On Sunday evening we looked at Paul’s instruction to Timothy, “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:6-7)

There are times when we feel it’s all down to us to keep our first love ablaze, but we need to understand that God is able to complete the work He has started in our lives (Phil 1:6). There is no need for us to backslide or fall away from God, because God has given us all that we need to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. Paul’s confidence does not come from his own personal circumstances (most of the New Testament was written from prison cells and he certainly endured much hardship for Christ’s sake!), but from the fire of God which burned within him.

That fire of God can burn even in wilderness periods. David found that when he was on the run from Saul and living in caves, he learned to depend on God and found him to be his refuge (see Ps 11:1, for example.) The wilderness can be a wild, dangerous place, but God is present there just as much as He is present in the ordinary. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to win a battle against the enemy. We may find ourselves in situations where God feels a long way away, but it’s not all about feelings! God remains true, faithful, ever dependable, wherever we are.

Ezekiel, in the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezek 37), saw the miraculous occur as God breathed on the dry bones to bring life from nothing. The dual aspect of fanning into flame the gift of God is similar to rekindling a fire that is about to go out. We have to rake through the ashes, repenting of our sin and desire for independence. But we also need the fuel of God’s Spirit in our lives if we are to see the fire rekindled. Only God can give us the courage, strength and grace that we need, but we can have confidence in Him because He is “able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy,” (Jude 1:24)

God, after all, is the One who will keep the fires burning! Matt Redman, ‘Fires’

Alan spoke this morning on the enlightenment that knowledge brings, specifically looking at the subject of Creation. He talked about how the Bible gives us answers to the fundamental questions in life such as ‘Where did we come from? Why are we here? What’s our place and purpose in the world?’ The Bible explains that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, made in God’s image. God is the Creator of the universe and our Creator. He is omniscient (Ps 139:2-6, Is 40: 13-14), and though men may reject a knowledge of God, God has given us ample evidence of His works so that we are without excuse (Rom 1:18-22).

When we are born, we lack knowledge and possess only instinct. A baby can float in water, for example; it learns that crying attracts attention and brings food and care! But as we grow, we can add learning and knowledge to instinct and can grow in grace and in an understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)

The word translated ‘handiwork’ or ‘workmanship’ in Ephesians 2:10 in Greek is ‘poiema’, from which the English word poem is derived. Few of us think of ourselves as poems! Our lives mostly seem banal, mundane, ordinary. At best we feel like prose, and usually not even exciting prose at that!

But with the eyes of faith we can see ourselves in a different light. Our lives are like songs, ‘a poem with meaning more than words can say.’ God is shaping us, moulding us, making us into something beautiful. There is significance and purpose even in the ordinariness of our everyday lives.

“Life is a song we must sing with our days,
A poem with meaning more than words can say,
A painting with colours no rainbow can tell,
A lyric that rhymes either heaven or hell.
We are living letters that doubt desecrates,
We’re the notes of the song of the chorus of faith,
God shapes every second of our little lives
And minds every minute as the universe waits by.

So look in the mirror and pray for the grace
To tear off the mask, see the art of your face
Open your ear lids to hear the sweet song
Of each moment that passes and pray to prolong
Your time in the ball of the dance of your days
Your canvas of colors of moments ablaze
With all that is holy
With the joy and the strife
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life.” (Michael Card, ‘The Poem of Your Life’)
Michael Card, ‘The Poem of Your Life’

Dave preached from John 20:19-29 last night, looking particularly at Thomas’s responses to the Resurrection. We are privileged to know the ending of the Easter story every day, but the disciples on that first Easter Sunday were broken-hearted and confused, afraid and worried. They had been expecting to find a dead body in the tomb and were not quite sure what to make of the subsequent reports of resurrection. The disciples needed the confirmation of this amazing fact, which Jesus gave to them in this encounter.

Jesus appeared to them in a locked room: no wonder they needed Him to calm their fears as He had calmed the raging seas. Thomas was not there on this occasion, however, and missed that opportunity to meet with Jesus. Christ is present with us every time we meet together in His name, and we need to be there, for we always need His reassurance, His teaching, His revelation and power in our lives.

