As believers, we are born of the Spirit, and we live in a physical world. God our Father has not left us in a bewildered state on how to survive, He equipped us with what we needed for a successful living, as spiritual beings in a physical world. We read in 2 Tim 1: 7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
In all our endeavours as spiritual beings in this physical world, these three gifts must be our litmus test. In our decision-making, in overcoming temptations and in all our actions, this litmus test of power, love, and sound mind must be proven.
In Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 12, we read “as many as received Christ, even to them that believe in Him, He gave power to be a son of God.” The power we have received of Christ is the power to function well and successfully as children of God so that our lives will reflect the glory of God. Our Lord Jesus manifested this power in the days of His flesh. Soon after His wilderness experience, where the devil tempted Him and was trying to challenge the Sonship of our Lord Jesus, the scripture accounted in Luke chapter 4 verse 14 that our Lord Jesus returned in “the power of the Spirit.” His Sonship was intact. Our Lord Jesus did not succumb to the temptations of lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life which the devil threw at Him. “It is written” was always His defence and affirmation. We, too, must declare loud to ourselves, and when temptations come that we are the redeemed of the LORD, that we are the children of the Most High. We must give vent to the spirit of sonship (children) in us. Like our Lord Jesus, any decision we make or any action step we take or about to take must not compromise our sonship. It is the power of the Spirit that God has given us in Christ Jesus. The will of God for us is clear. Anything that satisfies the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life and which compromises our sonship is not of God. This is a litmus test we must subject all our decisions and actions to. The scripture says in Mathew chapter 5: 16, “Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” This is the power that has been given to us to live successfully as new creation in Christ in this physical world.
Furthermore, our sonship demands that we honour God. “A son honours his father…” (Malachi 1: 6). To honour God, our Father is not to bring His name to any disrepute by our inconsistency. To honour God is also to be a living sacrifice both with our lips, in bringing Him sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving; and also by our lives by being dead to sin but alive in righteousness unto God.
In addition to affirming our sonship, this power also gives us capacity for good works that cause men to give glory to God. It affirms the supremacy of the kingdom that we belong to. Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 4: 20 that the kingdom we belong to is of power. We see the manifestation of this power in our Lord Jesus in the healing of the sick, in the raising of the dead, in casting out demons, in setting men at liberty from every oppression of the devil. Our Lord Jesus Himself confirmed in Mark chapter 16 verse 17 that: ” These signs (power) shall follow them that believe, in my Name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
How do we harness this awesome gift of power? We must be born again. We must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We must believe in our sonship of God the Father through faith in Christ, live by the word of God continually and shun the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life.
We have also been given the Spirit of love. Love is the fulfilment of the law. Romans 13: 10 reads: “Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law.” This is another litmus test that we must pass all our actions through. Our actions, choices, and so on must not compromise our moral uprightness. Our God is a holy and morally upright God. Therefore, we cannot but be like Him in all our actions and decisions. Our Lord Jesus gave us an understanding of love in John 14 verse 15. It is the fulfilment of the commandments towards God and also towards man. Our moral uprightness must be towards God and towards man. Whatever we do must uphold the greater good for all so that God our Heavenly Father is glorified. The greatest commandments upon which hangs all the laws and the prophets is summed up in this: “Thou shall love the LORD with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and thy strength: and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If we interspose ‘obedience to God’s commandments’ in place of love, in the two greatest commandments, we will see that God demands love towards Himself and towards man from us. What is the motive behind our actions and decisions? If it smacks of moral bankruptcy, it is not in the will of God.
Many believers wait on God unend wanting God to speak to them about what decision to take when God is waiting on them to sift the options before them with the sonship and moral uprightness principles. What He has given us, He wants us to put them to use prayerfully and with sincerity of heart. A lady who see some moral bankruptcy in a man and still wait on God to know if such a man is the will of God for her life because she sees some physical characteristics that she like in him, or out of pressure to fulfil social obligation is not being sincere. She might end up with some heartaches down the line and with strings of prayers for him that could have served her for something more beneficial. Our sonship and our moral uprightness must never be sacrificed or compromised for any outward social or physical temporary gain.
How do we harness this gift of love. The scripture says that God has shed His love abroad in our hearts by His Spirit (Romans 5:5), He has given us the capacity to keep His commandments, capacity to turn away from evil. If we follow obedience to His word and not the lust of our minds, we will not be ashamed in any of our actions or decisions. Our Lord Jesus demonstrated this in John chapter 11, where he was called that Lazarus, His friend whom He loved is sick. His action after this call demonstrated obedience to God rather than a rush of emotions. He has the power to heal, but He chose to obey God as He received from God. Our Lord Jesus was sensitive to God the Father, He relied not on Himself but on God always. By the demonstration of His obedience, God the Father was glorified, Lazarus was raised from the dead and our Lord Jesus was glorified and manifested as the Resurrection and the Life not only to the audience present but unto all who believe in Him. Additionally, Psalm 97 verse 10 says: ” Ye that love the LORD, hate evil.” To harness this power of love, we must also hate evil, which also includes not tolerating or compromising with evil.
