[2Tim 1:6]

The same desire that you had when you were born again should be burning for the rest of your life. You should be on fire for Jesus as you go through life.

A lot of people become excited, enthusiastic, and on fire for God when they’re first born again. When they realize the gospel is for them and that Jesus is Lord, they get all fired up at first, and then life distractions get in the way and they cool off. When that happens, we need to stir up the gift of God in our heart.

Second Timothy 1:6 Paul says,

2Tim 1:6 (NASB) –For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Instead of, “kindle afresh,” the King James says, “stir up the gift of God.” This word “stir up” comes from a three-part Greek word, anazopureo (a-na-zo-pï-re’-o). The first part of the word means to repeatedly or passionately, do something again. The middle part of the word means to be alive or lively, and the last part of the word is the word fire. So we need to continually stir up the fire on the inside of us.

It reminds me of when I was young, and my family heated our small house with a fireplace. It was our only source of heat, and if we didn’t keep the fire going it wasn’t long before the house would start to cool. Anyone that got up in the night, or the first person up in the morning – it was his job to tend the fire.

I remember a lot of early mornings I’d wake up to a chill in the room. I’d go to the fireplace and the fire would be almost completely out. I would quickly get some kindling and put on the few hot coals that remained. Then I’d lean down on the hearth and blow on those embers to ignite the tinder. And when a flame would appear, I’d put some smaller pieces of wood on, and eventually a few larger pieces as a fire got hotter. I’d get warmed up and if it was too early, I’d go back and get under the covers. Then whoever got up next would tend the fire.

It was always nice if one of us had been up in the middle of the night and put a larger stick of wood on the fire to hold heat through the night. Sometimes you needed to even stir the hot coals under the wood with a poker before you added more wood.

If you feel that your spiritual fire has dwindled, you can stir the embers by adding fuel to your flame.

Be honest with yourself and don’t fall for the excuse many have used by saying, “Well it’s normal for the fire to be hot earlier in your Christian walk and then as your life goes on, the fire begins to die down.” Don’t fall for that thought. Cast it down, in Jesus’ name! That is like throwing water on the fire – don’t do it!

First Thessalonians 5:19 tells us “do not quench the spirit.” The spirit can be quenched in your life and quenching means to extinguish – you don’t want to put the fire out!

If you ignore the holy Spirit too long, and too often, you eventually become spiritually hardened enough to where you don’t even hear him at all. We need to do everything we can to fuel the fire of our inner man, and never quench the gift of God.

The Bible says God makes his ministers a flaming fire in Psalm 104:4.

It doesn’t say they are flaming at first, and then they begin to cool off. No, it says they are a flaming fire – and a flaming fire is a flaming fire!

We need to be on fire for Jesus when he comes. Won’t it be awesome if we’re all fired up and doing everything we can for God when He comes? That’s the way we want him to find us! He said, “Will I find faith in the earth?”

So in order to burn continuously for the Lord for years to come, we need to keep adding the right kind of fuel to the fire. We need to stir ourselves up.

Paul says to “stir up the gift that’s in you.” He was talking to the young pastor Timothy at the church in Ephesus. Timothy was about to throw in the towel. He had some real life-threatening situations. He was losing people from his church. They were running to the woods to hide from Nero. All kinds of crazy things were happening. Paul was in the slammer when he sent this second letter to Timothy, telling him to “Rekindle it, buddy. Get yourself up and keep on going, man.”

Paul says, “For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands,” Paul had laid hands on Timothy to impart the gift of God to him, and he needed to stay in the fight, and add new people to replace the people who had left.

I know you’re wondering what kind of fuel to put on this fire, and we’re going to talk about that in a future podcast, but the main fuel is the Word of God, and prayer. The Word of God is Spirit, and we use His Word to fire ourselves up. When we pray in the Spirit, and decree His Word, it fuels the gift of His Spirit on the inside of us.

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond