Emotional and Mental Health - The Center of God's Will

 

Most people are either on top of the world right now, or buried under the burden of frustration, discouragement and disappointment. Jesus Christ makes the difference in both of these instances.

Even if someone is totally successful and right where their goals led them over the last few years, they may be as unsatisfied and unfulfilled as they were when they started their journey to the top.

Many people give up at this point and opt for a simpler life, downgrading their salary and vocational expectations for a quieter and less stressful lifestyle.

For Believers, living in the center of God's will is the only place where we find complete contentment. He may continue to lead us in the vein in which we started - adding an altered mindset, or He may change our circumstances completely.

It all hinges on finding and fulfilling God's directives for our life (Proverbs 3:5-6). We completely surrender our will and plans to Him, and live by the direction of His Holy Spirit instead of our human desires.

Even if God leads us through some valley or trial, we find His purpose for us in it. We can witness of His mercy and grace to a fellow traveler, learn a needed lesson, view His provision for us in a whole new light, and grow in our intimacy with Him through it all (1 Peter 4:12).

We learn to depend on His Body during our trials, to grow closer to our spouse, family and church family; our faith grows in the fact that we can count on certain people to help us and that God never fails us.

Prayer:

Father God, some trials devastate us to our very core. They shake the foundations of our trust in You and our faith in humanity. Yet, we often survive these unhappy circumstances with enduring blessings that we never would have experienced without them. Remind us to focus on You in the good times and the bad, giving You praise for each instance as we focus on You - You never change (Hebrews 13:8).

Help us to see life from Your viewpoint rather than our limited, human perspective. Spur us to remain faithful to You in spite of them. We look at life now through Your unfailing love and comfort, according to Your promises and provision (Psalm 119:75-76). Demonstrate Yourself to us in all of Your power and majesty. 

Thought for the Day:

Prayerfully surrendering our trials to God allows us to gain His perspective on what seems like a turn of bad luck; we ask God's Spirit for His wisdom and direction; and we come through these times of testing with a deeper faith and stronger spiritual, mental and emotional fortitude than we ever experienced in our life in the past.

Holy Living

Every day, God gives us the opportunity to stop sowing the destruction of sin into our garden of life. He provides new and nurturing experiences for us to use the pieces of our eternal weight of glory to honor Him.

We press on toward the goal of the high calling of God in our life (Philippians 3:14), until our journey ends. This is when He transforms us into the image of Christ as we breathe our last earthly breath and enter our celestial home in heaven (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Until then, we spend our days in holy living, worshipping our true and living King, and abiding according to Biblical and eternal priorities. This occurs regardless of our trials and circumstances.

We count everything as joy, even when we fall into various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith produces patience; then patience has her perfect way with us, teaching us to "let go and let God" have His way in our life (James 1:4).

When we walk in the flesh, we tax our spiritual, emotional and mental energy, which effects our physical energy as well. We divide our energy between carnal and spiritual concerns.

God wants to hold the preeminent place in our life in order to insure our success as we enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:10). Then there will be no division in our soul and no stress on our physical well-being.

Happiness in this life requires a whole-hearted focus and commitment. We set our mind on the Kingdom of God and then He provides us with everything we need to experience fulfillment and success (Matthew 6:33).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus gave His life at such a young age and died a cruel death in sacrifice upon the cross, so that I will never have to die the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). Because of You, my eternity is in Heaven’s glories rather than in hell’s torment.

You awake in me the desire to serve You all the days of my life. I rejoice in You, my God and my Savior. I enter Your presence with the confidence of a child, and I dwell in Your Holy Place forever (Hebrews 10:19-20).

Thought for the Day:

If we have an idol in our life - something we focus on more than God; or are overly concerned with "me, myself and I", we will miss the high calling of God's will and suffer the loss of fulfillment which only He can provide.

