God-Given Emotions

 

Many people condemn emotions. These individuals focus more on their thoughts and put strict controls over their emotions. They do not trust emotions or emotional people.

The chances are that they were severely wounded by an emotional person in their past, or had a stoic person as their role model. They exalt the mind and censure the emotions.

The Beatitudes reveal to us that God has and expresses emotions (Matthew 5:1-12). For instance, He is angry with and hates the wicked and prideful as well as those who practice and teach iniquity (Psalm 5:5).

He has compassion on the oppressed (Psalm 7:11; Judges 2:18); jealousy over His people (Exodus 20:5); calms us with His love; and rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

God grieves when we make unwise choices, which bring us harm and cause us to reap negative consequences (Psalm 78:40; Genesis 6:6). He also personifies love in the person of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:8).

Our Creator gave us emotions, as well as a mind in order to make balanced choices with our life. The Holy Spirit-controlled temperament provides us with perfect stability of mind and emotions.

We do not have to live as pseudo-intellectuals nor do we need to indulge in negative emotions all the time. We can get in touch with our feelings and use our emotions to express our innermost thoughts.

Prayer:

Father God, You made us with an intricate human body that works together like finely tuned clockworks. You also gave us a soul that expresses itself through our body and emotions. Our eyes are the windows of our soul and often reveal what we are feeling and thinking. You call on us to maintain a healthy body, soul and spirit each day of our life (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Yet, we often ignore the needs of all three of these entities by not exercising, skipping meals and not hydrating; as well as making poor choices for our life, and ignoring or stuffing our emotions (Proverbs 14:30). Remind us that it is possible to feel negative emotions, to express them without sinning, and to find healing for them (Ephesians 4:26; Genesis 4:6-7). Teach us to find a balance between our soul and spirit. Please restore our soul when life attempts to crush us (Psalm 23:3).

Thought for the Day:

God made us as triune beings: body, soul and spirit; our soul consists of our feelings, choices and thoughts; and we can walk in God's Spirit and stay in perfect balance with all three. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Genesis 2:7; Galatians 5:16

        

It's Not Your Normal Beatitudes

 

Faith and works are opposites. We prove our faith by our works, but we cannot work to build up our faith (James 2:17). Exercising our faith brings us patience, until patience does her work of perfection in us (James 1:3-4). Everything in the spiritual life begins and ends with Christ. He authors as well as completes our faith, because He took our shame and conquered sin death. Now He sits in His rightful place on His throne at the right hand of God (Hebrews 12:2).

We always view the Beatitudes as attributes that Jesus requires of us in order for us to inherit His blessings. We look discouragingly at the long inventory, and abandon any hope of ever reaching such holy heights in spirituality. However, Christ in us turns the remarks of His message into a declaration of His work in our life, rather than an itemized list of accomplishments to which we should aspire (Matthew 5:1-12). Look at the Beatitudes from God’s perspective rather than from ours. 

As long as we live in pride, the eyes of our understanding are glazed over by our arrogance (Ephesians 1:18). We cannot understand God’s Word. Only when Christ reveals to us how poor in spirit we actually are, do we have any hope of inheriting the Kingdom of God. Realizing our depravity, we call on Christ to save us. We mourn our hopelessness and He comforts us with His salvation. Only by admitting our sinful state of corruption may we inherit the earth.

We live our life sanctified by His Spirit, hungering and thirsting after more and more righteousness until He satisfies our longing and fills our famished soul (Psalm 107:9). God shows us His mercy, as we are merciful to fellow sinners, and forgives us as we forgive others (Acts 17:11). When we submit to God, He guarantees that we will see Him, because He cleanses our heart from sin. Due to the work of Christ in our life, the Lord of peace allows His children to act as blessed peacemakers.

Even if we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, Christ in us bears the pain and gives us the inheritance of His Kingdom as our own. Faith connects us to the reality of God’s Spirit, and His Spirit assures us of His faithfulness. We live by faith in the Son of God, because He loves us and gave Himself as a ransom for our sins (Ephesians 5:2). The Kingdom of Heaven is not about the carnal pursuits of eating and drinking, but about seeking His Spirit’s righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17).

Prayer:

Father God, if our identity is wrapped up in our performance, we are slaves to society. We work our self into a frenzy to acquire success and this world’s goods. We work like slaves to secure a retirement that may never come. We run on a treadmill that leads to an endless road of hectic activity. As authentic Born Again Christians, You place Your boundless fullness in our human spirit. We ask You to use our body, soul and spirit for Your glory.

Thought for the Day:

It is time to stop taking God’s love for granted (Romans 5:8), and to start loving others with eternal, sacrificial love rather than only through impatient tolerance (John 13:34).