"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." ―2nd Timothy 1:7
Many
believers misinterpret this Scripture to mean that Christians should never
have fear; however, fear is an inherent quality of our human nature. People are naturally creatures of emotion, and one of those emotions is
fear. Thus, it is normal to experience fear, insecurity, worry, or to
even feel overwhelmed at times with life.
Holy Spirit Power
2nd Timothy 1:7 informs us, as Christians, that God has given us HIS HOLY SPIRIT, who indwells (i.e., literal lives within) our body (John 14:16,23). It is through Christ's Spirit that we can OVERCOME our own spirit of fear, weakness, and disparity. I have no doubt that young David feared Goliath in the Old Testament; yet, David trusted in the Spirit of God and went out to fight Goliath anyhow. I'm sure Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego feared being cast into the fiery furnace by wicked king Nebuchadnezzar; but they trusted the Spirit of God anyhow.
We read in Matthew 14:28-30 that Peter was given the power by Jesus to walk upon the water; yet, Peter became afraid and began to sink... “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” So often our minds are drawn upon life's tempests, raging waves, and unsettling winds; BUT, we need to trust upon the Lord Jesus Christ to see us through 'til the end.
Anyone can trust God when the going's good; BUT, it takes a believer with strong faith to hang in there when everything is going bad, things aren't getting any better, and there's no hope in sight. Unshakable faith comes from having our faith shaken. This is why we read in 1st Peter 1:7, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
We read in 1st John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” The Godhead (i.e., God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirits) live within the body of every Christian. We read in Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” God the Father and God the Son live within every born again believer in the form of the Holy Spirit, and they are all one (1st John 5:7, King James Bible). What a precious thing it is, to know that the Creator of the universe lives within the soul of every believer.
As Christians, we need not live in fear. Although we will experience fear at times, even perhaps throughout our
entire life, we have the Spirit of God to comfort, guide, teach, and empower
us. God says in 2nd Timothy 1:7 that He has given each believer the
Spirit of POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND. So when we are emotionally
weak, depressed, and desire to quit―we know that this is not the
Spirit of God at work. It is important for us to realize that it is normal for the carnal flesh to experience fear, anxiety, hatred,
revenge, confusion, et cetera. What God is saying in 2nd Timothy 1:7
is that through His Holy Spirit, we can rise above all those human
frailties, weaknesses, and sins of the flesh. The unsaved heathen
world lives in fear, hatred, and confusion; BUT, God has given His Holy
Spirit to indwell each believer (Romans 8:9), so that we may overcome this sinful world
and live in power, love, and with a sound mind.
God's Love
The world knows nothing of God's love. The world's love is conditional, requiring something in return. Every
divorce is caused by worldly love, i.e., a synthetic type of conditional
love, which is no love at all. A wife says to her husband,
“I don't love you anymore, you drove it out of me.” She never possessed any
love to begin with. What she is really saying to her husband is... “My
fondness for you was only conditional, based upon your treatment of me. Now
that you've treated me badly, I am not fond of you anymore.” The
honest truth is that most marriages today are based upon fondness; and not
Biblical love (which is the only true love).
The world's love is a fake, synthetic, conditional, temporary type of love. This is why so many marriages nowadays are ending in ruin. This is not to say that unsaved people can't have genuine love for one another; but it does mean that any love which is not 100% UNCONDITIONAL is no love at all. If I genuinely love you, then nothing you can say or do will cause me to stop loving you. One of the most difficult Scriptures in the Bible to obey is to love our enemies; yet, we must always keep in mind that Christ died for all men (2nd Corinthians 5:14; 1st John 2:2). Jesus Christ was willing to lay down His life for the worst of sinners, in hopes that they would repent and turn to God for salvation (2nd Peter 3:9). God's love for mankind is unconditional. This is the love which God instills in every believer through His Holy Spirit. Away with the world's conditional love! The love of God is unconditional, and each believer should posses this type of love for all mankind, and yes, that includes one's spouse as well.
