Most of us are challenged by walking the way Jesus calls us to go. He asks us to take up our crosses, to die to our wills, to think of others before ourselves. That’s not easy. But Paul gives Timothy some helpful ways to rekindle all the gifts God has already given him. These are like way stations along the road that help support our journey of faith.

How can we really know God and what he says? Paul simply directs us to look at Jesus. If we want to really know God, we must know Jesus.

Perhaps we see this best at the cross. At the cross of Jesus, we see the unfailing pursuit of God’s righteousness intersect with his equally unfailing love. We know revival is coming when our lives are focused on the cross where God gave up power. We know revival is coming in our own lives when we can give up power as well.

For Christians, real contentment is to know that sufficiency and self-satisfaction come from beyond ourselves. Whatever we have or do not have, whatever we gain or whatever we lose, nothing can bring us what Paul calls “the life that truly is life” except Christ Jesus.

Jesus doesn't give us trite advice but wants us to be fully alive. One of the things that keeps us from this life is a love of money.

Do you feel disconnected from God—out of touch, out of conversation with the Lord? Do you think you need God to revive you? We all need revival.

Revival begins with you and me. It begins with being born again, living again as you let the Holy Spirit breath new life into you. It begins as you commit to following Jesus in all aspects of your life, of serving God and no other master.

Jesus eats at the table of the lost sheep, the broken, the sinners, and the unclean. God celebrates everyone who comes to him and repents.

What does it look like when a whole congregation of various sorts and conditions of people has been freed from a false world where success and flourishing and happiness are mistakenly thought of as a product of human achievement or merit? Well, it would look like a joyful community.

When you become a believer, your bonds are to Christ. You are set free from the bondage to all the worldly ways we sort and judge and relate to different people. We are one in Christ.

Being a disciple means loving Jesus above all else, above even good things like family. It is a hard call, but with God's help we can surrender our lives and our lives to him.

When you become a believer, your bonds are to Christ. You are set free from the bondage to all the worldly ways we sort and judge and relate to different people. We are one in Christ.