Who has got your back?

I know these blogs are few and far between, but if anyone is still checking this out I have a revelation from God that could quite possibly be a great blessing to you. Actually it may not be a new revelation or even a deep one, but it could be just what the Lord wants to say to you at this time in your life. If you have a moment I encourage you to read on. The revelation has to do with control or more accurately who or what controls you. The world and everything and everyone in it has the ability to control you. Although most of these things are not alive, in a very real way they are vying for the right to control you. Your bed wants to control you (by causing you to not want to get out of it or by giving you a good nights sleep or a bad one). It is seeking to determine how you will act today (grumpy or joyful). The weather wants to control you, your body and its aches and pains want to control you, the stress or peace of your day, people and the way they treat you, your hair, your expectations - everything and everyone you encounter today has the power to control your attitude and whether or not you will have joy or anxiety, peace or stress, love or anger... The reality is that everything around you is able to be used by the enemy to steal a piece of you and subject you to its control.

The sobering truth is that you, on your own, are at the world's mercy. You can resist its control at various times, but it is coming at you from every angle and its onslaught is like a title wave that is too much to stand against - on your own. As most of you already know there is good news - Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). The question is how does His overcoming become ours? That is where the Lord has been dealing with me and who knows He may speak to you out of this as well. It all has to do with the fruit of His Spirit - specifically the fruit of self-control. As we are filled with the Spirit of God (not just once but over and over again through God's grace and our daily surrender), God gives us the ability to control our self. In other words we do not have to live at the mercy of the world and how we feel or at the mercy of the things that rise up within us when someone says or does something that irritates us. Through the Spirit of God we have the ability to determine who and what is in control of our lives. And that means (and this is the key to the whole thing) that the fruit of the Spirit of self-control, gives us the ability to give control of our lives to God alone.

Now please do not lose the profoundness of this thought, in its simplicity. As we yield our lives to the Spirit of God that has been made available to us through Jesus Christ, we have the power to determine who and what will be in control of our lives. In other words as Christians we can never blame anyone or anything for how we feel or how we respond. Through the Spirit of God, God has given us responsibility for our lives. We are responsible for our happiness, we are responsible for our actions, we are responsible, period! Never again can we ever blame anyone or anything for our actions, our words, our attitudes or whatever because we have been given self-control by God Himself. Self-control that enables us to give God control throughout our days (thank goodness God has also given us the ability to be forgiven when we don't give Him control).

As I was sharing this with a friend, he reminded me that Jesus exemplified this truth - especially in the garden of Gethsemane. The devil was seeking to gain control and even Jesus' own desires to not face the cross were seeking to take control. In the end Jesus Himself took control of the situation and gave it to God the Father when He spoke the words, "Your will be done." That is what I am talking about. Through the Spirit of God we have that same self-control.

Please know that this is about more than just making a decision to not let things or people irritate you. This is about relying on God's Spirit and living in the truth that God has given YOU the ability to control yourself and YOU the ability to intentionally surrender control of yourself and your life to God - every moment of every day.

Now the truth is that it is much more satisfying to our flesh to blame everyone and everything else for our attitudes and our problems. I have 53 years of experience to back up that statement. But in the end that is a miserable way to live. When you try to justify your actions because of everything that has happened to you, you only feel good for a while. Then bitterness and anger and hurt and hopelessness and a multitude of other things come in like a destructive flood and make a mess of your life. They can even come in while you are a Christian and while you are seeking to live your life for God.

God has something far better for us. Through His Spirit He has given you the ability to be in control - which means you can determine to live every moment under His control. That is where life is at. That is where you can live in the fullness of joy no matter what comes your way and no matter how people treat you. It is at that place that God has your back because you have given it to Him. Life does not get any better than that.

Be Blessed!!!