Tag Archives: fan into flame

January 6, 2026 · 5:52 AM

Grow And Guard

Not long after God created everything, He planted the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:15 says, “Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it” (GNT). Think about that for a second. God created this perfect world and garden, then asked man to cultivate it and guard it. To cultivate it is to take what it was in its raw form and to help it become more. God was asking Adam to grow it to more than what it was. When God asked him to guard it, He was asking Adam to take responsibility for what had been given to him as well. In this moment, God created a partnership with man to work together with purpose.

One of my favorite parables comes from Matthew 25. A man was going on a trip and he entrusted his property to three servants. Verse 15 says, “He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his trip.” Did you catch that? He entrusted something to each one according to his abilities. He wanted them to cultivate, grow and guard what was placed in their hand. The first two doubled the coins while the other hid his. The first two who grew and guarded their gift were told, “Well done, you good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!” The owner shared the growth with them in the partnership.

In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul reminds Timothy, “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you” (NLT). What is Paul asking Timothy to do? He wants him to cultivate the gift, to grow it and to not let it die. He wants him to guard it and steward it well. The same challenge is given to us as was given to Adam, the servants and Timothy. Why has God given you that He’s asking you to cultivate and to guard? Where do you need to partner with God to see growth? The talents that God gives you are His gift to you. How you grow and guard them are your gift to Him. The more we increase them and care for them, the more He will share with you in this partnership.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

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November 9, 2022 · 5:44 AM

Rekindle Your Fire

One of my favorite things to do is to sit around a campfire and talk. I could do it for hours. People instinctively know to put another log on the fire. No one has to say it. Stories and conversations flow, and aren’t interrupted by putting more logs on it. When it’s time to go to bed, we just let the fire burn down to a bed of coals. In the morning, I’m usually the first one up. I’ll grab a log and a couple of smaller sticks and head over to the ashes. Buried deep beneath the ash, there’s usually a couple of embers left. I put the smaller sticks on top of them, get my face close to the ground, take a deep breath and blow as much air as I can onto those embers. In a matter of moments, the fire is back to going strong and the conversations continue.

We know that David was a man after God’s own heart. He fully trusted in Him and loved His Word. Because of his faith in God he slew a giant, he took on large numbers of the enemy and waited until God was ready for him to be king. His fire for God was unmatched, but at some point he quit putting new logs on the fire. 2 Samuel 11 starts off by telling us that when it was time for the kings to go to war, David stayed home and outsourced his position. He quit doing what he was supposed to. That’s when temptation struck and he sinned with Bathsheba. When God confronted him through the prophet, David chose to rekindle his fire and wrote Psalm 51. He continued to tend his fire after that and it burned bright until he died.

2 Timothy 1:6 says, “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you” (NLT). It’s natural for us to seasons when we’re on fire for God and season where we’re just not feeling. We may go through the motions or just turn a cold shoulder to God. Either way, God is calling us to tend our fire and to return to our first love. We don’t have to go through what David did to return. We simply need to recognize that we need to have the Holy Spirit reignite our heart and passion for God. Those embers are still there and can be reignited. The gifts that have been lying dormant are ready to be rekindled and blaze for God’s glory. Don’t let another day pass. Read Psalm 51 as a prayer to fan the flames of your heart toward God.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop:

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November 16, 2021 · 5:36 AM

Pushing Past Fear

I remember the day we were in chapel in high school when they announced that a girl was going to come up and sing a special. We all looked at each other and said, “She can sing? She doesn’t even talk!” About that time, this shy girl was escorted up on stage. She looked terrified and the microphone was shaking in her hand. Without warning, and with no music playing, she started singing. It was incredible! We sat there shocked as she sang this song. As soon as it was over, we all jumped to our feet and cheered. She went on to win several singing competitions and is a worship pastor at a church today.

