HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 20

It is been my experience that I am rarely able to "fix" the behavior of challenging people in my life. Responding with emotion to difficult people never produces long-lasting change. I believe that perhaps God has placed you in that difficult person's life not to moderate their irregular behavior, but to pray for them. It is a simple equation that God gives us to deal with those irritable and troublesome hunks of humanity: Love + Prayer = Victory.

God's strategy rarely involves emotion but always has liberal doses of love and prayer mixed together for a victorious conclusion. God did not create you to be some whirling dervish who uses words to jab, hurt and control people. God created you to be a man or a woman who was more committed to Kingdom than to self. Difficult people can run away from your words, but they can never escape your prayers. We cannot and must not have a disconnect between what we believe and how we treat others, no matter how difficult they may be.

There is an anecdote for bitterness and wrath; it's called kindness. There is a way to overcome anger and clamor; it's known as being tenderhearted. There is also a way to conquer slander; it's recognized as forgiveness. It takes a mature, Godly Christian to bless the persecutors in life. We bless with our tongues, with our heart attitudes, with our emotions and with our actions. Some of you might be thinking, "Yeah, but Carol, you don't know my Aunt Matilda! She is unlovable in every way imaginable!" You may not want to hear my response to your Aunt Matilda scenario but here it is, Somebody loves your Aunt Matilda and His name is God, so start acting like your Dad!

We are all unlovable in some way, aren't we? We all can become prickly, outspoken and contentious from time to time, but I believe that the reason most of us are unlovable is because at our very core we are crying out to be loved. There will be many times in life when your decision to love a porcupine will disarm them completely.

If you refuse to forgive and then bless the difficult people in your life, you are in danger of becoming a difficult person. The equation is no-fail and will guarantee your eventual victory:

Love + Prayer = Victory!

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 19

Sometimes it is people whom we love the very most who bring out the extreme worst in us. It is those with whom we are in daily contact who seem to drain us of every bit of Christian virtue until they expose the ugly core of our personality.

We all have difficult people in our lives who may have strategically been placed there by God himself. Imagine that! God loves you enough to trust you to be kind to difficult people. God wants you to grow in the fruit of the Spirit and so He allows a boorish, fractious person

to invade the sweet circle of your life. God needs men and women in every generation who will love the unlovable, be kind to the unkind, be patient in the face of ugly impatience and bless those who are categorically cruel.

God actually created you to love people who are monstrously rude; He placed you here at this time in history because He trusted that you would indeed mature and then allow His glory to shine out of you into the darkness of people's souls. You will never do this with your own personality or if you rely on the emotional legacy bequeathed upon you by your parents. You will only do this when you determine in your heart that you want to be like Jesus. When you decide that you would rather be like Jesus than like you. When you decide that His way really is better than your way, that you do not have a better idea than God.

When you demonstrate love in stormy situations and choose to be kind rather than throw an emotional and well-deserved tantrum, you are saying, "I will act like my Dad! I am part of His family and this is what we do! We love unlovable people. It is the family business to reach out with divine kindness to fractious people." Do not ever forget that you are the beneficiary of the family genetic code that enables you to love difficult people. It is what Christians do!

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERDAY CHALLENGES

DAY 18

When we are with each other, He is with us. If you want to spend time with God, try spending an evening with a group of people who love Him. If you feel alone, invite some people over who love to pray and guess Who else will walk in your door?

God dwells where praise is full and strong. If you want Him to make Himself real and known to you, then you should spend your life worshipping Him. God shows up when a man or woman of God defies events and circumstances with a heart overflowing with pure worship. If you deal with loneliness, turn up the worship music and lift your hands in the air because He is there! You are not alone. Sing out loud and sing out strong! He is there! You are not alone. Sing in the car and in the shower and He will be with you. Whenever you make a conscious choice to worship, you have just placed yourself in His presence. You are not alone. Ever.

If I was a doctor, and I suppose that I am ... I am a doctor of the soul, so let me write you a prescription for loneliness. Give to someone else at least three times a day. Your loneliness will be cured when you are more concerned about someone else's needs rather than your solitary life. Smile at someone in the grocery store aisle. Write an old college friend a note and reconnect with them. Do not be passive and stay at home watching television, because you will find that giving is always the cure for loneliness.

