The Spirit God Gave Us

“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” [1]

She was a recent convert to Christ, and she was in tears when she phoned me. The lady was suffering from disquieting events that were occurring each night. Each evening after retiring to her bed, a malevolent presence would terrify her, filling her with a sense of overwhelming dread followed by loud knocking on the side of her house until she was forced to get out of bed and cower in the living room pleading for whatever it was to leave her alone. After several sleepless nights, she phoned, begging for help. “Mike, what can I do? What if my children are harmed? I’m terrified!”

Lynda and I visited this young convert to pray with her, to pronounce the peace of Christ on her and her family. I inquired about her past, seeking to discover why an apparent evil spirit would torment her. She revealed that a few years before, while still in her teen years, she had played with a Ouija board. She ceased using that board when she realized that some powerful entity appeared to take control of the board, responding to questions with revelations that no person could have known. I suggested then, and I still hold, that she had opened herself to the spirit world and that malicious spirits were now seizing that opening to torment her.

I informed this lady that sinister spirits will not easily relinquish power when they have begun their terrorizing. I encouraged her to remember that she was a follower of the Risen Christ and that the spirits were subject to His followers. Then, I urged her to memorize a Scripture that she was to recite whenever she became aware of that wicked entity that was tormenting her and her family. I urged her to memorize the words Paul penned in the text chosen for this day: “God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control” [2 TIMOTHY 1:7 CSB].

Later, this dear woman related that the entity did attempt to assail her peace that very evening. She commanded the spirit to leave her and her family alone, and she reminded the evil presence that she was a follower of the Risen Christ. Therefore, she claimed the power of God’s Spirit to vanquish the wicked one and his minions. She was never again tormented by such an evil presence.

What I recommended is not some magical incantation to be recited during times of stress, the verse is a reminder of who we are in Christ. It is a means of reminding the follower of the Christ that the Saviour has placed His Spirit in us, and that the power of the Risen Saviour is given to each one of His children. This is not power to do evil, nor is it some magical rite allowing us to amaze the world by performing miraculous deeds. God has entrusted to His people power to glorify His Name. And in glorifying His Name, we reveal His power at work in us. The Spirit of Christ lives in each redeemed individual, just as Jesus promised. He said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” [JOHN 14:16-17]. Child of God, meet the Holy Spirit.

WHAT KIND OF SPIRIT IS THIS? “God gave us a spirit.” On one occasion, Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a powerful storm swept down on them. The boat was being swamped by the waves, but Jesus slept on, unperturbed by the violence of the wind. At that moment, the disciples wakened Him, pleading with Him, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” Jesus’ response was not what they expected, for He first rebuked them, asking, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then, the Master stood in the face of the raging seas and the violence of the storm and with one word, “Hush!” the wind immediately ceased blowing and calm settled on the sea.

Having witnessed His power, the disciples were frightened. In their fear, they began to ask one another, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him” [MATTHEW 8:27; this incident is also recorded in MARK 4:36-41 and LUKE 8:22-25]? What sort of man is this, indeed! And what sort of Spirit does He give to those who follow Him? This is the question we must explore at this hour.

Let’s establish a truth that must be trumpeted to each follower of the Christ. When you came to faith in the Son of God, He placed His Spirit in you! Yes, the Spirit of God inhabits the church, which is the Body of Christ, but He lives in each believer.