God has empowered us for victory 2 Timothy 1:7

2 Timothy 1:7 (CWSB)
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Power To Change Ministry 

          Rev. Alvin Lewis

Powertochangeministry@gmail.Com

Powertochangeministry.org

973-583-7482

Transcript

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Grace and peace from God our Father and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning in to the Power to Change Ministry. And my name is Reverend Alvin Lewis, and I will be your host.

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This is our podcast. And I am grateful and honored to serve God in this capacity. Today, this lesson here will be coming from 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7. And the title is God has empowered us for Victory. God has empowered us for victory. Let's start with a word of prayer and let's hear what God has to say. Father God, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for allowing us the honor of being able to approach your throne. We thank you, O Lord, in the name of Jesus, where we're able to come to you boldly and humbly and petition you for that which we know you have the power to achieve. We thank you, Father God, for the understanding that whatever we may ask you for in the name of Jesus, you get to decide what you will and will not do. And we thank you for a heart of acceptance of what your will will be. Lord, I thank you right now for your compassion, your love, your peace, and your protection. Touch this word in the name of Jesus. So that those who will hear it, that it will have an effect on their heart, it will change their mind, and it will give them sight so that they can see you and have a desire to want to experience being in your presence. Lord, I tell you and thank you in advance for what you are going to do. Because I want your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name. Amen. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for this episode where we will be looking to observe, to apply 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 7. And as I said before, the title, which to give you a thought, maybe it's something that you can ponder during the week. God has empowered us for victory. Now, the us is those who have given their life back to the Lord and they have decided through persuasion of the word, experiencing the word of God, that you don't know what you're doing in reference to the decisions that you make for your life. I know that is my testimony, that I needed to get a better manager of my life because the decisions that I was making, it wasn't leading me somewhere that God would be pleased with. And once I understood that I want God to be pleased with how I think, what's in my heart, what I speak out of my mouth, what I do with my hands, my feet, it is very important that God is pleased. So we will see here as we unpack this verse. It's one verse, 2 Timothy 1.7. Let me read it. This is the scripture of observation and application. Now, for those who may be new to this channel, um, when we study the word of God, it is to observe what God is saying, to hear what he is saying, and allow it to be applied to our lives. We just don't want to know that that a scripture exists. We want it working in our life. We want that to be a guide for us because the word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, so that we can be on that path of righteousness, doing what God is pleased with, because we are his creation. We, you know, we must understand and never forget that we belong to him. It was the idea of God who said, Let us make man in our image and likeness in Genesis. And then he had the power to do it. And so he formed the man, um humanity, from the dust, and he breathed in him and became a living soul. So we have to remember that as we live our lives, and when we study the scripture, you're going there to be informed and empowered to do the will of God according to whatever it is that he has designated for your life. Now, 2 Timothy 1.7, for God have not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now let's let's let's let's see what is what is it that we weren't given and what is it that we were given. So we wanna we wanna unpack that. Now I'm gonna give you some information about um this particular epistle as well as the verse, I mean, I should say the chapter that this verse is housed in, so that you can have an understanding. You can you can you can see the big picture. Now, Paul wrote 2 Timothy to his close companion Timothy, whom he had known well from their travels together during his second missionary journey. And we're gonna find in this letter, in the opening sections, Paul encourages Timothy by reminding him of his family, his family's strong legacy of faith, as well as in the context, it involves Paul urging Timothy to actively engage the spiritual gift God had given him, and suggesting that Timothy may have been hesitant or fearful about using it, as we're gonna see in the backdrop when we look at the conditions and the situation that Paul is writing this epistle. And Paul he is giving instructions, but he is being encouraging at the same time. Now, let's look a little further here. Now, this epistle here, as I said, is written by Paul, and the date written was he was in Rome between 65 A.D. and 67 A.D. And it is believed that Paul was suffered two imprisonments at Rome, and at that, and it was during the second that this epistle was written. Formerly, he had a certain degree of liberty and had lived in his own hired um house. At that time, he had been accessible to his friends, but now he is in close confinement in prison. Also, during this time, a form of punishment is beheading. So it was common that someone who was going to be executed that they would receive beheading. So we see that Paul, all that he was facing, it still did not stop him from furthering the mission that God had given him when he received his transformation on the road to Damascus, because we know prior to this, Paul was a persecutor of the church. He was a Pharisee. Um, but when he received his transformation and he started working to be an asset to the furthering of the gospel of Jesus the Christ, all that he suffered and things that he was facing, it did not stop him in one analyzing accurately and allowing the Holy Spirit to give him the understanding that he needed, as well as delivering the solution for what he had found or what he had received. Now, also in chapter one, where this particular verse is housed, just some more information, Paul, um an apostle of Jesus Christ, writes to Timothy, expressing gratitude and love. He recalls Timothy's sincere faith inherited from his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice, and encourages him to rekindle the gift of God within him. Paul emphasizes that God has given us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, urging Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel or of Paul's imprisonment. He affirms his commitment to the faith and encourages Timothy to hold on to sound teaching. Paul also acknowledges the abandonment of some in Asia, but appreciate the one Oniferous for his support and kindness during his trials. Now, that individual, his name um means bringing of wait a minute, let me get this right.

