Emotions

 So many have said to me, “I don’t feel loved” or “I don’t feel worthy”.  Don’t ask your feelings for permission to believe these things. Search the New Testament and see how few mentions there is about emotion.  It’s just not there.  The Holy Spirit, the author of every verse, is clearly not interested in emotion.  We are rarely told how Jesus felt. The closest you will find is this, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful to death…nevertheless not as I will but as You will.” (Matt 26:38 & 39) Jesus didn’t have emotions that assisted God’s will for Him, they resisted God’s will.  His emotions were a powerful force urging Him towards the path of least resistance.  Jesus could not depend on His emotions for He knew that they were allied with the flesh.  Emotions never qualify you for God’s blessings, they can only disqualify you.

Emotion is not wrong, but not all emotion is right.  Emotions are dependent on good feelings; something the world is producing less and less of.  Emotion is the compass the devil has chosen for you.  The Born Again spirit, with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, is God’s chosen compass for you.  Emotions can only point you toward the next good feeling, whereas the Spirit can lead and guide you into God’s chosen plan.  And here’s the trap:  Once you are addicted to good feelings the devil will make sure you face a shortage of them.  Then you are a vessel stranded at sea, hopeless and tossed, because now the system you have depended upon has failed.  You are lost in a fog, because inevitably good feelings are hard to find.

            But truth cannot be changed by feelings.  It is fixed and secure regardless of the current weather in your mind.  It is steady, stable, and dependable.  It is the lighthouse, the harbor, and the anchor all in one. Your emotions are the target of turmoil.  God’s truth is the great emancipator from the slave master of emotion.  We can be freed from the roller coaster ride of the mind. The beginning of prosperity is stability. Finances are worthless without peace enough to enjoy them. God cannot make you wealthy, healthy, wise, loving, and selfless until you first submit to being stable.  Instability is a thief and weak emotions are a soft target. 

            So what are you going to do when a good feeling is hard to find?  If you aren’t dependent on feelings then it won’t matter.  Let the world chase feelings while you chase truth.  Say this, “Today I will live by what I believe, not what I feel.” Say it again.  Say it out loud and not just in your thoughts.  You have spoken.  Now the world will be afraid of you.  They won’t understand you at all.  You have just quit the club and their faces will be twisted in knots when they try to comprehend you.  Now you are walking like the Savior.  Now you are a master like Him.  Now you will say, “Not my will but His be done.”  The world will cry out to you, “Worry like us, like you used to do” or “panic just once more for old time sake”.  Or maybe they will say, “I liked you so much more when you were shaken in life just like me.”  How dare you step out of the box.  How dare you be different.  How dare you be like Jesus.

Pastor Tim

Family Church Jamestown is a non-denominational church located in Chautauqua County in Jamestown between Lakewood and Busti, NY. The senior pastor of Family Church is Pastor Tim Stahlman a native to the Jamestown, NY area.