Tag: Paul and Timothy

Keep Guarding and Fanning

2 Timothy 1-4

Devotion by Pastor Jeff Fletcher – originally posted for SGL on Aug 25, 2023. I am so thankful for the many ways Pastor Jeff guarded the good deposit given to him and fanned into flame the gifts he received. As husband to one, father to 11, pastor to many (including the pastors), chaplain to the hurting, editor and writer and listener, Jeff was sincere and devout in his love for God, Jesus, his faith and all people.

Have you ever been asked to guard something?  If you’ve ever played a team sport it’s likely that you guarded someone or something.  When you play defense in basketball or hockey you guard someone.  In basketball and football, there are positions called guards.  In baseball, the catcher is responsible for guarding home plate.

We encounter lots of guards in life- prison guards,  security guards, the National Guard.  Celebrities and politicians and other rich and powerful people often have bodyguards.  If you’re out with a friend at a busy place and they go to buy food or use the restroom they might ask you to “guard my seat”.  

To guard something means that you have been entrusted to protect someone or something that is valued by another.  In today’s reading of 2 Timothy 1, the Apostle Paul has written to Timothy and reminded him about all of the goods that have been entrusted to him in his life.  He speaks about the sincere faith that began in both Timothy’s grandmother and mother now in him.  He describes this faith as something that has been entrusted to Timothy and must be guarded.  I have the image of going to the bank and bringing my paycheck and giving it to the bank officer and asking her to guard my money until I needed it.  I am entrusting my deposit with the bank.  Here, Paul is entrusting his spiritual deposits to Timothy.  Just as Timothy’s grandmother and mother made spiritual deposits in his life, Paul too made spiritual deposits.  Now it’s up to Timothy to both guard those deposits and also put them to good use.  Paul freely changes metaphors to that of fire.  A fire that has started often needs to be fanned, given more air, until it grows enough to really burn.  Protect the deposit and fan the flame.  This is Paul’s counsel to Timothy.

You’ve undoubtedly had many people make faith deposits in your life.  For some, like Timothy, it was a grandparent or parent or other spiritual teacher or mentor.  Maybe it was a Sunday School teacher or youth leader, maybe it was a pastor or a counselor at Church camp.  For many, it was likely a combination of many people who taught by words or actions what it means to know Jesus Christ and follow him as a disciple.  I know in my nearly 60 years of life there have been countless people who have made faith deposits into my life, and who have helped me with my spiritual formation.   These people have shared incredible gifts of faith with me.  I feel a particular responsibility to not allow those gifts to go by the wayside, to be left unvalued,  unused, and unguarded.    I take the deposits of faith that have been entrusted to me and put them to work for Jesus Christ and for the Kingdom of God.  This is an incredibly important responsibility and one that I do not take lightly.  I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to those who made faith deposits in my life and so I want to “pay it forward” by making faith deposits into the lives of others.  This is why 45 years after I first attended Youth Camp (Now FUEL) I’m still trying to make faith deposits.  I hope and pray that you guard what has been entrusted to you and fan into the flame the gifts that have been given to you so that God’s word will continue to spread like wildfire into a world that needs more faith.

Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

  1. Take a moment to write down the names of people that you can think of who have made faith deposits into your life.   Say a prayer of thanks for them, then send one of them a note and say “thank you” for the faith deposits they’ve made in your life.
  2. What are some ways that you can fan into flame the gifts that have been given you?  What specific things will you do to help spread the faith in Jesus Christ shared with you?
  3. How can you best guard the precious truths that have been deposited into your spiritual bank account by others? Is guarding the same as hoarding? What does guarding faith look like? How is faith best preserved? What makes faith worthy of guarding and fanning into flame?
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Standing Firm in the Lord

1 Thessalonians 3

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

When reading this chapter, the joy Paul had stood out to me.  Paul faced challenge after challenge, obstacle after obstacle as he worked to spread the gospel, yet he is still full of joy.


