WHO CONTROLS YOUR LIFE: YOU, OR THE HOLY SPIRIT?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on
what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the
Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit
is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit
to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however,
are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of
God lives in you.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ.

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit
is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who
lives in you.
(Romans 8:5-11)

MEDITATION:
Who is in control? This is a question we may ask ourselves from time to time.
Are we still ‘steering the ship of our life’, or have we turned it over to the Lord?
If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would prefer to be in control. But
the danger of our being in control is, we tend to make bad decisions that could
have a major impact on our life (both now and for eternity).

So, the real question is,
    “Are we better off when we are in control,
       or when the Spirit is in control?”

According to the scriptures, when we are in control, we can expect:
    – Death (ouch!).
    – Hostility toward God (heaven forbid).
    –  A lack of our submission to the will of the Spirit
       (which means we DO NOT belong to
         Christ – according to God’s Word).
    – We will be easily attracted to the things of the world.
    – We will be unable to please God.

However, when the Spirit is in control, we can expect:
    – We will have Spiritual desires
       (desiring what is pure, good, just, right, beneficial, etc.).
    – We will have a desire and the ability to please God.
    – We will enjoy life and feel our purpose for living.
    – We can enjoy righteous living
       (living as God intended for us to live).
    – We belong to Christ.
    – We will have peace
       (a blessing from God to those who belong to Him).

When comparing these two lists, it’s easy to see which one we
would (should) prefer, wouldn’t you agree? But just how do
we give the Spirit control of our life? We ‘starve the flesh’ and
we ‘feed the Spirit’. Of course, starving the flesh means we avoid
worldly (fleshly) thoughts, words and actions.

Whenever we are unsure if an action is worldly or not, one filter
we can use is to ask ourselves,
    “Do I feel the need to justify my actions?”

Feeding the Spirit means we saturate our minds with spiritual things
(prayer, bible reading, sermons, worshiping with others, Christian
music, etc.). As we increase one (the Spirit), by default the other
one (the flesh) decreases.

ACTION:
Review the results of the two choices listed above and
determine which one is winning control of your life:
    – Your self-control or God’s Spirit?

We should ask ourselves:
    – Are my desires and focus on worldly pleasures
       or are they directed toward pleasing God?
    – When the war for my soul begins, which choice do I make?
    – Where is my allegiance and loyalty?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise of a better life
when I am controlled by the Spirit and not by myself. Show me
the areas where I have failed to give You control and help me to
replace the natural with the supernatural. Encourage me as I
strive to relinquish my control to You and become a ‘Spirit-led’
child of Yours. Bless me with the assurance that I belong to Christ.
I pray that my thoughts, words, and actions will prove the Spirit is
in control of my life. Reveal to me the spiritual gift You have given
me, and show me how to actively use it in serving You.”

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