WBS.192
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE HOLY
SPIRIT - XII
2 Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir
up the gift of Elohim, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7 For Elohim
hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind.
When we choose to walk in the Spirit, the carnality of our
unrenewed minds is superseded by the direction of the Holy Spirit. Doing both
(walking in the Spirit AND studying the Scriptures to renew our mind) is what
changes us from glory to glory as the righteousness of Yahushua and the power
of the Holy Spirit conform us to the image of our Father.
Walking in the Spirit involves; no, it
requires implicit and immediate obedience to the Holy Spirit. In essence, walking in the Spirit is like a
collaboration of our own thought processes and the voice of the Holy Spirit. We are free to contemplate and act on the
things we are normally required to process and do up until the Holy Spirit
intervenes with a different course of action. For example: If I wake up in the morning and I begin to
put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and then I hear the Holy Spirit whisper, “Not
that shirt, put on the green shirt.” As
innocuous as it might appear to be, we have absolutely no way of knowing how
significant it might be that we wear the green shirt. Immediate obedience to take off the shirt we
initially chose, to put on the green shirt is called “walking in the Spirit,”
and THAT is obedience to the will of IAUE.
Someone asked me this past week, “How can we
learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?”
I told them that the best and quickest way to develop a keen ear to the
voice of the Spirit is to give instant obedience to it when we think we have
heard it. Do not question it. Do it.
If it is the voice of the Holy Spirit, you will discover confirmation
that you obeyed the will of IAUE. If it
is not the voice of the Holy Spirit, He will either stop you short; and you
will hear a contradiction to it; or He will allow you to continue, and you will
have confirmation that it wasn’t Him at all.
The thing is, when you are a disciple and walking in the Spirit is the
life that you have committed yourself to live before your Master, what you hear
will most certainly tend to be the Holy Spirit.
Your instant obedience to it will strengthen your ability to hear and
discern His voice.
[Just to illustrate how such an insignificant
thing like changing to put on a green shirt might be the will of IAUE: There could be someone in deep depression or
distress who tells IAUE if He does not prove to them that He exists and cares
about their situation by having the next person they see be wearing a green
shirt and jeans, they will end their life.
A person may have an emergency and runs to the store to get what they
need to remedy their emergency. Time is
critical, but there is no attendant to help them find what they need; and they
cannot find it on their own; so they pray and ask IAUE for help. IAUE tells them, “A man wearing a green shirt
will walk in the door in the next moment.
Follow him. He will lead you right to it.” Or, a person in need of Yahushua might be
drawn to your green shirt for any number of reasons and engage you in a conversation
which results in their conversion to Messiah.
Realizing how many possibilities there are like this, even obedience to
change shirts becomes apparently significant.]
Sadly, the very next day after answering that
question, I was outside walking the dog. A car pulled up and parked right
beside where we were. At that moment, I
heard, “Raise your hands to IAUE.” I
recognized it was the Holy Spirit speaking; but I countered with, “That driver
will think I am nuts.” I did not provide
instant obedience. Afterwards, the Holy Spirit went through a similar list of
possibilities for me. In the following
three days, I heard Him say “Raise your hands to IAUE,” and I did every time
without a pause. Each time, His voice was quieter and quieter to see if there
was a point at which I would fail to recognize Him and obey. Walking in the
Spirit means obedience to the Spirit; not understanding the purpose of His
instruction. That may or may not be
provided at the time or at a later time.
Understanding His instruction is not a fundamental part of walking in
the Spirit. He IS the Spirit of Understanding.
He has no difficulty in providing understanding to us when it is
relevant to the will of IAUE in our life.
[For a detailed study on Hearing the Voice of
the Spirit, see posts WBS14-WBS18 in this blog.]
2 Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir
up the gift of Elohim, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7 For Elohim hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
The Apostle Paul tells Timothy to “stir up the
gift of Elohim.” Paul was referring to that moment in Timothy’s life when he
imparted the Holy Spirit to him in the same manner that Peter and John had done
with the new disciples in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17). The “gift of Elohim” is indisputably, the
Holy Spirit. This verse has the only
usage of the word “Stir up” in the New Testament. This word (anazopyreo) literally means to
stoke a fire…to knock off the ashes and blow upon the embers of a fire to cause
the fire to grow and release its light and heat. In its usage here to “stir up the gift,” does not suggest that the Holy Spirit goes
to sleep; it means that though He is always hot; we grow cold. An Old Testament picture of this can be seen
in the Tabernacle of Moses where the priests were required twice a day to trim
the wicks of the Candlestick (the Holy Spirit).
