Guard The Deposit Entrusted To You
Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 2 Timothy 1:14 (NIV)
For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (ESV)
We have a good deposit that has been entrusted to us. As followers of Christ, we have been given a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of self-control. We have not been given spirits of fear.
It was all right there—this whole time! But I’d never heard it quite like that. I was having coffee with my friend Rob Stoppard, and we were talking about verse 7 that many of us have likely quoted, prayed, and clung to.
But listen to how I heard it that morning at Folklore Coffee & Company:
God has given me a Spirit of Power.
God has given me a Spirit of Love.
God has given me a Spirit of Self-Discipline.
I have a spirit of power. Let that soak in. God Himself has given me a spirit of power.
God has NOT given me a spirit of fear.
The Holy Spirit is not the author of a timid or cowardly disposition or slavish fears.
(fear: timidity, fearfulness, cowardice, angst, anxiety, concern, despair, dismay, doubt, dread, horror, jitters, panic, scare, suspicion, terror, unease, uneasiness, worry, aversion, creeps, distress, faintheartedness, fright, funk, misgiving, nightmare, phobia, qualm)
As shocking as today’s headlines may be, I don’t want us to be the kind of people that just READ headlines. I want us to MAKE headlines. We are Good News people! What kind of headlines would we make?
God has given me a spirit of POWER. [Dunamis]
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, courage, and resolution, to meet difficulties and dangers;
power for performing miracles
moral power and excellence of soul
the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
power and resources arising from numbers
power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts
Where else do we see this power?
For Thine is the kingdom, and the POWER, and the glory forever. (Matthew 6:33)
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the POWER of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that POWER has gone out from me.” (Luke 8:46)
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them POWER and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. (Luke 9:1)
But you will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
His divine POWER has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)
God has given me a spirit of LOVE. [Agape]
This is the spirit of love that will carry us through opposition. Agape love is affection, goodwill, benevolence, and brotherly love.
But God demonstrates his own LOVE for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Greater LOVE has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my LOVE. (John 15:9)
For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in LOVE, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the LOVE of Christ, and to know this LOVE that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)
God has given me a spirit of SELF-DISCIPLINE.
God has given us the spirit of a sound mind, quietness of mind, of moderation, self-control, and self-discipline.
Who has the best mind? Christ! And guess what? We have the mind of Christ!! (1 Corinthians 2:16)
“Having the mind of Christ means sharing the plan, purpose, and perspective of Christ, and it is something that all believers possess.” (gotquestions.org)
Matthew Henry’s commentary states, “In the Scriptures, the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully made known to us. It is the great privilege of Christians, that they have the mind of Christ revealed to them by his Spirit. They experience his sanctifying power in their hearts, and bring forth good fruits in their lives.”
All this was given, entrusted to us.
It will not be gained by those who trust in their hearts and lean to their understandings. We must not think to keep it by our strength but by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
So we’re not the kind of people that just READ headlines…we MAKE headlines. We are Good News people, fully equipped with the spirit of power, the spirit of love, and the spirit of self-discipline! What kind of headlines would your team of worshipers make?
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Guard The Deposit Entrusted To You (Nº 292)
