PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
2 Timothy 1:7, 9
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. . . . He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time . . .
CONSIDER THIS
As we near the end of this season in our journey together, it is clear that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the treasures of union and love that fill the pages of the New Testament. But in Christ, every end is a new beginning—and there is so much more that Jesus will teach us in the years to come.
Let’s review for a moment before we look at today’s passage. Learning from the Apostle of Union and Love, Paul, who learned from the Lord of Union and Love, Jesus, we have been in the School of Union and Love apprenticing to become Witnesses of Union and Love in the world God loves (John 3:16)!
And, of course, virtually none of Paul’s language about union and love is solely about us as individuals, though that is indeed an important part of the story. United with Christ, in Christ, we are becoming a Community of Union and Love in the world. We are the body of Christ—embodying and evidencing the profound mystery of his love (1 Cor. 13:1–13)—that the world may know that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Writing to Timothy, Paul gives us two high vantage points from which to look out over all we have discovered together—the vantage points of the Spirit and grace.
Second Timothy 1:7, 9 is a duet of passages unveiling the character of the Spirit indwelling us and the grace so freely given to us by the Father in Jesus.
In verse 7, we see that the Spirit that is in you and me is known for power, love, and self-discipline. I like to think of the Spirit as the Spirit of Union and Love. Therefore, today we live in union with Jesus as people who are also known for power, love, and self-discipline. That power abides in you. That love abides in you. That self-discipline abides in you.
The Spirit that is in you and me is not known for timidity, indifference, or a lack of self-control. Therefore, those whom Christ inhabits are not to be known for those things. The indwelling Jesus is moving through us for a purpose—that we and the world may know and experience the purest love that sets all worlds right. That means that our transformation into Christlikeness is the way the world will be reached.
In verse 9, we see that this grace, given to us “in Christ Jesus,” means that we have been filled with God’s presence and love not because we did something right, but because God acted in love. As beloved sons and daughters, we have been loved, healed, strengthened, forgiven, renewed, blessed, and sanctified because of the Father’s relentless care.
Of the more than one hundred times the phrase “in Christ” or a variation of it is used, the phrase in this passage reminds us that God’s intention to bring us into union with himself has been in motion from before the beginning of time.
The Spirit is strong in you. Grace has brought you here.
This is your reality and mine.
There will always be more to learn, but with the Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline within us, and the lavish, abundant grace afforded us, we will come “to know this love that surpasses knowledge” and be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19).
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am in you and you are in me. Your Spirit in me means that I am free to live in power, love, and self-discipline. I choose to live in and from the abundant grace you have shown me. Your Spirit is strong within me and your grace has brought me to this moment. Thank you. I bless your name. In Christ Jesus, I pray, amen.
THE QUESTIONS
What does having the Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline within mean to you? How would you describe God’s grace at work in your life? Can you think of specific moments or instances in which you felt his grace and unconditional love carrying you through a difficult season?
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
P. S. TO KNOW THIS LOVE + ACTS JOURNAL
We have a fun opportunity for you as we finish this Wake-Up Call series and begin Acts Season 2 with J.D. Walt! If you pre-order a copy of Dan’s recent series To Know This Love and the Acts, Season 2 Journal together, you will receive 50% off the order. Use code: COMBO50 at check out.
Or, each book is 25% off separately! Offer available through the end of the month.
Finally, if you missed Wednesday’s call, Outpouring Continues: Stories from Europe with Dan, New Room, and friends from Europe. You can watch the video HERE.
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2 Responses
I believe that the incarnation, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and the glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ, along with his union with us, through the impartation of his Holy Spirit into us, is the fulfillment of God’s plan to redeem, and restore humanity to it’s original reflection of His image, will, and purpose, to His praise and glory. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus said that having the Holy Spirit freely living inside you is like having rivers of living water flowing from within you. The Spirit wants His fruit to overflow from your innermost being as inner rivers that are gushing forth with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The power of the Spirit’s unhindered and unquenched presence in you, casts out fear and timidity. “Christ in you,” freely flowing (without you hindering Him or holding Him back) as inner rivers, is the hope of “joy unspeakable and full of glory” and the power of “peace that passes understanding.”
You don’t need to mentally understand the great mystery of who the Spirit is and how He works inside of you. You need to go beyond human understanding and continually experience the awe of Christ’s glory by radically surrendering to and submitting to His inner presence and authority. Let the Spirit of Jesus have full access and total control within you. Let His inner rivers continually sweep aside everything inside you that tries to extinguish the presence of His inner fire.
Modern Christianity has far too many studies about the Holy Spirit and drastically too few glorious demonstrations of the presence and reality of the Sprit at work in ordinary Christ-followers. We have accepted “eloquence and human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1) as a substitute for “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). It’s urgent that contemporary Christians begin “to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you,” (2 Timothy 1:6). This can help: Search for The Joy of Early Christianity.