DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: 1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
I’ll speak for myself on the subject matter. I know how hard it is for me to stay focused and faithful when things are seemingly all out of whack. If I have a marital situation that I don’t like, my feelings start to deceive me in the actions I should take to remedy my problem. If I get overly upset and it turns to anger, I lose my self-control and allow my feelings to take over control of how I think I’m supposed to react. The worst part about it all is that I’m not even alert to the fact that I’m just opening the door up for the devil to come in, snatch me up and drag me away to tear me apart.
The reality is that I believe we all get sucked into this mindset in one area of our lives or another. Not every person will have the same issue that is their vice but I truly believe we have the same culprit that ultimately leads us all astray. The assailant is our feelings. Very masterful in their attack but even more unsuspecting than any enemy we’ve ever faced. Our feelings can and will destroy us if we aren’t mindful of them or keep them in check. Unfortunately, a lack of keeping them reined is equal to allowing the devil full access into your life. Feelings are like that neutral playground of our make-up. They are pretty much able to be used by whoever has control over them. If you don’t believe, think about this for a moment (remember, I’ve never met any of you but I believe I’ll hit every one of you)….. let’s say you’ve made your life commitment to God and the teachings of Jesus or if you want let’s say you’ve NEVER made Jesus the Lord of your life and you’re just living the way you want to; your being your normal, natural self that you’ve grown up into. Now someone hurts your feeling; either they let you down, mistreated you, destroyed the trust you gave them, lied on you or about you, they cheated you, they pitted people against you, they disgraced you or your family, or they simple just never cared about you. How do these instances sit with you in your life? I believe immediately go into how we “feel”! The problem with this is when we’ve given control over to our humanistic feelings, we give the devil free reign over how we’re going to feel and act because of those feelings. When we take control of our feelings, we are able to freely give access to God to control our feelings and the actions that spawn from that release. The reason God is able to control our feelings now is because we have died to our old selves….remember! We have accepted the royal, spiritual clothes of kingly brotherhood; the blood of Christ that calls us to be conformed no longer to the ways of this world. Jesus should now be in control of your life because your old self is dead. You are a new creation in Christ and because of that; God should now be in control of everything that you do! Feelings included!
We must remember that not everyone will give themselves over to Jesus – so who will be in control of their feelings? You may think that you’re in control of your feelings but in actuality you’re just a pone being used. We all are. The idea of control is just that, the idea. The look of it suggests that we are in control but the reality is that we are controlled to act or feel a certain way by whoever has the control in our lives. You can think of all the times you said to yourself, “why did I do that” or “I don’t know why I can’t stop doing….” It’s not that you’re in control or out of control; it may just be that you’ve given the control to the wrong entity. Your actions are absolutely and undoubtedly going to display who is in control of your life. It will either be God or it will be the devil – who will you allow you feelings to be used by?
Today, we pray that we’ve presented what everyone goes through. We pray that we each get on the same accord with not reacting in a way that gives the devil a handle on our lives but that we remain solid in our faith in God to move us as he would desire. The display of God being in control of our lives and feelings will look like self-control and being aware of how you’re feeling. When you’re outside of what God wants you to feel or do, let’s get back in line with what he wants and release the controls to him once again. Stay rooted in God; allow his feelings to make you into his image or you can let the feeling of the devil rule in your life…. We hope and pray you let God. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!