Being Spirit Controlled

As I was seeking the Lord, He spoke this to me about our emotions and feelings. Hoping it might be an encouragement, I want to share it with you.



Many times when I hear teaching regarding being spirit controlled and not operating in the flesh, it leaves me with the impression that as Believers we shouldn't have emotions and certainly not have days we have emotional battles. We should be so spirit controlled that these fleshly issues should not arise. Truly I would like to be like that. Steady and even paced. Those of you that know me also know what a real victory that would be!




This is what I believe the Lord said concerning emotions: we must allow ourselves room for various feelings and emotions. It is unrealistic to expect to be without them. The key is to learn to recognize these periods and then not be tossed to and fro by the enemy during such times. Every emotion that we might consider negative such as sadness, frustration, etc. not an attack of the enemy. To have emotions is human.


Living a self controlled, Christ centered life is not living a emotionless existence. It is life not controlled by our emotions, but being spirit controlled in the midst of trials of any kind.

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"Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death..instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God!





Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored...But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him...





This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!





We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him! God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.





God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun."

Excerpts from Romans Chapter 8, The Message by Eugene Peterson

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Brief of ups and downs might be a signal that we are sleep deprived, not having enough time in the Word, or even not taking enough time for fun. In all things seek and trust the Lord... Sing praises, worship, thank Him, rest in His presense...It is His desire to give us peace, rest and victory in all things.




A few notes:





The mountian photo is from Saturday's trip to Wasserfallen (water fall!). I love the one with the tandem bike taken a few days ago at the plaza in front of Basel Cathedral. What a image of us and the Lord. We are following along behind and He is glancing back making sure all is well. Notice He is doing the big pedaling! Then the final photo was taken last fall at Lake Oolagah, OK during a camp out my dad took the boys on.




I am quickly hitting the publish button before I lose my connection again. Let me know if you see spelling errors...

In His Love,
Sandra