God's Type of Life

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7Close2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (NKJV)

Ever since my recent valley of death medical experiences, I have become additionally interested in what it is to be alive. I also have wanted to understand God’s type of life.

My second-birth birthday party happened after my Sunday school class, when I was seven years old. Mrs. Smithers, my teacher, prayed with me after telling me about Jesus and I was born again. I was so happy that on my way home I felt as if I was walking on a cloud. I had received heart-lifting joy. Years later, I learned I had also been given valuable gifts.

I learned that the Holy Spirit is the distributor of God’s gifts:

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, ...” James 1:17CloseJames 1:17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.* He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.* OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (NKJV)

The Spirit is the chosen executor of Almighty God’s will. The Father is the planner, the Son is the revealer, and the Spirit is the distributor.

“... no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11Close1 Corinthians 2:11 No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)  (NKJV)

Having been “given” a gift doesn’t necessarily mean the gift will be used. Most gifts soon lose their importance if they aren’t a regular part of life.

A Type of Person

If we desire to live God’s type of life we should choose: brave, powerful, loving, and sound-minded (the 2 Timothy 1:7Close2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) life). Each of God’s children is given, at the moment of their second birth, a reflection of God’s type of life: God is all-powerful; He is love; He is in control.  A born-again person can live out God’s type of life by yielding through supplication prayers to Almighty God. The Spirit of God lives inside the fabric of a born-again personality and desires to be asked to take control.

This troubled world needs God’s children to radiate the divine qualities they have living inside them. Each day we are permitted to live is because He wants us to share His power, love, and sound mind. Every believer is a short-term missionary.

The Valley of Death

Hopefully, before we take our final walk through the Valley of Death, we will have matured into becoming what our Father gave us the day we took Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the 2 Tim. 1:7 life. Growing into a Spirit-controlled Christian; we will become a successful Christian. By yielding to the Spirit of God a believer experiences what they were changed into, a new creature.

The Testimony of a Former Zombie

Having been zombies, or dead men walking, you "were dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:1CloseEphesians 2:1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) (NKJV) God’s children can now choose to either live energized by the Holy Spirit’s life: power, love, and sound-mind/self-control, or fall back into being controlled by their flesh. Galatians 5:16-25CloseGalatians 5:16-25 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) reveals the identities of the Spirit and the flesh and how they are constantly at war with each other.

What We Need to Do

Not approaching God in supplicatory prayer, which asks for His life to flow through us, produces an imitation of God’s type of life. (The flesh guarantees this.) Power will have the lusts-of-the-flesh flavor which will include wrath. Love will have a rotting smell to it as we seek for love in all the wrong places. Self-control will have fleshly selfishness coloring its fabric. 

Pray today to be controlled by the Spirit of God and the power, love, and sound mind you received at your best birthday party.

Copyright © 2017 Bob Segress, Ph.D. Used by permission.