September 4, 2019 TAKING DOMINION
Matthew 18:19 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”
Psalm 101:3a “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.”
Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
If not diligent to walk according to the Spirit, we will find ourselves fulfilling the desires of our flesh-and it may be very subtle. Our physical bodies are to be under the rule of the Spirit; we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We all know this, it’s really basic, but we should take care our God given bodies. Yes, we should eat in a healthy way, we should have sufficient exercise, and resting should be a part of our routine. Not only are we to rule over our physical bodies, we are also rule over our souls. Ruling over our souls involves managing our thought life, what we choose to listen to, and what we look at. For today, let us talk about the importance of what we allow to come through the eye gate. First, let us know that what we look at makes its imprint in our minds and in our souls. To realize that we can choose what to look at what not to look at is in itself freeing. At our finger tips, including the TV and our I-phones, we have access to all sorts of images and messages that have a detrimental effect on us if we choose to look and listen. If we do not decide in advance what we allow our eyes to see, we will likely find ourselves gazing on what is unhealthy. Choosing what not to look at is not restrictive, but on the contrary, liberating-is wise. I once had a friend who said that he enjoyed a certain movie he had watched, even though it had a lot of ‘X’ rated scenes in the movie. That illustrates just how easy it is to gradually get to a place where we allow the unhealthy to enter the eye gate and in turn penetrate our soul and grieve the Spirt. Just as my friend did, we can all find ourselves explaining away why we choose to look at what is actually unhealthy. You may have heard of GI-GO: garbage in, garbage out—how true. The good news is that we can choose to look at and listen to the things that benefit the body, soul and spirit. So, beginning right now, make the choice to take dominion over what you allow to come through the eye gate and the ear gate. (There will be times when you can’t help but see certain things and hear certain things that are unhealthy-just in your own spirit reject it and do not dwell on it.)
Romans 16:19b “but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.”
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Blessings,
Buddy [email protected]
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