stir up your gifts | Devotions by Chris Hendrix

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June 30, 2026 · 5:51 AM

Sharpening Your Axe

I heard the story of two lumberjacks who decided to have a competition of who could cut down the most trees in a day. One went one way and the other a different way. After about an hour the first lumberjack noticed the other had quit chopping. He worked even harder and thought the second one was taking a break. About every hour the second one would stop chopping for about ten minutes throughout the day. At the end of the day the first one was excited to show off how much he had done. When they went to look at the second one’s trees, he had cut nearly double. The first one exclaimed, “How? You took a break every hour!” The second one replied, “I wasn’t taking a break each hour. I was sharpening my axe.”

Paul was Timothy’s mentor in the faith and ministry. We get some insight into that relationship in the two books written to encourage Timothy. Paul was teaching him how to sharpen his axe as a believer. In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul encourages him to study the Word to show himself approved by God and so he could correctly explain the truth. In 2 Timothy 2:3 he’s encouraged to endure hardship and to not avoid it so that he can please the lord. Then in 2 Timothy 1:6 he’s encouraged to fan into flame his gifts. Paul understood that living in this world will dull our axe blade and that to be an effective Christian, we must constantly be sharpening ourselves.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, “Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed” (NLT). A dull blade still cuts, but it requires more strength and effort. Implementing daily spiritual disciplines will help keep you sharp and effective. To do that you need to study in the Bible, examine your heart, renew your mind, put God’s Word into practice and pray. Jesus provided examples of this by withdrawing from the crowd to be alone with God. When is the last time you stepped away to purposefully sharpen your axe? We must take time each day to sharpen our axe so we can be more effective for the Kingdom in a world that tries to dull it every day.

Photo by Olly Dow on Unsplash

Awakening Your Gifts

If you’ve ever smoked meat, getting a fire going and maintaining it is critical. Because it’s been a colder than normal winter for us, dried out wood has become difficult to find. The wood I purchased was still somewhat green, which made it difficult to keep burning. I found myself blowing on it, stoking it and doing everything possible to keep it going. It reminded me of one of my pastor’s recent sermons using 2 Timothy 1:6. Paul told Timothy to fan into flames the gifts that were given to him. As I’ve been fanning my gifts into flame, God has been reawakening gifts and promises that I thought were dead.

In Ezekiel 37, God takes Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones of people who had been dead a long time. In verse 3 God asked, “Can these bones become living people again?” (NLT) I’m sure Ezekiel was bewildered by the question knowing the answer, but also wondering why God was asking. Wisely he responded, “You alone know the answer to that.” God then told him to prophesy to those bones of what God was going to do. Ezekiel did it and the bones, sinews, muscles and flesh came back together. God wasn’t asking Ezekiel to bring them to life though. He was simply asking him to have enough faith to speak to them to come alive.

Romans 11:29 says, “For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” That means that the gifts He’s given you are still yours. They may look dry and feel dead, but God has not taken them from you no matter what you’ve done. In an act of faith, you need to speak to them, stir them up and fan them into flame once again. God is wanting us to be prepared for the coming of His Son. He is looking for a Church that is ready. It’s time to revisit those promises and gifts. It’s time to start operating in them and using them. Don’t look at them with your human eyes. Look at them with the faith of Ezekiel and call them back to life. What looks dead and gone is ready to come alive.

Photo by Ihor Malytskyi on Unsplash

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