Control Your Reality

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness (2 Peter 1:5-6).

Temperance is from the Greek word “egkrateia” and it means self-control, the ability and will to control your impulses, to delay immediate gratification for a long-term gain. That simply means the ability to wait or hold on, saying “no” or “not now” to your impulses.

This was the virtue Moses displayed after he had been raised as a prince in Pharaoh’s house. The Bible says, “…when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:24-25 NLT). “What if I don’t have temperance?” someone may ask.

As long as you’re born again, you have the virtue of temperance. The Bible says it’s the fruit of the recreated human spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The man who desires to operate effectively with this virtue must learn to control his senses. And that can be achieved by training your body.

You have to discipline your body; break it the way you break a horse until it does what you say, not you doing what it says. If your body can’t be subject to you, then it means you’re a slave to your body. And you can’t do anything serious for the Lord if you’re body-ruled.

In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul said, “…I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection….” For instance, you can decide you’ll not sleep whenever you’re in church, or whenever you’re studying the Bible or listening to God’s Word; that’s temperance.

Also, when you fast; don’t find yourself going for food barely an hour into the fast. Part of the essence of a fast is to deny yourself the natural cravings in order to put your body in subjection to your spirit. You have the ability and will to control your impulses, to subdue your body and tell it what to do, and it’ll comply.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth… (John 16:13).

“Truth” is “reality,” which means part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in you is to guide you into the deep realities of the Kingdom; to show you what reality is. He’s able to do this effectively because He’s the “Spirit of reality”; God’s Word is reality (truth): “…thy word is truth” (John 17:17).

Too many people chase shadows in life because they don’t know what reality is. They think reality is whatever they can see, touch, or feel, not realizing that life is beyond the senses; life is spiritual.

You might have heard some people say, “Let’s face reality,” referring to the happenings around them, the circumstances of life. There’s only one reality, and that’s God’s Word. God’s Word is truth.

Set your gaze on the Word only; see by the Word. Live in and by the Word. The Word never fails. Believing the Word and acting accordingly is the way to make the Word effective in your life; it’s the way to make your way prosperous in life. It’s not enough to believe the Word; you must act on it.

Acting on the Word is proof that you believe it.

The blessing of the Word is for the one who has no options to the Word; the one whose only recourse is the Word: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).

The integrity of God’s Word is unquestionable. Never contradict the Word. The Word has creative power that’s effected once ignited by your faith!

Make progress from glory to glory by living the Word. Personalize God’s Word; apprehend it, and appropriate it for yourself, and it’ll produce for you, and in you, the reality that it conveys.

That transformation you desire in your finances, health and family are dependent on you, not God. Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” His Word is settled in heaven, but you must settle it in your life through your affirmations; you must take the Word as absolute truth and speak the same things in agreement with God. Hallelujah!

Romans 8:5-6 GNB “Those who live as their human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants. To be controlled by human nature results in death; to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.”

Many Christians have lived in the sense-realm for too long. If they feel an ache in the head, the first thing that comes to their minds is the medication to take. They’re not conscious that they have power over sickness, disease, and infirmity; they’re not conscious that they have the divine life.

The Christian is a partaker of the divine nature and an associate of the God-kind. You have the very life that God possesses in you; that makes you more than a mere man. Sickness really can’t, and shouldn’t thrive in your body, because Christ is the life of your physical body.

His presence in you already gave life and divinity to your mortal body. Why then are many still burdened with sickness and ravaged by one health issue or the other? The answer is clear: ignorance.

The psalmist said, “They do not know nor do they understand; they walk about in darkness… I said, “You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High” (Psalm 82:5- 6 NASB). Jesus reiterated the same thing: “…Has it not been written in your Law, “I SAID, YOU ARE GODS”?” (John 10:34 NASB). The above verse is a sovereign declaration of Deity; it’s a present-hour reality, guaranteed to produce results. Believe and declare it.

Practice it for yourself, and on others. Believing the Word and acting accordingly is the way to make the Word effective in your life. Faith is the noun and believing is the verb—the acting of faith—and without faith, it’s impossible to please God. Faith is standing your ground on the reality of the Word. Yes, hearing the Word produces faith in you (Romans 10:17), but acting on it, living it out, is what causes you to excel, prosper, and make progress in life with giant strides.

Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! (James 3:3-5).

A rudder is a small piece or structure of wood or metal attached upright to the stern of a boat or ship that sets it on course to a desired direction. The captain uses it to direct the ship wherever he wants.

The Apostle James likened the tongue to the rudder of a great ship. Though so little, the tongue can accomplish anything – good or bad:

“Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof”

(The life you have today is the result of your tongue-work; everything you’ve been saying. Your words direct the course of your destiny, positively or otherwise; never forget that. "James 3:2)

For in many ways we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body”.

Your tongue is the tool by which you chart your course in life. This means you actually have the control over your life through your tongue; you can determine the quality of life you live here on earth. This is the reason you shouldn’t talk poverty, defeat, sickness or death; rather, talk prosperity, victory, success, health and life, and that’s what you’ll have in your life.

Steer “your ship” – your life – in the direction of God’s destiny for you, with your tongue. Make a choice to speak the right words about yourself, and you’ll have a glorious and successful life.

Mark 11:23

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Proverbs 6:2

Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

-GSW-