II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV
You’ve heard the phrase, “Get your head in the game.” Mental preparation and mental clarity are crucial to a winning strategy. A mental commitment to overcome your opponent, to reject defeat, to fight against discouragement is so important. When teams are down big in a game, you can tell where their heads are based on the way they continue to play. If they were mentally prepared, they continue to battle and can often come back and win. If they let their enemy or the scoreboard get in their head, they make mistakes and they become discouraged. You can see it happen. Often, their opponents don’t have to do too much more. Often, those discouraged players wind up defeating themselves.
Believers, God’s game plan for you involves investing in and protecting your thought life.
The struggle is real. I had four conversations with people this week about anxiety and offered all four the same podcast. It is called “The Daily Still.” You can find it on Spotify or Youtube. It is a guided meditation with Scripture that I have found to be extremely helpful. It isn’t helpful because it is a cool podcast, but it is helpful because it centers our minds on the Word of God which has the power to overturn anxiety in our lives. While some people have chemical imbalances in their brain which produces anxiety for them from within, and they need to be treated with medication and counseling, all of us have to deal with anxieties and fears that threaten us from the outside. What we choose to do in moments that are anxiety-producing will determine if we will come out victorious or if we will be beaten by anxiety.
Our key verse in II Timothy 1:7 says. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
The NIV that I typically preach from replaces “sound mind” with the word, “discipline.” While soundness of mind and discipline may seem to be two different things, the two aren’t necessarily in conflict with each other. It absolutely takes discipline to direct our minds in the way they should go when fear and anxiety threaten us.
I encountered three people this week who have recently dealt with very real, anxious moments. All three exhibited mental fortitude that made a great impression on me. One is a young lady at Winfield High School. Her name is Madi Reese.This girl has been a competitive cheerleader, a member of the dance team, and has been on the wrestling team this year. Yes, a girl wrestler! She is used to discipline. She is used to working hard. You don’t engage in sports on that level without great commitment and mental focus.
Well, recently, Madi tore her hamstring at a wrestling tournament. She is on crutches. When I checked on her through text this week, she said she was told a “quick” recovery would be by the beginning of summer. That takes her out of the sports she enjoys for the rest of this year. Who knows how it might impact future endeavors? My response to her included the phrase, “That has to be hard to think about,” to which she replied, “It’s sad to think about, but I can’t undo it, so I have to make the most of it.” Her maturity set me back for a moment. For a 16-year-old girl to resolve to make the most out of what would be crushing, defeating, and depression-causing for so many, really impressed me. No doubt, the mental training she has endured as an athlete and her faith in Christ have enabled her to stay mentally strong even during this difficult time.
Another person, a more seasoned individual, a “senior saint,” received some difficult medical news this week about a member of her family and the possibility of an advancing medical condition. That person left the doctor’s office and drove right to the church to be anointed and prayed for. She knew that she could combat the anxiety and fear she was feeling by connecting with God through prayer, and she knew there would be strength received as she allowed another believer to pray for her. She went on to testify to friends about the power of faith and prayer in her situation!
And there was another senior adult, Barb Moore, who received tough medical news about she and Gary’s son. The phone call came while she was watching our evening service on Wednesday. We were singing, “The Goodness of God,” and I had just talked about God’s faithfulness in times of difficulty. She heard those words, “All my life You have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.” I had told the congregation that those lyrics weren’t just a testimony to God’s faithfulness in the past, but they were a declaration of God’s faithfulness in their present circumstance. Barb said in her text, “Little did I know at the time the impact the words of that song would have in my life.” Listen, Barb’s mind had been prepared for the battle because she had spent time in worship which focused her on the truth of Who God is. As she was telling me about her son’s illness via text, she typed, “As I’m texting this just now, I feel a calmness wash over me! I have faith!” Listen, her mind was in the right place to receive the peace of God because she had focused on the presence of God in worship.
Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
God knows how to keep His people. He has a pretty tight trip! No one and nothing can snatch us out of our Father’s hand (John 10:28). He gives peace. He gives soundness of mind. He gives His perfect love to cast out all fear (I John 4:18). We are the ones who have to condition our minds to be able to receive what God wants to give. We must discipline our minds to be steadfast in the Lord, trusting Him at all times. There are things we cannot control, like a torn hamstring. There are things that can become progressively challenging to deal with like a medical condition that advances over time. There are moments that come without warning, those phone calls that have the potential to create panic. We must lead our minds to a place of victory in those moments, and it will be much easier to do so if our minds have already been stayed or focused on the Lord.