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 17

Loneliness is simply feeling like no one really cares about you or about your life. Loneliness very well may be the most destructive emotion of all. If Satan is not able to trip you up with worry and fear, he will try to alienate you from healthy relationships because even Satan knows the power of two!

Although you may feel alone, you must remind yourself that you are never really alone because the Bible promises it. This is one of those strategic life moments when you must remind yourself that all of your feelings are not valid. When your heart tries to tell you that you are all alone and that no one cares about you or your life, your heart has been communing with Satan and listening to his dastardly lies.

When it comes to loneliness, you must open your Bible and agree with the Word of God and not with your pitiful feelings. The last words that Jesus spoke to His disciples reminded them that even though they would not be able to see Him anymore with their eyes, that He really would be with them always: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

The theme song of Jesus is that you will never walk alone. Never. The lie that Satan vomits up addresses only our feelings and is not a spiritual reality. The Biblical reality is that you are surrounded by God's love and care every day of your life. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God; you are securely surrounded by His loving care because He has promised it. Loneliness is a lie - a spiteful and hateful lie that will cause you to question the truth of God's infallible Word.

Jesus really is your best friend, so begin to act like it today. Share your heart with Jesus and then listen to hear how He responds to you. Spend an entire evening in His presence with worship music playing and the Word of God open. Write Him long and intimate love letters and sing out your heart while you are in His presence. When you begin to respond to Jesus as you would to a friend, your loneliness will ebb away, I guarantee it!

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 16

If you have a problem with fear and worry, I can tell you exactly where it came from! Christians who have downloaded fear and worry onto their mental hard drive get their primary information from the devil himself. Let me be blunt here - you are listening to the wrong voice! Press the mute button and open the Bible!

The Greek word for "fear" in both the Ancient Hebrew and the Greek, implies a fleeing or a running away from something or someone. So, when the Bible instructs us to "fear not" it is in essence saying, "Don't run away!" Very few of us actually run away physically from a situation that frightens us, but where we actually run away is in our minds.

The words "fear not" appear in tandem at least 144 times in the Bible! And when the Bible says "fear not," it means do not run away. When you are afraid or worried, rather than running away, you need to run forward into all that God has for you. The reason that Satan tries to give you a spirit of fear is so that you will run away from the blessings and power of God. The opposite of running away is pressing forward. When you are a son or a daughter of the Most High God and know the reality of serving Christ, you press forward. Do not linger over another thought that comes from the father of all lies but press on toward the goal!

If you are running scared, you are running backwards into your past and away from the arms of God. If you are pressing ahead, you are moving toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!

Knowing that you have not been given a spirit of fear from God, what has God given to you? He has given to you a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. Your mind needs to receive the message that you are one powerful person! Did you know that the devil knows that you are powerful? He just doesn't want you to know that you are powerful! Declare it today - out loud - and unafraid:

I will not run scared but I will press forward into all that God has for me!

There - didn't that feel good?

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 15

God has an antidote for weariness; He has prescribed "abiding" for your tired and exhausted soul. The spiritual opposite for weariness is the simplicity of abiding in Christ.

We are to remain in constant, unbroken fellowship with Jesus Christ. This is not a once a week visit, but we are invited to build a life around His presence. The welcome mat is out for you to make His presence your true home. His presence is not meant to be a respite from the storm or a lovely vacation home, but it is a place in which you can build your life and never, never leave! When your permanent residence is the presence of Christ and you allow Him to whisper in your ear a plan for each day, every hour and even the specific moments of your day, it is then that His glorious fruit will be beautifully evident and deliciously apparent in your well-watered life.

The word "abide" in the Greek is translated as "to last or endure." When you abide in Christ daily as you continually fill yourself with the manna of His Word and refresh yourself in the cool stream of worship, you will most certainly outlast the devil and his strategies for you. You will no longer be someone who is stressed out and weary but you will be a picture of health and cultivated loveliness as you simply abide in Christ.

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

Day 14

A Bible dictionary defines weariness as, "exhaustion; to be faint; to wear out or be worn out; tired, sick, fatigued, exhausted and out of patience." Perhaps the Bible dictionary just described you! In any case, that is the "you" that the enemy wants you to be. Satan is conniving, deceptive and secretive and he will wear you out any way that he is able to do so. The route to weariness is a short one and you will arrive at exhaustion sooner than you dare believe.

