Self Control: Unlocking the power of self control!

Unlocking The Power Of Self Control: Today we will tackle “Self Control.” Why it is important, and how it relates to our walk with God. We will show that without it, it’s impossible to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit or love God and man. This deadly poison of giving into our own way of doing things is the enemy of the Holy Spirit of God. Our hearts war against God to exert the deadly influence of our fleshly desires. We have to stab, kill, and bury 6 feet deep the excuses of: “That’s how I am”. “That’s not what I like”. “That’s not how I do things”. “Why do I have to?” “I don’t want to”. “This is what I like”. “This is what I want”. etc. etc. etc. That wretched old man of self must be destroyed in the brightness of God’s Power & Love, manifesting in obedience to His will.

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UnlockingSelfControl

Self Control

The Self-Control Survey

•  Our Three Points Of Focus.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” The word “Power” here is the Greek word: “Dunamis”- which means “Miraculous Power” as in miracles.

Power, Love, & Self Control: This is a three-legged stool of unity with God. You need all three present to obtain the complete experience of God’s Presence.

~LET’S REVIEW THE UNITY CYCLE~

1. Self Control/Obedience Leads To Power In The Holy Spirit!

Acts 5:32 “We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

2. Self Control/Obedience Leads To Love In The Power Of The Holy Spirit!

1 John 5:2-3 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments.  (3)  For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.”

3. Love Is The Reason God Gives Us The Holy Spirit Of Power.

Romans 5:5 “and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

4. We Love God Back By Keeping His Commandments.

1 John 2:4-5 “One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.  (5)  But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:”

So, the Holy Spirit given to us is a spirit of Power/Miracles – Love – & Self Control/Obedience

 The Fallen World- NO UNITY

Let’s look for these three points of focus in the following verse:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.  (2)  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  (3)  without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good,  (4)  traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;  (5)  holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also.”

 Our Holy Fellowship- COMPLETE UNITY

Let’s look for these three points of focus in the following verse:

2 Peter 1:3-7 “Seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;  (4)  by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.  (5)  Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;  (6)  and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness;  (7)  and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love.”

Spirit Vs Flesh

Separate the two influences within you- Spirit & Flesh: Your “Flesh” is not your Identity; therefore it must not be your master.

Spirit Willing Flesh Is Weak

Mark 14:38 “Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The War Within

Romans 7:14-25 “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.  (15)  For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.  (16)  But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.  (17)  So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.  (18)  For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.  (19)  For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.  (20)  But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.  (21)  I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.  (22)  For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,  (23)  but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.  (24)  What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?  (25)  I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.”

Make Your Move & Decide What Will Be Your Master

Acts 5:32 “We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God. Yet, it is the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability to obey God and walk in the spirit of self control.  So, how does this work? You must decide and make your move. You have to put effort into it. Not just sit back and expect that somehow it will all change. Think of it as a courtship. To woo the Holy Spirit and prevent yourself from offending the Holy Spirit, you must step out in faith and decide to obey and walk in self control.

To put it another way: Self Control/ Obedience is like a car. The Holy Spirit is the gas of that car. When you hear the calling of God upon your heart, you must press that gas pedal. You make the choice to abide and obey. Then The Holy Spirit gets to work and powers the vehicle of your heart. This is expressed through your actions, an outward appearance of an internal choice to obey and execute self control.

Press That Gas & Activate The Measure Of Faith God Has Given You.

James 2:17-19 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.  (18)  Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.  (19)  You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.”

You must choose to decide to obey and deny yourself, not because it’s what you normally would do, like, or want, yet because that is what the Holy Spirit would do, like and want. The entire idea is that our ways are no good. We have to let go and do it God’s way.

Road Map To Self Control

One of the greatest enemies of a move of the “Holy Spirit,” is the spirit of “self preservation!” We must give up trying to be the masters of our destiny and submit to God- in all things at all times. Failure to do so will make you an enemy of God and you will become a griever of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 “Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Part 1: Discretion & Warnings

Choose God This Day

• Joshua 24:15  “If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

Don’t Let Sin Reign In Your Body

• Romans 6:11-14 “Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (12)  Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  (13)  Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  (14)  For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.”

Deny Yourself

• Matthew 16:24-26  “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  (25)  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.  (26)  For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?”

Lean Not Upon Your Own Understanding

• Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.  (6)  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (7)  Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.  (8)  It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.”

Don’t Think Yourself Wise

• Isaiah 5:21 “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

Don’t Think Highly Of Yourself

• Romans 12:3  “For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.”

Don’t Trust Yourself

• 2 Corinthians 1:9-10  “Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,  (10)  who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;”

Don’t Trust Ideas

• Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

Don’t Harden Your Heart Towards The Leading Of The Spirit

• Hebrews 3:14-15 “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:  (15)  while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”

Know To Do Good & Then DO IT. Don’t Reason Yourself Out Of It!

• James 4:17 “To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.”

It’s easy to get into the mindset that we need God to perform for us, to prove what His will is.  Instead of taking the clear word of scripture and doing what it says. For example: if you want me to stop my adulterous affair, then on the count of 3- black out the sun. This is just an attempt to remove the responsibility of being a responder to God’s direction, and turning it into being the arbitrator (A Judge) of what we think God’s will is. Often trying to shape it into our own, and not conforming ours into His.

Part 2: The When, Where, & How’s.

Whose voice are you listening to?

• Isaiah 30:21 “And when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”

• John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  (28)  I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  (29)  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  (30)  I and the Father are one.”

• John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

• Hebrews 3:7-9  “Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,  (8)  don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,  (9)  where your fathers tested me by proving me, and saw my deeds for forty years.”

Who is teaching you?

• Nehemiah 9:20 “You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst.”

• Isaiah 48:17 “Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.”

How is this done?

• John 14:26  “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”

• Psalms 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.”

Who is leading you?

• John 16:13 “However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.”

• Psalms 37:23 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;”

• Psalms 31:3 “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;”

• Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.”

• Psalms 5:8 “Lead me, Yahweh, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.”

Who are you trusting?

• Psalms 56:10-13 “In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word.  (11)  I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?  (12)  Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.  (13)  For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”

• 1 Timothy 4:10 “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”

• Psalms 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.”

• Psalms 40:3-5 “He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.  (4)  Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn away to lies.  (5)  Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be counted.”

• Psalms 52:8-9 “But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house. I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.  (9)  I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it. I will hope in your name, for it is good, in the presence of your saints.”

• Psalms 62:8 “Trust in him at all times, you people! Pour out your hearts before him! God is our shelter! (Selah)”

RECAP: We must be completely convinced of our own inability to get it right, in order to succeed in walking in Self Control!

The cycle of self control: outpouring of the Holy Spirit to give us power, and with this power we love God and obey Him- cannot be ignored. Self control is not doing what you like all the time, or sticking to your own natural inclination or ways of doing things. No. Self control is doing things God’s way despite what is natural to us. Self control just doesn’t happen like a lightning bolt falling out of the sky. We must work at denying ourselves, live an outward focused life, and do what God’s Word says. Self Control has nothing to do what you like, don’t like, want, don’t want, prefer, or wish to deny. It really has nothing to do with your wishes, other than a desire to please the One who made you and saves your soul. If we fail to walk in self control and obey the God of the universe, then we kick Him off the throne of our hearts, and try to set up our own kingdom of foolishness, rebellion, and death. Yet, we can walk in self control through the power of the Holy Spirit, love God and our fellow man, receiving Holy Spirit power, and in doing so- the ultimate victory of our Souls.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

 “From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalms 61:2