BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

These are the days for an uprising of the mighty! I’m not talking about a violent uprising. Violence in the streets doesn’t bring the change we want. I’m talking about believers latching onto God’s will and refusing to let it go. That’s the kind of uprising that brings real change. Spirit-filled believers like us need to stir up some spiritual lessons many have laid aside so that we’re walking in all we’re designed to, and bringing those lessons to others. Second Timothy 1:6, "New King James Version," says, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” When it says “stir up the gift,” it’s talking about igniting, reigniting or fanning the flame of the gift of grace. Paul was talking to Timothy, one of the greatest pastors of that time. Timothy pastored the first real megachurch in Ephesus. If Paul needed to remind someone like Timothy to “stir up the gift,” then it’s fair to say it’s OK to remind us to do the same. Paul continued, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (verse 7). Love and power have come from God, but the sound mind—the right thinking, the transferring of love and power and spiritual truth into real action—is not automatic. We must lay hold of what God has done and what He has said. We must come together as like-minded believers and change our mindsets so we’re not thinking in the same terms we once did. That’s when the uprising of the mighty will begin. Denial of the Perilous Mind Soundness of mind has been under assault since the very beginning of the Bible. This current information age provides the perfect flood of fear and worry. For those who are disposed to worry, these are great days! They have many things to worry about: everything from sickness and disease to politics and the economy, to even whether their water heater will give out. But the Bible clearly states that God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear, nor has He given us the right to cave in to the spirit of fear. Things around us may be tough, but we can and must resist fear. Second Timothy 3:1 says, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.” The word perilous has a lot of dimensions. It means harsh, cruel, ruthless, cutting and hurtful situations that are emotionally hard to bear. There’s no denying that Paul is describing the days we’re in. But we can deny that perilous mindset the right to soak into us and ignite fear. It doesn’t take long to stir up fear. It just takes a single news report, just one idea, for people to become fearful. But 2 Timothy 1:6 tells us to stir up “the gift,” the deposit, that’s on the inside of us—not the fear. Later, in 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul told Timothy what to do in perilous times: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” When times are good, we need to be ready to preach the Word. When times are less than good, we’re to preach the reality of things based on the Word. Becoming Mighty When I think of this, I can’t help but think about Gideon (Judges 6). Two hundred years had passed since Israel had taken the Promised Land. Over time, the people had forgotten all God had done for them. They had the Midianites and the Amalekites and lots of other “ites” after them. They were hiding out in caves, trying to grow crops just to survive. The Midianites, knowing Israel’s plans, waited for the crops to ripen, and right before harvest time, they came in and trampled them down. They didn’t even steal the crops. They just trampled them into the dirt so Israel couldn’t have them. They wanted to starve the Israelites out and wipe them off the face of the earth. BVOV : 23

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