| ............ | A Word In Due Season Oct 2021 10/1/21 CAPTAIN OF YOUR SOUL Scripture: I Timothy 1:19 (NIV) "Holding on to faith and a good conscience ... some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith." The Apostle Paul exhorted Timothy to hold on to the inspired prophetic words that had been spoken over him. He declared that these words would help him fight a good warfare in the faith. Paul also told Timothy that if he did not hold on to his faith and keep a good clear conscience that he would face a possible spiritual shipwreck. Keeping the faith is a constant warfare for all of us, for the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is very persistent and presents challenges every day in an effort to cause us to give up on the things of God. He seeks to lead us astray for he knows that if he can cause us to let go of our faith and good conscience for just one moment, we will become his captive. He will build strongholds in our minds that suit his agenda and will cause us to experience shipwreck within our soul. The Message Bible quotes the scripture above in this fashion, "There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith." It only takes a little relaxing and then we have to deal with doubt. There is a saying, "Jesus is my co-pilot." Yet, true faith is total dependence upon God. It is leaning entirely upon Him with absolute trust and confidence. The Lord is not our co-pilot; He is the pilot or the captain of our soul. If we are in charge and He is merely our co-pilot, we are surely headed for a shipwreck. The story of the Titanic is interesting. This great ocean liner was supposed to be unsinkable and was on its maiden voyage when it hit an iceberg and sank. This ship was made by man and also guided by man. Total faith and confidence had been placed in this vessel, but it ultimately suffered a horrible shipwreck. This parallels the condition of our faith when we do not listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, but make our own plans and follow our own ways. In contrast to the Titanic, the Ark that Noah built was constructed according to God's master plan and was totally guided through the waters by His sovereign hands. The Ark truly was unsinkable because God was the captain. There is nothing worse than having your faith shipwreck on the sea of life. Natural shipwreck is destruction and utter ruin that happens when the ship gets out of control because it is driven by the raging sea. Spiritual shipwreck is the same and can happen to any of our lives. We may think that we are strong in our faith, but in reality there are storms that can come to any of our lives at any time and throw us off course. None of us would plan a destructive storm for our lives, but nevertheless, we are all vulnerable when the storms suddenly appear. We must review our faith and confidence each day and determine who is the captain is of our lives and in whom have we placed our trust? Is our faith in our ship, which we think is unsinkable, or is it in the One who made us? Are we are going to wage a good warfare in the faith or will we allow the storms of life to drive our faith to the ruins of doubt and unbelief? There will be many rocks and hard places to steer through. Are we going to follow after God with a clear conscience or are we going to let sin lead us into destruction? The decision is ours. Will Jesus be the captain, the co-pilot, or will He have any voice at all? The only right decision is to yield our lives to God and hold on to His Words of faith as we allow Him to steer our vessel. It is only as we make Jesus Christ the Lord and Captain of our lives that we can weather the storms of life and not suffer the shipwreck of our soul. +++ Copyright © 2021 Mary Padgett Ministries. All Rights Reserved www.widsonline.com |
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