Good morning beautiful people, I trust the weekend was great. Yeah mine was, thanks to an amazing service and a lackluster but 3 point securing performance from my team. So we continue with the Character Series today, I hope you’re not bored yet? because we still have a long way to go. I mentioned in the last post that I would be sharing a very powerful secret on how we can control our emotions as believers. I’ve tagged today’s post “Hearts Follow Treasures”. One major mistake a lot of believers make is that they expect the Holy Spirit to just super impose His virtues on them with little or no effort on their part, that won’t work. Another dangerous extreme is that some expect to be good and all virtuous with little or no help from the Holy Spirit, that’s even worse. The way forward however is found in the balance between The Grace of God and The Faith of Man. Salvation is never without these two powerful components. God’s Grace is not potent enough to make EVERYONE actually saved, else we’d all be saved. It’s however more than enough supply for the world’s salvation… Potentially. Man’s Faith isn’t enough to save himself either, except it is hinged on the Grace of God. So for there to be any real salvation going on, there’s got to be a balance of God’s Grace and Man’s Faith.
Eph 2:8(KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
God’s Grace is the active force that produces salvation, but however passive, man’s reception of this Grace determines whether the man becomes saved or not. So enough of casting off our responsibility on the Holy Spirit to just sort of possess us and make us perfect overnight, it won’t happen that way. He is a gentle man. And enough of having some “he’s got the whole world in his hands” attitude thinking you can do “good” all by yourself, that’d sure land you in more trouble. So how does God expect us to have control over our emotions and desires? Here’s the secret. God created a work flow for desires, it’s more like a law that can not possibly fail. The same way you don’t pray and hope a piece of chalk falls back to the ground when it’s thrown up, it’s 100% certain it would drop back to the ground. When it comes to desires as well, same is true… If you apply the law I’m about to explain to you, you can always trust God to never lose your cool, to never get webbed into an emotional entanglement, to always be in control of your emotions.
Matt 24:28(KJV) For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Now right there is the principle, the carcass doesn’t follow the eagles, the eagles go where the carcass can be found. So when you put your carcass in the right place, the eagles will follow almost automatically without effort. The eagle is a very strong animal, much stronger than many wild animals we know. It’s known for its giant claws, huge feathers and night piercing vision. It’s a symbol of strength and vision, it’s almost unstoppable when you find it in its strides. But as powerful as the eagle is, something sure dictates where you can find it. It seems independently powerful until there’s an aroma of carcass around and then you’d ‘realise the eagle is only as strong as its sense of smell. No matter how much credit you may want give to your flesh that wants to just “express” itself, you must understand that it always follows your line of thoughts. People say cravings, just like an eagle can be very strong and compelling at that. The crave for sex, food, sleep and that nagging crave to just give someone the piece of your mind… Just be careful with that benevolent act of yours, else in no time you’d be left with no mind at all. Desires follow thoughts! You CAN’T be tempted to do something you’ve never given a thought to. The way eagles follow the carcass, your desires follow your thoughts.
Luke 12:34(KJV) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Many people get this the wrong way… They believe something like where your heart is, there your treasure will be. As much as both seem to sound and mean alike they are not. One follows the other, not the other way around. Your desires are connected to and follow your thoughts not vice versa, if you haven’t thought about it, you couldn’t desire it. So here’s the deal, simple but profound… Keep your thoughts in the right place, and your desires will straighten up. What are your treasures? For me I believe our most precious treasure is TIME, that’s actually all we have in life, that’s why we call it LIFETIME. Where does your time go? what do you invest it doing? Well someone might say, I have to love something before spending my time doing it, but I say, spend your time doing something and you’d be shocked how much you’d get to love it. Same principle applies in relationships, your time thoughts towards your partner determines how much in love you will be with him/her. Love doesn’t just jump on people, good time investment is what produces lasting love. Spend your time in the Word, and your love for the Word will really increase. Reduce your time in front of the tv and other screens and watch how your appetite for entertainment (which actually means “without thinking”) will dwindle. You want to control your emotions, that is your feelings, then you must control your thoughts and where it can be found. Let your thoughts be found in the Word always and before long you’d have to really try hard to remember the last time you fused over an issue. The Word is almost like a tranquilizer, it just calms you.
Col 3:16(KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
You were not designed to be overtaken by your emotions and carnal desires, you were designed to dominate them. Enough of blaming all your past mistakes on the feelings of the moment. Stop regretting your errors but take charge of your tomorrow. You can be in charge of how you feel. Isn’t it cool to not be dominated by sin and its desires? Isn’t it cool to be able to say NO to sins like fornication, anger, gluttony, etc and walk away feeling all awesome for reinforcing your new nature as a believer? It sure feels great, but it won’t happen overnight. Put your treasures in the right place and your heart will come running down there EVERYTIME! Have a beautiful week ahead.
Gal 5:22-23(NHEB) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulnelss, 23 gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. Against such things there is no law.
