The Mastery of Self with the Help of the Master

UV3375/10000 The Mastery of Self with the Help of the Master

If you do well (believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me), will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well (but ignore My instruction), sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you (to overpower you), but you must master it.”

Genesis 4 v 7

Doing well requires us to believe God and then to go on and do what is acceptable and pleasing in His sight, not our sight or that of others. We are to be God pleasers not self pleasers or ‘people pleasers’. An important principle in this uni-verse is that sin or the enemy or temptation is always crouching at the door our hearts, minds and mouths. Satan had moved from crouching on a tree to tempt the first man and woman to tempting their first son right from his heart attitudes. This is the reality now- the enemy is knocking at the door of our hearts, minds and mouths to be allowed in. God is also knocking on the door of our hearts. Whose voice would we listen to – the enemy of humanity or God and His truths, both hidden and revealed in His Son, His Word.

Sin is overpowering in its influence. But the Lord has given us grace to overcome it one thought at a time, one emotion at a time, one decision at a time. It requires us to be watchful and pray all the time. A moment’s weakness or our guard is down and we will lose the plot. God expects us to master our self, our passions, our feelings, our reasoning, our bodies, our communication with His help and in accordance with the instructions in His manual, the Word of God. We have the Holy Spirit to help us identify, thwart, overcome the wiles and deceit of the enemy.

Cain had no peace like all the people who succumb to momentary temptations. He had succumbed to the temptation of hurt pride and envy of a brother whom he should have actually helped and protected. He did the opposite of what he was called to do. He killed his brother Abel. He lost His peace with God. When I was very young, I used to frequently read a quote my father hung up as a painting next to our bed: “Poise is a great power derived from the mastery of self.” I would now modify it as “ Peace is a great power derived from the mastery of self.” We cannot our master our hidden pride, our deceitful lusts on our own strength but the Master Jesus will be with us to help us close the door on temptation, to overcome our own inner drives and weaknesses, to be victorious in our private lives even as we aim to be successful in our public lives for the two are intimately connected in the sight of the Lord. Jesus gives us peace with God.