As sons and daughters of God, we must know and understand the signs of the times. Knowing the signs of the times makes this a really exciting era in history and an incredible time to be alive!!!
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” — II Timothy 1:7Now is not the time to let a spirit of fear (that seems to be so prevalent, especially with believers) rule our lives. God’s Word is very clear on this! I cannot tell you how much I relied on this verse when I took Bibles, clothes, and farming goods to believers and churches throughout Africa…literally looking down the barrel of a gun, at times.
Love does not mean we endorse what a particular person or segment of society is doing. We need to discern the spirit behind the person or organization. When we pray with the eyes of a discerning believer, we are a far more effective people of prayer.
It is very hard to love the sinner and yet hate the sin.
It is especially difficult when we must deal with a person or organization that is the embodiment of the hate that we have experienced, or if they attack those things which we hold so dear (be it our family, church, freedom or all of the above.)
Regardless of the circumstances, our Godly directive does not change. We still need to pray, even for those whose intention is to harm us. I’m not saying that we are not supposed to fight back or let our voice be heard. We must push back. It is definitely the time to be louder than ever before!
We must also remember, however, that II Corinthians 10:4-5 states that “…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”
“Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.” — Isaiah 60:1
We as the Church need to rise up and take hold of our God-given authority (power); not only take it up, but start moving and operating in it. I’m tired of listening to the old stories of miracles and masses of people getting saved. I want to participate in and experience great moves of God — to start telling our own generation’s stories of God’s miraculous moves.
As the church of this generation, let’s not allow the opportunity pass us by. We don’t want to find ourselves looking back at wasted opportunity. It is time to step out and use that blood-bought, precious gift that the living God invested in you!
To be of sound mind is so important in these times. If you are not of sound mind, you will easily be led astray. You might even be forced to fight your way back from an unwanted and unfavorable position in life. The concept of a sound mind is the glue to this verse, even though it is often the least-recognized part of the verse.
A sound mind keeps us close to and grounded to our Savior. A sound mind helps us keep our eyes Heaven-bound in uncertain times, reminding us that we are in this world and not of this world. We are ambassadors, connecting the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven to the temporal, earthly one we find ourselves in daily!
