Have You Turned Your Life Over To God’s Control?
Good Morning Friends,
Some people need a personality transplant and no amount of hard work is going to make it happen. What I hope for them and myself when I am beset with the anguish of the world that I would like to blame on them, is to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in me, changing and making me into the kind of person God wants me to be. I need this and as best I can tell everyone does. I have found that the best thing I can do when confronted with the insanity of another person is to be sane myself. And that means becoming filled with His Spirit for only then will others will find in me reliability, trustworthiness, a power, and faithfulness that the world does not understand. When I have to confront the enemies of joy, the only way I have found to face them is to actively live and be guided by a life in the Spirit. And so the longer I live the more I realize that I am not running anything.
And those times I do try to influence situations I realize that I rule over nothing. The best I can do is be a servant and helper to others. When it comes to the topic of who is ruling….it is not me. But it is not always seem to be God either and that is a problem for we are human in need of the divine. Have You Turned Your Life Over To God’s Control?
Scripture: You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens. People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening. O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
Psalm 104:14-28 (NRSV)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Psalm 23 (NRSV)
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:16-26 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s Psalms are about God’s control in matters of His creation….about our relationship with God…our response to God’s nature, character, His plan, promises and love. Against that backdrop we look at the writings of Paul to the Galatians. In them we get to experience the very miracle of life and God’s signature on the things He claims. Here we learn about a paradise lost and restored…. about the reality that whatever we face in this world, we can trust Him and with this trust serve Him as well… Here we learn that when God’s work is being done in God’s way it will never lack supply…that God’s provision is always near… He is as near as the ram in the thicket on Mount Moriah was for Abraham…He is as near as Jesus on the cross at Calvary was for Mary and John. Be assured that God will provide for us today and tomorrow…that His abundant grace will give us all the things we need. But sometimes the provision will only come when we have put our emotions under God’s control. Only then can we respond with faith and love. The bar is pretty high. And if we are honest this can be a challenge for us as well. The motivation has to be restoration not judgment. Only then is the yoke easy.
Pray that we will see God’s signature on His creation. Pray that we be as trees, filled with the Spirit, strong and stable. Pray that God be the foundation and finisher of our faith. Pray that we feast in the fellowship of other believers meeting our physical, emotional, spiritual and communal needs and as His ambassadors to the world. Pray that we even sport in the fullness of God’s creation…that we rejoice in the reality that God causes this world to exist and will care for us in it as a Shepherd for His sheep. Pray we have power under control in our lives but it does not kill us in the process. Pray we realize how gentle God has been with us and how many times He could have condemned us. Pray He gently leads us so we too can be gentle with others. Pray we too begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Pray that in this harsh and painful world that Jesus would make a difference in our lives as He brings our tempers and our temperaments and our personalities under His control. Pray that when we are confronted with trials and tests that we would have faith in God’s faithfulness in our lives. Pray we allow the Spirit to work within us. Pray we have faith when going through a painful experience. Pray we keep pressing on in the face of difficulties. Pray our love hangs on to faith born of the Spirit. Pray we realize that nothing under God’s control is out of control.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 