2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of LOVE, and of a sound mind.
Yes Friends, we can believe that! Bruh Paul wouldn’t lie to his young protégé Timothy, or to us. This epistle was probably some of the last words he wrote from his prison cell in Rome, before he was beheaded. In it he attempts to encourage Timothy in his ministry; ‘that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.’ (vs.6) He exhorts him to fan the flames of the gospel, keep his lamp burning strong and bright, seek endurance, be motivated to use the ‘gift of God,’ the grace bestowed on him through the Spirit when he became a believer, and that was heightened, when Bruh Paul ordained him. ‘For God hath not given us a spirit of fear…’ That’s a fact Friends! Jesus told His disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) So why then, as believers, do we still walk around so fearful eh? There’s no need to be afraid if we’re filled with the Spirit of Christ. ‘For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.’ (Rom.8:15-16) And Friends, if we’re the children of God, the creator of the universe and all therein, also its most powerful personage, why then should we be afraid? Instead, we should be filled with strength and power, the ability to do whatever God calls us to do. Jesus said it: ‘But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8) From the mouth of the Saviour Himself people! When we believe, and His Spirit enters us, then it casts aside all fear and worry, and fills us instead with the power to do His will. The Spirit also blesses us with a feeling ‘of LOVE, and a sound mind.’ Yes Friends, that Holy Spirit certainly works wonders in a believer’s soul, if we follow it wisely; starting with a ‘sound mind.’ That simply means a disciplined, orderly mind, that leads to disciplined, orderly behaviour. We stop making hasty decisions, or jumping helter skelter from one thing to another, but rather thoughtfully dealing with it, and being firm and decisive when we do make a decision. Remember, ‘a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:8) And when we come to Jesus, all those unhealthy, wasteful, destructive habits are cast out. Flora .E. Meredith must have heard this good news about Jesus, when she faithfully declared: ‘I’ve heard he works with broken people. I am sick, hurting and broken. I am waiting and willing now…’ Yes people, for all of us who are still fearful, sick, broken, hurting, tired, weary; whatever ails us, there’s no better person to take our troubles to than Jesus. Remember His great invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke…learn of me…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Mat.11:28-30) Wow Friends! What a wonderful invitation! We’ll never get a better one. Jesus obviously cares very deeply for us, else why would He offer such an overwhelming invitation, or suffer such a horrible death on our behalf? And He does all of this from His eternal and everlasting reservoir of LOVE! They say LOVE makes the world go round; and it’s quite true, because it’s the bed rock, the very foundation on which Jesus and His Father have built their world. For ‘God is LOVE, and he that dwelleth in LOVE, dwelleth in God, and God in him. There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.’ (1 John 4:16-18) So Friends if we’re overly timid and fearful, it means we don’t have the Spirit of Christ in us as strong and securely as we need to. For if the LOVE of Christ controls us, then fear won’t disturb our souls. Let’s all take time today nuh, to ramp up the intensity of Christ’s Spirit in our beings, so that we can drive out that meddlesome, disheartening fear, and replace it with the power, LOVE, and sound mind of Christ. Much LOVE!…a whole heap of fear…indicates…not enough of Jesus…
Yes Friends, we can believe that! Bruh Paul wouldn’t lie to his young protégé Timothy, or to us. This epistle was probably some of the last words he wrote from his prison cell in Rome, before he was beheaded. In it he attempts to encourage Timothy in his ministry; ‘that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.’ (vs.6) He exhorts him to fan the flames of the gospel, keep his lamp burning strong and bright, seek endurance, be motivated to use the ‘gift of God,’ the grace bestowed on him through the Spirit when he became a believer, and that was heightened, when Bruh Paul ordained him. ‘For God hath not given us a spirit of fear…’ That’s a fact Friends! Jesus told His disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’ (John 14:27) So why then, as believers, do we still walk around so fearful eh? There’s no need to be afraid if we’re filled with the Spirit of Christ. ‘For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.’ (Rom.8:15-16) And Friends, if we’re the children of God, the creator of the universe and all therein, also its most powerful personage, why then should we be afraid? Instead, we should be filled with strength and power, the ability to do whatever God calls us to do. Jesus said it: ‘But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.’ (Acts 1:8) From the mouth of the Saviour Himself people! When we believe, and His Spirit enters us, then it casts aside all fear and worry, and fills us instead with the power to do His will. The Spirit also blesses us with a feeling ‘of LOVE, and a sound mind.’ Yes Friends, that Holy Spirit certainly works wonders in a believer’s soul, if we follow it wisely; starting with a ‘sound mind.’ That simply means a disciplined, orderly mind, that leads to disciplined, orderly behaviour. We stop making hasty decisions, or jumping helter skelter from one thing to another, but rather thoughtfully dealing with it, and being firm and decisive when we do make a decision. Remember, ‘a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ (James 1:8) And when we come to Jesus, all those unhealthy, wasteful, destructive habits are cast out. Flora .E. Meredith must have heard this good news about Jesus, when she faithfully declared: ‘I’ve heard he works with broken people. I am sick, hurting and broken. I am waiting and willing now…’ Yes people, for all of us who are still fearful, sick, broken, hurting, tired, weary; whatever ails us, there’s no better person to take our troubles to than Jesus. Remember His great invitation: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke…learn of me…and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Mat.11:28-30) Wow Friends! What a wonderful invitation! We’ll never get a better one. Jesus obviously cares very deeply for us, else why would He offer such an overwhelming invitation, or suffer such a horrible death on our behalf? And He does all of this from His eternal and everlasting reservoir of LOVE! They say LOVE makes the world go round; and it’s quite true, because it’s the bed rock, the very foundation on which Jesus and His Father have built their world. For ‘God is LOVE, and he that dwelleth in LOVE, dwelleth in God, and God in him. There is no fear in LOVE; but perfect LOVE casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in LOVE.’ (1 John 4:16-18) So Friends if we’re overly timid and fearful, it means we don’t have the Spirit of Christ in us as strong and securely as we need to. For if the LOVE of Christ controls us, then fear won’t disturb our souls. Let’s all take time today nuh, to ramp up the intensity of Christ’s Spirit in our beings, so that we can drive out that meddlesome, disheartening fear, and replace it with the power, LOVE, and sound mind of Christ. Much LOVE!…a whole heap of fear…indicates…not enough of Jesus…
SCRIP-BITS 