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It is bringing bringing profit bringer.

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That's what his name means. Okay. So we see here that Paul he he acknowledged him, but he's more so acknowledging his character. And and he's acknowledging that he is not ashamed of Paul because he is in prison. So it it is giving us an understanding that it didn't matter, and he understood why he was in prison. So therefore, it should not stop his act of love because of his imprisonment. Now let's take a look, a closer look at this particular verse, and we want to look at the words in this verse so that we can get a clear understanding of what is being given and what is being said. And as I said earlier, looking at the condition of Paul and what he was enduring for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus the Christ and his transformation, because he was once one who was a persecutor of anyone who was living according to the standard of the way, which is what they called um accepting Jesus Christ as uh as your Lord and Savior. So we we want to see here what actually is given to us in 2026 as we study um the scripture. And as I said, the scripture of observation and application. So I want to pay attention to what is being given so that I can have it applied to my life. I want it part of my standard of living, um, the standard according to how I evaluate any situation that I may be dealing with, and how do I come to a conclusion? Meaning that in all my ways, I'm gonna acknowledge God and He's gonna direct my path. So I I see the value of the word of God, and I want to make sure that it is part of my life process. This is this is what scripture of observation application that that is that is what um I want to project. Now, in 2 Timothy 1 7, it declares, for God have not given us the spirit of fear, but he has given us of power and of love and of a sound mind. So we see that that there are three divine provisions that counter fear and enables believers to experience victory because there is no defeat in God.

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I want you to understand that.

