Who Controls You?

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 9)

This morning I want to teach you a practical principle.  Let me begin with a question.  Is Jesus the LORD of your life?  To know Jesus as your Lord is to know that you are not in control of anything--He is.  And in order for Him to be in full control of you, you must live in a perpetual state of surrender. Moving from knowing Jesus as your Savior to knowing Him as both Savior and Lord requires a shift in your mindset.  You must begin to consider, over and over, that you are no longer in charge of your life; He is in control of it...every moment and aspect  of your today and everyday!

"Jesus will never be the Lord  of the lost in this world because they have yet to receive Him as their Savior.  We believers tend to accept and know Him readily as our Savior, yet we struggle to allow Him to be Lord.  Quite often the only real difference between the lost and the saved is that we believe that Jesus died to save us.  Most of us do not know Him as Lord  any more than the world does.  We only seem to know that He is supposed to be our Lord.  In actuality, for Him to be Lord, we have to live life surrendered to Him.  That will require us to crucify our desire to be in control of everything in our lives."

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Romans 12: 1-2)

"By looking at the Greek definitions of a couple of phrases (one today and one in tomorrow's blog) from Romans 12:1-2, we see a critical step in the walk of every believer.  The true rendering of the phrase 'present yourselves' is this:  a presenting and a yielding of your whole self.  Now let me ask you [another] important question.  Were you fully surrendered at the time of your salvation?  If you are like me, the answer is a resounding 'no!'  Jesus did not become the Lord  of everything in my life the moment I was saved.  He was both capable of and available to be that, but on the day that I was saved, I only surrendered to Him as my Savior.  I had no understanding of what it meant to know Jesus as my Lord,  my Master, as the one in full control of me."

Is that your testimony as well?  Then we must find motivation in our spiritual journey to discover the place where Jesus is Lord of us. That motivation can only be found and realized as we begin to truly know that Jesus is to be in full control of us, and respond to that by fully surrendering to Him.

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 6

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Day 6:  Simeon  (Luke 2: 25-35)

How long Simeon had waited.  For his whole life he had been waiting!  In his wait he had been transformed into a holy man.  Two words described him accurately—righteous and devout.

Many years had been spent learning as much about his God as was humanly possible.  He never missed going to temple, where he sat under great scholars who interpreted the Scripture in a way that he could understand.  Simeon had learned so much through the ancient fathers of the promise, and the prophets’ words had taught him to be watching constantly for Israel’s consolation—the Holy One, the Messiah.  Because of his deep longing for God and his desire to know Him, Simeon had found favor with God, a favor that not many men had experienced.  This favor had produced a Power working in his life that he didn’t completely understand, but he had certainly learned to depend on it.  This Power had clearly spoken to him a message of hope—that he would not die until he had seen with his own eyes the very Messiah he knew was coming.  From that day on, Simeon’s hope in seeing Messiah was the foundation of all that his life entailed.  It was his only focus.

One day that same Power urged him with great persuasion to go immediately to the temple.  Long ago Simeon had learned to obey that powerful inner Voice, and he made haste to go to the temple at once.  Upon arriving, he contemplated the message of the Voice.  Why was it so necessary for him to be at the temple right now?  Anticipation filled him as he waited for God’s revelation on the matter.  And then the most  amazing thing happened!  In walked a man and his wife carrying a baby swaddled in linen cloths.  As his eyes landed on the infant, he knew at once!  This is the One!  Messiah has come!  Taking the babe in his arms, he blessed God for the fulfillment of His faithful promises.  Salvation had come to earth, a Light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.

Is the hope of seeing Jesus the motivation of all you do?  How much time are you willing to invest in studying God’s Word to know Him?  Are you attending studies on a regular basis where you can be instructed about God and the things of God?  Are you hearing and responding in obedience to the inner voice of the Spirit? What does your walk reveal?