Power, Love and Freedom

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

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful
Jn 14:27

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, " Abba! Father!"
Rom 8:15

I the verse prior to 2 Timothy 1: 7, Paul reminds Timothy to rekindle afresh the gift that God has given him. He then reminds Timothy not to be fearful, but bold. When we are serving God, we can be bold. We don't need to be afraid of what people will think. We are only concerned about what God thinks. Our King is God, and if we're following Him, everything else will fall into place. We also don't need to fear what people will do to us. God is strong enough to protect us if He chooses to. If he chooses not to, we will only go to heaven to live in eternal bliss.

John 14:27 gives us the same idea. It also adds the idea of peace. Because we trust and follow God, we will have peace without worry and fear. Romans 8:15 adds another angle. We can have freedom. Fear enslaves us. Love frees us. When we offer our bodies a living sacrifice to God, we can be completely free. What a paradox! Being a slave to God, makes us free from opinions of people around us, fashions, fads, keeping up with the Jones's, fear-based religion, peer pressure, and our own unrealistic expectations. Now that's freedom!

Lord, help me to have the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Help me not to live in fear, but to live in boldness. Help me to have your peace instead of worry. Help me to live in freedom serving You. I desire to be free of the chains that living here on earth can so easily encumber me with. I claim Your freedom for myself. Through Your power and the indwelling Holy Spirit, I will live in freedom!