Your emotions are the barometer of your soul
Notes
Transcript
Your emotions are the barometer of your soul
Your emotions are the barometer of your soul
Intro
If we are honest with ourselves I am certain each one of us would admit our stress levels have increased over the last few months
the constant barrage of fear coming from the media
lack of employment for many
the normal day to day is no longer normal.
uncertainty of how long will this new normal last
these are all things that can raise concerns and rob us of hope
the mandated - self imposed isolation for the good of the rhelm.
but we really need to ask ourselves is it for the good of the rhelm?
Now i’m not doubting self isolation will definitely reduce the number of Covid19 cases
but what are the unintended condequences
According to studies, Over long periods of time, social isolation can increase the risk of a variety of health problems, including heart disease, depression, dementia, and even death.
yes the study determined that chronic social isolation increases the risk of mortality by 29%.
something to think about.
In Alberta the Covid mortality rate is (132/6768*100) 1.95% 132 deaths across our province, each a very precious life (May 22)
6768 people confirmed infected, that’s not counting in the suspected ~80% of people who have the virus and show no symptoms (meaning 27072 people infected) if we include them the covid mortality rate in Alberta is 0.48%
Suicide rates has increased 30% since last year in Alberta.(https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2680039051)
Yes you cannot directly link this to Covid. but it didn’t help the situation
Spousal Abuse, Child abuse, are all on the rise.
alcoholism, drug addiction are drastically rising in our province.
I’ve said this before and know the evidence in coming to light.
The cure was worse that the disease.
Now why am I telling you this, is it to disparage the decisions of the government?
No, rather it is a wake up call to the church. Even if we can’t physically meet together. We got to be the church where we are at.
Check in on your neighbours, family and even strangers
at the very least...lend some encouragement
support people however the Holy Spirit leads you........
The time of Rest is over, its time to be the Church! Yes it looks a little different than what we were used to,
that’s probably a good thing, but God is calling us to reach beyond ourselves and help those in greatest need get through the rougher season ahead for many.
Body
Now take your Bible and turn with me to: Proverbs 28:26
I know you didn’t forget your bible at home
go get it I’ll wait...............
dust it off!
Yes you can use the app on your phone
.....
He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.
What I want to talk about today is our emotions, more specifically what the bible says about being lead by our emotions.
I’ve titled this message “Your emotions are the barometer of your Soul”
What I mean by that is “Our emotions give us a good indication on what in going on inside of us!
You see there are 2 extremes
1) people who wear their emotions on their sleeve
2) People who hide their emotions deep and never express them
I believe both are equally unhealthy, and not the way God intended us to live.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
Why are our hearts deemed so untrustworthy?
Well simply because our emotions are constantly changing.
You may be minding your own business enjoying your day and a complete stranger comes up to you and says
“you no good for nothing” why don’t you curl up and die ....noone loves you Your taking up too much oxygen”
I don’t care who you are that is going to trigger a negative emotional response.
You may try to hide it, but your emotional state will change.
Incidently, that’s why sharing a encouraging word with someone can be so mood altering in a good way!
I just want to say You are amazing, You are the perfect you, I feel so privileged just to have you a part of my life. You are so awesome!
How do you feel now!
Notice how your emotions can do a complete 180 in only a few seconds.
Our feelings are about as certain as the sand on the beach.
The sand is always being moved, pushed forward and backward by both wind and water.
It’s kicked and thrown by people running across it, children building with it, and dogs digging in it.
It may appear to be a solid foundation for your sandcastle, but add just a little too much water and the entire building will collapse.
Our feelings are no different than that sand.
They’re easily changed by people and circumstances.
One moment you could be happily reading a book in your favorite chair, and a few minutes later be angered by the trail of mud your dog just brought in.
You may have felt down when you first woke up this morning, but after an invigorating run with your favorite music playlist, your day is looking a lot brighter. See how fickle our feelings are?
T his is where we can see the folly of trusting our feelings.
How can you rely on something to inform you that is always swaying?
We wouldn’t take confidence in a leader if he was always second-guessing and changing the plan of action.
closing the border will do nothing......we have to close the border
wearing facemask does nothing......you have to wear facemasked
we have to isolate to flatten the curve......we have to isolate till there’s a cure
Why would we trust your feelings any better?
They aren’t certain, and they are poorly informed.
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
But does that mean that emotions are evil and we should operate independent of any feelings just use logic?
we’ll there a problem with that too
You see God created us as emotional beings. its part of our makeup.
it cannot be turned off, only buried for a little while until it erupts during periods of increased stress.
look at it this way.
It has been said you can see the true character of a person when they are under duress.
what bubbles up during an explosion is not their inner character, but rather all the things that have never been dealt with
the memories that have been buried, and the fears tied to those memories. the what ifs!
You see emotions are not good or bad, instead they are simply indicators of what is going on inside of us.
Some may feel anger is not good, its never good to become angry.
Well Jesus got angry at injustice when he flipped the tables in the temple
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
There is no denying Jesus what angry. Anger is not a sin, more so what you do with the anger.
If you get angry and punch someone, the sin is NOT the anger, but rather the action that went along with it.
think of your emotions as the check engine light on your car.
when it blinks you can either ignore it, cover up the light with a piece of tape, or take it in to get someone to check out what the problem is and fix it. It may be costly and painful, but in the long run is best for the vehicle
Same when an emotion pops up examine it.
Ask Holy spirit to reveal why you are feeling a certain way.
take the time to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the memory that is causing that emotion and then deal with it
You may need to forgive someone
You may need to forgive yourself.
You may need to heal
You may need to get your thoughts to line up with scripture.
eg.
We are told to keep 6 feet apart to stop from killing a person by spreading Covid19
“These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Concusion
We’re called to not live by our feelings but by faith
for we walk by faith, not by sight—
Our faith is rock solid if we have placed it in God—the unchanging, perfect, eternal, sovereign One.
And this faith is founded on the infallible, certain, life-changing, authoritative Word of God.
Scripture tells us how to live and what to believe.
This is what should govern and determine how we speak, think, and act—not our ever-changing, easily influenced feelings.
Our faith is not blind but informed and guided by God’s perfect Word.
Sometimes these two can be mixed up; we try to live by both faith and feeling.
We often allow our feelings to dictate our stance with God rather than what His Word already declares about us.
I don’t feel forgiven by God, so He must still be angry with me.
I don’t feel joy, so I will not worship God.
I don’t feel God’s presence, even though I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me.
I don’t feel God when I do my Bible study, so I must be doing something wrong.
God calls us to live instead by faith.
This means we act not based on our feelings but on what God calls us to do.
We don’t believe something because of how it makes us feel but what Scripture says about it.
I have spoken for months on the coming great awakening.
The 1st part of this awakening will be God’s people:
trusting more in the Bible than the the government
believing the word of God rather than the media
being lead by Holy Spirit rather than social media.
Choose today whom you will believe, not based on you own thoughts and feelings, but base it on the timeless and proven word of God
Let’s pray!