The Bible is full of people who were timid and shy about using their gifts and talents. Moses had a speech impediment, but God chose him to lead Israel out of slavery and through the desert. Timothy is another example. He was young and inexperienced, but God chose him to be a pastor. Paul’s letters to him were always encouraging him to continue to step out in faith into his calling despite his fear. I grew up quoting several of Paul’s messages to him because I needed to hear those words. We simply cannot allow fear to hold us back from using the gifts God has given us.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “God doesn’t want us to be shy with His gifts, but bold and loving and sensible” (MSG). Almost every other version starts out with, “God has not given us a spirit of fear.” In the verse before, Paul reminds Timothy to fan his gifts into flames. We fan them into flames by pushing through the fear and doing what God put into us to do. Almost anyone who uses their gifts experiences fear. The ones who push past that spirit and embrace God’s spirit of power, love and a sound mind get to experience the satisfaction of fulfilling their purpose. It’s up to each one of us to find the encouragement we need, step out in faith and do what God has created us to do. Pushing past the fear isn’t easy, but it is necessary.

Photo by Joao Cruz on Unsplash

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October 4, 2021 · 5:43 AM

Raising Your Lid

In his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, John Maxwell starts with the Law of the Lid. It basically states that your leadership ability determines your leadership effectiveness. There’s a lid on your ability to be an effective leader. The good news is that it’s based on your abilities. Every one of us have unique abilities, and we are able to increase our abilities thereby increasing our effectiveness. The problem most people face is that we get stuck in our ways and become complacent with our level of effectiveness. The choice is up to us to do the work, enroll in classes, read and spend the time and effort it takes to raise our lid. When we do, it exponentially increases our effectiveness.

There’s a spiritual law that works the same way. Our spiritual disciplines determine our spiritual effectiveness. There’s a lid on our ability to be effective Christians. Just like the other lid, it can be raised but it takes efforts on our part. In both of his books to Timothy, Paul was writing to him to help him increase his level of effectiveness. We know 1 Timothy 4:12 where Paul tells him not to let anyone despise his youth, but to instead be an example to all. He was reminding him that age has nothing to do with his ability to be effective. It had everything to do with how we utilized his spiritual gifts and attended to his spiritual disciplines.

2 Timothy 1:6 says, “I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift God imparted to you when I laid my hands upon you” (TPT). There are things we must do to keep the spiritual gifts we’ve been given active and effective. We must fan them, add fuel to them and rekindle them. Our daily spiritual disciplines will do that. When we add fuel to our fire by increasing our knowledge and understanding of Scripture we increase our effectiveness. When we increase our time in prayer, we increase our ability to hear God. When we increase our study and meditation of God’s Word, our lives increase exponentially. If we want to be more effective as believers, we must raise our lid through spiritual disciplines.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

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September 23, 2020 · 6:03 AM

Keep The Fire Burning

Ever since I was young, I have loved building fires. I remember when I was taught how to build one. They taught me that there are three things needed: fuel, oxygen and heat. To start it, you have to have some tinder, which is tiny sticks. As they get consumed by the fire, you have to add in pieces that are a little bit bigger called kindling. When the fire gets large, you add in the big pieces of firewood referred to as fuel. Before starting a fire though, you need to make sure you have plenty to get it going and to keep it going. If you start it and have to run around looking for any of these, it will burn out. A fire has to be constantly fed if you want to keep it burning.

Fire has been used in the Bible as a symbol of God’s presence. He’s known as an all consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). When Elijah called the people back to repentance, he called fire down from heaven and it consumed the sacrifice (1 Kings 18). When Israel left Egypt, the Shekinah Glory of God led them through the desert as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). In the New Testament, God sent His Holy Spirit to live inside of those who believe on Jesus. In the Upper Room, to signify this, there was a flame above each believer (Acts 2:3) telling them that the presence of God now lived in them. You and I have that same fiery presence of God living in us, consuming us. Just like a real fire, there is fuel we can add to keep it burning strong in us.

1 John 2:24 says, “So you must be sure to keep the message burning in your hearts; that is, the message of life you heard from the beginning. If you do, you will always be living in close fellowship with the Son and with the Father” (TPT). In Revelation 2, Jesus was upset with the Church at Ephesus because they left their first love, and He threatened to remove their fire from its place of influence unless they repented. We need to keep the flame burning in our hearts by keeping God’s Word fresh in our lives and keeping our love for Him strong. In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to fan the flame within you (2 Timothy 1:6). Return to the message of God that ignited your love for Him and keep it burning strong. We are called to be light in this dark world (Matthew 5:16) and it needs us the light of God in our lives to see.

Photo by Colter Olmstead on Unsplash

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