#315 Victories, Setbacks & Sabotage w/ Tim Temple

2 Timothy 1:6-9 - The imprisoned Apostle Paul writing to encourage his protege Timothy 

”I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift God imparted to you when I laid my hands upon you. For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control. So never be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor be embarrassed over my imprisonment, but overcome every evil by the revelation of the power of God! He gave us resurrection life and drew us to himself by his holy calling on our lives. And it wasn’t because of any good we have done, but by his divine pleasure and marvelous grace that confirmed our union with the anointed Jesus, even before time began!“

Spirits of intimidation and fear are just as real and active today as they were when Paul and Timothy were establishing the early Church. They come against us to get us into shame, to get us into ineffectiveness and to silence our voices. But our Lord, who raised Himself from the dead and overcame every power of sin and darkness raised us back to life with Him. All of our enemies are already defeated. They were defeated by the power of the Cross and resurrection of Jesus. So whom or what shall we fear? Our job now is to be bold, to speak the truth and to live in love. We operate with different rules than the spirits of darkness. They come to intimidate. We come with hospitality. They come with fear. We come with love. They come to silence. We come to be a voice for the voiceless. Don’t forget who you are and the price Jesus paid to set you free. Psalms 115:16 reminds us of our role - The heavens belong to our God; they are his alone, but He has given us the earth and put us in charge. Let’s live in a way that brings freedom to others and honors our Lord.