The Role of Emotions

The focus of today’s devotions is again on disregarding emotions and “the will being the real king’” that governs faith. This is too much negativity about devotions for the NT identifies two emotions being positive: joy and peace.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

These two emotions are from the Holy Spirit and are like green traffic lights. If they are not in my life or suddenly go missing, I know that I have business to do with God. His Spirit is no longer filling my heart and mind and I have sin to confess.

The joy of the Lord is a powerful emotion. If I am filled with the Spirit, that joy is present and deep, bubbling up inside of me even when circumstances and burdens are also present and deep. Peace is the same. It is from God and often makes no sense as its presence does not depend on circumstances either.

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5–7)

A Spirit-filled friend recently said to an anxious Christian, “Why pray when you can worry?” And this hit me as an apt reminder that God is about joy and peace. He is glad to give it to His children from deep inside, from His Spirit to our inner spirit where it flows out of us  — into our thinking and affecting our decisions. It is easier to obey Him when my heart is connected to His heart and feeling the wonder of His joy and peace.

I’ve noticed that some Christian denominations focus on one of the three parts of the human soul: intellect, emotions and will. For some, having accurate knowledge is most important. Others love to express their feelings, particularly in worship.

Others stress the value of the will. However, the Scriptures tell me that all three are God's and need to be yielded to His Spirit. He uses the human mind, forming ideas for service and to do good in this world. He uses our emotions to signal us to danger, action, and the state of our walk with Him. He uses the will to say YES to His commands. These three motivate my body to get off my duff and do what He tells me to do, thus involving my body. In walking with Jesus, all of me is engaged. If I ignore my emotions, then joy means nothing and peace is only a state of mind, not a guard for my heart and mind or an indicator of what is going on in my spiritual life.

While the NT says, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7) it also says, “Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.” (Colossians 3:22). Both verses use the same root word for fear. Fear of people will result in being unable to love others and tell them about Jesus. A denial of fear can result in not fearing God. Dismissing that emotion is not wise. Being aware of what comes from God and what comes from the flesh is important when it comes to fear, even though it seems negative.

PRAY: Jesus, You tossed the money changers out of the temple, wept at the death of Lazarus, and sweat blood in Gethsemane — all involved emotions. You also knew the hearts of others, remembered OT words, and obeyed all that the Father asked of You saying “Not my will but Thine be done.” You were fully engaged and the Spirit ruled in Your every thought, word, and deed. I want to be like You, always and in every part of me. Thank You that this is Your goal for me also.


 

Maturity is not about age…

 
The few people I know that are afflicted with bi-polar problems struggle to explain what life is like for them. This is a difficult condition to understand. For me, the spiritual version is easier to understand. As a Christian, I have a new nature from Christ. My old nature is said to be “dead” meaning it is separated from God (and always has been) and cannot live like a godly person.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3–4)

However, that old nature is a stubborn tenant and tries to remain in charge even though new life from Christ means that I have another way to think and live. My new preferences and purposes are like Christ’s desires. If this were not so, I could not call myself a Christian. I am defined by the divine nature of Jesus.

The goal of God is that I cease from my own efforts entirely and by faith put on Christ, letting Him live in me and work in me to both desire and do His will. The idea is to abandon myself entirely to Him. He is my life, my destiny and I am to be entirely committed to let Him rule my thoughts, words, everything. The NT describes it like putting off an old garment and putting on this new life.  

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:9–10)

The problems come with shedding those old habits. Pride and practice make many of them seem ‘good enough’ or the old habits so easily happen without thinking. For instance, I grew up on a farm where every meal had a dessert. We worked hard and ate well. Now that the physical labor is not so vigorous, I don’t need that much sugar, but the habit has me craving a dessert after a meal. Mentally I know better but the habit is hard to put off.