This prevented the fire from causing soot and ash and dark smoke from
filling the Holy Place (the Soul of man).
We do not take vacation days away from walking
in the Spirit. We cannot opt to “do our
own thing” once we have put our hands to the plow; and yet, it is the nature of
the unrenewed mind to do just that; hence the instruction to keep the fire
stoked in our life. Until our minds are perfectly
renewed, we are dependent upon walking in the Spirit to render perfect
obedience to our Elohim and our Master Yahushua. Unfortunately, most of the
church is content to do only that which their minds are renewed to do. If they even have the Holy Spirit, He is of little
or no value to their life.
Look at how Paul characterized the “gift of Elohim” in Timothy. He first tells him
what it is NOT. It is NOT a spirit of
fear. This word, fear (deilia),
is used only here in the New Testament.
It does not mean fear in its contemporary sense. It means “timidity.” The Holy Spirit is not shy. He is not timid; and He does not make us
timid. Instead, the Holy Spirit is a
spirit of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND.
Note that the number one characteristic of the
Holy Spirit of which Paul reminds Timothy is that He is the Spirit of Power
(from the Old Testament, He is the Spirit of Might). He is not timid. He is not impotent. He is the conqueror, the manifestation of the
dominion of the Kingdom of IAUE in the earth. He is ability. No enemy can stand before Him.
With such a spirit within us, how can we be timid? We must shake off our carnal nature and allow
the GREAT ONE to live through us, speak through us, heal the sick and cast out demons through us. Where is there any
room for timidity?
Remember when the Peter and John were called
before the rulers, and elders, the High Priest, and all who were of High
Priestly descent and were threatened to no more speak in the name of Yahushua? They
returned to the company of believers; and collectively they prayed:
Acts 4:29 And now, IAUE, behold their
threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may
speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs
and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Yahushua.
Their response to the threat was not to be
timid. It was to be bold; and not just
bold. It was to be bold to demonstrate that
the power of the gift of IAUE within them
enabled them to heal the sick and do all manner of signs and wonders in the
name of Yahushua.
What was the second attribute to which Paul
reminds Timothy of the Holy Spirit within him?
He is the Spirit of LOVE. This is
a point that we have yet to address regarding the Holy Spirit, and it is
immense in its proportion. We will only introduce the concept in this post,
today.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed
the love that IAUE hath to us. IAUE
is love; and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in IAUE, and IAUE in him.
This could be called the litmus test of
walking in the Spirit. If we are truly
being led of the Holy Spirit on a momentary basis, we will love. We will not hate. We will not judge. We will not condemn. We will not speak evil of others. Love does not contain these attributes. Though the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love,
we find in Galatians 5:22 that this love is regarded as a fruit of the
Spirit. He grows love within us. This is not something that just happens
overnight. As we walk in the Spirit, the
love of IAUE is planted, watered and matures.
In time we will discover our attitudes changing toward not only our
brothers and sisters in Messiah; but also toward all men and woman and children
around us. IAUE is love. That is who He is, and He is in us.
Finally, Paul tells Timothy that the gift of
Elohim within Him is the Spirit of a sound mind. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit gives
us a stable mind or clear thought. No,
the Holy Spirit does not force anything upon us. He desires us with a jealous love, that we
would give unto him our entire being as a voluntary act.
James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture
saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
This “sound mind”
is another word that is used only here in all the New Testament. A “sound mind”
(sophronismos)
means to be admonished or called unto moderation and self-control. As a Spirit of a sound mind, the Holy Spirit
keeps us disciplined to stay on track with the will of IAUE.
Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
IAUE is working all things after the counsel of
His own will. We, as disciples, have
been invited into that process as active players. It is by walking in the Holy Spirit that we
facilitate what IAUE wants to do in the world.
Wearing a green shirt when we are told to do so; raising our hands when
He tells us to do it; laying hands on a sick person or commanding a demon to
leave; being in the right place at the right time; speaking a word that is
perfect for the moment and for the audience.
Our obedience always brings glory to IAUE; though it may not always be pleasant
for us; but what does that matter? We
have been bought with a price. We are no
longer our own.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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