Fear? Power?

Fear? Power? 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

There is a God who reigns and rules over the affairs of men. He is the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things answer to Him, whether they know it or not. He is also the One who in His wisdom, assigns to all things He has made what they have been formed to do. Man keeps trying to tamper with this template, but in the final analysis, man will realise that all his efforts only helped to establish the purpose of God for his creation. 

And I note that this is the true God, not the many versions the world tries to sell to us these days. It is in the light of the above that today's extract makes sense. For all who will surrender to this true God, there is a gift He has given. I note the word given not deserved or earned. You can't walk into the gift by virtue of the way you look or the value of your bank account balance. It is a function of your allegiance and surrender to God. 

The gift is even made clearer when you consider what it is: the spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. These attributes reflect who God is. He is the one and only powerful one, and He is also called Love. If you don't have Him living inside of you, how can you make a claim on the spirit that reflects love? If you are so dependent on what your arm, knowledge, connections and influence can get for you, how can you lay claim to the spirit that emphasises total dependence on God alone? 

And you cannot take one and conveniently ignore the others. It is a complete package; with God, you get all of Him, even including a sound mind. You have the ruler of the universe in charge of your affairs, and He directs all you do. The world may be shouting or groaning; you live by a different economy, one sustained by God's grace. 

If you don't have Him, then the first part of today's extract applies. You will have fear, whether you are ready for it or not. Nothing in the world makes sense at the moment, so you do not have the spirit that God gives, you would have fear, because the heart can't be empty. So, which one do you have? Eternity hangs on your response. His time of favour is here.