Paul starts the chapter by talking about how he feared that the Thessalonians would be led astray by the temptations and afflictions they would face.  He says that for this reason, he asked someone to report on their faith, hoping that all his work there wouldn’t have been in vain.  But when Timothy returned with a report about the Thessalonians, it became clear that they had stood firm in their faith through all the persecution they faced.


In verse 7, Paul writes that he and his companions were comforted by the news that Timothy brought.  The good news about the Thessalonians was so great that it provided comfort in the midst of affliction!  Paul states that they now really live if the Thessalonians stand firm in their faith.  The Thessalonians provided so much joy to the lives of Paul and his companions that it feels like they just started to really live!  In verse 9, Paul asks what thanks they can give to God for all the joy he has about the Thessalonians.  There is so much joy that he doesn’t even know how to put it into words to thank God.  This joy is so overwhelming that he can’t even start to understand how much thanks he needs to give God.


Are you filling others with as much joy as Paul is full of from the Thessalonians?  Are those who taught you the Bible filled with joy from the way it has changed your life?  Paul’s joy came from seeing that he was able to make this impact on the Thessalonians and that they were able to continue standing firm.  We each need to be like the Thessalonians, providing joy to our teachers and others as we continue to walk in the way of the Lord.


Are you filled with joy like Paul?  God has provided each of us with much more than we ever deserved.  None of us deserve salvation, but God offered it to each one of us.  Our lives should be full of joy because of this great gift.  I can’t even begin to thank God enough for everything that He has given me!


Paul’s response to this joy is shown in verse 10.  He says that he and his companions are earnestly praying that they may see the Thessalonians again and continue to strengthen their faith.  He doesn’t claim that his job is now done, as the Thessalonians were able to stand up to opposition.  Instead, he says that he wants to visit to teach them even more, to make them even stronger, lacking nothing in their faith.


What is your response to being filled with joy?  We need to be constantly giving thanks for all that we have been given, night and day praising God.  Are you asking God that you can continue to do the work which He has prepared for you or are you saying that your job is done?  This joy should cause you to want to do even more, spreading the good news to all those around you so that they too might experience this joy.

-Kaitlyn Hamilton

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. What is the biggest challenge you face in standing firm in the Lord? How can you ask for help from your brothers and sisters in Christ? (If you don’t have a church family yet – make it your first priority to find one!)
  2. Are there brothers and sisters or children in the faith that give you great joy when you see how they are standing firm in the faith even in the midst of trials? Let them know.
  3. Spend an extra ten minutes in prayer today thanking God.
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Generation to Generation

rebecca 6

It brings me so much joy to see youth and young adults pursuing ministry. It is wonderful to see the next generation serving other members of the church and the community in the name of Christ. Young people that “get it”. They want to make a positive difference and make an eternal impact on the world around them.

I am so thankful for the people who were there for our generation. The adults that worked, studied, served, and prayed with us. Our Youth Workers’ commitments to our church and faith were evident in their church involvement.  I was so blessed because I got to serve alongside so many solid servants of Christ. We did the little, insignificant things along with the big stuff. It didn’t matter if it was unclogging a toilet, doing a food collection, visiting a nursing home, rolling coins after a fundraiser, working on a broken down church bus, speaking or singing in a worship service-whatever the task, our Youth Workers were working it out beside us. They spoke with encouraging words of wisdom and instilled confidence as we overcame difficulties that stood in the way to completing our mission. After all, a true follower of Christ is willing to present the gospel, help others, even wash some dirty feet…

The Apostle Paul had the opportunity to bring countless generations of people to Christ. We are still learning from his writings today. Timothy had the chance to learn from him first hand. Paul refers to Timothy as “my true son in the faith”. He had worked alongside Paul for years and had served the churches. Paul made sure that Timothy understood and practiced the essentials of the Christian faith. He also prepared him for leadership.

Paul informed him in 1 Timothy 3:15, “But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” Paul wanted Timothy to know how to serve the Church, how to deal with problems and encourage the people to grow in Christ.  He warned him about terrible times in the last days because of how evil many people would become (2 Timothy 3:1-5). He also passed along a charge, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:14-17)

What great advice for all generations!

-Rebecca Dauksas