Like the athlete who disciplines his or her mind to push through setbacks and upsets and even pain and unexpected challenges, the believer must condition his or her mind through regular Bible reading, regular worship, regular prayer, regular Christian fellowship, regular meditation, with the key word being regular. If an athlete thought he or she could only show up to half of the practices and still compete, which a coach would never permit, but if that athlete was given an opportunity to play, he or she wouldn’t be physically or mentally ready and would be pulverized by the opponent. If you want a sound mind, get regular with Jesus, with His people, and with the Christian disciplines of worship, prayer, meditation and Bible reading.
I think of those brave soldiers, the men and women who put their minds and bodies through the rigorous training, never knowing when they might be called upon to deal with a conflict. They are prepared at all times, and they stay in a state of readiness. They remain in a state of preparedness. They don’t train, get their certificates and then hang out and play ping pong and relax. No, they continue to train and be mentally sharp for the possibility that the call for duty will come. What attention have you been paying to the development of what the Bible calls “the mind of Christ?” What are you feeding your mind? How are you growing your faith? Are you focused on the truth of God’s Word? Get into the Word and it will work in you to combat the fear that is coming at you!
Look at our key verse again: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7, NKJV
In order to live with a sound mind, you need to Resist, Reject and Rebuke Fear. It isn’t from God. It is from Satan. Notice that it is called a “spirit of fear.” There are demonic spirits assigned to create anxiety, panic and fear in your heart. Fear will steal from you. It will paralyze you. It will minimize you. It will terrorize you. Fear is literally a prison to keep you from God’s game plan for you. Fear will make you someone you don’t want to be. It will cause missed opportunities. It will shackle you in loneliness and isolation. It will keep you from exercising your spiritual gifts in the Body of Christ. It will result in missed opportunities. It can create illness. It can saddle you with guilt and shame.
Fear begins with a thought. We all have thoughts. We can’t keep from having thoughts. It is what we do with that thought that determines our victory or defeat. When a fearful thought first enters your mind, that is the time to deal with it. That is the time to arrest it. That is the time to make your thought captive to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:5). After the thought comes to your mind, self-talk will follow. What you say to yourself, what you say to yourself can override that thought or can feed that fear and help it to grow. Listen, the devil may be good at planting seeds, but we don’t need to be watering them!
Thoughts like, “Everyone will hate me.” “I’ll never be good enough.” “I’m sure I will fail.” “I’ll be the ugliest person there.” “My boss won’t be happy.” “I’ll make a fool of myself.” “Everyone will laugh at me.” Those are the kind of thoughts that feed our fears.
We are good at creating worst-case scenarios in our mind, aren’t we? Rather than feeding fear with our imaginations we need to address fear with our mouths. The first thing we need to say is, “I rebuke you, Satan, in the name of Jesus. I will not live in fear.”
You need to treat those thoughts like you would treat an intruder in your home. Are you just going to let someone come in and threaten you or tie you up or harm one of your family members without a fight? There is no way. You will spring into action. You will locate a weapon or way to defend yourself. You will get on the phone and call the police. You will look for a way of escape. You won’t just welcome an intruder and ask if they would like a cup of tea before they perpetrate whatever they had planned.
Do not entertain intruding thoughts in your mind. Do not ruminate on the “what ifs.” Do not jump to conclusions. Do not adopt the worst-case scenario thinking. Do not panic. Spring into action and evict the fear that is attacking you. That is what fear is. It is an attack on your mind. It is a plan to sabotage your peace. Don’t fall for it. When you simply let fear overtake you, when you don’t resist it, when you don’t reject and rebuke it, you are allowing Satan to manipulate you. Call a Christian friend. Get some prayer. Drive to the church. Start praying and ask God for a Scripture to help you. Do something proactive to take authority over the seeds of fear that Satan wants to sow in your mind.
