You can know and boldly do the thing God wants you to do.

FOR THE SPIRIT GOD GAVE US DOES NOT MAKE US TIMID, BUT GIVES US POWER, LOVE AND SELD-DISCIPLINE. -2 TIMOTHY 1:7

God woke me up this morning at 5:15.  

My eyes snapped open and there were words just coming to me, words I needed to get down. Words for you. I mean, I was ready, on fire, and fully awake. And let me tell you, this is NOT NORMAL. I mostly only get up when I HAVE to, and I literally don’t open my left eye for at least 15 minutes. Not kidding. The longer I leave it shut, the longer I feel like I’m still sleeping. But not today. Today, I’ve got things to tell you, like right now, at the crack of dawn, important things, that just can’t wait. And here’s the gist of it: 

God’s Spirit is in you. 

And he’s got big plans for you. 

And you can know his plans,  And boldly do those things,  

Because he’s already equipped you to do them. 

BOOM. 🔥👊 

Now let me tell you why I can say all of those things.  

I can say them because of our verse, 2 Tim 1:7. It’s our final week with this verse, and I want it to really stick and keep on giving you everything you need for life and godliness. I’m believing this is where the rubber is going to meet the road for us. This is where we are going to believe God for this verse. This is where it all happens... Let’s gooooooo! 

First things first, you can know and do God’s will. 

Our verse tells us that God gives us the ability to know what he has for us, and he also gives us the discipline to do it. And all of that hinges on this little hyphenated word, “self-discipline”. You might be thinking, “But self-discipline is just the ability to say no to that thing you know you shouldn’t do.” And you wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s a whole lot more going on than that, and I want you to see it. Some of you might be familiar with this verse in other translations, which use “sound mind” instead of “self-discipline”. Kind of a big difference. “Sound mind” has to do with discerning the right thing to do, (i.e. God’s will). Whereas, “self-discipline” means that we are pursuing the right thing. But here’s the truth: the original word had the sense of both thinking rightly and doing rightly at the same time. So, if we want to get the fullest sense of the word we can just smash them together into: sound minded, self-discipline. So, let’s put it back into our verse. God’s Spirit gives us the ability to both discern his will and have the self-discipline to do it. It’s wise action, it’s smart follow-through, it’s sage determination. We can know the path God’s laid out for us and be resolved to walk in it!

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And this is good news! 

For any timid person out there (including myself), doesn’t this give you boldness? Doesn’t it just embolden you to know that God gives you a sound mind and self-discipline to know and do his will? And the onus for this wise action isn’t on us. We don’t have to muster up the courage, it has already been given to us by God himself. He wants us to have it! Let me say it another way: When God wants us to do something, we can know what it is and be firmly resolved to do it… because he makes it so. Isn’t that beautiful? 

So now, let’s tie this Spirit-given gift in with the rest of the verse. 

Our verse says, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” I want you to see how all three of these gifts fully equip us to know and do God’s will. He is giving us every single thing we need to follow him. When he asks us to do something, he gives us a sound mind to discern his will. Then, he provides us with the self-discipline to actually get moving. And he knows we’re gonna need the power to do it, so he gives us more than enough, God-sized power to meet the demands of the task. Pour over all of that his boundless, constant, sacrificial love, and it’s just too much. If he’s that generous, how can we not approach any situation with bold confidence that he will get us through? We can rest secure because our trust isn’t in our own abilities or limitations, but in him. So, what do we have to fear?  

So now, let me light a fire! 

Just like Paul was cheering for Timothy all those years ago when he wrote him this letter, that’s me over here, rooting for you. It’s my hope that this verse will sink down deep in you. It’s literally from God, and it’s for you. He wants you to believe it and live like every word of it is true, not just theoretically, but true for you. Because it is. He wants you to embrace him and let him work in your life. He wants you to know his will and be unshakably resolved to do it. He wants you to walk boldly in the power and love only he can give you. I mean, can you even imagine it?!?! Can you think of how your life would look if you believed this more and more? That’s what I want my life to look like! I mean, what if every single person memorizing this verse started to live boldly in the power, love, and sound minded/self-discipline of the Spirit? I can’t begin to imagine the witness, the revival, the love, the joy, the restoration that God would give. But for you, and for me, right now, this is my challenge: believe this verse. Believe it for yourself, pray it over yourself. God will work. Will you believe it with me? Here’s my prayer for us: 

Holy Spirit, make us bold.  Wake us up to your will in our lives.  Give us a sound mind to see where you are leading.  Give us self-discipline to do the thing you are asking.  Give us power to do all these big things.  Overwhelm us with your love for us.  And make us bold in our love for others.  Amen.

Will you pray this verse over your life today and into the future?

Thanks for reading,