Who’s in Control Here?
Hello precious Beloved Family!
I am greatly anticipating seeing you all for Healing Sunday very, very soon!
In my travels, I have noticed that society has made a concerted effort to convince mankind that they are powerless, weak, and helpless victims to the authority of evil, the government, and societal degradation by seeing the victim status of the many downtrodden folk. Even in the church… Beloved, this ought not so to be!
Look at these verses in John 19:8-11:
Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
One of my favorite character traits of my hero, Jesus, is His absolute, complete control over Himself and His circumstances in every single instance. Most would think that because the government was SO powerful… the judicial system has already illegally and wrongfully decided… the religious leaders were in full agreement… the crowds were amassing with vile hatred… the angels seemed silent… Jesus was standing there, shackled, scourged, beaten, humiliated, bleeding, and facing the king who professed himself to be the arbiter of Jesus’ fate… this would be a great time for embracing a victim mentality and just have a good ole’ woe-is-me pity party.
King Jesus, face like a flint, declares where the authority in this situation is held. And it is totally in His hands.
There is this deep tendency in the human side of life to always look for external sources as justification for internal issues. To an itsy-bitsy degree or to an overwhelming degree, victim-hood is a normal thought process. For some reason, it just feels good to be able to place blame and responsibility on someone else. In fact, it feels so relieving that we have incorporated it into our hearts as a normal mode of operation. This leads to self-righteousness and self-justification. Sadly, Christians do this with out-of-context scriptures, spiritual philosophies, and/or the nuclear bomb of blame-shifting… (drumroll please)… The Lord said:
John 10:17-18
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
What is very valuable for us in this is that Jesus said this is one of the reasons that the Father loved Him. His willingness and activity of laying aside His plan for life and embracing the Divine, Self-less plan. The Greek word for life here is PSUCHE… a word we should all be very familiar with. This is the word for the soul: mind, will, emotions, and personality. I sometimes find people who are legitimately willing to die for a spouse, child, or loved one, BUT they are not willing to budge an inch for them in their will or emotional life. This is very contradictory and upside-down.
Another powerful truth that Jesus gave us here is that the process of laying our lives down is not a one-time or a one-moment thing. The Father and Jesus stayed in an intimate love relationship because Jesus was daily, everyday, laying down His soul for the mission and purpose of the Father. For me to be like my Savior and receive love from the Father is to live a life where my soul is not in charge… it is in control by the Spirit (the plans of Heaven, the will of the Father). There is nothing and no one greater to desire and truly design our identity after than the Only Begotten Son.
Jesus is perfect doctrine.
Jesus is perfect theology.
Jesus is perfect and abundant life.
We see in these verses also a very, very fierce and substantial reward. Control, authority over our life and death. This is radical, but still true! Jesus said, “I have the power…” and that is the word for authority and superior control. This is telling us that to usher in more quality and quantity of the type of life that God Himself has comes by submitting to the Spiritual influences in our soul. And an equally wonderful truth… to take authority over ever aspect of death (sickness and disease, poverty and lack, oppression and depression, prisoner and victim) is a right we have free access to. But it comes by yielding to the Father’s will in our soul and walk. I know this is a high truth, but it is true none-the-less. Jesus, as a human man, was able to walk this out perfectly through the submission and leading of the Spirit… SO CAN WE, Beloved!
I KNOW we can… Let us do it together!
I love you greatly!
Steve
