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. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:6-7

This is a profound, yet comforting word on so many levels today and it is of course, a very familiar passage. However, because the Word is alive, it speaks to our “now”; it speaks to where we are and what God wants us to understand in the season that we are in ... presently. Please catch that in your spirit.

Paul encourages Timothy in this passage. He reminds him that he had been given these wonderful spiritual gifts from the laying on of hands and given the gifts of wisdom and teaching (which in my opinion are two of the most important gifts in the ministry). Paul tells Timothy to stir up those gifts that are in you … wake them up, shift, move, or shake them loose ... do something! God gave you the gifts along with the power to be used for the ministry. Timothy already had the kind of genuine faith needed to move forward in the work of the Lord but Paul needed to let him know you can do this Timothy … so stir up what has already been placed in you. This reminds me of Jeremiah and the Lord telling him, “for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee…” (Jer 1:4-10).

Along with these two great examples, be confident that you too can do this. Just as Paul reminded Timothy, the Lord wants to remind us to be encouraged and begin to move and operate in our gifting and to stir up what has already been placed in you. Whatever word or phrase works for you, use it… the point is to motivate yourself in your gift… put what you say you have been given into action. It does not do any good if it's not being used, someone needs to hear a word from you. Everything you need to be effective and move forward in the ministry is already in you. It's our responsibility to get fired up, study and be fervent in the work of the Lord. Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed or apprehensive or feel as if we are too young like Jeremiah, or not knowledgeable enough just yet to go and do and be as the Lord has called, however keep this in mind, that if He has told you to go then he has already equipped you.

Also know this, Paul has written that God did not give us the spirit of fear so let's not procrastinate, drag our feet, put off, cast blame, or make excuses in whatever area of ministry that we have been given by God. Remember that the gift comes with the power and the authority to fulfill the purpose of God and the good news today is, that it's already in you!

Until the morning, be blessed!
Cynde

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:20-23

I heard a rich word last year that will be forever etched in my memory entitled, "The Synergy that Advances the Kingdom.” Sometimes a word will come that you will need to bask or marinate in for a minute or two and that word for me is synergy. It derives from the Greek words sunergiā and from sunergos, meaning cooperation and working together.

Let's go back to before the foundations of the world as we know it and think about the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost had been working together side-by-side and working in perfect harmony (Genesis 1). Maybe God could have done it all and certainly He is able to effectively do it all by Himself, but He didn't. They worked together as one. In this passage, Jesus said "the glory that though has given me Father, I have given to them so that they may be one as we are one and that they may be made "perfect in one." How beautiful are His words to let us know that we could work and be better together as He and His Father.

I also thought about how Jesus brought together twelve very different individuals to make up the disciples, each with his own personality, trade, craft, talents, and various gifts to collectively work together with one goal in mind … to effectively advance the Kingdom. Thus, this wonderful word, synergy, which translates as "the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects." Seriously… enough said! If we could grasp that concept, imagine what we could accomplish.

It is the desire of the Lord for us to cooperate and work together as being made perfect in one - so that our combined forces has a greater effect than it would on an individual basis. We can't work one without the other, well we could, but it will not be as effective or get the best desired results, not from a human standpoint or on a spiritual level. From this scripture (or even from the beginning of time) you can tell that it was not purposed for us to work alone. This is not a one man show; it is and should always be one helping one. We all need each other.

Let's make a conscious effort to effectively advance the Kingdom together, this should be our goal; having synergy, cooperating and working together as one, towards one purpose and becoming perfect in one!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Deut 5:28-29

Reading this passage this morning gave me such a wonderful sense of peace. Please take the time to read the entire chapter, so that you will get a feel for what was happening during this time. So many key phrases spoke directly to my heart. Moses is reminding the children of Israel that God made a covenant with them, not their fathers but with them.

Moses was speaking to those that God had spoken with face to face and had heard His voice. He told them that what God has spoken is for you directly because He has "heard the voice of your words" or has heard the expression or the desire in their words. He was well pleased with how the children of Israel responded after hearing the commandments. As Moses continued in sharing the commandments and after hearing all the words he spoke to them, they respond by saying "go and hear what the Lord our God shall say: and speak to us all that the Lord our God shall speak to thee; and we will hear it, and do it." This absolutely wows me that a people would respond collectively and so quickly to make a wise decision to just say yes, listening and willingly obeying and doing whatever God said. As the children of God today, it would behoove us to follow this example.

Moses goes on to tell them that God said, "If your hearts would be so inclined, moved, motivated, and persuaded to not only reverence Me for who I AM but keep all that I have commanded you to do, then all will be well for you and your children and generations to come. Because He heard the expression of their words and the desire in their voice that reflected the condition of their heart, it caused Him to have the desire to move on their behalf. The same goes for us today, because God is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart. God sees and knows our heart; man only sees the outward appearance or what we only want others to see. It would be safe to interject here, that if we are trying to fool man, that actually might work out with some but we can't fool God at any time. He sees all and knows all and He especially knows our heart (Mark 7:21-23). If we make the vow to heed and obey His Word and we walk therein, He will also move on our behalf just as He did for the children of Israel.

What blessings we would encounter with a simple act of obedience and having a heart for God. We always speak of David and how he had such a heart for God and desired nothing less than to do what was right in the sight of God. People of God, I want the same to be said of me when others look on my life and they see my life’s blessed, my hands are blessed and my children are blessed. And they begin to wonder and inquire because they don’t know how it all came about, I can quote His word, make it personal and say that because God has such an heart for me and I for Him. I'd let others know because I reverence him and keep all His commandments always, then He makes sure that all is well with me and because He has heard the voice of my words. Frankly, I could simply just say with no hesitation, it's a heart thing!

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde