God has not given us a spirit of
Timidity but love power and a
sound mind.
Now let’s look at the word power.
The original word is dunamis/
dynamis (Greek) meaning power
or Force. This can aslo mean
Ability, Might, Miracle, Strength,
Violence, Virtue, Wonderful,
Worker of Miracles. (The Index
lexicon). Dunamis is sometimes
used in conjunction with the Holy
Spirit. It describes the activities
of the Holy Spirit as believers
receive Him (Acts 1:8, 10:38) Let’s
remind ourselves that this is the
power that GOD has given us.
SOUND MIND means prudence
(virtue which is good moral
behaviour) and wisdom. As for
LOVE, you can read all about that
in, 1 Corinthians 13.
So God has not given us a spirit
of Timidity but of Ability, Wisdom
and love. When I first met Jesus, I
had no idea of the journey I would
embark on nor the things He
would show me along the way.
He taught me the persecution,
rejection, joy and above all, faith
that I would feel as a human
being. I had many problems for
Him to deal with (like us all no
doubt) and I am sure there are
still things about me God wants
to change but I want to tell you
that I know a little bit about the
spirit of fear/timidity which was
brought on through *sexual
abuse. However, I have found a
key to growth in Him; growth to
a place where fear does not live
any more where I find release
from the many things that bound
me. That place is called complete
submission/obedience to the
Word of God. This submission
brings freedom from fear and
places us on a journey of Faith.
Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
Fear Freezes Faith
So He (Jesus) said, “Come.” When
Peter had come out of the boat,
he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. But when he saw that
the wind was boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink he
cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out
His hand and caught him, and
said to him, “O you of little faith,
why did you doubt?” And when
they got into the boat, the wind
ceased. Matthew 14:29
This is bold Peter, a true disciple
of Jesus, but even he was afraid
and that fear caused him to
freeze, even at the command
of Jesus to come. It took Jesus
to hold out His hand, to save
Peter and reduce his fear as he
doubted during his walk on the
water. For us to make any kind
of impact on the world and any
kind of progress in our walk with
Jesus we need to take stock of
where our faith is and if there are
any fears in our lives. Are you
still wrapped up in the fears you
had when you first came to Jesus,
why? He holds out His hand to
you and says, come. God has not
given us a spirit of fear but love,
power and a sound mind. Where
there is fear faith cannot live: and
where there is faith fear cannot
live. p
Remember Fear Freezes Faith
Fear sees the obstacles,
Faith sees the way.
Fear sees the darkest night,
Faith sees the day.
Fear dreads to take a step,
Faith soars on high.
Fear questions “Who believes?”
While faith answers, “I”
* Read more about how to be freed
from the effects of such abuse in my
book Reach for your Miracle (Search
Amazon)
By Barbara Payne
intercessor, worship leader,
retired minister and
Divorce Care counsellor
JARGON
BUSTER
Phobia
An extreme fear or dislike of
a particular thing or situation,
especially one that cannot
be reasonably explained.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
dictionary/english/especially
Anointed
Pouring oil that has been
prayed over and therefore
blessed by faith. It’s usually
poured on the head and
allowed to run down the face
and body symbolic of God’s
anointing Spirit. When the
Spirit of God is poured upon
someone He gives them the
ability to perform the job for
which God has appointed
them. In the Old Testament
kings and priest etc. were
symbolically anointed with
oil but in the New Testament
all God’s saints ought to be
anointed by His Spirit.
Saved
Everyone who comes to Christ
is saved from some things. We
are saved from the corruption
that is in the world, from the
wrath of God and from an
eternity in hell. As Noah was
saved from the flood and Lot
from the fires of Sodom so
every born again believer in
Christ is ‘saved’.
Gifts
God is a giver and to
commemorate the triumphal
ascension of Jesus after
conquering hell and death
gifts were given to men for
the Church. These are Spiritual
gifts given by the Holy Spirit to
individuals as custodians who
will use them for the benefit of
the whole body of Christ.
April - June 2017
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