2014-02-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
When trials beset us, our emotions often can run high. We forget to appeal to God as our first step and instead, appeal to other humans before seeking Him. That often leads to disaster. Once we come to the end of ourselves, then we remember to go to God. And yet, through all of this, we have IS 49: 16-18, which tells us that God loves us so much that “our names are imprinted on the palms of His hands.” This loving attitude is a great force for good in our lives that we should emulate. We need to look at the issue of faith vs. feelings to better understand it.
Our emotions (feelings) are real, and they are not all evil. We must deal with them in a mature, emotionally-balanced way. God gives us such ways to do this with His teaching. Our Covenant Partner not only sets a great example for us, but He also shows us how to avoid trouble and/or deal with the unavoidable trouble that comes our way. The question is: Do we appeal to Him first and listen to His advice? Sometimes our feelings don’t conform to reality. That often happens when we don’t use the listening skills that God built into us. So, we make decisions and act on what is not real or true. An example from my own life is when as a child I thought I was worthless, so I considered running away. In reality, I, like every one of God’s human creations, is loved dearly by Him. Only, I didn’t know it. The truth is that running away, rather than taking responsibility for one’s own actions never works. Since our feelings can betray us, we need a foundation upon which to form how we feel, and that foundation is God’s word. That is why 2 TIM 3: 16-17 is so important to us. “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good deed.” And then, there is God’s direct and specific intervention which is initiated and comes through prayer. Sure, I’ve said these things before, but they are so important as to need repeating. PS 86: 7, “In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me.” PS 40: 1-2, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a Rock and gave me a place to stand.”
The matter of faith is a huge issue, and the Lord knows this. It is He, Who gives us faith through the Holy Spirit. Faith, if it is real, is based on truth, truth which if found in God’s teaching. The only way we can develop faith is to 1) study His word each day and to 2) to ask the Holy Spirit to give us faith in the Lord Jesus. In other words, we have to want to have faith to have it. This includes willingness to listen for God’s teaching, opening our hearts to it, and to learning to follow His direction. No one, except the Holy Spirit with our cooperation, can give us faith. HE 11: 1 defines it for us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith in God’s teaching, in this author’s humble opinion, is the only way to real happiness. We are not God’s puppets on a string, and we must make our own personal decision to believe that what God teaches us is true and to obey it. Our faith gets tested in many ways, ways often associated with the trials we face. Truth is defined in HE 4: 12, “For the word of God is living and alive. Sharper than a two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” It doesn’t hurt us to remember (13) also. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.” This is not said to frighten us, but instead, to help us know God better and appreciate the kindness and patience He has with us. If we are obeying Him and placing Him at the center of our lives, we find ourselves the recipients of a helping hand through our trials, perspective which is eternal, and love like no other found anywhere else. As Ezra put it, in EZRA 7: 28, “I was strengthened, as the hand of God was upon me.”
Just as God didn’t forget His covenant with the Jews suffering through cruel slavery in Egypt [EX 2: 23-25], He will not forget His covenant with any of us either. Our Covenant Partner bears the scars of eternally loving us. REV 5: 6, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” [N.B. The horn is an ancient Jewish symbol for power, and “seven spirits” used here connotes completion and perfection. The picture given here is of a Being which has been a successful Sin-Sacrifice and has achieved victory over death]. The Father’s ultimate sacrifice of His only Son on the cross for us is the fulfillment of our Covenant Partner’s love and desire. That is that we, who believe in Him, should be brought back to His side for a life of eternal bliss and fellowship with Him [JN 3: 16: RO 3: 24-25]. What greater love for us can there be?
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You with awe and with reverence for what You feel and act upon about us and for us. It isn’t often that we take the time to question our own feelings and faith. There are times when we feel so trapped by challenges, losses, and other trials that we panic and seek only human help, if any help at all. The sword of Damocles over us is emotional depression. This fiery arrow from the evil one causes us to doubt, to question, to act out without praying or thinking. Depression is often the genesis of bad thoughts and bad decisions. We all too often forget that You have given us the power, through Jesus Christ, to fend off the devil and his dirty work [EPH 1: 18: 20]. Our best ways to recognize the devil at work and his efforts to build strongholds in us is to read Your word and be open, in frequent prayer, to Your advice. We cannot live in righteous obedient faithfulness without You. We seek Your presence and intervention in our lives. We submit to You, with the understanding we get from PS 31: 3-5, “You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care, You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” While it is not easy to corral our emotions amidst our trials, You have created us to be capable, with effort and Your direction, to do this. We must not allow our fears to get the better of us. You give us wise advice and have promised not to abandon us [PS 9: 9-10]. So, Dearest Abba, we thank and praise You forever and ever, in the holy/mighty name of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: It is necessary to say more about how feelings affect faith. Then, I have been led to begin writing a new segment of these “Our Covenant” messages about “Covenant Friendship.” In the course of our growth in spiritual maturity, we need to examine the status of our faith walk reasonably often. If we are completely honest with ourselves, that means facing our fears, emotions which get out of control, the things that cause us to doubt, to question our faith in the Lord Jesus. We can pray PS 139: 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; lead me to know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Yes, even when we think we have all of it together, there may be ways that God can see where we don’t. Then, we can ask Him for His help in identifying the se areas where we need improvement. Also, He will lead us through making those changes, if we allow. Of course, we must take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, and God has given us this way to bring them in line with Him. So, we are never alone and without a divine life-line. We can find real inner peace and comfort in knowing that. These periods of self-examination are not meant to evoke guilt, for guilt is the work of the devil. The real gift that faithful obedience to God gives us is seen in COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” That leads me to exclaim, “Wow! What great love our God has for us!” This is in spite of all our many imperfections and our impatience in paroxysms of uncontrolled emotion at times. While this is not an invitation, as the Anti-nomians once thought, for grace without license, it is God’s remarkable patience, compassion, and efforts to bring us closer to Him. We must remember that every day He is re-creating us in His own image, so that we might have a greater knowledge of Him [COL 3: 10]. We need to cooperate with Him in this process of sanctification, so that when He feels the time is right, we can be glorified [return to Him-- sufficiently perfected to enjoy blissful fellowship forever with Him in heaven]. That is the great hope of resurrection that Christ has given us [RO 8: 29]. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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