BE AWESOME!!!

You are made in the image of the Lord Most High. That means you aren’t second-rate or meant to be put on a shelf. On the contrary, you are to be a light on a hill, you are to be loved and appreciated, you are to be a leader of men. Furthermore, you shouldn’t shroud yourself in false humility. You shouldn’t shield the glow of the giftings and abilities God has given you. If you’ve got Michael Jackson moves quit doing the cha-cha slide. It ain’t making any of us people that can’t dance feel any better that you are doing the freaking cha-cha slide with us anyways. I want to watch you do your thing! I want to see you in your element. Then, instead of showing me how to do some line dance a little better, you can show me how to start moonwalking.

Be awesome like God made you to be awesome! You owe it to Him and to yourself. AMEN!!!!!

Stir Yourself Up

While leading worship last night at the Diamond Conference in Madisonville, KY (which you should’ve been at if you missed it…Heidi Baker spoke, Angela Greenig was there, too—it was awesome!), I urged people to “stir themselves up”. I also stated that the Bible said to stir yourself up.

Well, a friend of mine asked me today where that was in the Bible b/c she had a friend who wanted to stand on that verse of Scripture in their life. So I had to go look it up :) I was kind of nervous because since I couldn’t remember that exact wording being mentioned in Scripture, I was scared I had told a lie to that entire gathering last night.

To my relief, I found what I was looking for in one of Paul letter’s to Timothy. The specific verse is 2 Timothy 1:6 which reads in the NIV, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Even though there is not an exact wording in this particular translation that says “stir yourself up”, I do think that it is reasonable to say that this is what Paul could have meant in this instruction.

Some of Timothy’s gifts were teaching, preaching, and pastoring. Paul, as Timothy’s spiritual father and mentor, was writing Timothy to encourage him in developing and pursuing these gifts. When he wrote “fan into flame”, it seems as though he was saying to “develop it”, “work at it”, or “let God work in you and make you even better”. There is a gifting there, but Timothy needed to somehow engage on his end as well to make sure that the gift grew.

Even if you are naturally talented at something you still have to put effort into things to make them grow and mature. In Timothy’s case, I’m sure he didn’t always feel like preaching; I’m sure he didn’t enjoy correcting people he pastored; I’m sure it was hard being bold amongst those who looked down on him because he was young. But to see his gifts grow, he had to make a conscious decision to fan his gifts into flame—he had to make a choice to push himself…or, put another way, stir himself up.

There are not always going to be people around to encourage you in every moment you feel down or tired. You need to learn to lean on the words God has given you and be able to stir up things within yourself when nobody else is around. It’s easy to be on fire when everything is going great and you’re around people who share you passion, but there will be times in your walk with God when you won’t have anybody around to get you stirred up but yourself.

So learn how to stir it up! Whatever it takes for you, do it….praying, reading the Bible, listening to worship music, singing out of your spirit, serving people around you, giving a huge offering, reading back over words you’ve received, giving something away, fasting, etc. Make the choice to push yourself and fan into flame the gifts God has put in you. And if you are not sure of your gifts yet, then just push into God, read the Bible, get around people who are on fire for the Lord, and follow what your heart is already passionate about—God will reveal things to you as you pursue after Him, I promise :)

In Jesus Christ of Nazareth's Amazing, Unending, and Unfathomable Love,

adam

2^nd Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 6:

NIV: For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

KJV: Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

NKJV: Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Guest Blogger: Brennen Gaddis

Hey guys. I thought I would post a blog today of a good friend of mine, Brennen Gaddis. She updates stuff nearly everyday over on her blog if ya wanna check it out: brennengaddis.blogspot.com

Tub of ice cream vs. cute dainty bowl.

I have a Brennen story for you. The other night I was eating salsa in these cute little cups. I just grabbed it because it was the first thing I saw that would hold my salsa. I took it into the living room and mom said, "Oh, I just love those little cups! That makes me want ice cream!" So after I finished gorging myself on chips and salsa I get up to take it to the kitchen and mom asks me to get her some ice cream.

She is expecting her ice cream in one of these:

And I bring her this with a spoon in it.

Mom, of course, was disappointed in her daughter. Mom was expecting a beautiful ice cream creation with whip cream on top and a spoon placed perfectly in it. And I gave her a tub of ice cream and a spoon. Which, to me, was way better because with the little cups you get like 3 bites max. Which is a joke. And with the tub, you ain't gotta stop.

The thing about it is- we are like this with the Lord sometimes. We ask for something, and we expect it to come so pretty, neat, and without any work. And then He gives us what we want (in abundance) and we don't like it. We get up and go do it ourselves. I'm not saying that my mother was not appreciative, she laughed when I brought her the ice cream. (She should of expected it, it's me!) And, there is nothing wrong with expecting things to be great. I believe that God does want to give us things with a cherry on top. But there are other things that He knows what is best for us. And he knows how much more we will appreciate it, take care of it and love it- if we do some of the work, waiting, and preparing. Ya know? It all links back to my post last night.

God wants us to take responsibility for the things He gives us. Same thing I said in this post- on how we have to be faithful with the little things in order to be faithful with the big things. Same concept. It all goes hand in hand. We've got to get serious about nurturing the things that God has given us. Our gifts, our family, our spouses, our children, our co-workers, our talents and our abilities. God has placed these people and things in our lives for a reason. And you are where you are "for such a time as this". God has been preparing you to be exactly where you are... and He's preparing you now [where you currently are] for where you are going. Cool huh?

Lord, I just say right now- that I will take whatever you give me. If it's pretty with a cherry on top or if it's just a tub of whatever you decide to give me. I receieve it! No matter how much work it will take. I want what you want me to have. Thank you Jesus! Amen.