Healing from Negative Emotions

Every person alive is affected by our childhood experiences. The memory of these events are stored in our subconscious mind. They shaped our opinion of our self and how we react to the world around us.

They cause many of our current negative emotions, which affect us in body, soul and spirit. These negative emotions are driven by lies, which Satan planted in each of our life's experiences.

The deep hurt, abuse, rejection, condescension, ridicule, belittlement and deprivation we experienced are etched into our subconscious mind. We have feelings of being "not enough", failures, unworthy and unacceptable.

We continue to blame our self for our negative emotions rather than the woundedness caused by our significant others, which we carried into our adulthood.

This self-condemnation causes other deep seated negative emotions to dominate our soul, such as: depression, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, and feelings of being unlovable.

The negative self-talk accompanying these feelings actually comes directly from Satan's lies planted in our soul. God wants to set us free from these lies. As we surrender them to Him, He reveals to us His Truth about them.

This requires that we reject the negative attitudes, expressions and clichés, which we collected throughout our lifetime. God exposes unconscious memories by bringing them into our conscious mind.

He sets us free from their hidden power over us and provides us with His love, security, value, sense of belonging and life's necessities that we were deprived of in our past.

All that is required of us is that we courageously and willingly accept as our own, His free gifts of salvation, sanctification, deliverance and redemption (John 3:16-18; Psalm 34:19; 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Prayer:

Father God, continue to set us free from the negative energy of Satan's lies and help us to respond to Your love and provision in our life with gratitude and acceptance. When our emotions are triggered negatively by some current event, help us to trace it back to the lie, which Satan planted during our past; and then reveal to us Your truth about the situation in order to liberate us from the negative effects of these lies ( www.theophostic.com ).

Remind us to give attention to these nagging, unresolved conflicts, so that You can heal us and free us from their ability to rob us of the energy and focus we need to accomplish Your will with our life. Thank You that those, whom the Son sets free, are free indeed (John 8:36). We are no longer bound to negative emotions, but free to have a positive outlook on each moment of every day (Philippians 4:8).

Thought for the Day:

The significant others in our past did the best they could for us from their wounded soul; as we forgive them for their faults, we set our self free to love and be loved by God and other people.

Freedom from the Tyranny of the Past

Our whole life consists of relationships with our loved ones, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbors, authority figures, friends, family members and even with our self.

We have a chance of receiving wounds and/or blessings from all of these associations; and our past, even our subconscious conflicts, influences each of these interactions as well.

Our relationship with our self includes our body, soul and spirit. Our body has internal and external influences, our soul includes our thoughts and feelings and choices, and our spirit is either dead in sin or free in Christ (Colossians 2:13).

Events in our life, involving this multiplex of individual influences, add flavor to or diminish our joy in life. The way people react to us helps to form our concept of our self. We learned to love or despise our self from their actions and opinions.

Subconscious memories of these interactions continue to create our self-concept and the way we relate to people as an adult. We may live with a wounded, defensive attitude or a carefree, happy outlook or an angry, combative defiance.

Trauma changes the way we see our self and our future. We can diffuse and disarm these subconscious memories and the way they affect our relationships today by surrendering our life to Jesus Christ.

We do not have to blame current issues on our self or anyone else. They usually occur from woundedness in one or both of us. Issues in adult relationships often stem from childhood suffering; but childhood wounds do not have to control our adult life.

We can learn a new way to set up boundaries, exercise discernment, stop victimization, redefine our attitudes, change our behavioral patterns and gain a new perspective on priorities and what is important to us by allowing God to expose Satan' lies and to renew a right spirit within us (Psalm 51:10). ( www.theophostic.com )

Prayer:

Father God, You want to create a clean, pure, simple heart within us; one not tainted by the world and painful experiences, but one of freedom in Christ (John 8:36). You delight in setting our soul free from the pain of the past and giving us a bright and promising future (Jeremiah 29:11). Teach us that when people are not trustworthy, we can still trust in You.

As children we were more vulnerable and had fewer choices in the actions perpetrated on us by others. As adults, we can take a more active role by surrendering our future to You and listening to Your Spirit each moment of the day. Thank You for giving us Your wisdom in place of our human reasoning and for teaching us to have boundaries and how to ensure that we have input into our daily experiences.

Thought for the Day:

Our past has power over us only if we give it permission to do so; coming to Christ for healing helps us to find freedom from the tyranny of the past.

Living in Praise

Did you ever notice that Paul was the eternal optimist? The man worked hard, almost died several times, was stoned, shipwrecked and in the sea a day and night, constantly in danger, sleepless, hungry and thirsty, and exposed to both hot and cold elements (2 Corinthians 11:22-28).

Yet, he told us to rejoice always; to pray without ceasing; not to quench the Spirit; and to give thanks in everything: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19).

Does this mean to give thanks, because everything that happens to us is God's will for us; or that giving thanks is God's will for us? Either way, it is worth paying attention to this verse.

If giving thanks is God's will, then when we praise the Lord, we are in God's will; and when we do not praise the Lord, we are out of God's will for us.

If Paul is saying that we should give thanks in good times and in adversity, because all of these circumstances are the will God for us, then when we do not praise Him, we are missing out on part of the miracle, which God has for us through this trial.

Recently, our air-conditioning was out for two days during the hottest November on record in southwest Florida. I was dripping sweat, irritable and claustrophobic - because the heat imprisoned me and I could not escape it.

This caused me to remember my childhood and first pregnancy; when we had no air-conditioning at all, because of our lack of income. My mom used a wet wash cloth on her neck, so I did too. It helped this time too.

As I prayed during this inconvenience, God brought Paul's exhortation to my mind. I realized that I was not to grumble or to allow my flesh to get the better of me; and I was to walk in the Spirit and praise God, even in the suffocating heat.

Easier said than done; but I have been learning to live through my spirit and not my flesh and this was just another opportunity to practice. I truly was thankful that the circumstances were not even more dreadful.

Prayer:

Father God, I really wanted Your permission during this trial to be grouchy and to feel sorry for myself. I wanted to complain and gain sympathy from family and friends. However, I knew this would only make others miserable too, and I would not grow in my spirit with negative behavior or remain in Your will without praising.

I know that You were building character in me and preparing me for future events in my life; therefore, I chose to change my focus and to praise You with each drop of perspiration. I was even able to thank You that it cools down in southwest Florida on November evenings, and that I still had electricity and could run the fans. Thank You for living through this trial with me.

Thought for the Day:

Regardless of the circumstances, we learn to do all things without grumbling and complaining (Philippians 2:12-16), and to walk in the Spirit each moment of the day (Galatians 5:15-25).

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.