Live Free with Josh Howerton - Power Under Control | Ep. 211 | Monday, November 27, 2023

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

When was the last time you did a review of your character? Do the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians look like you? Gentleness is one of the fruits that is often overlooked. When we look to Jesus, we find our model for living with gentleness. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's daily drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. This Christmas, we want to invite you and your family to join us for our candlelight services on December 22nd through 24th at any of our six locations or for church online. For more information, visit lakepoint.combe.com slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We all gathered in a gym with 100 of our closest family members. And man, it was so great to see everybody. Got to watch kids run around and play. We ate way too much food. then we all went back to the house, turned on football, and fell asleep. And man, football season is definitely in full swing, and it seemed like thousands of games are happening on every channel.

I mean, high school's got Friday night lights and all the regional and state playoffs, and college football is on every Saturday, and the NFL every Sunday, every Monday, every Thursday. I mean, it's everywhere. And we see fans don their favorite team gear, paint themselves, their favorite team colors. We watch these highly conditioned gladiators just going at it on the gridiron. and we see those guys with the striped shirts and whistles regularly go to the replay monitor to review the previous play. They will take a closer look, come back on the field and announce,

after further review, the call on the field is reversed, or the play stands. So I thought it might be a good idea for all of us to stop, rewind, and go with God to the replay monitor and take a closer inside-out look at our life, at our growth, at our character. And the good news is God is for us in this process, and he always makes the right call. You know, I've talked about this a bunch, but I've learned that it's great to work this prayer into the regular rhythm of your life. It comes from Psalm 139.

It says, search me, oh, God. Just know my heart. God point out anything you see in me that needs attention. Is there anything in me right now that might make you throw a penalty flag on my character? I'm inviting you to go to the replay monitor with me and take a closer look. And then, after further review, tell me what you see. Years ago, along with that prayer from Psalm 139, I started using a verse in a portion of the Bible called Galatians.

It's kind of a replay monitor, so to speak, to regularly check on how I might be improving or not improving. It says this in Galasians chapter 5, verse 22 through 23. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It's the monitor that you can go to to evaluate how you're growing. You pray, search me, oh God. How's my love these days? Am I more loving than I was six months ago? What's my joy level like? How am I doing in the peace and contentment category? Am I faithful? Am I good? Am I kind? Am I patient? Am I gentle? You know, football is a violent kind of game, collisions on every

play, injuries on almost every play, knees get blown out, shoulders get dislocated, fingers get broken, ankles get sprained, players get concussions with lasting implications. It is not a game for the week of heart or the week of body. And that's why I always enjoyed flag football. The college I went to didn't have football, so we put together a rag-tag traveling flag squad. And we went around playing other little towns. It was a blast. And I found it to be just as fun, just as creative, with a fraction of the pain. I guess you might say it was a kinder, gentler version of football. And after further review, that's what I want to be said of me these days, that I'm a kinder, gentler version of who I used to be. For too many years in different ways, I would have been flag repeatedly for

unnecessary roughness. I was way too rough on myself, way too demanding on myself, way too critical of myself, and I could be way too demanding and critical of other people, too. I could be harsh, I can be sarcastic, I could be blunt, very short with people. So I had to stop and go to the monitor and ask God, okay, God, why is gentleness jumping off this list at me? I mean, after further review, God, what needs to change? Would you shape me? Would you remind me in the moment to watch my reactions, to watch my tone, to watch my body language? Help me to listen to you as you want to stretch me and speak into my character. Now I've got a long, long way to go, but hopefully I'm getting a little better at each one of those things on the list. And remember, the Holy Spirit will grow the fruit.

You and I are responsible for cultivating the soil, so that he can grow all this good stuff in us. We talked about this last week, how fruit grows in soil that's been cultivated by humility and fertilized with gratitude. And as we humble ourselves and remain grateful for his presence and power in our lives, he starts to grow some amazing stuff like love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest. When I first started doing the replay monitor thing with the Fruit of the Spirit list, not only did it surprise me that gentleness was the one I needed to work on, I was kind of surprised to even find it on the list. I mean, I thought, you've got to be kidding me, God, gentleness.