The devil, who is your arch-enemy, wants you to be worn out and run ragged through your entire life. As you fill your life with stuff, things and busyness, he is laughing hysterically at you knowing that he just won this battle. Satan is wearing down the saints of the Most High God with busyness and the tyranny of the urgent. Satan knows that you will lose every battle you face if he can wear you down. What will you lose? Not your eternal salvation, of course, but you will lose your temper and your patience. You will also lose your perspective and your peace of mind. You might lose your creativity and your daily disciplines.

The devil's plan is to keep you so busy and distracted from the primary issues of life that you live a run-down, worn-out existence rather than an abundant life. The devil does not tempt you with blatant evil but with things that seem good. Satan will use something that appears momentarily good to call you away from God's best for your life. What good thing is distracting you from God's best today? Good things may wear you down, but God's best will always strengthen you and bring peace to your life.

Often when I am feeling overwhelmed, I declare to the devil and all of his wimpy nincompoops, "You are not going to wear me down - I am going to wear you down with worship and the Word of God!" After you make that declaration, then begin to reevaluate your choices so that you break the cycle of weariness in your life. Purpose today that you will no longer invest yourself in urgent demands, but that you will devote yourself to eternal, important disciplines. Trust me, you will only need to make a few strategic choices to replace your weariness with God's perfect peace.

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGE

DAY 13

When my mom and dad were married, they were given an old dresser from my father's parents. This dresser had been in their chicken shed for decades, but my paternal grandmother thought that my parents could put it to use in their newlywed home. This dresser was covered with years of dust, chicken doo-doo and countless feathers from generations of hens. My grandmother tried cleaning it up but found it impossible, so she just covered all of that residue with a coat of ugly, olive green paint.

This putrid, olive green dresser sat in our upstairs hallway throughout my childhood. Mom finally decided to have the pea-green paint removed from that dresser. She took it to a family friend who had established a refinishing business in his garage.

My mom dropped it off one morning, and the very next day, Mr. C. called and told her to come by and pick it up. She couldn't imagine that he had refinished such a damaged piece of furniture so quickly and asked him how he had completed it in only 24 hours.  Mr. C. explained, that as he researched features of this particular dresser, he realized that it was made during the Revolutionary War and that was a priceless heirloom. Mr. C. said that it was reminiscent of furniture made for George Washington himself! He refused to touch it and told my mother that it was worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Mom insisted that Mr. C. was the one that she wanted to restore this piece of history. It took Mr. C. months to painstakingly restore this dresser to its original condition. When Mr. C. had removed the dirt, he began to buff the dresser - to varnish it - and to restore it to its intended beauty.

You are that dresser - you were made to be valued and cared for. But instead, you have chosen to live in the chicken coop of life and it has camouflaged you with doo-doo, feathers and decades of dirt. And then, some well-meaning, self-help guru has painted you a vomitus hue. God desires to remove all of that and to gently and lovingly restore you to the natural beauty of His creation. Will you allow Him to do that? You have been created in His image to be part of His strategy at this time in history.

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 12

God made you to flourish and to inexhaustibly thrive. He spiritually designed you for emotional and spiritual abundance in every season of your life. His plan was never that you would be shriveled up emotionally and trampled upon by anger and depression and worry. God knew that we would all experience vicious windstorms and the pollution of our culture, but His creative genius provided a way to stay connected to the Vine during all of life's erratic seasonal changes. God's will for you is to flourish in every area of your life and that includes in your emotions!

The word "flourish" is a Hebrew word that is rich in meaning and in usage. It always refers to something or someone who is growing by those infamous leaps and bounds. "Flourish" is a word picture of a plant that is destined to grow abundantly regardless of the climate or drought.

The Psalmist declares that, "the righteous man will flourish like the palm tree." If the Bible uses the word "righteous" to describe a person, it means that this person has willfully chosen to connect himself or herself to God. You will flourish, then, in direct proportion to your connection with God! If you choose to bask in His presence on a daily basis and spend time in the Word and in prayer, your life will be a grand display of the growth that comes from your connection to His righteousness.

