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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. Fear is an intensely powerful emotion. But courage is higher than emotion because it's a decision you will not win in life, you will not grow in life, you won't get far in your spiritual life until you let your commitment to your convictions exceed your commitment to your emotions. And we're going to watch how Paul ministered this to his beloved Son in the faith. Timothy, first Timothy begins, Paul, an apostle, literally ambassador, special messenger, or a person on divine assignment. An apostle of Jesus Christ. But watch this. By the will of God, we may not know everything about the will of God in this life, but there are some things we can know, some things we must know. And Paul was crystal clear about one of the main must knows in his life. And that was his purpose. Here's what I've learned. If you don't let God tell you who you are, the world will tell you instead. But I found if the world didn't give it to you, the world can't take it away. But when you're recreated in Christ Jesus, God didn't just create you to fit in, he created you to stand out. So the only people who never bump into the devil are the people going in the same direction. So the Apostle Paul had some understanding about his purpose in life and he mentions it even before he gets into the letter. He said, paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, says, by the will of God, Paul understood that if a man didn't call him, a man couldn't stop him. You know, I have walked with the lord for about 40 years and I found this to be true. If you let the Lord set you, no man can remove you. If God called you there, find your lane, stay in it. Enemies at times may try to block you, circumstances may try to at times slow you. But if God is for you, tell me who can be against you. That's what the word of God says. So he said he was an apostle according to to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. Now this might sound strange because we think people that are successful in ministry necessarily live in large mansions and have all these servants and all the rest next to them. But Paul was in a cold, damp prison cell waiting to be killed. But he was still living a very full life because people could affect the circumstances outside of him, but they couldn't change what was going on on the inside of him. You know, I've been watching our beloved trustee, Steve. I saw his image up there. I don't see very well, but yep, I see them. Yes, yes, yes, they're sitting up top there. Well, he's been facing four stage colon cancer, but I've watched him eat Sunday, coming here with a smile on his face. He's even asked me when he was going through chemo, how am I doing? Like, what you mean, how am I doing? I've watched him stand. I'm sure he had moments when he felt a whole lot of things, but he's been unmoved. And these are the type of people I want in my life. These are the type of people you can trust to lead you. Well, yeah, you see, Steve and his family understand death is a part of life. But the very worst thing that could happen to Steve is he goes home to be with the Lord, where he'll never feel pain again, never feel hurt again, never be disappointed again. But the best thing that could happen to him if he stays here with us is he could continue to reach more souls and keep doing all this stuff we're doing and then go to glory eventually and with even a greater reward. But. But the big point I want to make is no matter what happens, he wins. He wins. You cannot lose when God is on your side. If God be for you, tell me, tell me, who can be against. Thank you. My pastor, before he passed, used to say, the greatest tragedy in life is not death. It's life lived without purpose. And as long as that man stays in his purpose, he's not going to leave here till he's finished. I'm preaching better than you saying amen right now. So Paul said to Timothy, my beloved son. Paul and Timothy were not related by blood. But our spiritual relationships can at times be stronger than even our natural relationships. In Acts 16, verse 1, Scripture tells us that Timothy's dad was not a believer, so God gave him a spiritual dad instead. And what's amazing about God is he will meet your need one way or another. So he said, grace, peace. Well, mercy, sorry, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but all the other epistles from the Apostle Paul just say grace and peace to you, except the ones that are addressed to his ministers. Why? Because a person who knows about what's right needs more mercy than anyone else needs. The more you know, the more mercy you gotta walk in. I say this, this is very important. You actually dehumanize people when you hold them to a Different standard. It's not fair to require a minister to live according to a different standard. But it is both wise and fair to require them to live closer to the same standard. And the reason for that is so that they can lead you even closer. I don't expect my ministers to be perfect. Only God is perfect. All I require them to do is help me and others walk closer to Jesus. We're not competing for who's better than each other. All we want to do