It is the same with many behaviors. The new life in Christ wants me to think like Jesus but the old life fights it, along with the help of the world (all those TV commercials about food and recipes for yummy looking cakes and cookies, for instance) and the liar who tries to convince me that ‘everyone does it’ or that ‘just once won’t hurt’ or some other excuse to abandon old habits. But the Bible says:

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

This is precisely why I need a Savior. The battle is hopelessly lost without the divine power in the new life of Christ. I need to trust Him for whatever is needed to put off those old ways and live for Him and be like Him.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

PRAY: Jesus, we who are getting older complain how much longer it takes to do normal chores and how much more difficult they get as our bodies become less cooperative. I recall the young man who said to me, “Getting older must make it easier to be a Christian.” I laughed, but there are days when this is not funny. The weakness of aging is one thing that discourages putting off the old and putting on the new. I am thankful that your “strength is perfected in weakness” — otherwise I fear this would be a losing battle.

Considering the toxic parts useless and dead . . .

In the first part of Revelation, the word “angel” could also be translated “messenger” for it refers to the pastors of the churches to whom seven letters were written from the Lord. This understanding is helpful when reading these letters.

The church in Sardis, a pagan and commercial city, received one of those letters. This time, the Lord has nothing good to say about the church except that there were only a few in it that were worthy in their lives and service to Him.

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.’” (Revelation 3:1–5)

This congregation had a good reputation yet Jesus knew them in a deeper way than their outward appearance. They were “dead” which interpreted in the sense often used in the Bible means that they were separated from God. Their lives and their reputation depended on their own abilities and not the power of the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament is filled with exhortation to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. The flesh can look good, even moral and upright, yet those who belong to Jesus have crucified flesh; it is not alive to God.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (Romans 6:6)

Jude also mentions what it means to have “soiled garments” when he writes, “save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 23) He is talking about sin. Sin can be blatant, but it can also be subtle. Both extremes happen in the lives of Christians. Ask me how I know!

For example, I could take a pie to a new neighbor because the Lord nudged me to reach out. Or I could take the pie to show off my pie-making ability. One is a work of the Lord, the other a work of the flesh, but on the outside, few people would discern the difference. Yet the Lord knows.

These verses remind me that I am accountable to God . . .

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

He knows my intentions when I do things and when those intentions are pure or fleshy, works that please Him or dead works. I might fool others but cannot hide from Jesus. It is His blood alone that can purify my conscience “from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord God, the conflict between flesh and spirit is a daily reality yet seldom preached. Many of Your people seem unaware of it and of the ramifications of trying to be good Christians in their own strength, an impossible task. Keep me alert. Keep me in Your Word. You bring me again and again to passages like these and remind me that I must be filled with Your Spirit to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Keep me aware of what motives me, always remembering that my fleshy sin nature is dead and useless. There is no point in being a slave to sin and wearing garments soiled by the flesh; it is the mark of doom.

Today’s thankful list . . .

- God helps me recognize fleshy stuff.

- the Holy Spirit has the answer to it.

- when in the Spirit, I am not really aware because if I was, I’d start patting myself on the back and being back in the flesh!

- an enjoyable sewing day with ladies from our city’s quilt guild.

- French toast using Pane Roma and Brie cheese, a successful experiment!

Finding balance

I’m trying to purge my file cabinet. Some of the paper is easy to toss. Some is scanned and stored digitally. Yesterday I came across a short piece I’d written, date unknown, called TUG-OF-WAR. It goes like this:

     My self—image suffers in a tension between the paradox of being a sinner yet a saint. It is like a tug of war, each side lunging and pulling on the other, the center line yanked back and forth. God does not assist either side — to win or to lose. Instead He helps both, whenever each needs it, to keep me in balance. The despair of guilt for what I have been cannot win against the joy of what I am becoming. The exultation of who I am in Christ cannot totally defeat the reminders of who I am without His grace.

     Learning to live in this seesaw tug of war and to be able to say “I am content" — that is the goal. I desire to be so centered on Christ that the motion of my center loses its effect on my consciousness, no more staccato, only holding firm, without my notice or regard.

