Rule or be Ruled (Radio / Podcast)

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

(Proverbs 25:28)

This verse parallels Proverbs 16:32. To be tossed about by every whim of emotion makes us vulnerable to attack, and we have no defense. If we cannot control our passions, like anger for instance, we cannot focus on resisting the enemy, and we become caught up in a world of self-induced slavery. If you cannot control yourself others will always control you. If everyone can push your buttons, perhaps you have too many. On the contrary, self-control is identified as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23).

It grieves me to hear of people who always have to “vent” their anger and frustrations. The truth is that you don’t have to vent if you’re already ventilated. Are you as a cool breeze or a hot house? Allowing your thought life to be controlled by expectations will lead to anger, for that is what unmet expectations engender.

We must keep on maturing in the ways of God; it ought to be the normative pattern. However, this is simply not happening in the Christian world today. It seems that the moment there is conflict and discord people toss off all religious pretence and go after each other with the same fervor and passion as the unregenerate, who don’t even claim Christ.

Satan will always go for the most vulnerable part he knows of. He will try and enflame the flesh, excite the passions, and arouse the emotions. If you have self-control you disarm the enemy. But people want to cry and say “woe is me” before they even let a situation play itself out. They immediately go into attention getting mode. However, the only prize that real life drama kings and queens win is the crown of self-pity.

We need to exercise self-control. Think about that; exercise, work it out, keep it in shape, don’t get used to letting go, but get trained to staying in control of your emotions. This doesn’t mean we need to be a stoic, a monk like robot with a steely stiff upper lip. No, emotions are God given gifts, they just need to be used properly and understood, not given into without any thought. We need to learn to process things before we “go off” about them. Yes things can hurt our feelings, but remember this: in the long run, what counts is not how you feel but how you deal.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Down in Your Gut (Radio / Podcast)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
(1 Peter 1:6-7)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
(1 Peter 4:12-13)

Q: What's the difference between 1 Peter 4:12-13 and 1 Peter 1:6-7? Is he talking about the same thing in both or are they two different types of trials? Is one like the sufferings you endure because you're a Christian and the other is trials to see if you really love God?

A: Excellent question!

Basically both are speaking of enduring persecution, but 1 Peter 1:6-7 is also talking about how suffering reveals the bottom line nature of your faith, that even through it is like fire your faith remains when tested. For some people and in some situations it may not just be one area of suffering and grief, but it can be like when everything seems to stink. You just want to give up, but you can't. Something at the bottom of your gut won't let you go; you just know that you believe no matter what. You can't get rid of it. That is the Holy Spirit working. That is your faith that has been given to you. Nothing can take it away. It can be shaken and you can be depressed, but you cannot let God of go completely...He has you and you have Him.

So the trial is not really about seeing if you really love God but how God proves to you that you have a love for Him, and you feel His love for you despite the fiery trial, and you are somehow filled with joy (vs.8). It is like our sermons, “A Fresh Touch” and “No Matter How Bad”, from Romans 5:1-6…we go through a difficult time and we get a fresh understanding, a renewed feeling, a touch of the love of God and for God.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Potion of Emotion (Radio / Podcast)

For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
(2 Peter 2:19 – ESV)

Our text is speaking primarily of individuals who dupe others, but we want to look at the idea that our feelings and emotions can do the same thing. They promise liberty, but they bring bondage, because if we let them lead, if we do not put them in their proper place, then we become enslaved to them (Romans 6:16). If we try and fly by our emotions, we are flying backward, by the seat of our pants. Have you ever made “an emotional decision” and how many times have you been “overcome with emotion”?

We are not denying your emotions. You have them, they are real, and everyone has them. We cannot give a prescription as simple as “keep a stiff upper lip”, or “just suck it up”, because emotions are not all bad. They are a powerful motivator and they explain a lot of things, but we often fail to process our emotions in a rational way, and we can get caught up in a whirlwind of emotional activity and make decisions we might not otherwise make if we were in a more controlled environment. Emotions are there to inform us, not to lead us. They inform us of how we feel about a situation, not about how we should deal with a situation.

Many times, however, we can be under the spell of an emotional potion and it poisons our thoughts to everything that would lead us in a right direction, and lead us to make good choices. Instead we are led to destructive behavior, and away from Christ. We must learn to rule over our emotions. Feelings can be good, they can help us in many ways, but feelings can be faithless, or misdirected. We can easily become spellbound by our own emotions if we do not learn to process them and put them in their place, using them instead of them using us.

A careless cocktail of fleeting feelings can become flaming feelings, and our addiction of choice if we continue to give in to them. Many times to entertain these thoughts is to yield to death (James 1:14-15 / Galatians 6:8). In Philippians 4:8, Paul tells us to direct our thoughts to right things. Romans 12:2 says that we are to turn ourselves over to God in order to renew our ways of thinking about things. Ephesians 4:22-24 confirms this and says we can put on a new way, a new man, one who is not like the old man, who was ruled by his emotions. Christ rules the new man. The new man is the new man of maturity.

Maturity is mastering your emotions. Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane showed Himself to be the master of maturity. He had emotions, for sure, but He said not my will but thine be done. How about you? You may have everything against you, but do you give up, or go on, are you ruled by your emotions or do you rule over them? Are you going to let some fleeting feeling gain ground and score a terrible touchdown on your home turf, or are you going to defend your mind and spit out the potion of emotion? Are you your own worst enemy? In your old man, yes you are, but are you going to put on the new man, or not? What clothes are you wearing? What scent are you giving off, the fragrant aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:16) that Christians are supposed to or the pungent potion of emotion, like the rest of the world?

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©