ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

pressed the people to move forward, the other 10 gave a horrifying report, after which the people rebelled and refused to continue. Because of their fear and disobedience, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness 40 more years, with no one age 20 or over ever reaching Canaan. I firmly believe the example just mentioned represents the church in America today, as well as most Christians individually. De- spite our prosperity and capability, the world is impacting us more than we are impacting it. LikeTimothy, we need to push back our fears and “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in (us)” (2Timothy 1:7). Paul lists the following weapons for overcoming fear that will help us through that process. Power. From a societal standpoint, we think of power as one person exercising control over another.The kingdom model de- scribed here means the Holy Spirit has power over us. The word in the original language for power is dynamis, from which we get our English word dynamite. It appears over 100 times in the NewTestament, perhaps most notably in Jesus’ final words be- fore ascending back to heaven: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts1:8, emphasis added). Perhaps Peter remembered Jesus’ words, preaching the ser- mon of his life when the Spirit poured in at Pentecost just days later. On that day, 3,000 souls were saved and baptized! Staying filled by that same Spirit, he went on to become a key figure in the first cen- tury church, contributing his writing to the NewTestament as well. This brings to mind lawyer-turned-preacher Charles Finney, who was considered to be the “Father of Modern Revivalism.”A ma- jor player in the Second Great Awakening that swept across America in the early 1800s, Finney spoke about how God provided mighty infillings of the Holy Spirit “that went through me, as it seemed, body and soul. I immediately found myself endued with such power

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