Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): This is the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with Reverend Paul Cannings. We're so glad that you've tuned in to join us. Today we begin a new series titled God at Work. Life can be full of uncertainties, not just in the public arena as in politics or in the world, but unpredictability overtakes us in our homes and in our lives as well. Dr. Cannings challenges us to consider how we can function out of strength and confidence by relying upon God's word through principles from the lives of Paul and Timothy. Here he is now with today's message titled But God.

Dr. Paul Cannings: If there's anything that we could be certain of is the uncertainty that we face. If there's anything that is definitely consistent is change. People are no longer secure when they go to malls and they they shop. People are nervous now when they go out in the middle of the night because of all the different things that have taken place. As things come closer to his return, there's a lot of birth pains. It doesn't mean that the birth pains means he's coming back tomorrow. He said they're just birth pains. Like a woman having birth pains, that the baby's coming, but it does not mean that the baby is going to start coming now.

It it is happening. It is getting worse. The earth, as the Bible would say in Genesis, has been suppressed. And that's what we are facing. Nature is unpredictable. So the only consistent thing that we have in life is change. If it comes to government, there issues that pop up all the time. There are nations that are unpredictable in what they're planning to do. So when we look at this world, how do we function every day so that God is more than a worship service, is more than a verse, is more than a devotion, he's a vivid experience of his power that is resident to take care of us, to keep us focused, and that even if he was to allow us to go home to be with him, we come as champions.

We come as people who are rewarded as warriors who fought despite the problems that they face. So that's exactly why we need to look at this passage of scripture in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7. We're talking about a time when Paul most likely is being threatened by Nero to be killed. Church history says that he was beheaded most likely during the time of Nero. So Paul is writing under duress. They have Timothy struggling with all of this drama. And he's struggling as to whether or not he said even not be ashamed to defend Paul who is constantly going to jail.

So he's struggling with this. You will see this in 2 Timothy where Paul is saying, no, no, no, I'm fighting for the cause of the faith. This is not something that you should be concerned about. This is what the results are that it goes through persecutions and struggles. Timothy is known to be a timid person, but he's been entrusted with pastoral leadership. And in the midst of that, he has people in 2 Timothy chapter 1 that are fighting him. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul has to tell him, stop arguing with them. Stop fighting back and forth cuz the minute you keep doing that and speculating about different issues, Satan will get the best of you.

In chapter 2 verse 23 to 26, Paul has to tell him that people will come to the church and they'll have a form of godliness. They would sound right, they would act right, they would say all the right things, do all the right things, act in all the right ways. But he said that doesn't mean that they're saved and they're godly and they're going to start persecuting you because you're holding to a standard. They don't care to hear anymore. The Christians because of Paul's trials scattered everywhere and and they're trying to rebuild their lives and there's hardships and difficulties as we've seen in the book of James.

And so you will be persecuted, Timothy. Timothy don't want to hear that. You know, he's telling him, no, no, no, no, you have to be confident in in the teachings of your grandmother and mother and you need to hold to that and the teachings I gave you because the word of God will equip the man of God for every good work. Chapter 3 verse 17. But Timothy is shaking at the boots right now because his world is upside down. His mentors now know if he's going to be here and not be here. He's being criticized.

People are turning against him. People think he's stealing money. All of these different things he's dealing with that is his father in ministry. Timothy is struggling. His world is upside down and Paul's world is a whole lot worse than his. And so Paul writes in the midst of his turmoil and Timothy's turmoil. And he says this to us very first phrase in this passage is critical to the whole concept that Paul is seeking to teach us. God is at work. It doesn't matter how crazy things may look, God is at work. There's nothing that could stop God from achieving what he said he's going to achieve.

God is still in control. There's nothing that has changed his power and his ability. So he can tell you what people will do to Christ 600 years before it happens. And when they are using their own free will, they are still doing it exactly as he said it would take place relevant to Christ's death 600 years before it took place. He could so know every decision that everybody's going to make know what's going to happen in 400 years of silence when he's not talking to the Jews anymore and they develop their own rituals and systems in the church house to the temple and to the point where they would so know the scriptures like Nicodemus would come talk to him about this question and that question about Christ and he would be born again.

What do you mean by born again? He goes through all of these things and Christ looked at him and said, don't you know? In other words, you spend all your day studying the scriptures, looking at the scriptures, and you don't know these things. In John chapter 5 he would literally tell him, you know who I am. You just don't want to follow me. I don't come in the manifestation of glory that you expect. I'm a little carpenter's son and all these different things I don't dress like you expect me to dress. I don't do these things.

So guess what? You don't want me. So even when it comes to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all the different people that are functioning in that day, they show what 400 years of God not speaking to them means and in their freedom of will and their rejection of the truth and their unwillingness to submit to the King of Kings who's now in their face, who's healing somebody born blind, who is helping somebody heal, been at the pool for 38 years. He's helping people come back from the grave. They're seeing the powerful manifestation of God in him, but they have become so rigid in their commitment to religion, in commitment to how they believe temple should function, how they believe things should operate.

