Article By: Aqueelah Watson
"In this word are the shears to sever the strings the enemy has attached and free ourselves from the “Masterminder.” In our anger and soulish emotions he manipulates us, he pulls our strings and makes us dance to his rhythm and wallow in his blues."
Once we submit our lives to God, there is an inception that must take place within us, an inception of his power and authority. We must grab it, speak into it, and become transformed within it. In this word are the shears to sever the strings the enemy has attached and free ourselves from the “Masterminder.” In our anger and soulish emotions he manipulates us, he pulls our strings and makes us dance to his rhythm and wallow in his blues. He allows us to think we are in power when he is the one with the “control”, turning us into nothing more than willful Marionettes. The more we submit to our pride, the more we give him access to our being and the more authority we actually lose. It is in the submission to the lord that we gain our freedom. Some may think this is a backwards concept; they may question how submitting to someone can in turn give them freedom? But what we must understand is that God is not the oppressor, that our sin is, and while asking this question, we must also ponder this: How often does regret follow the requests of the Lord? How many apologies do we owe for helping our neighbors and loving our enemies? What inner sorrows are beset to those who carry the heart of Christ? What joy do these actions lock away? And in the same breath we must now ask ourselves: How many times has our pride gotten us hurt? How many people have we pushed away with our anger? How many times have we been captured by our tempers? And what were the results? And then we must come to terms with the fact that the more angry we allow ourselves to become, the more out of control we often feel, and every time we submit to this emotion, the more frequently it knocks on our door, cuffs our hands and holds us hostage. How much guilt have we allowed to fester within us, allowing ourselves to be deceived by feelings of justification, when really it is our pride not allowing us to say the “I’m sorry” that is often laying within our hearts, and with knowing the consequence, we listen to the groan of pride daily even though Proverbs 16:18 (HCSB) warns us that “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall”. In doing this we miss that love is where we have our power, and in his hands our place of peace as, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: and leadeth me beside the still waters.” (Psalms 23:2).
As Christians we must look our flesh in the mirror staying mindful that the act of being saved is not about denying the propensities within ourselves to become tempted and angered as it states in Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Ignoring our ability to become tempted and angry is a deception within ourselves, and only opens the door of sin wider and wider the bigger this deception becomes, because we are refusing to acknowledge our flesh thus removing our capability to deny it as it states in Galations 5:24 “But those who are of The Messiah have crucified their flesh with all its weaknesses and its cravings”. We must die so that we may live and to live in sin is death to our spirit. “We shall live therefore in The Spirit and surrender to The Spirit” (Galations 5:25; ABPE).
In the world it looks as though many delight in sin, we may even ask ourselves, why can’t we do what they do and share the happiness it appears they possess such an abundance of? But the bible tells us the reason is that we have been bestowed the blessing of being sanctified and in this action set apart and claimed by God as special. The bible tells us “Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.” (Proverbs 24:1-2). God makes it so when we truly belong to him, even in partaking in the actions of others we find no fulfillment but only emptiness in these idle acts. We must accept that being different means that we cannot believe the same lies the enemy has afflicted on the blind, there will always be something inside of us that speaks truth and convicts our spirit. And that “something” is as highlighted in John 14:17 “The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” Having Jesus dwell within us will not always agree with the spirits in which others may operate, as it shines a light in the darkness and brings shame to sin. As it states in James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.” So in this same way it must be expected that we may not be accepted by the world, as it states in John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the authority to become children of God ” A gift we as Christians must claim as a privilege instead of making it look like a burden to others. Yes! there is a weight with each cross we must bear but the weight of sin is much heavier and “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
Growing up I used to wonder why I never fit in… I tried so hard to be like everyone else but failed immensely. I always thought it was because of my outer appearance, so I would try to change the way I dressed, the way I spoke and the behaviors I allowed myself to take part in, and when this didn’t work, I became distraught, because I had yet to understand that it was never “ME” they were rejecting, if was never "ME" that made me different but the God that dwelled within me, and the light that shined above me that I had yet to acknowledge, and it wasn’t until I yielded to his will for me, that he begin to ignite a fire in me for his word and place me around people just like me, people without strings attached, who were equipped with the same light and desire for the Lord! And in doing so he allowed me to see the true struggle in sin, and the plight of the marionette was revealed. They are without control, with painted smiles on their faces, often unware what is missing, and why they are unable to change, caught up in confusion in strife they utter “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, inmy sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law atwork: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:15-24). They want freedom, but know not how to obtain it, then we come around them carrying the answer safely tucked under our hats, and because we want to fit in, we bend and flex to look like them, pretending to have the same strings attached to our hands, instead of using the word to cut theirs, we wear Jesus under layers of costume instead of basking in the freedom that we were blessed to receive, not understanding that the purpose of these interactions is not for others to imprison us but for them to be set free.
The deception of the puppet master is to make the puppet look real, the more fluent the movement, the more others are convinced that the strings no longer exist, the puppet looks happy, but at the end of the day it’s just being played with, and when the show is over and the curtain closes it will be dropped by the "controller", dragged into a box of darkness, and trapped there until the next show, trapped in the darkness of depression, trapped in the darkness of anxiety, trapped in the darkness of sexual promiscuity, and trapped in the darkness of self-pity, all the while we held the key, but we were so busy looking at the smile painted on their face that we couldn’t see the tears in their eyes, and the hunger of their spirit. How many souls must parishbefore we stop being deceived by the “Masterminder”… and understand that it is not enough just to be saved, allowing our brothers and sisters to be thrown into the fire right before our eyes.
Our purpose as Christians did not stop when God saved us from the fire of the enemy, but in the truth of his redemption our work had only begun, we must take this precious gift we have received and make it available to others, “save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (Jude 1:23). It’s not enough to be saved only around others who are saved as well, dimming our light to the world as if we are shamed, when God says “No one lights a lamp and putsit under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.” (Matthew 5:15). This world is too dark to allow our light to be blown out, instead we must radiate a light so bright that it shines truth upon the enemies deception, we must have the courage to get close enough to cut the strings of ALL the marionettes he assigns us to encounter, and although, at first we fear they may stumble and fall, we must then have a steadfast faith that, as he did with us, God will pick them up and strengthen their legs with his word, finally allowing them to walk as we do..... with no strings attached.
Article By: Aqueelah Watson