Much More Than We Can Imagine – Emotional Habits

Ephes. 3:20 (Msg) 

    God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Jude 3-4, 8, 12-13, 16-20 (NLT) 

    This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

    I am writing to all who are called to live in the love of God the Father and the care of Jesus Christ.

    [2] May you receive more and more of God's mercy, peace, and love.

    [3] Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people. [4] I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

    [8] Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones…[12] When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvesttime. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. [13] They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness…[16] These people are grumblers and complainers, doing whatever evil they feel like. They are loudmouthed braggarts, and they flatter others to get favors in return.  [17] But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you, [18] that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable (who will follow their own ungodly desires NIV).  [19] Now they are here, and they are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They live by natural instinct because they do not have God's Spirit living in them.  [20] But you, dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit. [21] Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you.

Col. 3:5 (Msg) 

    And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

1.  Our unchecked emotions can keep us away from God’s liberating truth.

Matthew 23:3 (NLT)

    So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach.

Jeremiah 38:17-18 (NLT) 

    Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "The Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: If you surrender to Babylon, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned. [18] But if you refuse to surrender, you will not escape! This city will be handed over to the Babylonians, and they will burn it to the ground."

Jeremiah 39:5-7 (NLT) 

    But the Babylonians chased the king (Zedekiah) and caught him on the plains of Jericho. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. [6] He made Zedekiah watch as they killed his sons and all the nobles of Judah. [7] Then he gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in chains, and sent him away to exile in Babylon.

Matthew 13:21 (Msg) 

    But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

Many of us do not realize one important characteristic about emotions – they are all habits – or rather, emotional habits.

2.  No emotional-habit is permanent in our lives – we can change any unhealthy emotion by replacing it with healthier ones.

When we have unhealthy emotions:

1.     Ignore It

2.     Substitute and exchange it with the Word of God and His promises.

Hebrews 4:12 (NJB) 

The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts more incisively than any two-edged sword: it can seek out the place where soul is divided from spirit, or joints from marrow; it can pass judgement on secret emotions and thoughts.

3.     Replace an unhealthy emotional habit by practicing healthy habits no matter how we feel

The Dachshund

There was a dachshund once so long
He hadn’t any notion
How long it took to notify
His tail of an emotion.

And so it happened, while his eyes
Were full of woe and sadness,
His little tail went wagging on
Because of previous gladness.   Source unknown

3.  Cultivate our emotional affections for God so that even if all the evidence goes against God, my relationship with Him will still be strong.

Proverbs 4:23 (Living) 

    Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life.

John 21:15-17 (NLT) 

    After breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?"

    "Yes, Lord," Peter replied, "you know I love you."

    "Then feed my lambs," Jesus told him.

    [16] Jesus repeated the question: "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

    "Yes, Lord," Peter said, "you know I love you."

    "Then take care of my sheep," Jesus said.

    [17] Once more he asked him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

    Peter was grieved that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, "Lord, you know everything. You know I love you."

    Jesus said, "Then feed my sheep.

4.  Choose to love God and others, will to love and do the things that are loving and soon, the emotions will follow.