Many Christians are more connected to the pain of their past than they are to the reality of God's presence on a daily basis. It really does matter to you emotionally whether or not you read your Bible every day. It really does matter to you emotionally whether or not you worship in spite of your disappointment. It really does matter to you emotionally if you pray for those who have been unkind to you. It really does matter.

When you choose well, God will cause the growth! You will begin to grow by leaps and bounds both spiritually and emotionally because you are receiving life from God. The fruit of the Spirit will miraculously make you into someone who has the temperament and personality of God. You must work in tandem with God until your emotional responses to the climate around you are the result of your deep and rich connection with Him.

MARVELOUS MONDAY MOMENT 9/18/17

MARVELOUS MONDAY MOMENT

A week ago, we were tracking Hurricane Irma and the carnage she left behind. This week two more storms are on the horizon, Jose and Maria (wow, my middle name is Marie🤨)The alarm is that some of the same cities that are now in the throes of recovery may be in jeopardy...AGAIN! But that's how life can be, a series of storms, one after another. Just when you think (or say) "if another thing happens..." another thing DOES happen as you are trying to recover, regroup and rebuild from the "last thing". You hardly have time to catch your breath and brace yourself for the "what's next".

The HOPE comes in the comfort of knowing, really believing and trusting that God is TRULY in control of the politcal, social, financial, and personal arenas of our lives. The waters, winds, and waves are at His beck and call and can only do what He ALLOWS.

Do you have the TENACITY to stand and keep standing even in the midst of what is and what's to come around the corner? Of course , we do!! We are not alone!!

Now that's MARVELOUS!!!  

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 11

One of the crucial elements that is required for building a strong spirit is being committed to church and to fellowship with other believers. Do not ever develop the bad habit of being out of the habit of going to church! The Spirit of God truly is present when His Body gathers together, and He will strengthen your spirit as you discover the joy of corporate worship. God loves His Body of Believers and it is a delight to the heart of our Daddy when we all assemble at the home place for a day of worship, studying the Word of God and fellowship. Not only does He love it - but He loves it when we love it!

The concept of Church life and gathering together in His Name was His idea from the day that Jesus went back to heaven. The Holy Spirit knew that we would not be able to survive as solo Christians, but we would need the overcoming resources that are presented to us when we huddle together in faith.

Never underestimate the miracles that happen on the inside of you when you choose to gather in His Name with other believers. When the Word of God is preached ... you grow. When you enter into corporate worship ... the fruits of the Spirit in your life are fertilized. When you tithe and give in the offering ... your capacity to leave a lasting impact exponentially increases. When you proactively decide to enter into healthy relationships with men and women who have chosen to serve God wholeheartedly ... bitterness and anger begin to pack their bags in fear.

There are no perfect churches because there are no perfect people. 

If you get your feelings hurt at church, decide to walk in forgiveness and bless the offender. God will meet you at church in a way that He is unable to deal with you anywhere else. Going to church is not legalism but it is a healthy choice that will benefit your present and your future! I guarantee it!

HOLY EMOTIONS:BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO EVERY DAY CHALLENGES

DAY 10

A powerful way to make sure that your spirit is growing into the most robust part of your inner man is to pray without ceasing. I did not say whine without ceasing - I said pray without ceasing.

So many Christians spend their whole lives whining and complaining to the Lord and then they wonder why their prayers are never answered! When you pray, pray with joy! When you pray, come into His presence boldly and with power! When you pray, leave your emotional soul at the door and take your well-fed spirit into the Throne Room and bask in His wonderful presence!

God loves you when you whine ... but when you join your spirit with His Spirit in a grand symphony of praise that is the moment that heaven and earth begin to move on your behalf. As Christians, we are not a people group who limits our singing and rejoicing to sunny skies and magnificent circumstances, but we are determined to pray with joy even when our lives are falling apart. It is part of our DNA to come into His presence with thanksgiving regardless of what awaits us outside the door of His presence.

The three Hebrew boys worshipped in the fiery furnace! Paul and Silas sang at the midnight hour in prison! Stephen worshipped as he was being stoned! Hannah worshipped when she was not yet pregnant! Join the throng of believers from every generation in history who has chosen to pray with joy.