Divine Power, Love, & Sanity

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. — 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

The Holy Spirit is the source of power, love, and sound mind — a sharp contrast to the fear, confusion, and chaos of the world. Scripture often presents contrasts between God’s Spirit and the spirit of the world, revealing what God is and isn’t. John 10:10 says the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus comes to give life and give it abundantly. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says that God is not a God of confusion but of peace. There is a very stark difference between God’s Kingdom and the world’s system. There is Christ and antichrist. Anti means opposed to —that which is in resistance. The contrast is rule and resistance.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, we see fear versus power, love, and sound mind. Many versions have self-control or self-discipline in place of the words sound mind. We’re going to use the word “sanity”, and I’ll explain more in a little bit. Holy Spirit is the Source of Divine Power, Divine Love, and Divine Sanity.

DIVINE POWER

Holy Spirit is the power to be a Kingdom agent, doing Kingdom actions. The Kingdom is the King’s dominion, and the King’s dominion is demonstrated by His power. Proclamations and decrees are only effective when there is actual power behind them.

1 Corinthians 4:20 tells us that the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. The Kingdom is power. Jesus says (Acts 1:8), “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.” To be an effective witness of Jesus, one must be empowered. In Acts 8:6-8, we see crowds gathering and paying attention to Philip when they hear him and see the signs that he does. They listen because they see many people healed and delivered. As they embrace the Kingdom, there is much joy in the city.

Jesus instructs His followers (Matthew 10:7-8), “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.” Proclaim the Kingdom is here then demonstrate the Kingdom is here. This requires the power of Holy Spirit. Power validates the Kingdom message.

DIVINE LOVE

Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” His Spirit is the source of His love. Holy love is produced by Holy Spirit. Love is not something we manufacture or produce by good intentions and hard work. True love is produced by Holy Spirit, and that which is not produced by Holy Spirit is a counterfeit.

Galatians 5:22-23 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These two verses are within the context of Holy Spirit and love. We don’t have nine different fruit here. We have one fruit with many different characteristics. Love is the fruit of the Spirit, and all the listed traits (joy, peace, patience, etc.) are facets of love.

As a side note, the words “self-control” do not do the Greek word justice. The Greek “enkrateia” literally means “in the sphere of dominion”. All we are and have, including the atmosphere within our boundaries, is encapsulated in the Kingdom of Heaven. Love empowers us to live and operate within Kingdom parameters and be Spirit-led. Wow!

Fruit of Spirit = Love

Love = Joy + Peace + Patience + Kindness + Goodness + Faithfulness + Gentleness + Spirit-Led

The tree is the Spirit, and the tree’s fruit is Love. The following eight character traits are aspects of the one fruit that is Love. For example, what are eight adjectives that describe an apple? The apple tree (Spirit) produces the apple (Love). The apple is red, sweet, juicy, healthy, crunchy, shiny, delicious, and aromatic (8 Characteristics). The best we can produce in our own self-management and religious behavior is plastic fruit —lifeless, inedible, and ultimately toxic.

1 Corinthians 14:1 says, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts…” Desire the Spirit’s gifts but pursue the Spirit’s fruit, which is love. Pursue means aggressively chase in order to apprehend. Scripture says if we seek, we will find. If we knock, the door will be opened. As we pursue, we will apprehend; then we’ll be empowered to obey Christ’s commandment to love one another with His love. Seek first the fruit of the Spirit that is love, and the gifts of the Spirit will be added.

DIVINE SANITY

In some translations and versions of the Bible, 2 Timothy 1:7 uses the words “self-control”. I don’t think this is the best word choice in our culture because it often insinuates our own ability to control within our own strength. This turns the goal of our Christian experience into behavior modification by our own self-will. Yet we know that our every effort within our own strength is dead works, and only Holy Spirit produces life.

The Greek word sōphronismou is only used this one time in the Bible. It literally means “truly moderate” and it’s connected to the way we think. The word means prudent, sensible, reasonable. New King James Version says “sound mind”. If you look up the word “sanity” in the dictionary, one of its definitions is “sound mind”. Sanity means sound mind.

