THE THREE-FOLD SPIRITS AGAINST FEAR

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

Happy New Year! I am really excited to share what God has laid on my heart with you. I cannot begin to tell you the number of times this verse has popped up around me since I received this message. Paul wrote these words from prison to Timothy. I believe Timothy was in a season where he needed all the courage and determination to walk in his calling. Paul sent this to Timothy to remind him of what he possessed and needed to accomplish his assignment. When God opened my eyes to this message, I realised how much like Timothy, we also need to be reminded of the three-fold spirits’ power essential to combat the fear dominating our world.

I want to invite you to journey with me as we explore these three-fold spirits. We will experience what it means to have the spirit of power, the spirit of love, and the spirit of a sound mind. Whoever thought that a sound mind was a spirit, and if it’s a spirit, how is it operating in our lives? If love is a spirit, how is it influencing our relationships? How many of us currently feel like power is so far away from us? Well, as children of God, we have access to these three-fold spirits with the help of the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Jesus).

One of the fascinating things was that all these three spirits work together. You need the spirit of power to overcome the enemy’s works and accomplish your assignment. Once you are in purpose, the spirit of love will help you stay grounded to relate to people around you and make Christ known in your sphere of influence. Then finally, a sound mind is needed to excel. There is no place for worry with a sound mind, and whatever goes on around you do not faze you. A sound mind is sober and stays focus on the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 1:13 ESV).

“FEAR NOT” is said to have been mentioned about 365 times in the Bible. This is because fear is the only thing that can stop us from taking the next step. God has given us three different spirits to overcome just one spirit of fear. Can you imagine it? Every day of our lives, the spirit of fear is being defeated.

Spirit of Power

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19 KJV

Jesus has given us the power to overcome the enemy’s works, and we need this power to move against the mountains and trials we face daily in our lives. There is power available to you to do whatever seems impossible to you and accomplish anything God has set before you. When we don’t know what we possess, our external forces govern what happens to us. However, as spiritual beings, if our spirits connect with the Spirit of God, we can freely access the spirit of power, and the power will be activated in our lives. You may have, more often than not, wake up feeling worn out and weary and wishing for all the power in the world to make it through another day, but Jesus said He has already given you power. You have this power lying dormant inside you, and it’s waiting for you to tap into it with your faith, so it will spring into action and get to work on your behalf.

This reminds me of Samson’s last days when he finally connected with the power in him; the Bible said he killed more people than he did his whole life. Well, you are not going to kill anyone, but imagine what changes will be made in your life if you switched this power on in your workplace, community, relationships and family. God gave us this power because He knows that we will need it to walk this journey, but if we are not utilising it, we are doing ourselves and the world around us a disservice. Set your power on fire and see how far it burns away the obstacles and frustrations standing in your way of progress. With this power, you can speak against your mountains, you can speak into situations, and God will equip you for your assignment. I believe this is the same power that came over David, that made him go against a giant with a slingshot and five smooth stones. This is mind-blowing and physically does not make sense, and that’s why people were sneering at him, and even Goliath got offended by him. But spiritually, he had tapped into the spirit of power. He remembered how prior; God had empowered him to rip apart a lion and a bear, and so to him, Goliath was just another lion/bear. Everyone else was blinded to this power, and so understandably, they were all terrified of this giant, but David ran up to the giant and defeated him with one stone.

David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.” 1 Samuel 17:45-47 GNB

The Name of God has power, the power to heal and the power to conquer. Right in your hands and in your mouth is the power to change your situation. As a child of God and with Jesus as your Saviour, you have the power of God right in you. When you feel down in your spirit, and you are physically overwhelmed, take a breather and allow God to breathe on you afresh and activate the power that He’s already deposited inside you. With you armed with power from on high, you can begin to move in faith and agreement with God and speak into whatever you are facing. With God on our side, there is nothing that stands against us. So, let the spirit of power come alive in you.

Spirit of love

Whoever thought love was a spirit. Love is the most overrated word that ever existed. We love ice cream, love our pets, love people, and love all things, but what really is love?

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:7-10 NLT

God symbolises love. God’s love knows no bounds, and it flows through our veins. The very essence of our being was founded on His love. His love is sacrificial. He sent His only Son to redeem us from sin. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will lay down His life for the sheep. He will leave the 99 to chase after the 1. Now with everything going on around us, it can be hard to find enough love for yourself and others. But I want to remind you that God so loves you, and God pours His love on you. Before you were born, He chose you, and He set you apart for His glory (Colossians 3:12 NIV). As God’s beloved child, His love rests deep down inside you; you only have to reach out and grab it. Whenever you feel empty, and you feel unloved, make room for God to open your heart, and He will show you how much love He has for you, and His love will start overflowing in your heart and spill into people all around you.

God is love, and His love abounds in our lives, and His love drives everything He does. Every time you wake up with a fresh breath that is the spirit of love flowing into you from your Heavenly Father. With so much sorrow and darkness out there and so many reasons for us not to feel loved and pour our love on people, access to the spirit of love in our lives helps us feel the love of God and also love others. God has given you enough love for yourself and the people in your life (1 Thessalonians 3:12 NIV). In this season, more than ever, what we need to wake up to, to have smiles on our faces, is to have love overflowing in our heart. Tap into the spirit of love and let it pour out of you to people.

Spirit of a sound mind

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 NLT

We need a sound mind in this season. Our minds are in constant battle, and it may seem like a battlefield on some days. Our minds wander around and think of all the crazy thoughts that are so unhealthy for us. Well, I know that I must keep my mind on a constant leash; otherwise, it just runs wild if set loose. Let me pose this to you if people around you could have a sneak peek into your mind, what would they be bashed with? (Philippians 4:6-8 NLT)

Paul is telling us that God’s peace will keep our minds safe in Christ, and as a child of God, you have the sound mind of Christ. You can tell your mind to be still and submit to the authority of God (2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV). Otherwise, if you do not hold on to a sound mind, the devil has so many things planned for your mind. Have you ever wondered why it’s so easy for your mind to think worse thoughts? Yes, that is the devil busy at work; if we leave our minds free, he fills it up with all the chaos of this world. We have to be intentional about filling our minds with good thoughts (Philippians 4:8 NLT). Remember, only you have the power to determine what goes on inside your mind, and so be still and rested in God as His peace keeps you (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV).

Now from today, we will take a stand for ourselves and hold on to the spirit of a sound mind. I encourage you to decide that when you feel your mind wandering into negative territories, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, you will command the spirit of a sound mind to be activated in your life, and you will speak truth to yourself (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). God does not desire for your mind to be wandering around frustrated. His desire is for your mind to be still and focused on Him, so hold on to the spirit of a sound mind.

Prayer

I speak the spirit of power, the spirit of love and the spirit of a sound mind into you in the name of Jesus. I pray that even as you take hold of these three spirits, you will be able to fight against this demonic spirit of fear that is raving around the world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, hold on to power, love and a sound mind and fight against anything that speaks against any of these truths in the name of Jesus. I pray that the love of God will overflow in your heart and silence every form of fear. His perfect love cast out fear and set us free to be who He created us to be (1 John 4:18 NKJV). Allow the spirit of power to rule in your life, allow the spirit of love to influence how you relate to people around you and allow the spirit of a sound mind to guide how you make decisions in your world in the name of Jesus. Amen!

May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!