A Spirit Of Power And Love and A Sound Mind
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Instead of focusing on the fear portion, let’s focus on what God has given us: a spirit of power and a spirit of love and a spirit of a sound mind.
The Greek word for power here is dunamis – that explosive, miracle-working power of God. When you were born again, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you with His love, which flows through you as His life and flows out of you as His light (dunamis power). You have that miracle-working power flow of God available all the time, but if you do not recognize that fact, it is as if you have no power. When satan comes with his tormenting report, if you focus on his evil report, instead of keeping the eyes of your spirit focused on God’s report (His Word), God’s miraculous power is rendered inoperative. It is only what we KNOW and USE that we will walk in. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t know the kind of power they have in Christ Jesus and, thus, live defeated, broken-down lives, no different than those in the world.
Next, let’s look at the God-kind of love that never fails. God’s pure, unconditional love, without doubt or fear, is in us. We are told in Romans 5:5 that God’s love is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We have the fullness of His abundant love in us. It is already there. We must believe it and act accordingly. We are told in John 17:26 that the same love with which the Father loved Jesus is in us. God’s perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). And how is that perfect love perfected in us? 1 John 2:5 tells us that whoso keeps His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. We must dwell in the Word continually. It is a lamp unto our feet (our walk of faith on this earth) and a light unto our path (of life).
What is a sound mind? I discovered something very interesting about this phrase when I looked up the Greek word for “sound” in Strong’s Concordance. Listen to this. The word “sound” comes from the Greek word sophronismos, which means discipline, self-control, sound mind. This Greek word comes from sophronizo, which means to make of sound mind, to discipline or correct, teach to be sober. This Greek word comes from sophron, which means safe or sound in mind, self-controlled, moderate as to opinion or passion, discreet, sober, temperate. This Greek word comes from the base of sozo and phren. I said all of the above to get you to the root words, which, interestingly enough, together mean this: phren—to rein in or curb, fence or enclose; figuratively, the feelings or sensitive nature, the mind or cognitive faculties, understanding and sozo—to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, do well, be made whole.
What do we have from all this?
God has given us in our spirits His power, His love and His ability to be made whole, to control and discipline our minds to stay on course, and correct any deviation from that course that He has set for our lives while we are here on this earth. This is what we have—this is God’s Word. There is only one way to maintain that type of mindset—The Word of God that YOU meditate on, that YOU declare, that YOU speak, that YOU choose to believe for YOUR life.
This is not always easy, as we have an adversary who is right there to say: Has God said this? And even if He has said this, is it for you? Can you attain it? And my answer is: Yes, God has said this and it is for me and I don’t have to attain it. He has already given it to me. All I have to do is to thank Him and believe it. IT IS MINE NOW!
Instead of focusing on the fear portion, let’s focus on what God has given us: a spirit of power and a spirit of love and a spirit of a sound mind.
The Greek word for power here is dunamis – that explosive, miracle-working power of God. When you were born again, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you with His love, which flows through you as His life and flows out of you as His light (dunamis power). You have that miracle-working power flow of God available all the time, but if you do not recognize that fact, it is as if you have no power. When satan comes with his tormenting report, if you focus on his evil report, instead of keeping the eyes of your spirit focused on God’s report (His Word), God’s miraculous power is rendered inoperative. It is only what we KNOW and USE that we will walk in. Unfortunately, many Christians don’t know the kind of power they have in Christ Jesus and, thus, live defeated, broken-down lives, no different than those in the world.
Next, let’s look at the God-kind of love that never fails. God’s pure, unconditional love, without doubt or fear, is in us. We are told in Romans 5:5 that God’s love is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We have the fullness of His abundant love in us. It is already there. We must believe it and act accordingly. We are told in John 17:26 that the same love with which the Father loved Jesus is in us. God’s perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). And how is that perfect love perfected in us? 1 John 2:5 tells us that whoso keeps His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. We must dwell in the Word continually. It is a lamp unto our feet (our walk of faith on this earth) and a light unto our path (of life).
What is a sound mind? I discovered something very interesting about this phrase when I looked up the Greek word for “sound” in Strong’s Concordance. Listen to this. The word “sound” comes from the Greek word sophronismos, which means discipline, self-control, sound mind. This Greek word comes from sophronizo, which means to make of sound mind, to discipline or correct, teach to be sober. This Greek word comes from sophron, which means safe or sound in mind, self-controlled, moderate as to opinion or passion, discreet, sober, temperate. This Greek word comes from the base of sozo and phren. I said all of the above to get you to the root words, which, interestingly enough, together mean this: phren—to rein in or curb, fence or enclose; figuratively, the feelings or sensitive nature, the mind or cognitive faculties, understanding and sozo—to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, do well, be made whole.
What do we have from all this?
God has given us in our spirits His power, His love and His ability to be made whole, to control and discipline our minds to stay on course, and correct any deviation from that course that He has set for our lives while we are here on this earth. This is what we have—this is God’s Word. There is only one way to maintain that type of mindset—The Word of God that YOU meditate on, that YOU declare, that YOU speak, that YOU choose to believe for YOUR life.
This is not always easy, as we have an adversary who is right there to say: Has God said this? And even if He has said this, is it for you? Can you attain it? And my answer is: Yes, God has said this and it is for me and I don’t have to attain it. He has already given it to me. All I have to do is to thank Him and believe it. IT IS MINE NOW!
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 4:22 PM
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