is make each other walk closer to the Lord. That's the only thing we're trying to accomplish in ministry. And then in verse three, he says something shocking if you know a little bit about the background. And we will discover that in just a couple moments. He said, I thank God. Now this is one of the prison epistles. And he begins all of his epistles, you know, giving thanks. But you would think because this one, he was in such dire circumstances that he might give up a little bit on the thanks. But here's what I know. Your bills may be overdue, maybe some phone calls are overdue. You may have some books overdue, you might have cleaning the garden. There might be a whole bunch of stuff overdue in your life. But make sure your next thank you, Jesus is not overdue. Pay attention to what I'm about to say. You may not realize it, but your thank yous are directly connected to your breakthroughs. If you caught what I said, you give God a thank you, Jesus and a hallelujah. Because at midnight they praise and they worship God. And God shook the prison and opened it. Your breakthrough is connected to your next thank you. He said, I thank God who I serve with a pure conscience as my forefathers. And he knew that if people can't trust your intentions, they can't trust your actions. And he would bring his conscience before God every night saying, lord, I'm just trying to serve. I'm just trying to do the very best I can. But he was saying, listen, my conscience is clear. And I bet you Paul slept better in that prison than some of us sleep in our half million dollar homes each night. There's no pillow softer than a clear conscience. He said, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did as without ceasing. I remember you. Watch this. I remember who you. Who's he thinking about? He's in prison. He is in one of the worst positions a person at that time could be in. But he's thinking about Timothy. I remember you in my prayer watch this night and day. It's likely that the Apostle Paul was held in maritime prison, where the lower cell of that prison was part of the Roman sewer system, which meant the waste from the city would seep in through the walls. He was in the most squalid, noxious, frightful condition possible. But somehow his heart was still filled with thanksgiving prayer. People think that they're filled with the Spirit because they pray in other tongues. And I'm all for praying in tongues. You know, that's a good thing and it's helpful and it gets you through. But to me, one of the biggest, the best signs of being filled with the Holy Spirit is when you can give thanks. Thanks when life is unfair, when your life smells like a sewer, when everything in you hurts. But despite that, you can say, thank you, you've been so good. No matter what happens, I gotta stay in my lane, though, right? Yeah. Thank you. Verse 4. Greatly desiring to see you. Now, Paul could have had an attitude because Timothy's temptation was that he was being tempted to disassociate himself from the Apostle Paul. And, you know, we'll talk about that in just a second, though. And Paul was tempted, though here to give up on Timothy, because after all they've been through, if anyone should have had Paul's back, it was Timothy. But despite Timothy's nervelessness and weakness, Paul begins the letter saying the very best in Timothy. Don't give up on your children when they need someone not to give up on them the most. That most difficult child is the child that needs you the very, very most. That child that disappointed you the most needs you the most greatly. He wasn't consumed with his own pain, greatly desiring to see you because my mind is full of the thought of your tears. Despite Paul's own pain and his tears, he's mindful of Timothy's. See, one of the most challenging questions we face in life is which bridges to burn and which bridges to keep crossing. And sometimes we burn them a little bit too quickly. Timothy was weak, but Apostle Paul still saw good in him. Being mindful of your tears that I might be filled with joy. Most of us would say, I'll be happy. I'll be filled with joy if I get out of this place. But Paul said, I will rejoice even in this place if I know our relationship is still intact. Loving people hurts, someone said, say it again. Thank you, Miriam. Loving people hurts. But Jesus tells us we gotta keep a childlike heart because what makes us vulnerable is what makes us beautiful. And you don't want to lose Your beauty. He said, I'm not sitting here thinking about. How dare you think about disassociating from me after all I've done. This is what I've been thinking about when I call to remembrance. The genuine faith that is in you ain't nothing like the real thing. And Timothy was the real thing. But even sometimes the real thing disappoints, sometimes even the real thing will let you down. But again, he didn't start the letter calling Timothy out of his name and talking about all of his weaknesses and how he ought to have done better and all the rest. He just focused on what was good in Timothy. He knew that if he could inspire Timothy to hold on to what was good, what was wrong in him would eventually work itself out. And sometimes you gotta love your child through the crazy. I