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Let Loose of Control

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV) Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

It has been seven years since it snowed here in Opelika, Alabama. Just last week, an hour and a half north of us had snow, we did not. The infrequency for snow here means we do not prepare our roads before hand. The snow started to fall around noon yesterday and a couple of hours later the roads were already getting impassable. My husband works in Georgia and he said that the interstate started backing up by the time he got off, at two in the afternoon. Some people were stranded in their cars all evening. Do you know how much snow we got? Less than three inches, not even enough to cover my foot.

One of my sons went out with a friend and they drove around an recreational all terrain golf cart. They walked down to the convenience store to get some drinks and just did what teenage boys do. Whatever came to their minds. He said he liked it when he drove the all terrain, but it was not nearly as fun as the passenger. He preferred to be in control. Why is that we want to call all of the shots? How different God is with such! We feel safer when we call all of the shots, but what happens when we let the Holy Spirit lead?

I am reminded about a story in Ezekiel. Ezekiel had a vision in Ezekiel 47. In his vision water was flowing from under the threshold of the temple. As the water was flowing through the outer gate they measured it four times. It measured ankle-deep, then knee-deep, then to the hips and finally the water had risen so high they could not pass through it. They had to swim. God revealed to Ezekiel in verse 12 (AMP), “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They shall bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

1 Corinthians 6:19 (AMP) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?

John 7:38 (AMP) He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’”

God is very intentional with His Word. That is why it is important that we see it as one voice. God will not contradict Himself and He always reveals His heart to us. The vision given to Ezekiel was in regards to how to divide the land to the Israelite tribes. When I read it this time, it reminded me of the rivers of living water that flows from us because of the Holy Spirit. What an illustration of the flow. It is not until the waters overtake me that I lose control. I can swim freely.

Have you ever floated in the waters? I have. I would spend summers at the beach and my favorite part was to get a donut shaped float, lay in it face up, and just float. I would float for hours. Keeping an eye on the shore. I knew where I was and knew how to get back to the shore. In the evening I would still feel the effects of the day, as I felt the floating in my sleep. That is what it is like to be engulfed by the Holy Spirit during the day. At night you should feel the effects and float.

Luke 6:47-49 (AMP) Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and obeys them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a [far-sighted, practical, and sensible] man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and yet could not shake it, because it had been securely built and founded on the rock. But the one who has [merely] heard and has not practiced [what I say], is like a [foolish] man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

There are going to be times, like today, that you are not going to be in control. We are not able to travel outside of walking today. It just is not safe. I am okay with that. I am going to adhere to wisdom. Some do not like that because, “ain’t nobody gonna tell me what I can’t do.” What foundation are we building our homes on with that mindset? God is so different than the world. It is through my surrender that I have freedom. It is through me letting the flow of the rivers of living waters take over me that I have my security. Ankle deep is not doing it for me any longer. Sure you can fish in it, but what are you limiting yourself to? It is time to let loose of the controls.

Abba, our Father, our Jehovah, You are so Wonderful. You are so Holy. Thank You for Your Son, our Restorer. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, our Teacher. In Your Word it says that rivers of flowing water would come through us. We recognize that cannot be done without the surrender of our will to the Holy Spirit. Let us stop wading in waters that we still have control, keeping one foot on the shore at all times. Let us step into the overflow. Let us become engulfed so that true freedom can be placed in our lives. Let us be as you envisioned, fruitful and healing to others. You gave us all that You are through Your Son. Let us cultivate the fruit of love in our lives so that it is all that flows out of us. We repent for holding onto areas of control and when the trials of life took over us, we were not secure in You. We choose surrender today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. We choose hope today. We choose joy today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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2025: Here I Am

Genesis 22:1 (AMP) Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.”