A Perfect Union

All of humanity is made in the image of the Trinity (Genesis 1:26). We have a triune being with a body, soul and spirit. Prior to salvation, our spirit is dead in sin. We live in prideful rebellion. We enjoy controlling our own life and we have no need or desire to think about God. In fact, thoughts about God, which intrude on our conscious mind, disturb us and make us feel uncomfortable.

We run from God’s conviction and reject people who remind us of Him. We forget that the “Hound of Heaven” is constantly pursuing us, drawing us into His loving embrace. Once we finally yield to His sovereignty, we wonder why we took so long to submit to His call and to relinquish control of our life to Him. When we surrender everything to God, life is no longer a struggle (Romans 8:28; Hebrews 4:10).

Salvation is the first step in our walk with God. Our spirit is finally Born Again. Then we embark on a journey toward holiness. God’s Holy Spirit changes us from one stage of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18). Each stage brings us closer to a perfect union with God (Ephesians 2:1-5). The closer our relationship with Him grows in the spirit (John 4:24), the more intimacy with Him we want in our life.

Some Believers are simply content with escaping hell, and they live a shallow, carnal life, without this intimate union with God. Yet others often feel like we are in a desert, thirsting for more and more of His Living Water (John 4:14). We hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6; Psalm 107:9). Our spirit longs to receive more nourishment from the Bread of Life (John 6:35).

Prayer:

Father God, even though we cannot sense You in our physical body, our spirit and soul – our mind, will and emotions – feel your presence every day of our life (Hebrews 13:5). We form this perfect union with You by spending time in Your presence as we go about our day. We consult with You and rely on You as we follow Your Spirit’s direction. When we pray, remind us to listen to Your Voice, as well as to commune with You from our heart.

Thought for the Day:

Do not despair if God seems silent; He is simply enjoying your companionable silence.

Overcoming the World

 

Paul chronicled for the Romans his journey from an earthly-minded sinner to a liberated Saint who was led by the Spirit of God (Romans 6-Romans 8). He describes in detail the revelation God gave to him: The law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus freed him from bondage to this world and the flesh (Romans 8:2). We too share in this liberation. We all died in Christ, and now we live, not for our self, but for Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). We do not pursue our own agenda or work to amass this world’s goods, which will only burn up in the end. Instead, we focus on the eternal aspects of life (Matthew 6:19-20).

We cannot perfect our self by our good works any more than we can save our self by them (Galatians 3:1-3). It is all the work of Christ on the cross (Romans 7:18). We now belong to Christ, and the carnal cravings of our flesh are crucified with Him (Galatians 5:24). Our humanity is dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We no longer struggle with sin, because sin disgusts us. We have no desire to partake in the frivolity in this world, because just like Jesus, we must be about our Father’s business (Luke 2:49). We are totally led by the Spirit and have no desire to take any part in sinful activity (Romans 5:18).

We are from God and have overcome the world, because Christ in us is greater than anything this world offers us (1 John 4:4). We may be surrounded by the horrors of tragedy, but this is not our life; therefore, they do not rob us of our peace and joy (Philippians 3:8-14). We set our mind on the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom of God, rather than on the earthly issues swirling all around us (2 Corinthians 4:18). Jesus sanctified and perfected us on His cross (Hebrews 10:13). Now, we walk in obedience, not through self-effort, but by obeying God’s Spirit moment by moment (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Christ is working in and through us, giving us the strength and the longing to follow the leading of His Spirit throughout the day (Philippians 2:12-13). We no longer have any desire to wander back into sin and destruction. We rejoice when we face temptation, because it has no affect on us (James 1:2). We submit to God and resist the devil, and God delivers us every time (James 4:7). Our anxiety is swallowed up by His faithfulness and assurance. Any depression is replaced by His joy, which is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). We live as victors in Christ.

