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Rule over your spring – Part 2

By Rev. Emmanuel O.S. Okereke
16 April 2017   |   4:19 am
It will be wrong to judge the temperament of anyone before they are provoked to anger. It is at this point that personality of that person is shown...

Rev. Emmanuel O.S. Okereke

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls” -Prov. 25: 28(NKJV)
Anger: “Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in bosom of fools” Eccl 7:9(NKJV). It will be wrong to judge the temperament of anyone before they are provoked to anger. It is at this point that personality of that person is shown, thus, the revelation and manifestation of the level of foolishness stored in the inside of that person. “Even a fool is counted wise, when he holds his peace, when he shut his lips, he is considered perceptive” Prov 17:28(NKJV). My wisdom nugget is: when provoked, agitated, and tempted to the point to react, that is the best time to keep mute. In other words, the best time not to speak is, when you are tempted to speak, as this proves you a wise person.

Desire: “Let no one say when he is tempted ‘I am tempted by God’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted, when he is enticed with his lusts. “Desire is a strong longing or wish to do or to have whatsoever we fall or submit or subscribe to in this life, and is controlled by what we see, and what we see has an interplay with our desires. And when our desires are not brought under check and controlled, they may lead us to death- James 1:15, until we control our desire our heart will put us into trouble. An uncontrolled desire is tantamount to good car in the hands of professional driver, but without a brake (Controls) – see Rom 8:13 and Job 31:1

Emotions: (Sexual Desire): This is the part of a person’s character that consists of feelings. When these feelings are not checkmated, the resultant effect will be equal to what King Solomon, despite all his wisdom said “whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them, I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure-“Eccl 2:10(NKJV). And this resulted in his having 700 wives and 300 concubines, setting a trail blazing world record, which has remained unbroken to date, despite all efforts by adventurous men in several centuries to equal his record. This same weakness exhibited the foolishness of King Solomon, as in the process of acquiring these women, they turned his heart away from God and he started to follow the gods of these women. Emotion is powered by strong desire, thus when desire is controlled, emotion is deflected.

The Tongue: “if anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceived his own heart, this one’s religion is useless” James 1:26. The Bible calls it the smallest member of the body, yet the strongest. Lives have been built through it; lives have equally been destroyed through it. The Bible supports this saying in Prov. 18:21 that “life and death are in the power of the tongue. It has the power of corrupting the whole body, James 3:6B, “wherever we find ourselves, we should weigh the word that comes out of our mouths to know if they are caustic or soothing and in line with the word of God, as it is an indication of your true nature, Luke 6:45. Many people have landed themselves into trouble by the words that came out of their mouths. If you love your life, learn to spare your words. A perfect example is the man who did not go to war, but claimed he slayed King Saul and while expecting praise and reward from king David, he met his waterloo, as he was beheaded. 2Sam 1:1-9.

Attitude: “for as he thinks in his heart do he is—-“Prov23: 7. Attitude is a long pre-learned disposition to words or actions. In other words, the way you behave towards a thing or somebody, which is a result of how you think or feel about that thing or person. The thought of man forms attitude. Though most of our attitudes are hereditary, we can decide to change them, especially the bad ones that do not conform with God’s standard and by yielding to the Holy Spirit and renewing our mind by the word. Rom 12:2. The blood of Jesus Christ should refine us through the process of regeneration. God created us in His own image, but most of our character traits are not traceable to God (a fundamental error), thus the urgent need to mortify such character traits col 3:5. We have to tread with caution, as our attitudes are not hidden, but displayed for all to see and judge- Rom 8:12-14, Matt. 5:16.

In summary, we stand to dishonour ourselves, if we do not control what is within us, as it will expose our inadequacies and weakness, which in turn defines who we really are. God bless you abundantly, as you ponder on these matters in your heart and I pray that the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes of your understanding by the word…

Rev. Emmanuel O. S. Okereke is the Founder/Presiding Bishop of Divine Power Pentecostal Chapel Inc. Mechanic Village, Off Osolo Way, Behind Aswani Market, Isolo, Lagos. www.shepherdinternational.org

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