We are eight days into the new year. A lot of times we like to hold onto scriptures about the new. For instance this one, Isaiah 43:19 (AMP) “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.“I love this scripture and even have it on our vision board for the church. However, we can get so caught up in expecting the promise that we forget about the God of the promise. We hold onto the promise. God in Genesis 22 was asking Abraham to let go of the promise. Would He serve God more than hold onto the promise? Ultimately, God did not ask Abraham to sacrifice what he was willing.

God, here I am. My arms are wide open. I am in the process of reading the Bible from beginning to end and have started with Genesis 1 on January 1. I read five chapters a day and this week I have seen “Here I Am” as the words of readiness. Jacob was visited by God in visions and with both responses he said, “Here I am” (Genesis 31:11, 46:2). Both times God instructed Jacob to move. Move from a land he had spent decades in. When he moved it was not like we have it today. He was moving people, possessions and live stock. It was caravans moving, not a moving van.

Isaiah 6:8-10 (AMP) Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’ “Make the heart of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”

I was asked this question this week, what should we be praying for the church? That God becomes real to us. That we stop going through the motions and desire a real relationship with God. You can listen and not hear. You can look and not see. This will happen until you surrender your ideas. We have the luxury of doing so much research that we have not need to sit and listen for His voice. We have access to so many books and teaching online, that we do not need to read the Bible for ourselves. We read the Bible through the lens of experience and not really listen for His voice. We depend on scripture taken out of context and wonder why God is not doing what I want. It is not until we surrender that we will be rooted and grounded in Christ. This is where love starts. We cannot love each other when we are only worried about ourselves. Serving only those we want to serve is really self-serving. Only reading what we like is self-serving.

“Here I am” is a heart position to be all in. It is a response to God that you are sensitive to His call. It is a willingness to listen and to obey His commands. “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him” (1 John 4:21). Seeking the best for others requires a lot of dying to self. That lines up with what Christ said we would have to do to be His disciples (Matthew 16:24-26).

So that new thing He is doing in me, has a lot to do with my surrender. God doing a new thing requires me changing. My husband works for a large car manufacturer. Every year they shut down at Christmas, and the processes change for the new car that will be made for the following year. Before the shut down occurred a training was done for the processes coming up. People got to leave their normal work stations and attend a class to learn what would be expected of them when they returned. Some paid attention, and some did not want to learn the new way (they figured they could use the old skills for this new build). That is not working too well for them. Just because you are in it a long time does not mean you will not face the consequences of not learning the new.

Mark 2:22 (AMP) No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Galatians 5:25 (AMP) If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit].

Who is in control? It cannot be some of God and some of me. It has to be all of Him. That means I have to let go of the way I think it should go. That means I have to surrender even when I do not “feel” ready. That means I have to run when He says to run. That means I have to climb that hill even though I do not feel like it. To get in shape you have to submit to a good eating and fitness regiment. If you plan it, you get to take the breaks whenever you want. If you have someone else that you are accountable to, those breaks are not a part of the plan, and you have to submit to get the results. The “I will get there eventually” mentality has created slothfulness in the body of Christ. We have not taken the Word as real. We miss meals on the Word, but would not miss meals when it comes to our stomachs. Mark Batterson wrote, “If you are not hungry for God, you are full of yourself.” That is a heart check statement right there. Am I more hungry for God than the food on my plate? Can you put everything else aside and say “God, here I am.”

Abba, Father, we stand in awe of You. You are Holy. You are Marvelous. You are Righteous. Let this year be about getting our First Love back. Let us accept Your Son for all of who He is. That He came to make us Whole. That His Peace makes us Full. When we fall in love with You and we truly put You first, we will see everything else in it’s rightful place. When Your voice is first, all the other voices will fall away. When Your Word is first place in our lives, then all other distractions will disappear. When Your principles come first, then the promises of Your Word find their way into our lives. Let us get back to You first. Let us say “Here I am.” We repent for putting ourselves before Your Word, before Your voice, before Your leading. Let us open up Your Word and hunger for it like it is the best meal we have ever eaten. Thank You for Your forgiveness and that your Mercy is new every morning. We choose joy today. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Gracefully Broken