remember my mother. I was in high school, and my mother got it in her mind she was gonna hug her crazy son every week. So I think every Sunday she would hug me in the dining room. I thought I was too grown for that. But she hugged the devil right out of me. Cause she saw something in me. She saw beneath the pimples and all the crazy stuff I was doing, she saw something in me and she hugged me until it began to surface. He said, there's this genuine faith which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and in your mother, Eunice. Most people start talking about people's mother in a situation like this, but Paul is remembering the genuine faith of his family. And the fact that Timothy's father was an unbeliever didn't stop his mother, Eunice, from being every inch the woman of God that God created her to be. You know, I love my family as much as the next person, but if they stopped loving God and I agreed with them, we would all be wrong. And I would forfeit the ability to help. Somebody must be strong. It might as well be you. Verse 6. Therefore, because of the one thing I know you have, you do have genuine faith. I remind you most Sundays, all my job really is, is to remind you of who you really are in Christ and all that he's already given you at the cross. You see, sometimes the answer to your crisis is very, very, very, very simple. It's just remembering. Because when you're hurting, it's so easy to forget. So Paul's tool here is to stir his memory. He says, I remind you a little more background. Paul was in prison because Emperor Nero spread a false rumor that Christians had started the Great Fire of Rome. Some say that Nero started This fire himself, Others say that it was started in the shops near the Circus Maximus. But whatever happened, Paul became the scapegoat. And the reason was Paul preached that the world would end in fire. So the authorities connected the dots and felt that he and his people had a motive to start this fire in order to jump start the end of the world. And since Timothy was Paul's star pupil, Timothy started fearing that he might get arrested next. And in this most difficult hour, this most difficult time, Paul's advice to Timothy was, therefore, I remind you to stir up the imagery in the original Greek. It is the image of a fire that's about to go out. You see, the issue was that Timothy had not completely lost his fire, but the fire had lost its intensity. And some of you haven't completely walked away from God, but you're far enough away, you hear what I'm saying, for you to lose power and what you need in that moment. The problem was not the absence of fire, but negligence in taking care of it. God, will you sense a fire here on Sunday? Well, that's good. May your fire be lit, but may you keep it lit. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. May you stay in God's word. May you keep listening. You hear what I'm saying? To keep the fire and the flame burning. Many of us, we were at one point on fire for God. But then life happened and kicked sand on that fire and the flame began to dim because of marital hurts, some of us singleness hurts. You know, you're single longer than you wanted to be. Some of us, church hurts, some of us medical hurts, I mean, real hurts. Sometimes everything just hurts. But watch what Paul said. He said, timothy, I'm in pain. You're in pain. But I remind you, son, to stir up the gift of God. James 1:17 tells us, Every good and perfect gift is from above. And he was saying to Timothy, you already have the answer to your problem. It's the Holy Spirit within. And so many people, though, they act like the Holy Spirit is weird. No, your carnality is weird. The Holy Spirit is perfect and he is already everything you need in whatever crisis you may face. Somebody said, whiners want to feel good before they do what's right. Winners do what's right, then they feel good. And many of us are so busy trying to be like everybody else, we forfeit the grace and the power that could be ours. He said, timothy, we're both in a crisis. Your church is in a crisis. Everyone in Ephesus is watching you and seeing how you Respond. But here's the answer. I remind you to stir up the gift of God. If God is in you, if he's really in you, you already have everything that you need. All you have to do is stir it up and tap into what's already there. Stop praying for God to send something down. It's already within. Just stir it up. You hear what I'm saying? The good stuff is at the bottom of the soup. You just got to stir it up. Concrete is just sand until you add water and stir it up. Faith is dead until you add some action and stir it up. To thrive in 2025, you're gonna have to stay stirred up if you're gonna meet the challenges. He said, stir up the gift of God. David was in a challenge. God promised that he'd be king. And he hadn't become king yet. Saul had been trying to kill him probably for a decade by that point. And then the Philistines attack his camp and steal his wives. His wives, plural? Don't do that, guys. He stole his wives and his daughters and his sons and burned down the camp. Then his old man spoke of stoning him because everybody always needs someone to blame for their problems. But the Bible said