Thomas wanted proof and reassurance. Although forever labelled ‘doubting Thomas’ from this passage, he teaches us how to move from doubt to declaration. Presumably he found the other disciples’ report of their encounter with Jesus difficult to believe: after all, these were the same disciples who had fled Jesus at the Cross, who had betrayed Him, who had been so afraid and scared just a week beforehand. Maybe he was doubting their word because their walk had not matched their talk. Whatever his reasons, Jesus appeared to him to settle all his doubts, urging him to come and see.

We may not see Jesus physically in the same way that Thomas did. Will we believe the same story? The blessing God has is great for those who not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29). We are called to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). We may not be able to prove everything about our faith, but we can still believe and can still declare, as Thomas did, ‘my Lord and my God!’

Garry preached on confirming your calling from 2 Peter 1:3-11 yesterday morning. There, Peter tells us ‘be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.’ The word ‘confirm’ or ‘make sure’ has the idea of a firm foundation or an anchor, something that is bolted down or cemented so it cannot move. God’s supply is available for us: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). The storehouse is unlocked, but we have to appropriate what has been made available for us.

God’s character should be our goal: we are to ‘participate in the divine nature’ (2 Pet 1:4), looking to mirror His character (see Matt 5:43-48) so that we become mature and complete, ‘attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:11-15). Maturity is about becoming fit for purpose, or suitable, and we do this by adding God’s characteristics to our faith.

As usual, there is the dual combination of our participation and God’s provision. The fruit of the Spirit grow when we crucify the flesh. We have to work with God, participating with Him in this growth of character. Do we view the trials of life as stumbling-blocks or stepping stones? Is our vision focussed only on the problems or on the potential? All things can be used by God for our good, even suffering.

Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb 5:7-8). We too will have to suffer to develop our characters, for it’s the only way we learn perseverance and patience, but we can be confident in God. As Joseph reminded his brothers, their plans had been to harm him, but God’s plans had been for good (Gen 50:20). We need to work with God to confirm our faith, to give our faith a foundation, to have our characters moulded and shaped to mirror God’s.

We have kept fish as pets for about eighteen years now, since our son first won a goldfish at a fair (which died two days later, just as he was excitedly writing about ‘my first pet’ at school.) I had never had a pet fish myself as a child, and was unprepared for the lessons fish could teach me.

First of all, this stuff about the three second memory of a goldfish is rubbish. Our goldfish knew exactly what time feeding was, within a few days of being in our house. Every morning and every afternoon at feeding time, they would animatedly swim around the tank, eagerly looking for food. They may not have words, but they are adept at communicating hunger to us! I’ve learnt a lot about eagerness and spiritual hunger from watching our fish!

Secondly, when fish are ill, it’s very difficult to know what to do. Diagnosing what is wrong is difficult. Initial symptoms always seem the same: lethargy, ‘unhappiness’, lowered fins, erratic swimming. It’s some time before specific symptoms appear which you can treat: streaked tails, blood, unusual markings, clear evidence of velvet or finrot which you can actually treat. Sometimes we have successfully treated the water and saved the fish. Other times, sadly, we have not.

That’s not how it is with people. Sin is always our core problem, but the symptoms are so varied that we are often deceived into thinking something else is the problem! With humans, the symptoms look different, but the cause is basic: our rebellious hearts and desire for independence. The cure is always the same. We need a Saviour.

Most of the problems that fish have occur when they are stressed, when the water quality is poor or when new fish are introduced into the tank. We have only really introduced new fish when one has died and every time, there have been problems. It’s as if the new fish bring their own bacteria and problems into the tank and the new combination of things causes problems. That too reminds me of people! Most of us think we could survive quite happily in our Christian walk if we only didn’t have to deal with other people! We can think lofty thoughts and be virtuous and loving in theory, but then we have to deal with the criticism of a spouse, the moods of a child, the unhelpfulness of a colleague, the spitefulness of someone we thought was a friend… and it’s so hard to be Christ-like in those circumstances!

Life is all about learning to get along with people who are just as sinful as ourselves. Their sins may be different (just as the fishes’ bacteria may be different!), but we have to learn to adapt and let love cover over a multitude of sins (1 Pet 4:8)