Taking AIM for a Better Life Part 3
1 Corinthians chapter 9 .......
I believe will all my heart that God intends for His People to have a GREAT LIFE......
...an Abundant.....Victorious.....Satisfying.... and a LONG LIFE
.....full of JOY, ....Peace, and the Blessing of God.....
Now, It is true, whether you believe it or not.....
Just Study the Bible and you’ll see the Promises of LONG LIFE and GOOD THINGS that He’s promised.....
HOWEVER.....this also is true.....
And you’ll see this also in the Bible..... that......He will not force His Good Will on you.....
....but He simply Gives YOU a CHOICE
And....So, it’s up to you and to me.... to LAY HOLD of what He’s Made Available to us OR NOT to......
But.....If we want Better......It’s AVAILABLE to us in Christ Jesus.....
And WE CAN REALLY have a Better Life......a Blessed Life.....
But We WON’T have it....WITHOUT our Desire AND our Active Participation.....
You’ve got to WANT Better AND be willing to Do something about getting Better or it won’t happen.....
and really......If you’re not Interested in IMPROVING your life and situation......
....there’s probably nothing here for you today.....
...because .....I don’t intend to preach a message to make you just FEEL Better....
there’s enough of that kind of junk in the world.....
.......People who will pat you on the back and tickle your ears
.,..... and tell you that you’re all right just like you are.....
.......even though you’re a wreck and you’re life’s a stinking mess....and you’re dying in a hog pen.....
....you don’t need me for that.....
....and you don’t need God for that.....
.....but I’ve come with a Word from the Lord for people who want to BE BETTER...........
.....That’s what we really need.....
Paul said "the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Power of God unto SALVATION....."
Salvation includes Saving for the Lost.....
...and healing for the sick......and Deliverance for the Captive.....and Recovering of sight for the blind.....
It’s the Power to SET YOU FREE......not so you can STAY just like you’ve always been.....
but so you can be BETTER....
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
(Tell your neighbor "you’ve got to RUN to Get It")
verse 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Now, ....in this passage of Scripture.......
There are 3 things that I hear the Apostle Paul saying about himself.....as he teaches us about Winning the Prize....
He says "I’m Temperate" (self controlled)
"I therefore so Run....."
"I keep under...lest.....I should be a castaway."
I think I told you earlier that as I received this message from the Lord.....
....those things came out making an Acrostic for the word AIM....
"self control".... became Taking Authority.....
"I ....run".......... became Taking Initiative......
and "I keep....". became Maintaining the Ground we gain.........
and the Message became "Taking AIM for a Better Life.........
"Take Authority....Take Initiative.....Maintain your gains...."
Taking Authority, we said in an earlier message,.....BEGINS with Taking PERSONAL AUTHORITY......
WE CAN ....and WE MUST Learn that WE are Responsible for Controlling OUR OWN SELVES.......
....spirit, soul and body.....
Now if you’re Born Again....you won’t have Control Issues with our Born-Again spirits.....
Our spiritual rebellion goes away in the New Birth....
And....It’s not your body that messes with you so much.....
Paul said in Eph 6:12 .... we Wrestle Not with Flesh and Blood....
So our Toughest Authority Battle isn’t with our Bodies either....
our Bodies really don’t have much of a MIND of their own.....
That’s why it takes Multiple Repetitions to create most Bad Habits....
You don’t usually get a body addicted to Alcohol with one or two drinks.....
No, it takes some doing to get most bodies ADDICTED to that stuff.....
And its the same way with a lot of other things that our bodies become accustomed to.......
It takes exposure to a thing,...usually....to get your body into a routine.....
But the Real Control Issues STEM from our MIND.....our thoughts, Ideas and Emotions....
Now without a doubt We are FREE to be in control even in these areas........
....Jesus said in Jn 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
That means you are REALLY FREE....
.... you DO NOT have a DOMINATING RULER.....
Not the devil NOR God....has the right to Dominate in your life.....without your submission
but you are the one who ALLOWS Either of them to work in your situation.....
.....when you SUBMIT to their word....
