My House: My Slave or My Master? By Precious C Philip

To many people on planet earth, their body is their master. But our Creator never designed it to be that way. God gave us a body to rule over it, not to become a slave or servant to it. All men on earth are spirits. [Remember God is Spirit and He created men in His image and after His likeness- Genesis 1:26]. Spirits live in the spiritual world; but God created the earth for man to live in and exercise dominion over all He created. Earth is physical, so for man who is spirit to live in it, God had to give man a physical body. The reality then is: we are all spirits. We are just given a body (which I call a *house*) to live in in order to have contact with the physical world. Our bodies is the reason why we're still on earth. Your body is what gives you right to be on earth. The moment you lose it by physical death (you leaving your body), you have to go back to the spirit world where spirits occupy to live eternally. Only those with physical bodies have the right to be on earth. That is why the devil usually possess people in order to use their body to perpetrate his evil works because he cannot operate on earth not having a body as he is a spirit. 

Our earthly bodies are dirt, they're made from dust and once we die, they return to dust. Your body needs your spirit to stay on earth. (Remember you are spirit, but to make it easy for you to grasp, I'll be using the phrase *your spirit* which stands for *the real you* in the rest of the article). Without your spirit, your body will decay. So your spirit is superior to your body. Your spirit can exist on its own without your body, but your body cannot exist on its own without your spirit. Your body is dependent on your spirit to remain relevant on earth. Your spirit is immortal but your body is mortal. Your spirit does not die or decay or rot (this is why those who go to Hell fire will burn forever in the Lake of Fire without being burnt up- they cannot die), but your body being dirt, dies, decays and rots. 

You might ask, what about the body of Jesus, the body of Enoch, even that of Elijah?🙂 Don't feel perplexed. Their earthly bodies underwent what Christians who stay alive to experience the rapture will experience, even the dead Christians that will rise out of their graves at the sound of the trumpet - I call it "the transformation" - where our mortal, perishable and earthly bodies will be supernaturally replaced with immortal, imperishable and heavenly bodies. Hallelujah 🙌 This is fully explained in 1 Corinthians 15:35-55.

Now, why am I explaining these things to you? Wisdom, the Bible says, gives life. But WISDOM needs KNOWLEDGE to effectively work, and UNDERSTANDING is important to get knowledge. You can't know something except you first understand it, and you cannot apply wisdom except you have knowledge. That's the reason. Now you have understanding of the fundamentals, I'll proceed to offer you knowledge which will then help you apply wisdom. This is the knowledge I want you to have and then wisely apply to your life: your body (your house) is meant to be your slave and not your master.  Wouldn't it be foolish for anyone to be sent to Hell by their body- because of the evil their body made them do on earth? Think about it. 

Dear reader, it is crucial you understand that you have a soul (it comprises of your mind, will and emotions). Your soul is the middle man- it receives information from your body and delivers it to your spirit; it also receives information from your spirit and delivers it to your body. It either does what the body says or it does what the spirit says. For instance, your body might be craving for sex (and you're not married), it immediately sends this information to your soul, the soul transmits it to your spirit. If you're born again, your spirit will quickly say "NO" to your soul, your soul will then take this message back to your body, and your body will behave itself. 

Therefore, the right goal is to have your spirit call the shots. Because when a man is born again, their spirit is what gets born again and become attuned to the Holy Spirit; their body remain the same as well as their soul. On their own, they must consciously and deliberately with the help of the Holy Spirit, using the word of God, renew their mind and submit their will and emotions to God's will. So, in essence, if you're born again, your spirit is saved, your soul is being saved, and your body will be saved at the resurrection or rapture. 

A spiritual person who is really submitted to the Holy Spirit makes their spirit call the shots. I mean their spirit decides what their soul and body does. They control their soul and body. Their body, their will, their emotions, their mind, is subject to their spirit. The reverse however is the case for a carnal Christian or someone not yet born-again who is loyal to the devil. Their body is in total charge. Their body controls their spirit and their soul (what they think, how they feel or react, and what they do).

God our Creator designed our bodies to be subject to our spirit. Like I earlier said, our spirit is superior to our body because the body is mere dirt, is mortal and cannot exist on its own - so only a shallow-minded person would allow their body control their spirit. Knowing that your body is just an ordinary house you're living in to leave behind on earth when you die, why then should a sensible person become a slave to their body? Are you masturbating because that is what your body constantly craves for? Are you fornicating, watching porn because your body asks for it? Are you smoking and drinking because your body demands for it? Please get up today and say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" Put your body where it belongs. It should not take your spirit to Hell to suffer while it stays behind on earth. Paul the Apostle wrote "I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others"(1 Corinthians 9:27). You need to understand how serious this is and take it very serious. What you don't fight against, you cannot overcome. What you pamper, remains. Any ugly situation or bad habit you permit, stays with you. STAND UP AND TAKE CHARGE! 

Listen to this: "All of us must appear in front of Christ's judgment seat. Then all people will receive what they deserve for the good or evil they have done while living in their bodies"(2 Corinthians 5:10). Did you hear that? Please read again. That is serious. I'm not trying to instill fear in you, I'm only trying to make you understand that this matter is a pressing one. If I were you, I would take the bull by the horns and discipline my body and make it my slave. Apostle Peter also appeals to us "I appeal to you, my friends, as strangers and refugees in this world! Do not give in to bodily passions, which are always at war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11

If it is masturbation or fornication or adultery or homosexuality that your body is using to control you, place your hands on your genitals and with authority in Jesus' Name command it to be subject to your spirit. Say to it "You cannot take me to Hell. You cannot ruin my destiny. You cannot limit my potentials. I take charge today in Jesus Name!" If it is addiction to lying, stand boldly and declare your freedom. Is it addiction to watching porn, or to drinking and smoking, or to any other ungodly and unhealthy habit? Rise up this moment and call that addiction, call that sinful habit by name and command it to bow to the Name of Jesus. Loudly declare your freedom right now. Now is your moment of freedom. Receive your total and permanent freedom in Jesus Name,  Amen. You are free! Go ahead to confess it, "I am free in Jesus Name. I am free from masturbation. I am free from fornication. I am free from porn addiction. I am free from drinking and smoking." 

"For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation" (Romans 10:10).

Rejoice! Give thanks to God. You are free. Now exercise your freedom by getting rid of all the porn videos and pictures on your phone, iPad & laptop and download an app to block your access to porn sites and adult content on the web, do away with alcoholic drinks, destroy that pack of cigarettes, break that sexually immoral relationship... and fiercely resist future temptations relying on the help of the Holy Spirit in prayers and loading your spirit with scriptures speaking against those vices. If you're not yet born again, please surrender your life to Jesus now so that you'll experience real freedom and it'll be permanent. 

Peace...!