Renewed Mind - Part 4 - God-Given Emotions

Our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - is a vital part of who we are as human beings. Ignoring our soul only stunts our growth both in our soul and in our spirit.  

A need for attention, dependence on others, and fear of being alone are results of abandonment issues from our childhood. Destructive acts, pouting, self-centeredness and temper tantrums all stem from deep deprivation and anger from our past.

Our lack of self-awareness and failure to accept our emotions will compound our past wounds, which we carry with us every day of our life, some of them since conception.

Our relationships suffer due to emotional, behavioral and mental deficits. Psychologically, we are stuck in the unresolved issues of our past, which prevent us from experiencing adulthood with a mature attitude.

We fail to succeed in most of our endeavors due to the lack of adult persistence, self-control and planning. Some of us are consumed with anger and unforgiveness, which we internalize.

This results in depression for which we take medication. This simply masks the pain in our soul and causes more grief as well as physical ailments such as headaches, and stomach and breathing and heart related issues.

If we allow our self to feel our anger, we can work through it to the grief buried within our subconscious mind (Ephesians 4:26). We can journal our thoughts and feelings, and ask God to help us to find the root cause of our grief and other negative emotions.

Never apologize for your emotions. God gave them to us. They are either a sign of sickness in our soul, a precaution to keep us safe, and an expression of the joy He places in the heart of His children (Proverbs 16:32, 17:22, 19:8; Ephesians 4:26-27).

After we identify the source of our negative emotions, we can grieve our losses and affirm and validate our feelings. Then we pray for God's wisdom and healing. 

We forgive the perpetrators, who wounded us and caused our grief; and we move into the freedom and rest of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 13:5; John 8:36).

Prayer:

Father God, there are few of us on this earth who did not experience some form of abuse in our lifetime. We never learned to handle our emotions and often sin because of them. We may minimize, disassociate from or magnify our feelings; but teach us to learn from them, and to bring them to You for understanding and healing.

Help us to stop blaming our self for the abuse we suffered; to release the pent up energy from our negative emotions without sinning against You or someone else; and to allow our self to cry and grieve our losses. Then we can release the incident to You and find Your forgiveness for those who wounded us.

Thought for the Day:

God and Christ both gave us clear examples of how emotions are a normal and healthy part of life.

Renewed Mind - Part 1 - A Wounded Soul

We often criticize people who are self-centered or who are touchy, angry or combative. We do not realize that they are simply trying to survive.

They are wounded and attempting to protect their soul from more pain. They will hurt us before we get the chance to hurt them; even if we have no intention nor desire to harm them.

If our words, tone or behavior even hint at aggression, they will attack us with vehemence and even violence. A teenager at the children's home where we lived and worked interpreted my behavior this way.

She ended up pushing me out the van door backwards where I landed on my head on the pavement. I blacked out and revived with dizziness and a pounding headache; so they rushed me to the emergency room.

I survived the ordeal, but I often wonder if she did. They put her in the time-out room and quickly moved her out of our home; so we lost track of her. Her lifetime of abuse caused her to abuse me.

Another reason we over-react is that our soul is governed by sin (Romans 7:20-23). We miss the mark of God's holiness and fall into unregenerate behavior (Romans 8:29). Satan uses this tendency for his purposes.

Our only hope for freedom from emotional wounds and the penchant of our flesh to sin is the saving power of Jesus Christ. His Holy Spirit transforms our spirit and soul through regeneration and sanctification (Titus 3:5). Trust in Him today.

Prayer:

Father God, we look forward to Christ's return when You shall put everything under His feet. He will rule and reign over the earth for eternity from the throne in Jerusalem of His ancestor, King David (2 Samuel 7; Luke 1:32-33, 2:11). Israel will finally rejoice in the coming of their King Jesus (Matthew 24:8; Romans 11:1-2, 26; Isaiah 66:8; Ezekiel 37). 

You will even put Satan away for eternity, wrapped in chains in hell (Revelations 20:2). We look forward to this new age. Peace and prosperity will fill the earth and all nations shall dwell together in unity and righteousness (Micah 4:1-7; Isaiah 42:1-4). There will be no crying there, and all emotional and physical sickness shall be healed (Isaiah 51:11).

Thought for the Day:

Only God can truly restore and comfort our soul (Psalm 23:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3); then He allows us to use this same comfort to help others who are in any affliction (2 Corinthians 1:4-5).

Too Proud to Believe

 

Our human penchant for self-centeredness and rebellion stems from our pride. Pride is the downfall of every human being. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). This is what caused Adam and Eve to believe the serpent’s lie that they could be like God. Mankind still wants to be like god, and many New Age religions promote this falsehood, as if saying or believing it will make it so.

The wonderful news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ dwells within us and gives us the nature of God, as we are led by God’s Spirit. He also gave us His Word, which is His ultimate wisdom. Over the years, hundreds of Biblical prophecies were fulfilled just as they were predicted to occur (Isaiah 42:9). This proves that the Bible is true and trustworthy. We can stake our life and our eternity on it.

God’s Word also informs us of historical and scientific facts, which it took humans years to discover using experiments and research. These scientists and historians validated the scriptures as the result of their studies and tests. Actually, the truth was in front of them all along! Even today, mankind is still finding answers to age-old questions in the pages of the Bible.

Prophecy, history, archeology and science continually prove the veracity of the Bible (Psalm 119:160). We can believe it, because its words are true (John 3:12). God, Creator of heaven and earth, gave us the answers to our origin and our destiny, which people of every generation still ponder. Archeologists uncover, almost daily, the proof of Biblical claims. Yet many are still too proud to believe.

