I am shaking things up a little bit with this post. This week is in follow-up to last week’s post, God is in Control. Did you take the challenge and solve the control question? Let me propose a few scriptures for you to meditate on to see if we can bring closure to this question – God is in Control, Part 2.
You Have More Control Than You Think
In the picture above, you are the one with the controller. You are the one making the choices. Up or down? Left or right? God’s way or the way of the world? To forgive or not.
Yes, you are in control. God gave you and me the gift of free will. So here’s what you need to know about your freedom.
You can give up, allow, or “loose” whatever you want. And you can tie up, hold captive, or “bind” whatever you want. This is tied directly to knowledge or lack thereof, and to forgiveness. Yes, it’s your choice. Those choices have consequences. I think we all agree on that as we have all experienced consequences. Yes, you are in control.
Good News
As a Christian, here’s some good news. Jesus told Peter the following:
Matthew 16:18 NIV
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. “
Immediately after that, He went on to say:
Matthew 16:19 NIV
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Jesus reiterates this in Matthew 18:18, along with the prayer of agreement.
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go…
If I am correct, that sounds like Good News! He is giving US authority (His name and the help of the Holy Spirit) to go, and set free (including ourselves).
Mark 16:15, 19-20
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.…
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Final Thoughts
I believe that if God was in control, he would be superseding his own word that He is bound by. He will not operate outside of His word. If He did, then he would be in conflict with His own plan, His own word. And He would be taking back control that He gave us in Mark 16:19.
You have authority, and control, over your own life. Know what your authority (control) means. Know God’s word/will and what that means for you. And know the schemes of the enemy. The enemy will kill you, destroy who you are, and steal from you. The devil would prefer for you and I to be ignorant of his schemes (to kill, steal and destroy) and ignorant of the authority we have over him. Don’t allow the devil to lie to you and put his evil schemes on God – i.e. “how could God do or allow such a thing – I can’t believe in a God that would do such a thing!”
Challenge of the Week
God has given you and me control. So let us go forth, apply, and preach the good news. What is the good news? That Jesus has forgiven us and set us free from sin and death. Take that ‘given’ power and authority over the enemy and set the captives free. So be it.
Note: I am always learning and growing in my faith – my everyday walking-around-kind-of-life with Jesus. God’s purpose is a growing passion for my wife and I – that all would come to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