We need to be like the 84-year-old grandmother who fiercely maintained her independence and lived alone in the old family home. Her 4 children lived in the same town, but she rarely called them except in emergencies. It was with some apprehension, therefore, that one of her sons drove to her house one morning in answer to her phone call. When he arrived, she said she suspected that there was a burglar in her bedroom closet, since she had heard noises in there the night before. “Why didn’t you call me last night?” he exclaimed. “Well,” she replied, it was late, and I hated to bother you, so I just nailed the closet shut and went to bed.” That’s the kind of attitude a Christian can have when faced with the impossible. Nail the door of fear shut and go to bed in calm assurance.
I want to be that resolute when I sense fear is intruding on my life. Our key passage in II Timothy 1:7 says that God has given us a spirit of power. Don’t be shy about using your God-given authority. It will keep worry and fear from escalating. If an intruder came into my house, I wouldn’t ask them politely to please leave. I would tell them to get out of my house immediately. Believers, it is time to rise up against the prince of this world, against Satan and the demonic spirits that are harassing and oppressing God’s people. You have the authority and power to do that.
Ephesians 6:10-11 says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
I am so glad you are here today because there is something Satan hoped you would never find out. There is something he was hoping you would never discover. Here it is: You are not powerless over fear. Ephesians 1:18-20 tells us that the same power that raised Christ from the dead can be accessed by us. Take authority in the power of the Spirit that God has given to you.
According to II Timothy 1:7, you also have a spirit of love. Just what does that mean? A person who lives with a spirit of love is God-like. The Bible tells us in I John 4:8 that God is love. A person who lives with a spirit of love is always moving forward, always giving, always touching, always reaching with God’s love. A person who lives with a spirit of love is always looking to give love away. God is love, and we are to extend His love to the people of this world. When we walk in love, we are moving the Kingdom forward in ways the enemy thwart. When we remember we are fully loved by God, our minds are protected from Satan’s schemes. If we sin, we don’t have to wallow in guilt and shame and condemnation, but we can go right to our loving Heavenly Father, ask for forgiveness, and find grace to start again. We KNOW that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:39. You never have to worry if God loves you. You never have to question God’s good plan for your life. Your mind can rest securely inside the love of God, and you can confidently share His love with others.
Satan doesn’t just want to mess with your mind. He wants to mess with your impact. He doesn’t want people to experience the love of Jesus through your life. If you can live free from a spirit of fear, you can love fearlessly. Satan is terrorized at the thought of that possibility.
Fear is an emotion, but power, love and a sound mind are your possessions in Christ through the Spirit. What you possess in Christ trumps how you feel about any circumstance. Don’t be possessed by emotion. Instead utilize your possessions in Christ to close the door to fear in your life.
I’ll tell you, when the Pandemic started and there was a mandated shut down, I struggled with some fearful thoughts. I’ll just be honest with you this morning. (Is it ok that your Pastor is human? Ok, good. Just making sure.) When the shutdown began, my first thought was, “How will we pay our church mortgage?” My next thought was, “What if we lose our building?” The Spirit quickly reminded me that the building was built by God. He led the charge. He made a way. He wasn’t going to lead us here and not provide for us. I was so grateful for the Holy Spirit in that moment. Listen, if you don’t have a relationship with the Holy Spirit, you need one. He reassures me all of the time of God’s working in my life and in this ministry.
I have to wrestle anxious thoughts to the ground weekly and sometimes daily, but I am determined to live free from free. It is my God-given right to rest in His everlasting arms and to trust His heart and plan for my life.
I don’t know what you are afraid of this morning. Perhaps it is being able to keep up with rising costs. Maybe your fears involve people in places of authority. Maybe it is a fear of being alone or a fear of death. Some of you are may be wrestling with fears that your job performance won’t be good enough or that you aren’t “college material.” Maybe you are afraid of being honest with someone or of not making the team. Maybe it’s just simple fear of the future or fear of getting Covid that has a grip on you this morning. Maybe you are afraid you won’t have enough money in retirement, or you are simply afraid of getting older. Maybe you are afraid of the next steps in parenting or a medical diagnosis.
Psalm 56:3-4 says, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
God’s game plan for your life is for you to live with a sound mind. He has given you what you need to fight and combat fear in your life. Get your head in the game and direct your mind to the thoughts that will help you. Get your head in the game and arrest the thoughts that will detain and depress you. Get your head in the game and utilize the power that is in you. Get your head in the game and rest in the love that has a firm hold on you.
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