SCRIPTURE: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. 2 Timothy 1:7 AMP
THOUGHT: There is more inside you than you know. Life has asked you to use a certain set of habits and learned behaviors. And you’ve chosen some course of study and made a living at it – maybe based on your gifts and abilities, maybe not. My point is there are things we learn the educational route, and others that, if we dig a little deeper, we simply know more than we have been taught. These are gifts and natural abilities.
In Paul’s words to Timothy (above), two words jump out at me: give and abilities. On your spiritual birthday, God gave you gifts of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. These are promised, natural gifts, planted by God’s own hand, ready to be discovered.
Furthermore, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).” In the faith journey, as we exercise, we’ll gain use of muscles we didn’t know we had: the fibers of our new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). God’s not going to give and take away based on our usage, but he is going to allow us plenty of places to dig deeper and trust harder, drawing on the power, love, sound judgment, and personal discipline he gifted us on our spiritual birthday.
PRAYER: Thank you, God for the gifts you promised and delivered. Help me dig deeper and trust harder – working those fibers of new creation you have blessed me with: wonderful abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control. Power and love working together in a way that could have only come from you.
Dear Reader,
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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