Verse of the Day 10/30

Through the Bible - Jeremiah 29-30, Titus 3   Good morning, A friend responded to yesterday's reference to John 21 by saying that it reminded him that Jesus was encouraging Peter and the other disciples to "get back in the game". Consider again the scene. The disciples had been told to go to Galilee to wait for him. In the waiting they turned back to fishing. Jesus met them and the ended up sitting around the fire where Jesus told Peter to teach, to feed, and to follow Him. He fanned into flame the gift that He had given them and they were never the same. For today's verse we'll go to 2 Timothy 1 where Paul's goal is to do the same thing to Timothy and all of us who read these verses and this chapter. 2 Tim 1:6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.  NLT I love campfires and fires (real wood fires in the fireplace in our previous home). I especially like going back, after the fire had gone out and the embers were smoldering, drawing the scattered embers together and blowing on them and seeing them ignite, burning until there was nothing left to burn. That's the picture that I get from this chapter. He told Timothy "do not be ashamed" of the gospel just as he had not been ashamed, just as Peter, James and John were not ashamed of the gospel from that time when Jesus fanned into flame the gift that God gave the disciples. It goes back to what we started looking at this week from Ephesians 4, "imparting grace". Jesus got the disciples "back in the game", Paul got Timothy "into the game", and if we're in the game we should be challenged to take "our game" to a higher level.  You've probably heard it said by someone playing in the Super Bowl or World Series that they "left it all on the field", that's what it means to have "nothing left to burn."   What do we need to get back in the game and fan into flame the gift that is in us that others might "get back in the game."?   Thanks Bob. In Christ, Mike   2 Tim 1:3-2:1 Encouragement to Be Faithful 3 Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again. 5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me, either, even though I'm in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. 11 And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. 12 That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. 13 Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. 14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. 15 As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me—even Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. 17 When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me. 18 May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ's return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.  NLT