The Antithesis of Fear

198 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 1:6,7 “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:6,7) Whenever we see the word “therefore” in Scripture, we need to go back a couple of verses and see what the therefore is “there for!” This “therefore” is connected with the genuine faith of Timothy. Because Timothy had come to genuine repentance and faith he is being reminded by Paul to rekindle the gift of God that was in him through the laying on of Paul's hands. With the specific mention of Paul's laying on of hands, we should get the idea of a passing of the baton to Timothy. This could be likened to Elijah passing his prophetic mantle on to Elisha! 1Ki 19:19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. Elijah would soon be departing and the gifts and authority of Elijah needed to be passed on to the next generation. Likewise Paul would be departing soon and his gifts of preaching, teaching, admonishing, and his mantle of authority were to be passed along through Timothy. These gifts passed along to Timothy were just as real as the gift of repentance and faith given to him and they must not be allowed to sputter and die! Fan the flame! Give the Holy Spirit air! Do not let fear douse the fire. There certainly was cause to fear with the persecution of Christians that was taking place, but Paul reminds Timothy that the Holy Spirit is the antithesis of fear. He is power! He is love! He is a sound mind, (that is a mind that is under control, not panicking, due to exterior circumstances.) Perhaps fear is creeping into your life due to external circumstances today. Remember this verse! Claim this verse! The Holy Spirit who is in you from the birth of your faith is not of fear! There is no dread in Him. He is power and love! Fan this gift! Tap into this gift as needed! And may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ!