Emotional and Mental Health-Freedom from Negative Emotions

Journaling is a lost art form and mental health tool. It takes many avenues of expression and can be a variety of sizes and styles. Whatever fits the personality and needs of the journalist.

This is a method of documenting the events in our life and dealing with pent up thoughts and emotions. When we do not express our thoughts in words to a mentor or on paper in a journal, they will erupt from our soul at inopportune times.

                             

Sit in a quiet place and journal all of your thoughts and feelings. In doing this, you are emptying yourself of yourself.

Do not talk, sing, pray, watch TV, listen to music or answer your phone...just listen to your soul - your thoughts and feelings - and wait on the Lord to come and fill you with His comforting Holy Spirit.

It may take hours...it may take days...it may take weeks or months as it took me to get to the root of the issues which plague our soul. This all depends on how much inner and outer clutter is in our life.

We cannot be discouraged if we are not successful when we start journaling. It takes time to develop a new habit. Just remember that tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our life and our God is the God of second chances.

As we continue to journal each and every day, it will not take long to get to the root of the issues causing us unrest. Then we can follow the Serenity Principle and either deal with the issue(s) or place it in God's capable hands to resolve in His timing and way.

Once we finish with our journal and go about our day, we can stop what we are doing at the first sign of unrest in our soul or spirit- even if we just duck into the bathroom for a few minutes.

Taking time to pray allows God to reveal the source of these negative thoughts and emotions. Then, once God shows us the origin of our anxiety, anger or other negative emotion, we can repent or ask for God's help.

He may lead us to forgive, to change our focus about the situation or to serve the person, which is hurting us. It also helps to switch our focus to an eternal perspective and set boundaries around anything from this temporal world, which is causing us trouble.

Does our issue really matter in the overall scheme of eternity? If not, we can let it go and let God teach us to think like He does about the issue.

Prayer:

Father God, we ask You to give us Your wisdom to know what situations we can change, and which to leave in Your skillful hands. Give us the strength to deal with the issues that You reveal are our responsibility. Then help us to turn the rest over to You.

Help us to develop an attitude of acceptance about them. If we cannot change them, then we can praise You for them, in them, and through them, even for the negative things. By doing this, we end up walking in complete serenity and in the dynamic power of Your Holy Spirit.

Thought for the Day:

What is it in your life that is causing you a problem right now?  Can you do something about it? Then, do it! If not, then change your focus and give the problem to God.

Fellowship with the Trinity

 

Prior to salvation, we lived as slaves to sin and pawns in Satan’s plan (Romans 7). Even after salvation, our sins of omission and commission built a wall between us and our fellowship with the Trinity.

No matter how slowly or how high the wall goes up – we feel a separation and distance from our Lord and Savior (Romans 1:18). Our prayers hit the ceiling, our joy ebbs and our peace is overwhelmed by stress and negative emotions.

Without righteousness, there can be no lasting peace and joy. We are separated from God due to our rebellion and unbelief (Romans 14:17). We grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), and we are in danger of condemning our self to eternity in hell (John 3:18).

This severance of our union with Christ bitters our soul. Then, resentment becomes the adhesive, which we use to cement the stones of willful sin in place.

As the wall thickens and rises, fears riddle our soul. We gradually grow more anxious and hopeless. Eventually, some people even feel animosity toward God and rail against Him.

We hurl accusations at Him and slander His name to anyone who will listen. We end up punishing our self by removing our self from the protection and provision of our Heavenly Father.

This is so unnecessary.

If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of our eye, the lust of our flesh and our pride in our life (1 John 2:16). We will walk in perfect harmony with the Trinity and enjoy constant fellowship with the Trinity every moment of our day (Galatians 5:15-25; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, Your eyes are always on Your children. You love us with an everlasting love, and You rejoice over us with singing. You are faithful, and we can put all of our hope and trust in You. You never change and You are with us now and even at the end of our life. You give us treasure in dark times and riches when we come to You in our time of need.

You are our Father, our God, and You give us Your mercy and grace in all of our trials and afflictions. We are comforted by Your presence in our life, even in times of trouble. You comfort the downcast when we keep our eyes focused on You. Thank you for being with us and revealing Your presence and peace to us as You give us Your joy.

Thought for the Day:

We make our refuge in God, because He will never leave us destitute; we have no need to fear, because He will help us and hold us in the palm of His hand. - Hebrews 13:5; Isaiah 49:16

God is in Control - Regardless of Circumstances

As our fleshly, carnal appetites decrease, Christ in us increases. Negative emotions, such as: fear, insecurity, anxiety, depression, etc., along with their companion of mental and physical illnesses, decrease in us as well.

We enter God's rest and feel fewer negative emotions. Any negative emotion that does surface is a red flag to draw our attention to some aspect of our life that is overwhelming us or an unresolved conflict.

These unresolved issues paralyze us with fear; they control our thoughts, words and deeds; and they cripple us for the work of the ministry and the quality of our relationships.

As we focus on the presenting emotion, listen to the words in our mind associated with that feeling, and ask God for wisdom concerning the issues causing the emotion, we can find solutions or turn the problems over to God to work out in His way and timing.

God's Word calms our troubled soul, energizes our spirit and empowers our body with health and vitality. We make wiser choices, form more spiritual friendships and enjoy more success in life.

Even if fears and insecurities dog our steps, we learn to trust God's consistent presence in our life. We speak our mind and make sure we have a voice in choices made that affect our life.

There is no reason to fear, because God is always with us. Discouragement holds no place in our life, because He gives us His strength and He helps us. He supports us with His mighty right hand (Isaiah 41:10).

Prayer:
Father God, whenever we are afraid, remind us to put our trust in You (Psalm 56:3). There is no need for us to feel anxious about anything in this life, because through prayer and petition with gratitude in our heart for all You have already done for us, we can present our deepest and most frightening concerns to you (Philippians 4:6).

Then, Your peace, which transcends the issues of life, will guard our heart and our mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). This peace is not the carnal, fleeting peace that the world gives, but the peace of Christ within us. We have no need to feel worried, afraid or upset about anything (John 14:27).

Thought for the Day:

Even when life careens out of our control and we fear for our future, we can still trust in our God who is always in control.