Prayer:

Father God, there is no reason that we should allow our pride to prevent us from accepting Jesus as our Savior. We thank You for bringing us to our knees through the circumstances in our life. You humble us for our benefit, and then You bless us for our humility. You are an amazing and loving Father, and we cannot find anyone or any philosophy, which mankind invented, that fulfills us and completes us like You do (Colossians 2:10). You gave us Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb and He dwells within us by Your Spirit.

Thought for the Day:

With specific details, simple truth, and flawless precision, God's Word consistently reveals to us the origin of our past and the destination of our future.

Jesus was not a Hippie

 

 

Jesus is not a freethinker, who advocates multiple sexual partners, broad mindedness, and if it does not hurt anyone else, go ahead and do it. Jesus’ words will give you a much different view of who He really is. He equates lust with adultery and hatred with murder (Matthew 5:27-28). He tells us that pursuing His Kingdom is more important than our family (Matthew 19:29). He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). He promised that following Him would separate parents and children (Matthew 10:35).

Jesus said that no one goes to heaven except by believing in Him (John 14:6). He denounced divorce (Mark 10:1-12). He says that the person who changes his/her mind from following after Him is not worthy of heaven (Luke 9:62). He cleansed the temple with a whip (Mark 11:15-19). The Gospels are full of accounts of the real Jesus. If you care to take the time to read them, you will see that Jesus drew a line in the sand and pronounced that anyone who does not come over to His side is condemned already (John 3:18).

Many people believe in God, but not in Jesus whom He sent (John 3:34). They think Jesus is a “cool dude”, but they ridicule true Christians for following the teachings of Christ according to His Word, rather than according to the humanistic interpretation they put on His Word. The sad state of affairs in the world today is that too many so-called Christians live according to their own agenda and in chasing satanic pursuits in the world and of the flesh, than in living for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (John 10:10). They give authentic Christians a negative reputation.

The Bible shows that Jesus constantly confronted humanistic, self-serving, unholy practices in both the religious leaders and the Jewish people (Matthew 12:34). He was not some peace-loving hippie that went around preaching free love! He taught about love in His parables and He showed us His love by His death. He brought us peace and hope through His resurrection. He said that every work of our flesh would burn up under His scrutiny. However, as we follow the leading of God’s Spirit we do good works that will withstand the fires of judgment (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Prayer:

Father God, You are not pleased with our sacrifices, but only by a humble spirit and a repentant heart. Help us to renounce our self-centeredness and to humbly submit to the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. Without faith in Your faithfulness, we cannot please You (Hebrews 11:6). You created each one of us for Your purpose (Ephesians 2:10). You have a perfect plan for each life that is conceived. Help those who do not believe to come to know Jesus for who He really is (John 3:16-18).

Thought for the Day:

As God works in and through us, He accomplishes His will for our life and for everyone we touch.

A Lifestyle to Live

 

God came into our life to take control of it. He is not satisfied with a tithe of our life. He wants all of us...the complete package. He wants us to entirely surrender our life to Him. This includes our goals, desires and will. He wants it all. As Christians, we are the embodiment of Christ in us. We crucify our self-centeredness and replace it by centering on the fullness of Christ in us (Ephesians 3:16-19, Amplified). As we die to our selfish nature, our humanity decreases and He increases (John 3:30). There is less and less of us, and more and more of Christ living in and through us.

Christ is the head and Savior of the Church. In God’s order, husbands submit to God (1 Corinthians 11:3). Contrary to the philosophy that corrupted families in today’s society, God chose the husband as the leader of his wife and his household. He does this by laying down his life for them through supporting, loving, encouraging and cherishing his wife and children (Ephesians 5:23). Then, God calls wives to wholeheartedly submit to their own husband, just as we submit to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22,24). We put our husband and his needs first in the priority of our day. We treat him and speak to him with honor and respect.

This does not mean that we do not get on one another’s nerves, or that we do not disagree sometimes. We even lose our temper with one another. However, if we live a lifestyle of mutual service as co-heirs with Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:6), then we honor one another above our self, our friends and the rest of our family (Philippians 2:3). No disagreement is more important than our commitment to God and one another. As far as it depends upon us, we live in harmony with our mate (Romans 12:18). We do this because God gives us both the desire and the ability to walk in His ways (Philippians 2: 12-13).

The Christian life is impossible to live without Christ living it in and through us. We can never boast, because we are simply an expression of God’s grace. Due to our union with Christ in salvation, we cease our striving and enter God’s divine rest regardless of the circumstances in our life (Hebrews 4:1,10). Apart from Christ, we cannot accomplish anything of eternal value (John 15:5). We may make a difference on the earth, but it is a drop in the ocean of time compared to what God wants to use us to accomplish for His Kingdom. We simply live out the works, which God prepared for us to perform before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 2:9-10).

Prayer:

Father God, when someone or something comes against Your beloved children, You take if very personally, (Zechariah 2:8). You take vengeance on anyone who harms Your Saints, and you repay them for the harm they do to us (Romans 12:19). We are very precious in Your sight (Isaiah 43:3). With this hope in our hearts, we trust that You will always help those who seek You (Psalm 9:10). Your grace shapes our life according to Your perfect will for us. Help us to remember that Your will for our life is not a goal to reach, but a lifestyle to live.

Thought for the Day:

Let us come to the place of being so dead to our humanity that Christ’s perfection in us takes over our life.