They created a whole new body of leaders called Sadducees and Pharisees, not even in God's structure of how things should happen. And they got it going on. And when they did in their own freedom of will, their own structure even though the word of God is sitting in front of him that they study every day and they're paid to study every day, they still put a perfect, godly, holy miracle worker on the cross to die. So Christ being on a cross is not God out of control. Is God working out his purposes. You got Judas.

He's a thief. He's walking around with Christ. You think Christ who knows everything doesn't know that Judas is a thief? Judas was right there having the freedom of will, seeing Christ walk on water, seeing Lazarus up from the grave after 4 days. Christ took a 2 day journey and make it a 4 day trip and came and raised Lazarus from the dead so he could prove to Martha, I am the resurrection. He saw all of this. He saw a man born blind heal. He saw it all. But God knew that he would be attracted to money, that Judas will do exactly what he said he is going to do years before it happened.

And God took all of that and worked it into his strategy so that what man in his heart wants to do gets done and God still arrives at his purposes. So folks, even when things look crazy, when things look that God just cannot be in control, God is still working out his purposes. And that what Paul wants Timothy to understand that Timothy, don't be worried. In verse 11 he would tell him, where on to I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles for the which cause I also suffer these things.

Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know whom I believed and I'm persuaded it is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against today. Hold fast to the form of the sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us. See Timothy, don't let all of this massive things make you ashamed of me. Make all these massive things make you go left in the church, arguing, struggling with your own purity.

You got to watch that in chapter 2. He would tell him that, Timothy, don't all these massive things taking place even my death most likely going to happen as he would tell him later on in chapter 4 that I fought a good fight, I finished the course. It's coming there. In spite of all of this, God is working out his purposes. So folks, it doesn't matter how chaotic life may look, how difficult things may seem, we must always remember for God is still in control and had not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind.

And this is what he's saying here. God, no possible way he has not given us a spirit of fear. So anytime we feel fearful, which is doubt, insecurities, we begin to question our faith. All these things fear means. He's talking about fear. When you look at this in the Old Testament structure, it's dreadful fear. It's logical for me not to go fight Goliath. He is a bigger warrior and by one slap of his hands he can knock me out. It makes no sense to go fight him. That's dreadful fear. Is that of the soldiers that don't have the equipment to go fight?

No, it just logically it makes no sense to go fight. That's what he is talking about here. God has not given me such a spirit that every time I face what I'm going to face when God is who he is, in control, functioning great, doing what he does, he because he's God has no reason basically to give me any sense of insecurity and I need to have any doubt that he's going to work out his purposes, any need to be concerned that things are out of control and therefore I need to do what makes me feel secure.

God has no reason to do it. So there's no possible reason that he's done it. That's what he's saying here. And I don't want us to spend some time on this whole concept of given fear because the Bible teaches us that fear can become a sneer. It could become something that has captured us that we can't think nothing but fear in every decision we make. Fear can be so dominant. Proverbs 29 verse 25 says that we can't move, we can't think without worrying about what can happen to us and how it can destroy us, how it can make things go bad for us.

Constantly decisions we are making drives itself from fear, not faith. Fear can make us make decisions about money, about medical situations. Fear can dominate our decision making process. Fear could determine whether not we go to the mall. Fear could determine whether not we go to church. Fear could determine whether not we could be next to people in the church because we don't want to catch this, catch that. Any kind of situation that is constantly driving us from fear can cause us, the Bible is saying, to be outside of the will of God because we're making decisions from fear, not faith.

What do we do in a world that is crazy? A world that is going to get worse. How do we live when God is at work? Do we trust the craziness? Do we trust him in the midst of all the mess that is taking place and still experiencing powerfully? Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Dr. Cannings. God's work can and does equip us for every good work. And friend, if you're listening and you're not sure about God being at work in your life and you'd like to know more about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then please give us a call and let's talk about it. Our phone number is 281 260 7402. Again, that's 281 260 7402.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Hello everyone. This is Pastor Cannings. It's been a pleasure coming into your home, maybe your car. It's been a blessing to serve you. And I hope that you will become a partner as we seek to continue to serve God in an effective manner. Many times he opens up so many doors, but what we lack is resources to get it done. Oh, you can go through every door, but you know the ones that are great fit for our ministry to touch lives. So I pray that you will become a Power Walk partner as we power walk together to impact lives.

Thank you for listening. It's been a blessing serving you.

Guest (Male): Our web address is powerwalkministries.org. If you'd like to get a copy of this message series or any of our ministry resources, again, that's powerwalkministries.org. Let's remember to read God's word and draw our strength, confidence, and hope from God. God is at work in our lives.