Come on, breezes are gentle. Bambi is gentle. Charmin is gentle. You don't hear the Marines seem. We're looking for a few. gentlemen. Come on, gentleness? No, this is a rough and tumble UFC cage match kind of life. We are American ninja warriors. We are tough men, tough women, who do battle every day with

corporations and dirty diapers, homework, and traffic. We are gladiators, we are survivors, we can't afford to be. Come on, gentle. My problem used to be, and I think our collective problem is that most of us have a misunderstanding of what gentleness actually means. The word in the Bible doesn't mean we, doesn't mean frail, soft, or delicate. It actually means power under control. This term came out of the equestrian world describing a horse trainer who takes a wild snorting, bucking, thoroughbred colt with all that raw energy and power and breaks it. It's power under control. And when you really

think about it, wouldn't we all be much closer to being in our best? If we had a little power under control in our lives? I mean, when a toddler throws a temper tantum in a grocery store, falls on the floor with arms and legs flailing because they can't get the pop-tarts open, what do they need? Yeah, a little power under control. When a teenager storms into their room, slams the door, cranks up the music, and erupts with the kind of emotion

that makes a hurricane look like a passing shower. What do they need? A little power under control. When a grown man blows his top, gets red with rage, and uses the kind of language that turns the air blue and everybody's blood cold at the T-ball field, what does he need? A little power under control. And I don't know, but maybe God might be throwing a flag your way with a call of unnecessary roughness. He certainly threw one on me, told me, bro, you know what you need?

Yeah, you need some gentleness. And I did. I needed some more gentleness with my wife, gentleness with my kids, gentleness with the people I worked with and led, gentleness with the players I was coaching, gentleness with the people I was trying to pastor. I mean, after a further review, he was right. gentleness was exactly what I needed. If I'm going to be at my very best, if you're going to be your very best, if our relationships are going to flourish, we have to have this power under control. We all need a dose of gentleness. Listen, there's not a person today who doesn't need God's help in this area,

because every human being who's ever lived has had some rough edges. I've been walking through the Gospels again, and every time I do, and not only learn a lot about Jesus and the character of God, see myself reflected in some of the people who followed him. You talk about rough edges? Jesus' three closest friends, Peter, James, and John would have been flagged for unnecessary. Roughness, late hit, targeting, unsportsmanlike conduct multiple times. Jesus even nicknamed the hot-edded brothers James and John, the Sons of Thunder.

I mean, you just see these guys wearing black leather jackets with SOT, tatted on their bicep riding Harley camels. But one time Jesus and the disciples are walking to Jerusalem, and they're planning to stay the night in Samaria. So Jesus sends a couple of them ahead to find accommodations. Now Jesus and disciples were kind of a controversial hot topic at this point, and once the Samaritans realize just who it is that's coming to town, the people will not welcome them to Samaria. In fact, they don't have anything to do with Jesus and his friends. Well, James and John, the Sons of Thunder, they go ballistic. They come up to Jesus and say, Yo, Lord, you want us to like call down fire from heaven to destroy them? Now, it's funny to me

that they thought they actually had the power to call down fire. I mean, it's pretty cocky, but it's sad what it revealed about their character. How's that for a few rough edges? They both needed a little gentleness, a little power under control. Peter, Jesus' other closest friend, also had his rough edges. Some of you know that he was impulsive, he was boastful, always sticking his foot in his mouth. When they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, Peter just loses it. He grabs a sword, starts flailing around, chops off the ear of a servant. It was Peter who denied Jesus three times after claiming he would never do such a thing. I'm a tough guy, Jesus. I'm not afraid. I would die for you. I would never disown you. I mean, it's no wonder that Jesus shook

his head and said over in Luke 9, how much longer had to put up with you guys? But, Jesus saw their potential. Jesus saw beyond their rough edges, he knew if they just would get to know him better, if they would continue to hang out with him, if they would watch him, react and relate to people, if they could start depending upon his strength and his power, if they would walk and step with the coming, Holy Spirit, God could change them. And he did. And that's why Jesus invited them and us in Matthew chapter 11, come to me. All of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle and you'll find rest for your souls. So there's your verse for today. Here Jesus say to you

throughout this day, let me teach you because I'm humble and I am gentle and you'll find rest for your souls. We'll pick up here tomorrow. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review,

and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.com.com slash daily drive.