Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Fresh Encounters keep us strong and fearless.”
Although I’ve never actually counted them myself, I’ve often heard it said that in the Bible there are three hundred and sixty-five variations of the command from God to “Fear not!” If so then that would be one “Fear not!” for every day of the year.
In 2 Timothy 1:6-7 the Apostle Paul writes one of those “Fear not!” statements. In this case it’s to his young protégé Timothy (and to us). Timothy was a young man who Paul mentored and then trained for the ministry. It seems as if Timothy served primarily as a “church fixer”. In other words, Paul kept sending the young man into situations where a church was having serious problems and Timothy’s job was to sort it out and get them back on track.
In my own years as a pastor God has sent me into three such situations and so I can tell you from experience that it’s a tough way to make a living! But at least in my case those assignments came to me after I had completed a twenty-one year career in the military. So I was able to bring a little military officer attitude to bear on the situations as well. Poor Timothy was in his twenties and still wet behind the ears. It must have been a rough ride for him.
So in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 Paul reminded Timothy of two very important truths that he needed to remain conscious of. First, Timothy needed to keep ablaze the passion that he had when he first started out in ministry. That blazing passion within him would be absolutely essential to keep him motivated and persistent as he faced what surely would seem like never-ending problems. But keeping that passion ablaze would require regular fresh encounters with God. Without those fresh encounters on a regular basis Timothy would quickly get weary, discouraged, and off track.
Secondly Timothy needed to remember that the Holy Spirit within him wasn’t afraid of anyone or anything. Therefore the Spirit (big “S”) provided Timothy’s spirit (little “s”) with a sense of fearlessness in the face of adversity. Instead of being fearful Timothy was to have a sense of power, and love, and sound judgment. In the NIV it reads “power, love, and self-discipline.” But the best translation comes from the Amplified Bible:
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, or craven and cringing and fawning fear), but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
By now I’m sure you get the picture. The same Spirit that was within Timothy doing all of that for him is also in you and giving you the same fearlessness.
I encourage you to keep the passion within you ablaze with continuous fresh encounters with God. Then go forward into life with a sense of power, and love, and calmness, and discipline, and self-control. In other words, “Fear not!”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 