David encouraged himself in the Lord. And I am grateful for the encouragement we get in this place. But at 2 o' clock in the morning when you're by yourself and you get that phone call, you need to know how to encourage yourself. When your child comes home saying there's something they're not. You got to learn to encourage yourself. He said, timothy, stir up the gift of God which is in you. Through the laying on of my hands. Paul was saying to Timmy, he's saying, listen, the same thing in me is in you. So if I can make it in here, you can make it out there. Listen, I've never sat like Paul in a prison like that, but I have been lied on. I may not have been in a literal cesspool like he was in, but I have heard the door clink when the doctor said, said there's no cure. I know what it's like to lose close friends. I know what it's like to have more month than money. I know what it's like to be laughed at, to be ridiculed, to be made fun of. I know what it's like to be kicked out, to be let down. I know what it's like. But I also know he's a present help in trouble. But I also know he's. Nobody can hurt me more than he can Help me. But I also know people may have meant it for evil, but God knows how to work everything together for the good. And when trouble comes, you got to know something. You need to be already convinced about the truth. He taught you on sunny days and in sunny days and in fair weather. Because what he did in fair weather was to prepare you for, yeah. The weather to come. And then he digs in. He said, timothy. He starts with celebrating Timothy, but he cuts to the chase here. He says, timothy, God has not given us a spirit of fear. Timothy. God is not giving us that sniveling, backing up, backing away, slinking into the corner spirit. And Timothy, you need to understand, it's a spirit. It's a demon assigned to your life that's trying to take the man out of you and put something else. You're saying, timothy, you need to square your shoulders and walk like the man God created you to be. Timothy said, timothy, God has not given us a spirit. We're of a different spirit than this world. Our forefathers got in a battle and prayed to God, and God calls the not to set, so Joseph can win the battle. Another king got into a situation, and the guy was unsure that God was really speaking to him. He said, well, listen, if you make the sun, you know, not set for 15 extra minutes or just go back, you know, 15 degrees, I believe. Guess what? The sun went backwards. We are of a great people. My father is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are part of my lineage. I've been grafted in through the Christ, the Messiah, and forget all of them. The Jesus is my Lord, the one who hung high and hung strong. Took it all from me. Didn't flinch. He bore it. Didn't cry, didn't whine, didn't snivel. He bled. And then when he was done, he said, it is finished. That's my legacy. That's my heritage. That's who's living on the inside of us. For God has not given us a spirit of fear. But watch what he did give us. He gave us power. The Greek there is Dunamis. And in classical literature, that term was used for the full advancing force of a mighty army. And what he was saying to Timothy, God wants you to walk like. Watch this. And emote like someone who has a whole army behind him, someone that believes the Lord, Sabbath, the Lord of hosts, is with him. Really what was happening here was similar to what Elijah did with Gehazi. When he said, those who are with us are more than those that are with them. He said, timothy, that's not. That's not. That's not who we are. This is not our family. You were raised that way. This is not. That's not. No, no. God's not giving you that spirit of timidity, letting go, quitting and backing up. But what he's done, you got to remember the Christ. Yeah, he went through Friday, but on Sunday morning, he got back up again. And we will get back up again. He's not given us a spirit of fear, but power. And watch this. And of love. And what he was saying is God has given us enough love and wisdom to overcome anything that any person might ever throw at us. You know, things may sometimes have to shift in relationships, but I will tell you, I will never be your enemy. I will still be on the sidelines cheering for you, pulling for you, hoping the very best for you. Because God's love is not fragile. God has loved me in spite of me, and he put that same love on the inside of me to love you. Matter of fact, the proof of me knowing God is not how many scriptures I can quote, but how well I can love somebody else. You got this fear, which is singular. But then he lists three. Power love. And this last one is a sound mind. Literally the Greek, there is a delivered mind, meaning you could be calm when everybody else has gone crazy. You could take steps forward when everybody else is backing up. I don't know everything tomorrow holds, but I do know who holds tomorrow. My best advice, no matter what happens, is keep your head up, stay stirred up and do not be afraid. Give God a hallelujah and a hand clap. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember, you have what it takes in Christ to live big. 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