By S. S. Peter

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7)

From this verse, the word of God is saying that God has not given us a spirit of fear. If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then someone has. Who is that person who gives us fear? That is the enemy of God, and we call him Satan. Fear is against faith. The fear that comes from the enemy is tormenting. So many people are afraid to worship God, because the devil tries to destroy them. He gives them fear. He tells people, "Godly things are not good. Don’t believe in God," or, "All godly people are foolish." The devil puts this kind of thing in their minds. But the word of God says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). We do not have to fear Satan or fear any enemy, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the word of God says. That doesn’t mean we are afraid of God. We respect God. We love God. When we love God, God loves us. The word of God says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That God has loved us and gave His Son for us. That means the love of God comes in our heart as we believe in God. And the word of God says, "Love casts out fear" (1 Jn. 4:18). If you love God, and if you belong to God, then you do not have to worry about anything. People are afraid or worried about so many things. But the word of God says, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you" (Ps. 55:22). "Casting all your care upon him, for He cares for you." (1 Pet. 5:7) We do not have to worry for tomorrow, because tomorrow never comes. Tomorrow will always be tomorrow. So God supplies our needs for today. Why should we worry for tomorrow? Please read Matthew 6:25-34, and you will know that Jesus Christ is saying, "Don’t worry for tomorrow." God loved us and He gave His only begotten Son. If God gave us His own Son, don’t you think God is able to give us everything we need? The word of God says in Romans 8:31-32, "…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Did you notice, in this verse, it says "freely give us all things?" God is able to give us everything freely. We did not pay anything to get saved. Please read Ephesians 2:1-10. When we believe Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are forgiven and we are the children of God. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, according to John 1:12, "But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." Now we are the children of God, and we don’t have to worry, and we don’t have to be afraid of anyone or anything because we have a heavenly Father. Romans 8:14 says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." As we believe Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in us. Romans 8:9 says, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." So when we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have now become the children of God. And the word of God says, "Now we did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear." (Romans 8:15). So that means now we do not have to be afraid of anything. We do not have the bondage. We do not have the fear. We have the power of God. And in 2 Timothy 1:7 we read, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Jesus Christ comes to dwell in the person who believes Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Thank God for Jesus. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we get the power of God and we get the love of God in our hearts. Because Jesus Christ is the love of God, and John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." If I receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I am a child of God. So I do not have to worry, or I do not have to be afraid of anyone, because God takes care of me. Jesus Christ promised us in Matthew 28:20, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So we believe that Jesus Christ is with us. Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "…For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’" What does it mean? It says, "If God is my helper, if God helps me, why should I be afraid of anyone? I should say in my heart, boldly, ‘Hey, I’m a child of God. No one has power to destroy me because Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8). God is with me all the time. He is supplying my needs. He is with me. I don’t have to be afraid of anything.’" The word of God says in John 10:10, the enemy "does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." That means, when we have Jesus, we have more life, abundant life.

Now you might be sick right now. You might be afflicted right now. You might have all kinds of problems right now. But why don’t you trust Jesus Christ, who is just standing closely to you, just like He is knocking at your door? He says, "Open your heart’s door. I will come in. When Jesus comes in, He brings all the heavenly blessings for us. In John 14:23, Jesus says, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." What a great promise and blessing. Once we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jesus comes and the Father comes to dwell in us. Not only that, Jesus Christ said, "If you ask, I will also send the Holy Spirit, that you will have the power to destroy the works of the devil, and cast out the devil and heal the sick and raise the dead." He can do miracles through us. We are His body. We are His children. We belong to God. We have no reason to be afraid of anyone or anything, because God has not given us a spirit of fear, but He has given us His love, His power, and His sound mind. What more do we need? When we believe Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, He supplies all our needs. Do you know what the Psalmist says? He says, "The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want." Go ahead and read Psalm 23, and you would know in that chapter that He is the one who gives you everything. He even spread a table before your enemies. That means He put our enemies to shame. He supplies our needs. He gives us everything we need. Why are you afraid, my friend? Why are we living in fear and anxiety and doubt? God is here, and He is with us. He is here to deliver us from all our trials and tribulations and problems. We are going through all kinds of problems. The devil is the tempter. He is the deceiver. He is the one who is looking for someone to devour. But the word of God says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (Jam. 4:7) We do not have to run from the devil. We have to tell the devil, "Back off. Devil, I am a child of God." Do you remember when the children of God were in Egypt, and God said, "Put the blood sign on your doorpost, and when the death angel will come, he will pass that home"? If you trust in the blood of Jesus Christ, no enemy has power to touch or to destroy or to cross that blood line. Deuteronomy 28:7 says, "The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways." So God’s word is saying, "The enemy will come to your face, but I will let him run from you." The word of God says they will come together. They will come to destroy you, but when God puts fear in their hearts, they are going to run seven ways. The enemy has no power. If you go and read all of the Old Testament, many times the enemy came to destroy the children of God, but God destroyed all of their enemies. Today, also, if you trust in Jesus Christ, if you love the Lord and follow the Lord, the word of God says He will fight for you. You do not have to worry about anything. If you love the Lord, then your heart belongs to God. If you love the Lord, then whatever you need, He will supply.

