The Tyranny of Control

"Control Freaks" develop this habit out of fear and a desire to stay safe. They were deeply wounded at one time by physical, verbal and mental abuse. They were not given a "say-so" in the decisions made that affected their life.

Therefore, they decided to take control as soon as they got older. Now they are hyper-vigilant and over-reacting in their approach to life. They believe that "their" way is the only safe way; and therefore, the best way to do things and to make decisions.

They vehemently fight against anyone or thing that threatens their carefully choreographed routine in life. They hide behind anger in order to stay in control and to feel safe.

Most wounded people will adopt a mindset of attempting to control everything about the people in their life too - even when another's decisions have no real effect on their life.

Our only hope of salvation from this demonic plague of fear, self-preservation and control is to realize that God has a perfect plan for our life. No matter what terrors we experience, God is with us in the midst of them, and worthy of all of our praise.

We can trust God with our life. No matter what terrors we experience, God is with us in the midst of them. His presence sustains us and provides for us. He is worthy of all of our praise.

With our confidence in God's faithfulness, we speak up only when someone's decision has an immediate bearing on our life, and we allow others reap the consequences of their own decisions. We mind our own business and pray for others.

We have our confidence in God alone, and that gives us peace and calm regardless of circumstances. We never insist on our own way, but we do insist on finding a Plan C when we and the significant people in our life cannot agree on their Plan A or our Plan B.

If they are unwilling to compromise their plans with us, then we give them the freedom to make their decisions; but then we prayerfully and calmly make our own decisions in order to keep our self safe from reaping the consequences of their decisions.

God has a perfect will for our life. We find it by praying without ceasing; we walk in it by walking in the Spirit, so we do not succumb to the idiosyncrasies and neurosis of our flesh (Galatians 5:15-25); and then, we reap the rewards of a life, which is faithful to His love and His will.

Prayer:

Father God, it is not natural for us humans to obey You or to rely on You from the depth of our heart. Our emotions are fickle and shallow at best. Yet, if we obey Your Biblical mandates, we prove that we love You and are willing to walk in Your ways.

If we surrender our will, desires, dreams and goals to Your Spirit's direction, and live in Your will each moment of our day, we live a fulfilled, spiritual and successful life. We will prosper mentally, emotionally, financially and physically as well (John 14:15).

Thought for the Day:

There is healing from this unresolved trauma in the presence of God and our Savior Jesus Christ; this world is dysfunctional and trials are inescapable, but surrendering the pain of the past to the Trinity for healing is the only way to get completely free from its tyranny in our life.

God-Given Emotions

 

Many people condemn emotions. These individuals focus more on their thoughts and put strict controls over their emotions. They do not trust emotions or emotional people.

The chances are that they were severely wounded by an emotional person in their past, or had a stoic person as their role model. They exalt the mind and censure the emotions.

The Beatitudes reveal to us that God has and expresses emotions (Matthew 5:1-12). For instance, He is angry with and hates the wicked and prideful as well as those who practice and teach iniquity (Psalm 5:5).

He has compassion on the oppressed (Psalm 7:11; Judges 2:18); jealousy over His people (Exodus 20:5); calms us with His love; and rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

God grieves when we make unwise choices, which bring us harm and cause us to reap negative consequences (Psalm 78:40; Genesis 6:6). He also personifies love in the person of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:8).

Our Creator gave us emotions, as well as a mind in order to make balanced choices with our life. The Holy Spirit-controlled temperament provides us with perfect stability of mind and emotions.

We do not have to live as pseudo-intellectuals nor do we need to indulge in negative emotions all the time. We can get in touch with our feelings and use our emotions to express our innermost thoughts.

Prayer:

Father God, You made us with an intricate human body that works together like finely tuned clockworks. You also gave us a soul that expresses itself through our body and emotions. Our eyes are the windows of our soul and often reveal what we are feeling and thinking. You call on us to maintain a healthy body, soul and spirit each day of our life (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Yet, we often ignore the needs of all three of these entities by not exercising, skipping meals and not hydrating; as well as making poor choices for our life, and ignoring or stuffing our emotions (Proverbs 14:30). Remind us that it is possible to feel negative emotions, to express them without sinning, and to find healing for them (Ephesians 4:26; Genesis 4:6-7). Teach us to find a balance between our soul and spirit. Please restore our soul when life attempts to crush us (Psalm 23:3).

