Strengthened by Graceਨਮੂਨਾ

Christ Is Our Strength

If you are a child of God, you are a recipient of Paul’s letter. Listen to Paul as he urges Timothy to fan into flame the gift he has been given. All of us receive the gift of the Holy Spirit at salvation. We are given the Spirit of the living God to dwell within us and gifts to serve God and His people. Timothy received a special calling to be a pastor and specific spiritual gifts to equip him to be a preacher and shepherd of God’s people. Paul had imparted these gifts to Timothy at his ordination, through the laying on of his hands (1 Tm. 4:14 ESV). Timothy must stoke the fire of the Spirit so that it burns hot, while also understanding that it is God who strengthens and transforms the heart. The cold, wintry blast of the spirit of the age blows upon us with a ferocity. If we are in Christ, no man, beast, power, force, culture, king, or enemy can extinguish the fire that burns within us.

Let us not shrink back. Fan the flame of Christ within—the Holy Spirit. Do not set your mind and heart on yourself, feelings, thoughts, circumstances, or your own strength. Rather, focus on the biblical truth that Christ is in you. Christ is your strength. Christ is your grace. Stoke the fire with the truth of God’s Word, and be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tm. 2:1 ESV).

Close by meditating on the hymn below. Make it your prayer to the Lord. Consider creating a place in your favorite note-taking app where you can journal your thoughts and prayers. Confess where you look besides Christ to find strength, comfort, or wisdom.

“O Thou Who Camest from Above” by Charles Wesley, 1762

O thou who camest from above

The pure celestial fire to impart,

Kindle a flame of sacred love

On the mean altar of my heart.

There let it for thy glory burn

With inextinguishable blaze,

And trembling to its source return

In humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire

To work and speak and think for thee;

Still let me guard the holy fire

And still stir up the gift in me.

Ready for all thy perfect will,

My acts of faith and love repeat,

Till death thy endless mercies seal,

And make the sacrifice complete.