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So when you give your life back over to the Lord, you can live your life with an expectation that you're not gonna lose. Now, there's nothing that I know of that I can say definitively that I'm not gonna lose. Nothing that I can pick in this world that I can say that I'm not gonna lose. Because there will come some times where I will fall short, you know, if I use something in this world, something carnal, something fleshly, but in God. Now, it will unfold in a way that it may look like and appear to be a defeat, but it's not. God is doing something. And because of his power, he doesn't have to use things that have a perception that it can't lose, because God comes with everything that he needs to make sure that it is a victory. So therefore, sometimes as you're walking by faith and not by sight, if you're not paying attention, if you're not staying close, you know, and understanding that God has the power to do everything but fail, then maybe you might. You might. And see, this is something that Paul is dealing with at this time during this uh um of writing this epistle, that some have become fearful because of Judaism. And and Paul is encouraging Timothy to stay strong to true doctrine, which is what Paul had delivered to him, as well as his his mother and his grandmother. So Paul is reminding him. Now, let's see here the spirit of fear. Now, here in the context of this verse, fear and coward cowardiness often cause us to quench the moving of the Holy Spirit within us. Now, we receive we receive fear from Satan as we adopt his lie. So if we listen to something, if we allow something to to enter into our heart and to be on our mind, and we start considering it, it'll have us turning our back from what God says. Because now we we we think that, all right, yeah, this is this this is the truth when really it's a lie. But we have made it the truth so that we feel comfortable about picking it. But what it's going to do, it is going to put us in a place where we're going to come out of our place of power, which is in Christ, where we can do all things according to the power that we receive in Christ. And when we start to be independent, we're no longer a dependent of God when we start believing and trusting in the things that the adversary is suggesting. So now we put ourselves in a place where we're going to experience fear. And he's going to guide and direct us. He's going to encourage us as he's using Paul here to encourage Timothy, which is um, which is what we see. Now, Timothy is in ministry. And it goes on just a little bit more about fear. Now, the lack of courage that makes us want to run and hide is not from God. Instead, he has given us the us dependent dependency in our vulnerable life, because we are vulnerable, but God knows that if you trust him, everything is already alright. And see, that is a challenge. When you surrender your life back over to the Lord, and depending on how old you are, you have an experience of making decisions on your own. Now, when you're young, you think you know everything. So that that that that is a challenge within itself. So you think you know what you're doing, and you but you don't have the experience, but you are courageous in what you're gonna pick because you you know I can do that because of your youth. But as an older person, you have been choosing things for a period of time, and you have been comfortable as well as confident and dependent in your ability to make a decision until you know the truth. As I said earlier, that I found out that the decisions that I was making, and there's even some decisions that I have made that I have to manage for the rest of my life. They did not go anywhere. And I know I made a bad decision. So I can't fault anybody. I have to accept it and ask God to show me how to manage this bad decision that I made. Now, yes, it was a bad decision, but God is using it to strengthen me so that I could be all that He intended when He created me. So now He turns it around, He makes it an Asset. Where before it was a liability when God was not a part of it. So all is not lost. But I know when I made the decision, it was a bad choice. I know that. Now let's see. So we were not given a spirit of fear. We were not given, God did not uh redeem us so that we can be independent from him. But he redeemed us so that we'll be dependent on him, and he wants to guide and direct us. He wants to manage our lives. And we will, when you understand what God did through Jesus the Christ, you will understand the love of God, and you will see that he knows what's best for us. So God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but he gave us a spirit of power. Now, dunymus power. Now, this represents explosive power, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, and he is alive in us. The Holy Spirit. That's that Holy Spirit power. The gospel of Jesus Christ operates through God's power to work in our lives and our sufferings for Christ, for Christ as for Christ has met with an outpouring of God's power to strengthen us. That's the Holy Spirit. So we have that outpouring of God. That's that power. So that whatever I am doing according to the will of God, now you got to hear what I'm saying. God doesn't give me power to do whatever I want to do absent from Him. I am now operating and exercising in what God has called me to do. And in this instance, I am doing it in a way that God has given me the ability through this podcast where I can do it, and God is going to make sure that it is effective in the lives of those who hear it. Because I'm being obedient to him to do it the way he wants me to do it. And since I was when I was a little boy, I looked at ministry in a way that it's not a way for me to make money. It is not a way for me to be popular. And I always had that understanding in my heart, even though I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing at that time. But I always had that same understanding in my heart that I have right now. So God uses me this way to spread the gospel. And that's that power. That's what we receive. That Holy Ghost power, that Holy Spirit power, the power of guidance. