AUDIENCE: (LAUGHING)
CHRIS: And finally Dick, he comes back to it and he reaches down to the phone and he grabs it and he picks it up and while he’s picking it up we hear this “click”…
AUDIENCE: (LAUGHING)
CHRIS: And it goes off. And then the screen disappears. I’m back in my living room back in Franklin Tennessee. Football game’s on. And then I hear this sentence: When the call of God comes will you be able to answer it or will your gifts be useless because you neglected them?
AUDIENCE: Whoaaa!
CHRIS: Well that’s got to sober you up! I just went… guess what I started to do? I started to write the book. Yeah, yeah, I started to write the book. And it’s not about a book. It’s about saying “yes” to God when you’re invited. Because when God invites you into something, into something glorious that’s there sometimes there’s a battle to get there. Sometimes the best things in life that I have to go for there’s a battle. And sometimes were good in certain battles. But I’ve found that a spirit of fear it attacks little kids. It attacks older people and here’s the funny thing. All you have to do if you were following 1st Timothy and turn over the page and now you’re in 2nd Timothy. Well Paul’s talking to Timothy again. This is his boy. It’s my son. He’s writing now what is Paul, I think he knew. 2nd Timothy is the last book Paul wrote. Paul didn’t write his last book to the “church of the universe.” He didn’t write it to the “church of this.” He didn’t write it to a congregation. He wrote it to a son, from a father to a son. He says before I pass I’ve need to write my boy one more time cause I’m hearing things that he’s still holding back. And in the first book Timothy he writes in chapter 4 he says “don’t neglect the gifts of God that are within you.” But in 2nd Timothy Paul doesn’t wait for chapter 4. He goes in chapter one. As a matter of fact after his introduction it’s the first thing he says. “Therefore,” verse 6, “I remind you to stir up the gift of God that is in you.” The exact wording from 1st Timothy. Timothy, I’m hearing reports, buddy, what’s holding you back? What’s going on? I remind you to stir up the gift that’s in you. And then he says “through the laying on of MY hands.” Through the laying on of MY hands. 1st Timothy I’m going to be, I’m going to be humble… through the laying on of the elders. Well now he’s going I’ve got skin in the game, Timothy, I’ve worked hard with you. I’ve seen God use you. I’ve, I laid hands on you, bud, I know what’s in you. Sometimes we see things in other people they don’t see in themselves. But you know what? Sometimes other people see things in us. There are things in you that have, maybe you’ve been dormant for a while. Well, I don’t want to… you know so and so they do that better. You know what? There’s not a thing that I do that somebody doesn’t do better. So therefore I shouldn’t do it, right? No, I don’t do it the exact same way therefore it has a different fragrance. It has a different nuance. It’s kind of like a crown with so many jewels. Each one sparkles in its own way. That’s why we don’t compare ourselves among ourselves. We’re not called to do that. Fear… I just believe fear is the enemy’s greatest tool to shut you down and when he shuts you down there’s one inside you that gets shut down. But what’s the next verse when you hear that? “Therefore I remind you stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” The next verse starts out with the word “for.” “For” which is a conjunction. Grammar students out there? Okay? Amen. There you go. In other words it’s joining two sentences together. Okay? “Stir up the gift of God which is in you” and then he says “because God didn’t give you a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.” And we use that and I think it’s right. If people, you know they might have a fear of the dark, or little kids, and you pray over them and I’ve done that, oh babe, God didn’t give you a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. I just want to pray for you. I want to pray for you. And it like that’s true. That is totally applicable. I’m fearful of the future. You know I’ve prayed with people they know that God wants them to get married and maybe they’re a little older and they’re used to just being on their own for so long. I’m fearful that I won’t know how to live with someone. I said you love her. Just go on a journey to become one. Give your heart away. Be humble. Don’t be afraid to say “I’m sorry.” I remember the guy who told me, I saw him a few months after he was married. I said how’s it going? He said it’s phenomenal. I love it. Thanks for praying for me. And that word of advice that you gave me was awesome. I said what word of advice? He said to say I’m sorry. I’ve said I’m sorry more time in the last 3 months than I’ve ever said in my entire life. I said I totally understand. But he said fear, Paul was very specific, he said “for God hasn’t given you a spirit of fear but of power, of love and soundness mind.” Now if that’s the case he highlighted three areas. And when I think about them I think wow, those are, those are huge areas. The power. I was attacked one time from behind by five guys. It was, I was the wrong guy but it didn’t matter because the attack was the same. And I was beaten to a pulp and knocked unconscious. And a friend found me in a parking lot and it was a really big misunderstanding. Yeah, I would say it was big (laughing). But all I knew was at that point in time, hearing anything behind me I was just fearful. I would just… and so I understand what when you attack, and you attack someone… there’s a thing that happens because Paul says fear attacks power. All right? There’s a thing that when we’re attacked that way it goes after your power. It’s called fight or flight. And most people respond to some kind of an attack and the power that’s released is the power to run away. Now that’s… I’m not inviting you to go after your attackers. What I’m saying is this. Fear, sometimes literally physiologically, it makes our heart beat. It makes our legs go rubbery. Has anybody ever had that happen? Where you’re… fear attacks your body and it attacks the power in your body. And your arms get rubbery and it’s kind of like I couldn’t pick up, you know, anything that I could do. Why? Because it’s zapping you of strength. That’s what fear does. It wants to remove, it wants to remove the power from you. Even you’re supposed to get up and give a, give a word, the Lord gives you a word and you’re so attacked that the word might come out but it’s lost its power because you were fearful to have the authority in giving the word. Let me just give you this last scripture Psalm 139, verse 17 through 18. Where perfect love is there’s no fear. It says, it speaks about “I love you more than the grains of sand. The thoughts I have to you, O God, are beautiful and they are more than the grains of sand.” Here’s a little fact. You take a milk pail, fill it up with grain, fine grain, it’s anywhere between two to five billion grains of sand in a milk pail. If He loves us more than the grains of sand upon the earth, why do we fight it? Sit back. Enjoy it. Rest in the fact let perfect love come. Deal with the fear. Let it go in Jesus name and watch what happens to power, love, soundness of mind and then watch what happens to the gift of God in you cause you were created in love for good works. Amen? Amen?