Holy Spirit is the source of sound mind and clear reason and divine thinking. Holy Spirit provides sanity in an insane world. In this world that seems to be going crazy, Holy Spirit is the source of divine sanity.

The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoia, meaning “change thinking”. Ephesians 4:23 (NLT) says, “let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Romans 12:2 (NLT) says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Repent for the Kingdom of God is here! If we will surrender to Holy Spirit, He will transform our thinking, our entire operating system. He will give us the perfect mind of Christ.

We need Holy Spirit sanity in this insane world. In Acts 8, the city embraced the move of Holy Spirit, and there was much joy in the city. In Acts 19, the city resisted Holy Spirit and scripture says, “So the city was filled with confusion…” And then the people operated as a violent mob. Remember, 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.“ His Spirit is not the source of worldly chaos but Kingdom order. When Holy Spirit sanity rules, there is much joy. When antichrist insanity manifests, there is much confusion.

In Acts 7, Stephen points out that the religious leaders are always resisting Holy Spirit. They respond with rage and gnashing their teeth (Acts 7:54), and then they rush at Stephen while howling and covering their ears (Acts 7:57). I’m not sure how a person howls and grinds their teeth at the same time, but this sounds horrific. It’s like something straight out of an exorcism movie. This insanity is the full manifestation of the antichrist spirit, which is set on resisting and rebelling against Holy Spirit. It’s insane!

Look at what’s been occurring in the world around us. Can you identify any cases of confusion or insanity in our current culture or world events? We’re surrounded by confusion and insanity, even among people who call themselves Christians. It’s massively exacerbated by news and all forms of media. We turn to our preferred network to help clarify current events, but again… If it’s not Holy Spirit saturated, your network is actually part of the problem.

The church should be the headquarters of sanity —a refuge where people experience the presence, power, and peace of God. People grasping for sanity should be able to run into the church. But this is only true to the extent that we are surrendered to Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the source of sanity. We desperately need Holy Spirit! We need to be saturated in divine power, divine love, and divine sanity. Are we willing to be clothed in Him?

I think it’s great that the Wellspring young adults are always wearing shirts with Jesus themes. If they’re willing to wear those shirts, then they’re also willing to act like Him in public. A friend gave me a hat that says “Joyful Praise”. I don’t wear hats a lot, but I realized that when I wear that hat, I’m much more aware of my attitude because I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I don’t want the hat to be false advertising for my life. I want my actions and words to be in alignment with what’s written across my forehead.

Imagine for a moment that I’m choosing players for my basketball team. There are two guys wearing Mavericks jerseys, one is a fan and one is an actual player on the Mavericks. Which one do I pick? Athletes and fans can wear the same jerseys, but they don’t operate the same, do they? I don’t want to be just a Jesus fan in a Jesus jersey. I want to be on the court with Him. I want to be in the heavenly court with Him. If I’m going to wear Jesus, I better be surrendered to becoming like Jesus and led by His Spirit.

I believe that Father God is looking for a people who truly want to wear His Spirit. He’s looking for those who are done being oppressed, hateful, and insane victims of this world and who will repent from resisting His Spirit. Will we be all in and boldly wear His Spirit in public and in private? These are the people on whom He desires to pour out His Spirit of power, love, and sanity. He’s looking for the all-in, waiting 120 —who are done with double lives and just being jersey wearing Jesus fans. They are hungry and desperate and ready to surrender everything and be totally saturated and transformed. He’s looking for a people who are ready to continually carry His presence like a banner. Am I willing to be visibly clothed in Jesus all the time and everywhere? He’s not looking for a group of people who are crying out, “Lord, pour out Your Spirit so that I can wear Him for an hour or two on Sundays!”

This is a serious question that all of us have to stop, contemplate, and answer. Am I at that place of surrender and waiting, desperation and hunger? God is looking for surrendered hearts ready to be filled and clothed in Holy Spirit 24/7. Not religious performers, but people passionately pursuing true intimacy and transformation. It’s time to stop conforming to the world’s chaos and live empowered by the Spirit —operating continually in divine power, divine love, and divine sanity.

Seeking His face!
Matt