"POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND!"

2 Timothy 1:6-8.                        (KJV)
"6 Wherefore I put thee in REMEMBRANCE that thou stir up the GIFT of GOD, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7 For GOD hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of POWER, and of LOVE, and of a SOUND MIND.
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our LORD, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou (willing) partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of GOD;"



Having been brought into the Light when I was 17 years old, I have had a considerable amount of time to grow spiritually.  The regrets of living in a state of "spiritual ignorance" is made more palatable when I consider the maturation process I have gone through, and continue going through.  I am sure the children of Israel would have preferred their exile in Egypt to not have taken so long.  Nor does the 40 years wandering in the dessert on what could have been a one week journey seem something to be something one would relish?

The Spirit of GOD has been dealing with my heart for quite sometime about overcoming fear.     Fear of failure, fear of missing the mark of the high calling, fear of being outside of GOD's will?  This morning while still laying in bed, 2 Timothy 1:7 came to my mind.  "GOD hath NOT given us the spirit of fear"!  Well, if GOD hasn't given it to us, it must have originated from the enemy.  Genesis 3:10 lets us know where the spirit of fear originates.   Adam, GOD's creation, said to his Creator, "and I was afraid"!  Was Adam afraid because of his nakedness (as he claimed)?  The more acceptable concept to me is Adam was afraid because he knew he had sinned and his relationship with his Creator had been violated.

The Apostle Paul reminds (therefore the word REMEMBRANCE) Timothy of the gift that GOD provides us.  He reminds us that GOD did not give us the spirit of fear.  Rather a spirit of "POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND"!  The Apostle Paul does not strike me as being one who would go to a City Hall with his tail tucked between his legs!  Instead he strikes me as one who would LOVINGLY stand before Caesar and proclaim that JESUS was the CHRIST!

"POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND" were traits Paul said that GOD blesses us with.  GOD wants us to be a mirror that HE can be reflected from.  If we are always building ourselves up, what are we doing for HIM?  In a John 3:30, John the Baptist says "HE must increase, but I must decrease".  So if JESUS CHRIST increasingly lives in my body, I should exhibit HIS "POWER, LOVE, and SOUND MIND"!  The more HE increases in this body, the less room there will remain for fear!   The "POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND" of JESUS CHRIST is what I desire to exemplify if my life!!!