270. Celebrating God's Grace, Taking Control of Our Emotions

Today's podcast, "Taking Control Of Our Emotions," delves into what God says about our emotions. Many of us may say, "I'm just so emotional! I can't help it!". Yet we were created in the image of God and have the power of choice. We have been given authority over our emotions through Jesus Christ, and it is time to walk in that authority and take control of our feelings to live the abundant life God desires for each of us. ******* Today we are going to discuss Taking Control of Our Emotions and Living an Emotionally Stable Life.   What does God's Word say about our emotions? Many of us will say, "I'm just so emotional. I can't help it!" Yet we were created in the image of God who have the power of choice. and we have been given authority over our emotions through Jesus Christ, and it is time to walk in that authority and take control of our feelings. We walk by faith not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)     Emotions can get the best of us. And how reliable are they really? I know myself, they can be like a roller coaster – up and down throughout a day or even the hour sometimes. Life can throw curve balls and sometimes we can hit a home run and other times we feel we just can't get off the bench.   We won't get into a discussion about if women are more emotionally than men, but I do believe whether we show it or not that we all have emotions and feeling them is healthy - controlling them is another matter & is something we can do! If we can "harness" them rather than be led by them it is a healthy way to live the abundant life God desires for us.   God created us with emotions and it's wrong to become emotionless, to withdraw to a place that we believe nothing can bother us or we work hard at not showing our emotions. The Bible tells us God has emotions. Scripture shows God displaying a wide range of emotions. Our emotions and feelings are normal and natural because they come from God. They are meant for enjoyment, created to be good and they can be controlled by each individual.   One of my favourite Scriptures is Ecclesiastes 3 where God's Word tells us there is a time and a season for every activity under the heavens, including verse 4 which says there is:   4A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.   God laughed, mourned, hated, loved, rejoiced. (Psalm 37:13, John 11:35, Proverbs 6:6-19, John 3:16, Ps 104:31). He felt pleased and displeased. He felt anger. He felt jealous. And multiple places in Scripture show us His outward illustration of compassion.   God has emotions and feelings. He understands our tears and our joy. We should not be ashamed of our emotions. We can go to Him in prayer when we feel led by our emotions rather than relying on His truth and promises.   The difference between the Lord and ourselves is our emotions can lead us to sin while God's emotions/feelings are righteous and come from a place of love for His people.   We can easily be led by our emotions, whether good or bad but especially when life is not as we would like it to be. Earlier I mentioned harnessing our emotions. The word "harness" according to the American Heritage Dictionary means "to bring under control and direct force of."  May I suggest that this is what our Lord desires of us. That we have control of our emotions and continually bring them into alignment with the WORD of God.   Every emotion begins with a thought. It is easy to feel defeated when our emotional baskets are continually filled and overflowing.   Two Scriptures come to mind: Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! We must over & over again fix our thoughts on God and what He says, not what this world tells us.   God has created an amazing relationship between our mind and our bodies, so that the renewal of the mind strengthens our relationship with God but it also improves our emotional sense of well-being. It strengthens our brains and bodies for his service.   Romans 12:2 teaches us to let God transform us into a new person. How does this happen? By changing the way we think! Thinking in alignment with God's WORD and PROMISES. This is easy when things in life are going well. It is more challenging and difficult – some may say nearly impossible when things are really bad! But God's Word also tells us All things are possible with God. They aren't possible in our own strength but they are possible with Him. This is where we call out to God. He hears us and He WILL help us. HIS WAY! HIS TIMING! Our job is to trust.   As we mature spiritually, we'll also see a maturing take place in the natural. One of the most obvious areas will be in the area of our emotions and the ability to control them. Galatians 5 tells us one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control. The Holy Spirit will help us to maintain this control over our emotions when we seek His help.   I remember as a little girl my favourite animal was a horse. I would often try to draw them or picture in my imagination ~  me riding one, a beautiful horse. Different times I would picture a different coloured horse, but they were always strong, always fast, always beautiful, and always able to jump over anything in their way.  There would be me and my horse riding through this bit field with the strong wind blowing my long brown hair back and me riding full throttle – just me and my horse alone against the terrain.   I don't know a great deal about horses and I did get thrown a couple of times growing up in Louisiana. I have since learned a bit about them and know they are a very powerful force. They've even played a very important part in history and in the development of civilization. They've enabled armies to win battles. They have given people more power, more mobility, and more strength than they could have had on their own. And even with their strength and power they can be managed. A horse out of control can cause a great deal of destruction – so can emotions that are out of control. So like a horse, emotions are powerful. They can be so beneficial, or they can be very destructive, even deadly. That is why they must be bridled. James 3:3 says: Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.   In the physical, I can't control a horse with my strength, but I can control it through my knowledge. I can lead the horse by placing a bit in his mouth which will turn his whole body. This is the way God make a horse. If a horse is lying down, you can sit on its head and hold a two-thousand-pound animal on the ground. A horse cannot get up unless it throws its head up first. If you can hold a horse's head down, you can hold it's whole body down. Um, what does that say about where our head and thoughts need to be? God's Word is the bit, bridle and reins that give us control over our emotions. It takes time and practice, but it is possible when we live by God's WORD, faith comes, and it grows with passing experiences where we lean on and trust on and in HIM. FAITH (Knowing GOD) will override and neutralise any negative emotions. Controlling emotions will be the result of spiritual maturity. We can learn to manage and harness our emotions, with knowledge, with spiritual growth and with practice and time.   Let us pray: Father, we are made with emotions and there is a time to feel them. Help us when our emotions get out of control, and they are leading us away from Your truth and the best life you have designed for us. Yes, there are seasons that are tough, and we can fall into a trap of "What if's? or "Why this, why me or my family?" It is a lie of the enemy's that our emotions are in control. We are in control, and we thank you that YOU have given us authority over our thinking. Give us the desire to study Your WORD, Your truths, Your promises and share it with others. Let our life be a witness to Your Power that comes to live in us when we BELIEVE in YOU Lord. Amen