Prayer:

Father God, there is no reason for us to attempt to perfect our self by any self-effort (Galatians 3:1-3). We know that You work out all things in our life according to Your perfect plan (Ephesians 1:11). We come to You to replace all of our negative emotions with thoughts of whatever is true, gracious, accurate, pure, divine, commendable and worthy (Philippians 4:8). If we happen to fall into temptation, we confess the sin; and You readily forgive us and cleanses our conscience from all unholiness (1 John 1:9; Hebrews 9:14). You are capable of keeping us pure in our body, soul and spirit, as we live in Your abiding rest (Jude 24; Hebrews 4:9-11).

Thought for the Day:

Daily, we take up our cross and follow Jesus, by realizing that we are dead and Christ now lives His life in, through and instead of us regardless of our circumstances (1 Corinthians 4:8-14; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).

The Choice is Ours

Read: Phillippians 3:1-11

"Apart from Me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

The Bible declares that Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). Scholars call this theme “Paul’s Obsession”, because he used the phrase “Christ in me” or “In Christ” more than 170 times in his writings. If we have Jesus Christ living in us, He daily delivers us from sin’s dominion by His resurrection life within us (Romans 5:10). He also gives us new values, priorities and goals in life (2 Corinthians 5:17). He gives us His peace that transcends human understanding (Philippians 4: 6-8). If we do not have the Son of God living in us, however, we do not have any of this (1 John 5:12).

Christ’s salvation goes beyond the spirit to the soul and body as well (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The original Biblical language uses three words for salvation: sotheis, sezosmenos, and sozomenos." They mean that believers are currently saved in our spirit through Justification, that we will be saved in our body when we see Jesus through Glorification, and lastly that we are being saved in our soul – our mind, will and emotions - through the lifelong method of Sanctification. Salvation is a process, three stages in an exciting journey that gets sweeter as the days go by.

I desire to know Jesus more intimately every day and to see myself grow into His beloved, mature child. My right standing before God is by faith in all that Christ accomplished on my behalf. I do not have to work for or earn this position. If I really believe this fact, then I will take advantage of the opportunity, which He gives me, to get to know Him more intimately as my redeemer, friend and brother. I do this by spending time reading God’s Word; by prayer – talking and listening; by attending a Bible teaching church; by fellowshipping with other Christians and by sharing with others what God is doing in my life.

On a recent trip to visit my friend in the hospital, I spoke to a lady in the elevator whom I did not know. She wore a beautifully ornate cross around her neck. I asked, “Do you know the Jesus who died for us on the cross?” Shocked at my question, she blurted out a bit sarcastically, “Well, not personally.” I felt so sad for her, so I said, “Well, He wants to have a personal relationship with you. Just read your Bible and attend a Bible teaching church and He will be your best friend just like He is to me.” The elevator door opened and I never saw her again. I truly hope she took the time to meet my best friend.

God freely offers everyone this gift of a personal relationship with Him. We have the option to either embrace His friendship or to refuse to acknowledge Him. The choice is ours. God gives us this opportunity to get to know Christ and to grow in our understanding of His power, His resurrection and in what He has to offer us in eternity. We can experience first hand both Christ’s sufferings and His victories as we walk through our trials with Him within us. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5); but in Him we are conquerors over every trial, because He loves us (Romans 8:37).

Christ suffered rejection by the religious leaders of His day. They did not believe they were actually crucifying the living God, because they did not recognize Him for who He was. We do know Him, however. We have the opportunity every day to fellowship with Him; to walk in His mercy, power and grace; to be led by His Holy Spirit and to live with Him in eternity in Heaven. When we put our trust in Jesus and allow Him to live in us and to work through us, His power flows through us and from us as it changes the world around us.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your death on Calvary’s cross, which paid the penalty for my sin (Romans 5:8). Thank You for Your resurrection that gives me life in my spirit, soul and body. Thank You for Your redemption that guarantees me a place in eternity with You. Thank You for life to live on this earth. Help me to make every day count for Your glory.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus gives me the opportunity to be one with Him in perfect love and acceptance, apart from any good deeds, pious performances or imposed restrictions, which come from my  self-effort.