Apostle Paul, in his letter to the body of Christ, gave some admonitions, not as a revelation from God but from sound judgement (sound mind ) that he has. In 1 Corinthians 7 verse 25, we read: “Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.” This is a gift every believer has of God, the Spirit of sound mind. We are to manifest the wisdom of the Just like Joseph in the interpreting of the dream of Pharaoh or like Daniel in the interpretation of the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar. God puts us in a trustworthy situation to be a guide, a go-to, a solution to our generation. Like Apostle Paul, like the tribe of Issachar, like Joseph and definitely like our Lord Jesus Christ, God gives us the Spirit of sound mind (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, sound discretion, expediency and fear of the LORD) to make us to be seen in the eyes of all men as trustworthy. It was said of our Lord Jesus that He taught with authority, not as the Scribes. We saw how by the Spirit of sound mind, our Lord Jesus was able to confound the Pharisees in all the questions posed to get Him into trouble or have ground to accuse Him. The Spirit of sound mind (sound judgement) is what God has given to every believer in Christ.
Our Lord Jesus manifested sound mind in chapter 11 of the gospel of John when He was messaged that his friend Lazarus was sick. Sound mind defers to God. It is not presumptuous. Sound mind is open and discern the still small voice of the Spirit and is obedient to it. This comes off from a relationship with God. In God, the Father’s declaration of: this is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased concerning our Lord Jesus, it affirms His Sonship and His moral uprightness as well as His connectedness with God. The result is that our Lord Jesus has a flow of inspiration of the LORD to know what to do in situations. This is sound mind. It is having the inspiration of the Almighty to know which way to go and what to do in every situation.
Our life must be a flow of all these, that is, power (sonship and good works), love (in obedience and hating evil) and sound mind (a continual stream of inspiration of the LORD). Our life is a manifestation of what we prepared for, like Daniel, like Joseph and like our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like a well is full of water, so our salvation is a well of power, love and sound mind, we must prepare our well so we can draw from the well of salvation that is ours.
Harnessing the Spirit of sound mind is where the work, for we must cultivate relationship with God the Father and here we must apply ourselves to prayer and diligent search (seeking after knowledge of the word of God) in addition to maintaining our integrity as sons and our moral uprightness.
How did Apostle Paul and other Apostles, Joseph, Daniel, and our Lord Jesus Christ harness this gift. We see in them all and the lives they lived that they had deep relationship with God and did not compromise their sonship and their moral uprightness. We cannot be negligent in these two foundational requirements and expect to be made trustworthy. The messenger is important to the message. Likewise, the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding we display is weighted on the platform of who we are and how men perceive us and our motives before we can be trusted and before God can make us trustworthy. There is a Spirit in man, and the inspiration (Spirit) of the Almighty gives understanding (Job 32: 8). The LORD is that Spirit that gives understanding, that gives sound mind, we cannot be bankrupt as a son or in moral uprightness and expect Him to vouchsafe us worthy of such gift which is a nature of His. We cannot cast God aside or cast His word behind us and expect to harness His wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel which are built on the foundation of fear (departure from evil, Proverbs16: 6) of the LORD.
Every decision made, every action, or step we take have consequences because it attracts equal measures of forces that are contiguent. If we base our decision, our choices on the foundations of the fear of God, ensuring that our sonship is not compromised by departing from every appearances of evil and by ensuring that our moral uprightness is not compromise by seeking the ultimate good in all situations out of a pure motive, the LORD will lead us and our choice or decision will attract corresponding contiguent forces of reward in wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel that will be for our ultimate good. Our heads are thus annointed, lifted above our fellows. Furthermore, our prayers become effectual and fervent because we attract more grace. Isaiah 43 verse 4 declares: “Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.” This is how precious and honoured every believer who upholds his sonship and moral uprightness is before God.
The dilemma of decision making, knowing which path to pursue is helped when we sift our options through the litmus test of sonship, moral uprightness and sound mind (insightful, discerning, expedient, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and Godly counsel). Are we pandering to the lust of the eyes or to the lust of the flesh and pride of life? Is our motive pure, do we seek our own end only, or does our choice bring more good and benefits to a greater number of people? Is our decision or action tainted with corruption, or does it command trustworthiness from God and man? These are critical outlooks in harnessing the gift of God to enhance our effectiveness as new creation in this perverse generation. If we are able to harness the spirit of power, love, and sound mind given us, it frees us from all encumberances, and we function optimally and successfully as new creation in Christ.
The invitation of God to us is open and for our ultimate good: “My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.” (Proverbs 23: 26). This is our safety net to the harnessing of our spiritual gifts of power, love, and sound mind.