Today my devotional guide takes me to the book of Romans. The theme is redemption and I know that many parts of this wonderful letter written by Paul touch on the idea of a tug-of-war. Part of it involves the battle between flesh and spirit. Part of it involves how to think about myself as a Christian. Am I a sinner? Am I a saint? Am I dead to sin? or alive in Christ? And if alive, why still the problem of sin? Paul says this:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21–26)

This is redemption: a sinner saved by grace, not flipping back and forth but centered, holding on to both truths as I hold on to Jesus Christ, the One whose Light reveals my sin and whose Life and Love forgives it.

I read parts of a magazine devoted entirely to the subject of redemption. The beginning article makes this statement:

     Many in the church have grown tired of that old-time religion, and they have become enamored with the affluence of get-holy-quick, pop-Christian programs. They have joined arms with the razzlers and the dazzlers of the world’s marketplace, and they have set out on a journey down a yellow-brick road that will lead only to the great and powerful Judge whom they do not recognize, for without even realizing it they have abandoned their first love. For all practical purposes, the person and work of Jesus Christ have become commonplace, and the finished work of Christ’s atonement is largely taken for granted. (Tabletalk Magazine, September 2005: Redemption Accomplished. Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005.)

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Lord Jesus, whatever it takes, I do not want to be in that category. You have made me to be a person willing to see my dark side, my sins. As painful as this is, it keeps me from taking You and Your saving work for granted. Yesterday, a time of reflection and confession filled me with great joy. Last night, a vivid dream put me back in that tug-of-war. I don’t want the devil to keep me down, but I know that being “up” can get me flying too high to remember that You are the only reason I can get off the ground. Again, I come to You, my first love, and ask that You keep my thoughts, emotions and focus in that balanced place of knowing I am a sinner but also deeply aware that I am a sinner saved by grace.

Today’s thankful list . . .

More rain, better than forest fires!

Prayer with a friend.

A taxing workout with my trainer.

Long naps on the sofa.

Chicken soup and salmon sandwiches.

A time of fellowship with other women.

Technology.

All I need, God provides . . .

Tozer refers to a centuries old idea that the inner person that was made in the image of God is called the “ground” of the soul. This “mysterious primal stuff” makes itself felt in the world through imagination, reason, the faculty of speech and the creative powers.

While this is interesting, the Bible says that God reveals Himself to sinners and regenerates us as new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit. He does not ‘remake’ what was already there, but . . .

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

In that new birth experience, we receive from Christ the nature of God and begin an amazing process in which the old fleshy person is stripped away and that new life becomes more of who we are and what we do.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3–4)

In other words, the old sin nature is not added on to, but replaced. It kicks and spits and tries to exert itself and retain its former control of things, but the power of Christ and that new life fights too, and is guaranteed to win. In this war, I am supposed to cooperate!

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:16–18)

Christians are told not to take the powers of the devil lightly, but also not to focus on this enemy who is determined to rule over us. The same could be said of our sinful flesh. Those who take it lightly might say, “Oh, this is just the way I am” without taking responsibility for their sinfulness. Those who focus on it too much also become ‘me-centered’ simply because Jesus Christ is not always on their minds.

I’m preaching to myself. Every now and then I feel as if God abandons me to my own devices and I quickly revert to a BC attitude. I know better. God is not the author of my sin problems. After I ‘wake up’ from a bad attitude, I am disgusted with myself and don’t want to ‘ever do that again’ — even though the experience usually makes me more dependent on God and more aware that I cannot live without Him. My attitudes of the flesh are largely invisible to others, yet they put me under the control of my spiritual enemy. I can hear him laughing and need to carefully read this again:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3–4)

God has given me all that I need to live in a godly way through knowing Him and through His amazing promises. I have His nature and able to escape all the junk that threatens to pulls me back. Only a fool, or a great lack of faith, would cause a free person to crawl back into prison.

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Lord Jesus, You are working to reveal Yourself in me, despite my bad habits and the slippery slopes I step on. Day by day You bless me with light. I’m grateful. The only problem with light is that is also reveals the corruption that is not yet cleansed. Keep at it. I’m willing to change, to be more like You.