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth. So I don't have to fear. That spirit of comfort. Jesus said he got to go, so the comforter will come. So that Holy Spirit, so now I can be comfortable. I don't have to be fearful. I can be confident in God because as the Holy Spirit leads me into all truth, I understand the character of God and his ability. So now I feel good. And I can focus on what God has called me to do. God has something for all of his creation to do. So whatever God has called you, your purpose in life, you will experience the same thing that I'm feeling. So don't try to be a carbon copy of somebody else because you think that's what God wants you to do. No, God, he's gonna make sure that you understand. When you give your life back to the Lord and you tell him, look, I'm yours, do what you want, then he will start to develop you according to how he wants to develop you at the speed he wants to develop you, and in and and and and for whatever purpose. Now, also, we are given love. Now, the Holy Spirit lives in our heart and fills it with love. Power linked with love and wisdom prevents us from straying. Okay? Power exercised without love and wisdom, we are now going to be destructive. So if power with love, the Holy Spirit, I am going to be productive according to how God wants to use me. But if I try to use power without the love, that Holy Spirit, now I'm going my own way. And I'm going now, I could have a talent, maybe I could sing. Maybe I can stand in front of a large group of people, small group of people, but I have a way of getting their attention, mesmerizing them to where they'll do whatever I say. Now, if my motivation is to, I want to be popular, I want to gain as much money as I can, I want to get people under my control, then I'm going my own path. But if I want to be pleasing to God, I want to serve his will, his purpose, I wanna, I want to make sure I fulfill his why, he saved me and keep me each and every inhale and exhale that he gives me. Now I'm doing it God's way. I am in his control. He can do whatever he wants. I have submitted myself to the Lord. So now those three divine provisions: power, love, and then he has given me or all believers a sound mind. Now the Holy Spirit empowers our mental and emotional realm to give us a sound mind. This includes calm, well-balanced thinking, discipline, and self-control. So we see that when we when we understand that when God takes over and he is now in control, he is going to give us everything that we need. It says, and what is that, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, Word, who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him, set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. So the Holy Spirit power, we see how powerful it is. Death is something that one people don't like to talk about. Death is something that we really don't like it. We don't want it, you know, especially when you lose a loved one. It it ushers in pain. And you have to look at it in the spirit so that you can accept it and it don't ruin you and cause you to be anger, angry and bitter, if you if you accept it and examine it in your in your flesh, on your own, independent of God. But when you understand death and you see that God he sent his only begotten son to be sent for us, and he died, one of the most humiliating deaths, according to the Roman standard of crucif of execution. As I said, Paul, he was, he was, he knew that beheading was part of execution during his time, but that wasn't the lowest type of execution, crucifixion was. Okay? So knowing that God sent his only begotten son to be sin for us, and he was crucified, he died, and the power of God raised him back up again. So something that that death and a part of everybody's life, at some point we are going to die, that physical death, we don't really want to deal with it. We don't want to talk about it. We don't even want to prepare for it. Some people don't even have insurance policies so that who whomever is left behind and who has the responsibility of taking care of the final arrangements, you know, the funeral and anything else that needs to be done with, they don't even want to talk about it. So God took that and he uses it to show us his power. Because he raised up Jesus the Christ from the dead to show us his power. That should give us confidence that we could depend on. That should give us confidence that you know what? I'm gonna surrender my life back over to the Lord because God has the power to handle anything in my life. If he handled raising Jesus the Christ from the dead, then I know these decisions that I am I'm faced with in my life. Oh, that that that's that's nothing. That's easy for him. He can handle that. But we gotta understand that. Now, Romans 8.11 says, But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. So God makes us accept where we can receive his spirit. That is through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus the Christ, getting new birth because of the completed work of Jesus the Christ, and now I'm ready to receive the spirit of power in my being. God is running the show now. That's 100% surrender. That's it. Now, 2 Corinthians 4 7 says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Now we have we have to understand what we are. God used us to create humanity, this earthen vessel, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. So that dust would be nothing without the breath of God. We would not have been able to become a living soul without the breath of God, that Holy Spirit. So what Paul is how how Paul is encouraging Timothy from a position knowing that it is possible that they're gonna cut my head off. He is in prison because he is a part of a movement that is going against the fabric that gives peace and order for the Roman government, where, and it's also challenging those who are in Judaism that salvation is not about works, but it is it is it is grace coming in through Jesus the Christ, but it will lead us to good works. But the good works is not going to secure us salvation. We cannot get justified, we cannot get forgiven and restored in the right relationship with our eternal Father. Now, the law is sacred, it is holy, it gave us an understanding of how, or I should say, what we are, sinners. It showed us where the dirt is. But through the grace of God, we get cleansed. The free gift, not on something that we can do, not even something that we deserve, because technically the wages of sin is death, but because of the love of God, he now says, now if you choose, I got a way out for you through Jesus the Christ. So we see here that if you do not allow yourself to be tricked by leaning to your own understanding, do not allow your emotions to drive and to dictate what you will choose, but you depend on the power of God. You look to God for all of your answers to your