And many times...... it’s our FEAR or RESENTMENT of Being Controlled that causes us to Submit to the things that don’t Accomplish the right things in our lives...
....because that fear causes us to REBEL....
People rebel against coming to God for salvation BECAUSE they are AFRAID of Having Him RULE OVER THEM.....
....they are AFRAID of LOSING their FREEDOM
But what they don’t realize is that by Rebelling against God, who gave us Freedom.....
.......they are Really in MORE BONDAGE
Because you can’t Rebel against God WITHOUT Submitting to the devil....
And you can’t Rebel Effectively against the devil WITHOUT Submitting to God.....
When you SUBMIT YOURSELF to the word of one....you rebel against the word of the other.....
James 4:4 ....., know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
And that’s the difference in the outcome of WHO you submit yourself to....
If you submit to God and Humble yourself in His sight....He will LIFE YOU UP.....
If you submit to the devil....well the devil only wants to steal, kill and destroy....
and so he will only take you farther down.....
Turn to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Now, here we see ....that we have the Means...the weaponry to Overcome satan....
...AND his thoughts and ideas....and the emotions that they bring....
YOU USE THE WORD of God to render them Harmless and Ineffective.....
..... ONE WAY you do that is by Replacing the wrong thought with the RIGHT one....
And the most effective way that I know to do that is PUTTING the Word of God in your MOUTH.....
You talk to those thoughts.....In fact, you should talk to your whole person.
Learn to Tell yourself what God Says ESPECIALLY in times when THOUGHTS are telling you something else....
and it doesn’t matter where those thoughts are coming from....
If they’re from your Body....You talk to it and Tell it What God says....
If they’re just in your mind and you don’t want them there..........
...Tell them What God’s Word Says and Take them Captive.
A WORD is More Powerful than a THOUGHT.....
One thought won’t overpower another thought for very long....
but If you begin to SPEAK the thought that you want......
.....if you will begin to DECLARE it......
Jesus said "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
WORDS....not THOUGHTS.......
Rev 12:11 (AMP) And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony,....
If you will Learn to take Authority over Your Mind by SPEAKING the Word.....Your Body won’t be hard to Control
You can Control your Mind....It’s Your Mind...and you have the Right to Control it.....
You can CHOOSE the thoughts that rule......
...the Bible says so.....Phil 4:8 says...."....Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Controlling your thoughts is the FIRST STEP to Controlling your Whole Person....
We need to learn to Control our Whole Person......,....to Take Authority over ourselves.....
To Control the Way the ACT on the Outside.....AND the way we feel on the INSIDE......
Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
You may be thinking "well, I can’t make myself be WILLING"......
Oh Yes you can....If you want to Please God MORE than you want to have your OWN way YOU CAN
If you’re Serious about what you Say you want to Change for the Better.....You’ll do it.....
"but I can’t help what I feel...."
No, not at first, but you can change how you RESPOND to what you feel....
and if you’ll do that Enough.....Your FEELINGS will Change.
If you’ll lay claim to your Authority in Christ Jesus...and RULE over yourself....
REFUSE yourself the RIGHT to Lose Control......
...and Make yourself ACCOUNTABLE to the Word of God.....
...and you may have to go as far as to find you somebody and make yourself Accountable to them as well.....
But You Can Control Your Feelings.....and IF You don’t...They WILL CONTROL YOU.....
Jesus said "No man can serve two masters" and that’s true.....
but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have A MASTER AT ALL.....
Have you ever wondered why Joseph was only raised to 2nd in Egypt.....
....and Daniel never got any higher than the number 2 spot either?
God never wanted an Israelite king....that was man’s doing.....
and what it did was drop every man in Israel from #2 down to a Lower position.....
...because the king took the #2 spot.
Man was never made to be Supreme in and of himself.....
Man was made to Serve UNDER God.......
.....and the key to Who man did serve under was in Man’s Obedience.......
KEEP YOURSELF Under God’s Authority
Make a Decision to Serve God...to Follow God...and to Please God,
FIRST....to Live in His Control....
That’s a choice you have to Make and then you have to Make yourself follow it through....
and if you will do your part, you’ll find that Christ in you, will make up the difference.
