choose to let faith control your emotions. emotions play a powerful role in our lives. god created...

Choose to Let Faith Control Your Emotions

Emotions play a powerful role in our lives.

• God created us with the ability to experience emotions. (Ecc 3:4, 8)


• Ecclesiastes 3:4,8 - A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; ….. A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.


• One has said that it is "our emotions that put us in motion."

• Emotions in their proper role are a blessing to our lives.

Emotions do not determine reality

• We are to see things as God sees them. We need reality! (Mt 13:15)


• Matthew 13:15 (NKJV) - For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears Bare hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’


• Our emotions can be used as a “short cut.” It will not give you the will of God!

• Emotions often are a by-product of something believed. (Acts 2:36-37)


• Acts 2:36-37 (NKJV) - “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”


• It is possible to by-pass reason and appeal directly to our emotional side!

• Consider the actions in a pep-rally or in some Pentecostal churches.

• The false teacher appeals to our emotion side apart from the truth! (2 Pt 2:18-19; Jude 16)


• 2 Peter 2:18-19 (NKJV) - For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage


• Jude 16 (NKJV) - These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.


• By faith I need to only take the responsibilities God has given me. (Matt 11:28-30)


• Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV) - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”


• Without God we often take on things that we cannot change!

• Paul knew his place in the teaching of God’s word. (1 Cor 3:5-7)


• 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (NKJV) - Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.


• "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

We must chose faith over fear

• Fear can paralyze. (Dan 5:5-7, 9; Mt 28:2-4)


• Daniel 5:5-7 (NKJV) - In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.


• 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”


• Daniel 5:9 (NKJV) - Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.


• Matthew 28:2-4 (NKJV) - And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.


• Great Roman soldiers are now trembling and playing dead.

• I vividly remember my first IRS audit notice!

• It can cause one to act without thinking. (Gal 2:11-13)


• Galatians 2:11-13 (NKJV) - Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.


• 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.


• How many have used men’s fears to their selfish ends?

• Good people can easily be caught up in this shared emotion.

• It can change reality. (1 Sam 22:8)


• 1 Samuel 22:8 (NKJV) - All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant with the son of Jesse; and there is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day.”


• Our feelings can easily take over our reason! Have you ever entered a room and a group of people laughed? (Some will scrutinize others.)

• You can easily create an image of another person or even an entire church!

• It can be easily shared. (Num 13:30-14:9)• They saw the signs all these years but

never came to trust God!


• How many have died because of shared panic of a crowd?

• Fearful people do not want to see the truth.

• It is not uncommon for fearful people to be surrounded by “yes” men.


• When we are convinced that we cannot face a certain consequence then in our minds we will not! I have seen this in home studies. (Lk 10:29)


• Luke 10:29 (NKJV) - But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”


• Fearful people do not want open communication!

• The Lord will test our faith by our fears. Surround yourself with men of faith!

We must slam the door on self-pity.

• Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever reasoned like this: "People are talking about me. Nobody understands my feelings! There is no one on earth who has suffered as me. Nobody cares. I do not deserve this."

• "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me. I'm going out and eat worms."


• Great men of faith temporarily gave in to self pity. (1 Kings 19:4, 9-10; Jonah 4:8)


• 1 Kings 19:4, 9-10 - But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”


• 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”


• Jonah 4:8 (NKJV) - And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”


• Self-.pity can gain control of our thoughts during stressful times.

• Many experience adversity and then walk in self-pity as a way of life!


• Consider the fruits of Self Pity• Self pity leads to depression. • Self Pity mars relationships with others. • Self Pity is the one attention "getter" that

will eventually get you no attention! • Self Pity stops progress, brings life to a

standstill


• Use your faith to stop self-pity.• Spot it quickly and overcome it by your

faith in God. (Rom 12:2)


• Romans 12:2 - do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.


• 3 "L's" of pity: What I have Lost. What I Lack. How I am Limited.

• "I complained because I had no shoes until I met someone who had no feet."

• Through God's word take inventory. (Phil 3:13-14; Rom 8:18, 31)


• Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV) - Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.


• Romans 8:18 (NKJV) - For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.


• Romans 8:31 (NKJV) - What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Learn to purge the heart of uncontrolled anger

• Anger has a God-given place.• Jesus (Mark 3:5)


• Mark 3:5 (NKJV) - And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.


• God and Jesus (Heb 1:9)


• Hebrews 1:9 (NKJV) - You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”


• You and I (Eph 4:26-27)


• Ephesians 4:26-27 (NKJV) - “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.


• Unchecked anger can cause us to lose our soul.

• Many brethren treat this as a "small" fault. a "fleabite." (1 John 3:15)


• 1 John 3:15 (NKJV) - Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.


• These things will cause one to be lost. (Gal 5:19-21)


• Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.


• It takes a strong faith to keep anger in its God given place.

• Who is a strong man? (Prov 16:32)


• Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV) - He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.


• The fall of Moses (Psa 106:32-33)


• Psalm 106:32-33 (NKJV) - They angered Him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses on account of them; 33 Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.


• Consider the terrible fruits of uncontrolled anger and bitterness

• We act and speak foolishly. Reason in forsaken! (Prov 14:29, 17)


• Proverbs 14:29 (NKJV) - He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly.


• Proverbs 14:17 (NKJV) - A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated.


• The effects of uncontrolled anger on the family are great. (Eph 6:4)


• Ephesians 6:4 (NKJV) - And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.


• The anger of one person can in time affect the entire church. (Heb 12:15)


• Hebrews 12:15 (NKJV) - looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;


• Uncontrolled anger will in time destroy my life. .

• I constantly live with the one I hate. • My "evangelism" is reduced to talking

about my hurts.• I loose courage.


• Satan in fact does his work through me. (James 1:20; 4:7)


• James 1:20 (NKJV) - for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.


• James 4:7 (NKJV) - Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.


• Let faith control your anger.• Be like Jesus. (1 Pet 2:21-23; 4:19)


• 1 Peter 2:21-23 (NKJV) - For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;


• 1 Peter 4:19 (NKJV) - Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.


• Seek to be honest at all costs and admit any anger in your life.

• Seek to forgive all those who repent. (Eph 4:30-32; Mt 6:12)


• Ephesians 4:30-32 (NKJV) - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.


• Matthew 6:12 (NKJV) - And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.


• Release all desire for personal vengeance to God. (Rom 12:19-21)


• Romans 12:19-21 (NKJV) - Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


• Learn how to stop the escalation of anger. (Prov 15:1; James 1:19-20)


• Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV) - A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.


• James 1:19-20 (NKJV) - So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.


• Let us walk by faith and receive the God’s abundant life! (Jn 10:10)


• John 10:10 (NKJV) - The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

choose to let faith control your emotions. emotions play a powerful role in our lives. god created...

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