questions so that now you know I know I got the victory. You can say that with confidence. Regardless of where you are in the process of God working things out and taking you through so that you can get to the victory that's already been established, you will not be fearful because you know. Say all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. How do I know I love him? Because I'm gonna do what he says. I'm gonna be obedient, I'm gonna trust God, I'm gonna depend on him, and I am never going to depend on myself or anything else. Because I know now that I cannot depend on me. I can't do it. I I don't I don't have the ability to do it. I I can be swayed on what I'm going to be going to choose if I was just depending on me. I can be manipulated. But God cannot be manipulated, he will not compromise. He is not without the power, the wisdom, the knowledge, and the understanding of everything. And his will will not be aborted, it will be fulfilled just the way he desired to be fulfilled. So as I come to my conclusion and I and I make my way to my benediction, I I just hope that you heard what God had to say as he used me on this platform here to share the word of God with you. And and the and what I want you to do, I want you to think about this. If you are in a situation where you have not given your life back to the Lord and you you you know you you're not sure, I want you to ask yourself, if I depend on God, how different would my life be? And you may even think that you are a powerful person. You and you may have influence over people, you might have money, you you might have a way, you know, of getting things done. But how much more powerful would my my life be if I depended on the power of God? And look at the victories, things that you consider as being victories in your life, and ask yourself the celebrations that you have executed because of the victories that you have in your life, how greater would the celebration be if I was receiving the victory in Christ? What what what would it what would it look like? Now, you are now asking yourself, but you're really you saying to God, I I wanna I want to be able to compare the two. So that means that you need to try Jesus. You need to give j give God a shot. Let him understand. Now, now hear me. I didn't say, all right, I'm gonna start going to church, which is where you should expect to hear and meet and have and start growing a relationship with our eternal father. But if you go in a building that's supposed to be doing what I just said and it is not going on, you leave there because you need to understand God. You need to have Scripture as your guide. Okay? Not just because I'm going in a building and it might be exciting and you feel good. Again, you cannot allow your emotions to lead you because it's gonna lead you somewhere that you don't want to go, and it's gonna take you to a place that you can't leave because you fell in love with it, even though you know it's somewhere that you need to depart. And now you got a problem. So a Bible-based church, okay, that's teaching the word of God so that you can get to understand who God is, you can get to know who you are, you can understand who the adversary is, you can see what the tricks are in the atmosphere that you live in, according to what the adversary may try to do, and you will get a navigational plan on how to maneuver. You get the Holy Spirit, which is a guaranteed GPS that's gonna lead you back to God. So you can't leave the word of God out, and now you'll get a comparison, and you get to look at what you were doing and what you're doing now, and you can weigh it out. And I guarantee you, I enjoyed sinning when I was sinning, and I understand that I am a sinner and that I have the capacity to backslide and go back to the sinning that I was doing. But because of my experience with the Lord, I know now that I would be jipping myself. It'll be like me opening up a window and throwing my money out or putting it in a fire and burning it up. I'm way, you know, I'm wasting my resource. I'm shortchanging myself because I understand my life is way, way, way better than what it was when I was sinning. So depending on God is a much better way of life than me being independent of God, thinking that I know what I'm doing and I wanna do whatever I wanna do according to my understanding. They don't even compare. But you gotta you I I'm I'm through my testimony. I hope that it will uh give you some type of curiosity. You know what? Let me let me see what he's talking about. And really, you're not even seeing what I'm talking about. You seeing what the Lord is telling you. You just hear my voice. But it's God. He He giving this to you so that you can experience. And I'm telling you, you ain't gonna go back. And you're gonna be thankful. Then you will understand. And you will, you will, you will, you will see that now the empowerment that God has given you for victory. And you will be so appreciative of it to where, God, what you want me to do? Just like we see with Paul, he in prison. And he know. He knows. Oh, they cut people's, they cut people's heads off. That's a form of punishment. And it sends fear and shock waves into anybody else who is thinking about doing the same thing that I did or anything that goes against the system that has power in the world at that time. So we see that that that that Paul is not only telling Timothy to do something, but he's doing it himself. So I pray that everything that was that was shared here today was crystal clear and that you understand it. And that if you have any questions about this this podcast or any other podcast that we have uh produced here at Power to Change Ministry, you can reach us at PowerTocheministry at gmail.com. I mean, I mean, uh, yeah, you can go to uh power to change ministry at gmail.com. Or you can leave me uh uh uh a voicemail, 973-583-7482, and we will we will answer your question and give clarity where, you know, according to what you're asking us, and uh to make sure that you understand. We don't want to be a stumbling block to anybody. We want to be a paved, smooth road so that you can get to having a relationship with your eternal father and see how amazing and loving he is. So, God willing, we're gonna be here again next week with another word from the Lord. Don't forget to walk by faith and not by sight, and don't live to just be blessed, live to be a blessing. Now, my benediction. Now to him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. God bless you and your family, go in peace.