And when you make money, that is because of the grace of God. So many people are proud. They think, "Hey, I am so smart. I’m so healthy. I make money. I have wisdom." They do not give glory to God. There are so many people. Today they are strong. They have wisdom. They think they can make money, but money is not the answer. The love of money is a root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10). Many people who go after money destroy themselves. You see today the people who are robbing banks and killing others for money. That money destroys them. They run for fear. They are afraid of everything. We do not have to be afraid because if you love the Lord, do the right things, do the right job, and do everything according to the will of God, you do not have to worry or be afraid of anything. People are sometimes afraid of losing jobs. If you are a child of God, God has provided a job for you. Then what are you supposed to do? You’re supposed to love the Lord. According to the word of God, you give your tithes and offerings to God. The word of God says, "When you do that, I will protect you." That’s his promise. Tithes and offerings are not law. Tithes and offerings were before the law was given. If you read the word of God, people like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gave tithes before the law began. So here the word of God says in Malachi 3:10, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be enough room to receive it." Now who is saying this? The word of God says, the Lord of hosts. Our God is the one who supplies our needs. He says, "I will open the windows of heaven and pour down the blessing so that you will not have room enough to receive it." If you do not have room enough to receive it, what are you going to do? You’re going to give it away. You’re going to bless someone else when God blesses you. So the word of God says, "Bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse." Many television and radio ministers say, "Send your tithes and offerings to us, and you will be blessed." But here the word of God says where you should be bringing your tithes and offerings. It says, "Bring it to the storehouse." Where is your storehouse? Where you get the word of God, or where you go to church! And that church is supposed to help and nourish you spiritually. That’s the place you should be giving your tithes and offerings. In our church, we give the word of God. We give spiritual food as well as physical food. After our service, we have refreshments, and we help people to eat physical food. Why? Because some people come from far, far places. They start to come to church maybe 8:00 in the morning to come for an 11:00 service. When the service is over, it’s almost lunchtime. When they go without food, they might reach home maybe 1:00 or 2:00, without food. So we do not want those people going hungry. So we try to give them some refreshments.

Why am I saying this? Because Jesus Christ not only preached the word but fed the hungry people also. The word of God is saying, "Bring your tithes and offerings to the storehouse." When you do that, God does something. Malachi 3:11 says, "’And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,’ says the Lord of hosts." So what is the word of God saying? If you bring your tithes and offerings to the storehouse, you do not have to be afraid of your paycheck, your money, your bills, and your financial problems. So many people make lots of money, but there is a hole in their pocket. They have bills after bills after bills. Why is this happening? Because there is no prosperity. The enemy is coming to steal, kill, and destroy. Love the Lord from your heart and say, "Lord, whatever belongs to me belongs to you. I’m living in this world for you. My life is for you. My children belong to you. My life belongs to you. Everything you have given me belongs to you." Then God will take care of your property. That’s what He’s saying. "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes." So that means God will fight the battle. God knows when the enemy is coming. The word of God says in Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Many people build a house, and they are not able to live in that house. People are trying hard to build houses, buy cars, and get everything going for them. But the enemy comes to destroy. That’s why he says, "unless the Lord builds the house." What does it mean? The Lord should be with you when you are building the house. He will provide the money. When you give to the Lord and the Lord’s work, the Lord says, "I’m going to bless you, and you will be able to do the Lord’s work. I’m going to open the heavenly windows and pour down the blessings, so you will have more than enough. And I will rebuke your enemy. So when you have time, read Psalm 127. It has only five verses. God will really speak to you from these verses. But, in short, the word of God is trying to teach us, we cannot build houses without the grace of God. We cannot watch the city if God is not watching the city. You have seen many, many times that the people may have good armies and good people. There are even people watching presidents, vice-presidents, kings and queens. Sometimes their own bodyguards kill them. The word of God says, if God is not watching the city, the watchmen’s watching is in vain. So why is this happening? Because the enemy is trying to destroy people. But, thank God, if you have Jesus, He is going to protect you. He is going to put the hedge of protection around you.

So God is our source of all supplies. He’s our hedge and protection. He’s the one who fights for us. No enemy is greater than God. So if we simply call upon God, call upon His Son Jesus Christ, surrender our lives to Him, and make Him Lord of our lives, then He will lead us, guide us, protect us, and supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, as it says in Philippians 4:19. So if you could pray a prayer like this: Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Please forgive all my sins. Wash me with your precious blood. Take away the fear and anxiety from my heart. Give me your joy and peace. Please touch me, heal me, deliver me, and set me free from all my problems. I commit myself into your loving hands. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

You don’t have to pray exactly what I wrote here. The prayer should come from your heart. I pray that God will bless you, take the fear from your heart, and give you His love, kindness, and heavenly blessings.

May God richly bless you and use you more and more for His glory.