There would never be another divorce if married couples possessed God's unconditional love for one another. We read in 1st Corinthians 13:4, "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.” The word “charity” here is God's love. True love suffereth long, and is kind. There is nothing “kind” about divorce proceedings. The sin of divorce is costly, devastating, and a sin that perpetuates for a lifetime. The Bible tells us that love causes a person to endure hard times, suffering, and marital problems. This modern-day, unforgiving, ruthless, heathen philosophy that teaches women to abandon their marriage vows and quit at the first sign of trouble is of the Devil. Divorce is ALWAYS a sin!
There can be NO harmony between rebellious feminism and Biblical Christianity. All feminism is of the Devil. God will tolerate nothing less than 100% total obedience of a wife to her own husband. Most women today, especially spoiled-rotten American women, have a problem with the Bible. This is why the divorce rate has skyrocketed in America, and women file for divorce at at least TWICE the rate of men. Such women will be punished by God on Judgment Day. 1st Samuel 15:23 tells us that rebellion is equivalent to the sin of witchcraft. If you don't like that, then get mad at God because He commands wives to submit to their own husband AS UNTO THE LORD (Ephesians 5:22).
God's love is absolutely unconditional. God loves the vilest sinner, so much so, that He sent His only begotten Son
into the world to die for the sins of that person... “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 5:8
states... “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” What a Wonderful
Savior!
A Sound Mind
I could write a book on this subject, for the world has become a large insane asylum. Fewer and fewer people have a “sound mind” anymore. Americans are flocking to heathen psychologists and psychiatrists in unprecedented numbers. Our educational system is horribly failing. Illegal drugs, fornication, and sexual obsession (lasciviousness) have saturated American culture. While Americans consume 25% of all the world's natural resources, only 5% of the world's population lives here.
Americans spend billions annually spoiling their pets, while millions of children starve to death each year in this crazy world. May I contend that selfishness and insanity are close friends. Not enough Americans cared when poor Terri Schiavo was literally starved and dehydrated to an agonizing death. It was an insane act of brutality against an innocent women, while selfish Americans sat back and just watched. We've become a nation of MONSTERS! Even mass murders are given the convenience of a swift lethal injection. And what about the nearly 50,000,000 aborted American children brutally murdered by an insane society?
American society, government, and even our churches are run amuck in insanity. Few churches preach publickly against homosexuality anymore. Twenty-percent of all San Francisco city appointees are now homosexual, and Seattle's police department is now required to hire a certain amount of homosexuals (Sodomites). It's insanity! Yet, Bible-believing Christians are still in their right mind, and are unwilling to accept the apostate political agendas of our day. I challenge you, if you are a true Christian, to walk with God by wallowing in the Word of God.
The Bible will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from the Bible. When's the last time you seriously read the Bible, and took the time to study the passages you didn't understand? Most believers randomly read their Bible, and simply skip over the parts they don't understand. This is why the heretic Martin Luther rejected the Book of Revelation, because he couldn't understand it. He didn't understand a lot of other Scriptures either, which is why he is in Hellfire this moment. Martin Luther was of the Devil.
We are living in the last days, when most people are crazy, conceded, and confused. We are living in a selfish, self-righteous, and self-centered society in America. The ONLY sound mind is a Biblical mind, for without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will spend eternity in the flames of the Lake of Fire (John 3:36; 2nd Thessalonians 1:8,9; Revelation 20:11-15). You are as insane as you are alienated from God. Humanism is an insane form of thinking that invades the human mind, convincing it of it's own superiority over God and His Word.
We read in Ephesians 4:18 concerning the unsaved... “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” But there is hope... “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Colossians 1:21). Oh listen my friend, Ephesians 2:13 is a precious Scripture, which tells you how to be reconciled to God... “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
Hebrews 9:12 states... “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his [Jesus'] own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” What a Savior! Only through the blood of Jesus can our sins be forgiven! Jesus offered up Himself as a sacrifice for our sins at Calvary. Jesus paid for our sins with a blood sacrifice, and now invites all men to receive the free gift of salvation by faith alone in Him. No one needs to go to Hell. No matter what sins you may have committed, God will save you if you want to be saved (Isaiah 1:18). END
