22.5 Revelation – Do not ride the beast

Control is a delusion.  We live each day as if we have control.  We struggle and save to have control of our finances.  We make contracts and promises.  We buy and sell, barter and steal for control.  We coerce and lie for control. We want to be on top.  We want to be in charge.

We hate giving up the TV remote because it feels like we have relinquished control.  We hate riding in the passenger seat.  We hate riding on airplanes.  We hate having to rely on others.

But control is a delusion.  It is one God calls sin and the devil calls opportunity.

When we fight for control, we fight God.  God, the creator and author of the universe is in control.  He alone is in control.  When we insist on “taking control” we are telling God, “you are not doing a good enough job and, well, you need my help!”  When we insist on trying to control the situation, our day, our lives, we relegate God to a safety net, a servant, someone who will come along quietly and catch us when we fail and fall.

This is sin.  This is missing the mark.  This is selling out for so much less than what God has in store for us because we are fighting Him and pulling in the wrong direction constantly.

But Satan loves for us to feel in control.  It is a lie.  We know it is a lie, but it is an attractive lie.  We want to ride that lie faster and harder.  We want to ignore death and grab all the gusto.  We want to be “good at being bad”.  We want to ride the beast and party and curse and be immoral and drink and…

Until it devours us.  And that is the reality.  It always devours us.  It is not a harmless delusion.  It is not a dream or fairy tale.  It is wickedness.  It is a lie.  It is death – forever.

So, what is your direction in life.  Will you be standing as one of the called, the chosen, the faithful followers of Jesus, the one who is the way, the truth and the light?  Or will you be devoured the lies and the darkness?

If you are riding the beast now in any part of your life, the choice is simple.  It has 3 simple steps:
1. Ask the Holy Spirit for help – you cannot get off the beast on your own power
2. Get on your knees – repent and leave it at the cross, once you turn it over, let it go, it is no longer yours to bear, you have given it to Christ and He is sufficient
3. Stand – Be a faithful follower.

You can do it for two simple reasons: You are called and you are chosen.  Neither of those has anything to do with you or your power or your worthiness or anything else about you.  This isn’t about you – it is about Jesus and God’s love.

But, do it quickly.  It is at the point that everything is wonderful, it is the height of the party and you are riding high, that it ends: the lies turn on you and consume you.  The notion that it is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven is not an offer – it is a line from a book called Paradise Lost and it is a monologue by Satan about himself.  It is not an option for you.

Please don’t wait until a better time, later, but everything is going good so why quit, when I get older, when I settle down time.  Do it now, before the lies tear the flesh from your bones and consume you – they will, it is only a matter of time.

My Answers:

12.
The followers of the beast hate and come together in unity to destroy, they destroy both good and evil, they are filled with hate. But God turns their unity and rage against each other time and again and the enemies of God destroy themselves

13.
There is tremendous wickedness, some very well organized.  But while hate and wickedness can be powerful, they breed discontent and soon turn against each other and not just their primary target.

14.
It is like reading the end of a mystery novel – We know the outcome.