Thought for the Day:

God made us as triune beings: body, soul and spirit; our soul consists of our feelings, choices and thoughts; and we can walk in God's Spirit and stay in perfect balance with all three. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Genesis 2:7; Galatians 5:16

        

Christ, Our Solid Rock

The power of prayer girding every circumstance in our life is laid on a foundation of the solid Rock of Christ and His sacrifice in our life. This solid bedrock supports us with both positive and negative experiences from our past. God used these incidents in our life to add to the emotional and mental framework of the house the Lord is building in our life.

Negative emotions are worm-riddled planks, which give our house an insecure structure. God replaces that rotting wood with His Truth about a situation. He may not use a Bible verse, but He will speak an impression in our spirit that is biblical and that we know is from Him. We renounce Satan's lies about this issue and renew our mind with God's Truth.

This frees us to forgive any person who harmed or wounded us in any way. The negative emotions, which plague us - especially people with a melancholy personality, are slowly replaced with thoughts that are factual, gracious, accurate, holy, divine, admirable and commendable. We focus on what we know is true about Christ in us, and His life in other Christians.

Then the peace of God will fill every corner of the new house, which God is building with our life (Philippians 4:7-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17). These new planks, these strong and solid Truths, add to our firm foundation of prayer and God's presence in our life. Focusing on the Truths of God's Word calms our fears, builds up our confidence in Christ within us (Colossians 1:27, 3:1-4; Galatians 2:20), and releases His power in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Prayer:

Father God, with our eyes focused solely on You and Your Word, we realize that regardless of the battles we experience in our world, You already overcame them all through the blood of Christ. You are working out everything, even negative circumstances, for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Help us to rely on You, rather than in worldly wisdom and strength, to fight our battles. For You are our mighty stronghold (Psalm 18:2). Remind us that Jesus is our firm foundation and nothing and no one can shake us out of Your hand (Romans 8:35-39). Regardless of the negative activity around us, we remain peaceful and calm within, with trust and hope in You alone (Psalm 62:5; Isaiah 26:3).

Thought for the Day:

Do not be afraid or discouraged by the negative activity and thoughts in your life, no matter how overwhelming they are; because there is greater power in us through Christ, who helps us to fight our battles, than the power of the flesh, the world or the devil combined. - 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

For help with a wounded past go to:

( www.theophostic.com )

Living Moment by Moment

 

In our quest for more intimacy with God, we spend time each day by sitting quietly in our prayer closet and listening to the voice of our Beloved Lord. If we fail to spend time alone (all-one) with God in physical quietude as well as silence, we will never hear Him in the midst of the chaos and noisy activity of our day. In our quiet time, we can also write in our journal all the words of wisdom, which God gives us about our day, life, relationships and duties. We also write down praises and prayer requests.

We also seek God during our quiet time for His to-do list for our day, which helps in prioritizing our activities (Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:3). This is why a daily quiet time of praise, devotion, and meditation in God’s Word is so important. We encounter God on a personal level. As we emerge from our quiet time, we do not leave Him behind. We stay in His presence. All through the day, we radiate joy, and walk in His calm peace, even in the midst of difficulties. In this union with our Father, we realize the extent of His love for us as His unique child.

As we leave our secret place, we pay attention to what we see and hear in each moment of time. So often, people function in the present moment on automatic pilot! Usually, our thoughts are either on the past or on the future. Neither of those topics is very useful for the present moment. The trauma of the past and the fear of the future have no place in the present moment (Psalm 22:8). Once we repent, we are saved. The past is over and forgiven, therefore, dwelling on it only hinders the present. We are not promised a future; so dwelling on the future is also futile. God’s gift to us is the present moment. 

As we remain in His presence all day long, God removes our shame for past failures and assures us that we have no worries about the future. We are safe and secure in His arms in this present moment, even if the circumstances around us are full of turmoil and conflict. God makes all things work together for our good, even if we experience something unpleasant (Romans 8:28). As we dwell in the moment, we become increasingly conscious of our union with God through Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:3).

By living in the moment, we practice paying attention to the here and now. The key is to concentrate on what is happening to you now in this very present second. It is through this attentiveness to what is actually going on around us, that we become completely aware and fully alive. We also become more effective in ministry, because we are in tune with God’s Spirit moment by moment. His awesome presence permeates our being as we learn to consciously live each moment by faith in His love (Matthew 6:25-34).

God did not put us on earth to amass worldly goods, but to be His vessel from which He can change our world. We serve as a lifeline to all those around us. Proficiency in using God’s Word is not a prerequisite for helping others in their walk with the Lord. We just need to be willing for God to use us. When the Holy Spirit leads us moment by moment throughout our day, we truly make a difference.

