Intoxication with Christ

The opposite of being intoxicated with Christ is being intoxicated with the world. Not literally intoxicated with the world, but in a sense of self, pride of life, captains of our ships, and free will.

We all think of alcohol or drugs when we think intoxication. The dictionary defines it like this:

Intoxication

1. inebriation; drunkenness.

2. an act or instance of intoxicating.

3. overpowering exhilaration or excitement of the mind or emotions.

The world can be intoxicating and interesting.

We become so intoxicated with the world that we allow (yes I said allow) our carnal indulgent self to seek satisfaction and validation in the world and of the world and before long the enemy has crept in and we are no longer sober minded but fully intoxicated by the world. We are so completely caught up in it that sometimes we do not even realize that we left our first love.
We don't realize the beauty of becoming intoxicated with Christ and his love. We are blinded by the world and cannot see what we are missing until we are at a low point and then bam ..... we see it and we see our brokenness and our failures.

Overpowering, exhilaration, excitement of the mind and emotions with the world, and the things in the world of the world and worldly things.

Self control comes from a greek word that means sound mind or even the same as brakes on a car.

Self control is a virtue that with God's help we can accomplish and live with it.
I said with His help because you must study, pray and stay in His word to achieve this and in this you are being watchful.  Watchful of your actions, watchful for HIM in your life, to come on the scene and sustain you. Watchful for the enemy and ready to send him away.

So I want to ask you today to become so intoxicated with Christ that you put on the whole armor of God.  You are watchful and in control with dignity, poise and an inner peace that no one can take away.

But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. Luke 21:34

Life is short, find peace, Find Christ.....

On Being Gentle

Have you ever seen a grown man hold or care for a baby?

There is a gentleness there that we notice. That melts a heart.

What does the virtue gentleness mean? Well,  it is an action of self-control of speaking, and acting in a certain way which is considerate and kind to others.

Being gentle means being careful.

We teach our children at a young age to be gentle to babies, be gentle to small animals, but do we continue to teach them to be gentle with people and feelings?

Humans are sensitive by nature. Feelings are the most fragile and are intimately connected to each person. Things that hurt you may not be things that hurt the next person, we are all so unique and different, the way God intended.

You cannot just say one day" I am going to be more gentle", I mean you can and you can work on it.  To be successful,  is to make it a habit of responding to conflict, and critics and drama with love. You do this by self control.  When others raise their voice, you can lower yours. In parenting, in marriage, in church, at work. That may be hard, but it can be done. Let your answers disarm the other person and diffuse the situation!


" A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger" ( Prov. 15:1)
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of gentleness. When he lives within you, you have been given what you need to perfect this virtue, but like any virtue, you have to engross yourself in HIM to be more like him, by praying, reading the Bible and trusting Him.

When you respond under pressure with gentleness it is a great testament to the world who you belong to.  I have heard it said that how one responds under pressure is their true self.

Gentleness communicates love, the more gentle you become, the more Christ- like you become, and the more at rest you will be.

Driven

" and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way [to it,] and were driven". Acts 27:15

Have you ever been driven by a storm in your life? Are you being caught up right now by the force winds and driven?  As this storm drives you are you coasting along? are you fighting it? are you allowing it to beat you down, thus, making you want to quit?

You see when times are hard in our life, we often want to escape. The stress gets unbearable and our flight or fight kicks in and we start to abandon our values and we get into self preservation mode.

God says stay.

Stay with the ship, sit this storm out, the winds may be driving you right now but they will not last, it will pass, hold on tight, fight.
It is never God's will to run from a difficult situation. He never promised easy. He did promise His love, His presence and His Hope !
If you are constantly running, you will never develop the character or grow like God wants you to.

When you go through the storm it is not entirely based on what happens to you ( as life isn't) but what happens in you.
How you respond to storms, winds, and turmoil develops your character and your character is your destiny.

You can choose to concentrate on the bad, on the hurt, on the pain or you can use it for HIM.

Use it !!
There are so many people suffering. They may be scared to share, scared to talk about it and they may just need someone like you to open the door. Confession is sooo good for the soul and YOU may be the catalyst to help someone else open up and share.

Just imagine how very important you are and how your journey can help someone else!!

So buckle down, the winds of the storm might be driving you, but this storm, and wind will pass.