I just found some typed notes from oh... about 6 years ago. Ha! They are notes from the one of the very first planning meetings we had at our congregation regarding the first year we co-hosted the North MS Ladies Retreat held the 4th weekend in October every year at Tishomingo State Park. Whew - did that bring back a lot of memories!
Our theme that year was "Fan the Flame" based on the scripture from II Timothy 1:6-7 (NIV) "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." The choice of the theme had a lot meaning to me at the time. Actually, it still does. We had a great retreat that year (it was 2008) and every year after! A wonderful team of loving Christian ladies at our congregation work together for the glory of God. These experiences have helped me grow and mature as a Christian. God is so good!
In some ways it seems like that first retreat was just yesterday. Then again, when I think about it, I realize a lot of water has gone under the bridge, so to speak. The reason I said co-host earlier is because we have help with our budget from one congregation and help with refreshments on Friday night from another. We absolutely could not have a retreat without help from these two congregations. Their contributions mean the world to us. So it is a team effort and we are always strengthenend and uplifted by the Ladies' Retreat.
Sorry, for rambling - but like I said - seeing those notes brought back alot of memories.
Let's look at the scripture again for a moment because there are so many lessons packed in those two verses of God's word. First of all, Timothy is reminded by Paul to "fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands." Now we know that there is no longer any "laying on of hands," but we also know that God has given us all gifts that we are to use to glorify Him. The words "fan into flame" implies that perhaps the flame needs to rekindled so that the sparks will become a burning flame. This is a strong encouragement not to let your flame die out. We should always have a strong desire to serve our Lord - to be on fire for Him. Keep your enthusiasm alive - don't let it die out.
Secondly, we must realize that we all have gifts we can use for our Savior. As Christians, we are to be Christ like. Think about His ministry. Christ never once let His flame go out. He always had His Father's mission on His mind and in His heart. He never stopped teaching, serving, leading, working -- He kept His flame burning all the time. How does one keep a fire from going out? Well two things - they add another log (or something) to the fire and they fan the flame. The flame is fed by more logs and more oxygen. Our Christian flame is fed in many ways -- but two major things needed to fan our spiritual flame are Bible study and prayer. I know I speak about these two things quite often; but they are both so important. We listen to God through reading and studying His Word. We talk to God through prayer. Both of these elements are vital to the Christian life -- to the life of our fire. So we keep our flame alive by kindling our love of God and our desire to serve Him. The gifts we have vary from person to person. Let's not play games here, we all know that there is something we can do to serve our Savior. What one can do might not come as easily to another. BUT God doesn't leave anyone out. We can all do something for God.
Paul reminds Tmothy that "God has not given us a spirit of timidity." We should never be timid about serving our God because He has given us a spirit of power --we have God's power on our side. Remember Christ promises us that with God all things are possible. Our all-powerful God has given us a spirit of power. If we are working for Him and serving Him then He will always give us the strength and power we need to complete our tasks.
We are also given a spirit of love -- we have the assurance of God's love - which should never, ever be taken lightly. Working with others in the spirit of love is what will win others to Christ. We must show the world God's love and the only way we can do that is by showing them the love we have for God AND for our fellowman.
We have also been given the spirit of self-discipline. We need self-discipline to keep our flame burning. Self-discipline is what will keep us in the habit of prayer and Bible study. It is what will keep us from falling into temptation. We can remain "unspotted from the world" if we maintain the spirit of self-discipline - which God gives us - as long as we are striving to serve Him. As long as we are walking in the light - as long as we keep adding logs to the fire and our zeal is alive and well - then we will have no desire to stray away from Him. Those worldy pleasures will no longer tempt us quite so strongly -- God has given us the power of self-discipline. Thank you, Heavenly Father!
As I look back on our very first turn at the retreat, I can see how we have grown. God has given us a spirit of power because we now know that we can accomplish a wonderful work for Him. He has given us a spirit of love because the work, the dreams and plans we have shared with one another has created a bond which grows stronger every year. God has given us the power of self-discipline as a group because we have learned to work together, to all use our own talents in our own ways. We have learned to share different opinions and to be flexible. We have learned to put others first - to lay aside our own desires. The work we do for the retreat is not for ourselves. We realize this and discipline ourselves to think of ways that all the women who attend will be spiritually refreshed and strengthened by the activities of the retreat. We have learned to use our self-discipline to serve others. Each year as the retreat begins and we see the smiles and hear the singing and praying and watch the joy on the faces of our sisters - we learn that it really is ever so much more better to give! And then we are thankful we have had the opportunity to serve our God and Christ by serving our sisters.
Don't let your flame go out! Keep fanning. Realize and utilize the gifts God has given you to glorify Him. Let God give you the spirit of power and love to serve Him. Use your God-given spirit of self-discipline to stay on track. This is what God has given all of us who are willing to serve Him. May we use our gifts well.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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