We will exercise when the Spirit leads us, in the manner in which we need, in order to be physically fit. We also eat what He guides us to eat, resulting in physical fulfillment. We will become fulfilled spiritually by what He directs us to read during our devotion, and by the church to which He leads us to make a covenant. He helps us to minister to people and to be ministered to by people according to His timely schedule, and here we find our physical, emotional and spiritual fulfillment.

What we do with each moment of our day is our choice and our gift back to God. As we give our prayerful attention to the moment as God gives it to us to enjoy, we are aware of God’s presence in our lives. This allows us to follow the leading of His Holy Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. If you think about it, in actuality the present moment is all we really have. God leads us to make the most of each minute for His glory.

Prayer:
Father God, the problem we often have with living in the present moment is that we are hurt by the past and fearful of the future (1 Peter 4:19). As we cast our concerns on You (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7), You deal with the painful parts of our past. You often even lead us to a counselor who functions in the ministry of inner healing. You also help us to begin the process of relinquishing our fears and entering into Your rest (Hebrews 4:10). As we focus on Your Word and meditate on those You bring to our mind during the day, we find our peace restored (Philippians 4:5-7).

Thought for the Day:

Without faith, it is impossible to please God; therefore, as we come to God, let us believe that He is the Almighty, and that He wants to reward everyone who diligently seeks Him. - Hebrews 11:6

I Give Up!

Trying to control life puts a tremendous amount of pressure on us. We strive for perfection and insist on everyone around us doing so as well. We suffer mentally, emotionally and physically because we try to hold everything together by our own self-effort. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. We think that it is up to us to keep us and our loved ones safe.

This launches us into a lifestyle of controlling.

Our dependency on anything other than God - addictions, people, places, jobs, things, pets, etc - puts us into bondage to them. When we are overly attached to these things, we give them permission to brandish inordinate power over our life. Every person who ever lived has some form of dysfunction. There are no perfect human beings; that also means that there are no perfect parents and no perfect children. Jesus Christ holds the patent on perfection.

Trying to control people and events usually produces the opposite effect of what we want. Chaos reigns, because people rebel against our need to control. God’s love produces freedom. It is only as we surrender the complete control of our life to Him that we can walk in freedom, peace and joy. Admitting that we are powerless and that we need a Savior is the first step toward healing. The Bible pleads with us to LET GOD BE GOD in our life.

When we are Born Again, God does not take away our free will. He simply asks us to surrender our will to His. God knew all about our life before the foundation of the world (Jeremiah 1:5). He sees the pitfalls and He knows the joys He prepared for each of us. Only as we surrender our will to His, can we know the true riches of life on this earth (Romans 8: 28; Jeremiah 29:11). God wants us to completely surrender our will and to be vulnerable before Him so that He can provide us with abundant blessings.

Surrender is the doorway to freedom. It is a state of brokenness, of total dependence upon God, of receiving God’s forgiveness and of having a personal, daily relationship with our living Lord Jesus Christ. When we surrender to God, we say, “Go ahead, Lord, and have Your way with me.” We allow Him to break our pride and our self-reliance. We put our life into His capable hands. Then, He recreates us into the person He intends for us to be, free of emotional pain and shame and equipped to serve Him in His chosen ministry for us. 

We cannot change people or circumstances, but God can. The key to surrender is to believe that the power of God can truly overcome any person or circumstance in our life. We also give His Spirit permission to replace our negative characteristics with His Fruit during the process of Sanctification (Galatians 5:22-23). Then, He reveals our faulty beliefs to us one at a time and produces in us both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13).

“Dying to self” (Matthew 16:24) does not mean to diminish our God given identity, personality, needs or giftedness. It is simply allowing God to replace our old, carnal sinful nature with His Godly nature. We surrender our will to God, in order for Him to direct us according to His will (Titus 3:3-7; Romans 6:6; Galatians 2: 20; 2 Corinthians 12: 9). We echo Jesus’ prayer, "Father, …not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we are the strongest when we are weak (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When we stop trying to control life and give You control of our life instead, we allow You to provide for and to protect us. Your mighty power starts working in and through us, and You accomplish infinitely more than we could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3: 20). Life is chaotic when “self” is on the throne, directing us. However, our life is peaceful and calm when You are on the throne. Help us to daily take up our cross and surrender our life to You.

Thought for the Day:

We live and walk in true serenity, if Jesus is on the throne of our life.