God Is In Control

Judges 8:23 "And Gideon said unto them,I will not rule over you,neither shall my son rule over you: The Lord shall rule over you".

When we think of what rules our lives,we think of our habits and passions,which can turn into addictions if we are not careful.Whatever our addictions may be and they can include such things as habitual lying, uncontrolled shopping, constant gossiping, fornication, drugs, and gambling,just to name a few .We must remember that all sins tends to be addictive,and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation.

When Israel wanted to crown Gideon King,he refused, and for a while he stayed focused on the right things and told the people"The Lord will rule over you".Later, however Gideon turned from God's directions by making a golden ephod, and the people begin to worship it.The lord must be lord of all or he is not Lord at all.Outwardly,we are placing God first when we attend worship on Sunday.But where is He in our life the rest of the week.Does He hold first place in our hearts in all situations and all the time?Does His will rule in our families,our business,and our relationships? What part of our lives and our possessions do we wish to keep under our own control?Although Gideon rejected the title of King, the gold became a snare to him and to the people.

The principles that lead Gideon in the hard times, was lost  during times of great prosperity.We tend to begin to worship the blessing and neglect the blessor in times of great prosperity. Sometimes the blessings God gives us become ephods in our lives,and consume all of our time and energy.See rather we agree or not " the love of  money is the root of ALL evil", no matter what the evil ,if you look deep enough ,it is someones love of money that is behind the evil.The faithful child of God should desire the giver more than the gifts.God does not promise to give us all we want, but He has promised to supply all of our needs.Trusting that promise,even in the darkest hour makes him Lord indeed.We must not let the world's attractions, resources, or philosophies rule our lives, but let God and God alone rule our lives.