The Gift of God

'I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.' -- 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (ESV)

I read this in my devotional one night and audibly gasped. Like: 'What! This...this....' I was at a loss for words (which you couldn't tell). That is not normal for me if I'm being honest. I'd been thinking deeply that day, wondering about God and theology (because I got a new Bible study about theology), and so when I read this, I was dumbfounded. How could God know in advance what I needed to read that day? It was no 'mirror, mirror, on the wall, tell me what the verse I need to hear for my soul' moment is; it was a complete coincidence, which I don't really believe in if I'm being honest.

That is the power of God, my friend.

Now, I'm working on writing better blog posts that don't just repeat what the verse says. It might take me a while to get to a place where things make sense here but just stick with me.

When you think of God's power, what do you think of?

Maybe you get a picture in your mind like the garden of Eden, or maybe the time the Babylonians were scattered for making a tower to reach God. Or maybe the seven plagues of Egypt.

I would press you to look more into God in the world here and now. Look at your own hearts and souls and ask yourself: What does God see?

This is not a controversial point. It's all about sin and sadness. Think through that in your actions and your soul.

Here's a better question: What do you see?

I'm going to answer these questions for myself as a bit of an example.

In answer to the first, I think when God looks at me He sees someone broken, someone trying to pick up the pieces. Someone who knows their flaws and their heartbrokenness and who is trying to work through them. And past that, I think he sees someone pushing for a lighter future, using her words to lighten the minds of others and help those in need.

And for the second question, I would say, when I look at myself (from anyone else's point of view), I see someone weak, working with her mind to make other's strong. I see someone self-conscious, healthily stable, and even a little bit loving.

You can write your answers as comments or in a notebook, or you can just think of them really well in your head.

How is what God sees different from what you see? Well it shouldn't be all that different because it is, after all, all being translated by you. But think about this: If you looked back, how would what you have said now be different? For me, a lot of things have changed in my life. But five years from now, I might have said I was young and foolhardy, but I was also strong-willed and intelligent. I am still all those things, and I'm sure that you are still the things you just thought of, too, but they're covered in a thick layer of mist that comes with time.

Think about it: if you come back to this post in a year, your answers will be different even than they are now. ( I would take this into account and I would write the answers to these questions in a notebook. Then, stick the paper or notebook somewhere and forget about it for a year. Then come back and see just how different your view is of yourself.)

Now is the point where you might be asking yourself: How in the world does this connect to God's power?

It connects to God's power because every one of you, in your souls and your minds, is created by a loving, kind, powerful God. When your thought becomes life, God puts his fingerprint in your soul and makes you who you are. By the power of God, you were created, and by the power of God, you will be changed.

Love this change because when you love who you have become, you can love what God has made you to be, and you can mourn that which He didn't.

Stay faithful,

Claudia