REIGNING OVER OUR EMOTIONS CORY RYAN INTRODUCTION: WE AS CHRISTIANS LIVE OUR LIVES ONLY PARTIALLY CONNECTED TO THE TRUTH OF WHO WE ARE. WE FEEL THAT TENSION OF HEARING THE TRUTH OF WHO JESUS SAYS WE ARE BUT LIVING OUR LIVES DEVOID OF THE FREEDOM JESUS HAS PROVIDED. IT IS MY OPINION THAT THE PROCESS OF CONNECTING OUR EMOTIONS TO THE TRUTH IS ONE OF THE GREAT BATTLEFIELDS OF THE FAITH THAT IS NOT BEING FOUGHT TODAY. WE ARE BEING ROBBED IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BECAUSE WE ALLOW OUR EMOTIONS TO DICTATE HOW WE THINK AND FEEL ABOUT GOD. WE HAVE MADE AN IDOL OUT OF OUR EMOTIONS WHEN WHAT WE ARE FEELING DOES NOT ALIGN WITH THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH ONE WILL TAKE A HIGHER PLACE OF PRIORITY IN OUR LIVES? I. CHALLENGE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS A. To often we allow our emotions to dictate our lives and thoughts. We just give way to negative emotions never challenging them. B. Our culture has now set emotions as the plum line for truth. Look at California... if you feel like you identify more like a male or female you can legally choose that gender regardless of what your birth certificate says. 1. The expression has become if I feel it, then it must be real. We have allowed what we feel to be our guide. C. This way of thinking has become a great disservice to the Church because within the Kingdom of God we are to rule over our emotions....and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. (Hbr 12:1-4 NKJV) II. HOW DO WE CONNECT OUR HEARTS TO THE TRUTH? D. First we need to settle that the Truth is according to Word of God. Our experiences and emotions are very real. But they are not the basis of truth and reality. E. In the place of prayer our hearts are transformed International House of Pryer Northwest
CORY RYAN Page 2 1. We need to take time to meditate on the truth of God and speak it consistently over our lives. 2. In this place of prayerful meditation we ask God for experience rooted in truth. a. Emotion is good and it is a very powerful tool in connecting us to the heart of God. We are not trying to get rid of emotion. We want to experience it in the presence of God, where we are energized for righteousness. F. What we do in times of meditation is take the word of God and allow it to become personal. We want whatever truth we are reading in the word to have an impact on our hearts. This is how we get the truth from our heads to our heart. 1. We begin to dialogue with the Lord around His word. Asking Holy Spirit to make it real to us. III. REFUSING NEGATIVE EMOTIONS G. When our negative emotions are trying to dictate our thoughts and feelings we need to stand on the word of God and not allow ourselves to be consumed with the way we feel. H. Focus our attention on the Lord rather than negative emotion. 1. When things don t go the way we want or expect we begin to conjure up ideas, speculating and naval gazing. Ex. God doesn t care about me, I m not good enough, I did not do enough etc. a. In these situations we need to fight against the lies of the enemy and the opportunity to give way to our soul. b. It is at these points that we have the choice of believing the word of God or going the easy route of giving way to our negative emotions. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (Jam 1:14-15 NKJV) 2. The same situation is true for our relationships with those around us. a. Ex. A close friend says something that hurts your feelings. You don t know how they meant it. You can choose to give them the benefit of the doubt or go into fantasizing why they hurt you. 3. I believe one of our biggest battlegrounds is the soul. In our mind, will and emotions.
CORY RYAN Page 3 4. In our soul we are given the opportunity to choose righteousness. As we wrestle between our flesh and new spirit man we grow in maturity and confidence before God. 5. I find this to be the divine orchestration of the Lord. 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (Jam 1:2-3 NKJV) 6. God loves the process of us wrestling out the tension of our desires and emotions. 7. He knows those times when our hearts do not feel His love and peace. But it brings Him great joy and delight when we declare the truth over ourselves, feeling nothing but yet believing or wanting to believe. IV. THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES WILL YOU PRESS THROUGH THE VERY REAL TIME LAPSE OF ALIGNING YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS TO THE TRUTH? I. I personally have seen more people give up in trying to press through this area more than any other. J. We are all in this process of transforming our hearts and minds into the likeness of Christ. In this process we realize that we have been believing lies. The time between breaking agreement with the lie the first time and changing our thought patterns can often seem like an eternity. K. We must believe two things about this process 1. That it really counts in the realm of heaven: That God really cares and sees 2. The process is working L. If we hold fast to those two things I believe we will press through the tension and arrive with our hearts mostly connected to the truth. We will begin to live and make decisions based on truth not emotion.
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