Security

P 2289 The art of speaking to your soul.

/ DVH

So I say to my soul, “Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be disturbed. For I know my God will break through for me.” Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise Him all over again. Yes, He is my saving grace!” Psalms 42:11 TPT

Way back in the ark, eons ago … I had three small kids. The youngest, at two, often felt quite overwhelmed by the older kids. They could, temporarily, out-talk the youngest and out-smart and outrun the toddler as well. They could do practically everything better than the little one could. This situation caused the toddler quite a bit of angst and suffering. But the kid grew as children do, and eventually everyone had to run to keep up with them!

However at the time, with a list of things this child had to remember, this dear little person felt a tad overwhelmed. One day they had enough! Everybody seem to know better than this child did and have something else for them to do or learn. So the toddler ran into their bedroom distressed, and they threw themselves on their bed yelling all the way: “I’m the boss, I’m the boss, I’m the BOSS of my bed!“

We all kind of got the point instantly, and were a bit more considerate of this kid’s age after that – we realised that child was feeling quite powerless.  But in spite of all that a toddler figured out how to encourage itself!

Sometimes our own souls need reassurance and if none is forthcoming then we need to talk to ourselves, and do it positively. That negative stuff will do your head in. Self-sabotage is for the birds … and … they don’t like it either. 😂 Do yourself a favour, don’t shoot yourself in the foot, instead when we need to repent and repair things – do it. Then move on! This life has far better stuff to focus on than our failings. Somebody said it better than I can recently – “Don’t look back like Lot’s wife.” Great advice!

It is good to start telling yourself that setbacks are temporary, and mistakes are a part of this life. Bring to mind the sorts of Scriptures that build up your personal POV, instead of tearing it down. The fact that the Lord Jesus thought each one of us was worth dying for is enough to shift our focus away from whatever has been going on and put it firmly back under His supervision. He doesn’t love us because we get things right – He loves us because we are His!

Jesus’ own security was deeply rooted in the Father’s love for Him. His primary focus was always about ‘what was going to be good for the person in front of Him.’ It is not healthy for human beings to live with self-hatred and self criticism. That stuff leaks into other compartments and then it ends up coming out of our mouth unbidden – and suddenly we can find ourselves finding fault with other people all over the place.

We were not saved to become fault finders! Instead we are to be a God-given source of encouragement for many. At the same time, we need to actively practise being able to cheer ourselves up, despite our circumstances, by focussing on what the bible says about who we are in Christ..

This Psalmist knew the real secret of maintaining a healthy spiritual attitude – don’t just focus on yourself and your actions or feelings etc. watch and see what God is doing on your behalf. We can use our energy to make excuses for ourselves OR – we can admit our faults, confess them, make reparation and use our energy etc. to remember everything the Lord has done for us. That focus changes moods! We can encourage ourselves in the Lord, and modify our self- talk. Plus deliberately remind ourselves of His unfailing love and grace toward us. And I have found it useful to not just parrot off those words of loving hope – the secret is to let them sink in.

The fact that Jesus loves you and me, is extraordinary. HIS LOVE IS LIKE THE OCEAN! Bye 👋🏻

P 2139 Our feelings can control our lives and oppose faith

/ DVH

Our feelings fight for control of our thinking and eventually our faith, because we have learnt, from this world’s society, to listen to what makes me feel good. Jesus Christ was born into the sort of captivity that some people in this world face today, His nation was under the control of the Roman Empire. However, Christ understood what real freedom is. It is about who we are INSIDE. He understood that even though we are all free to hate, that means we are also free to love. Jesus Christ understood the power of choice. I’m not sure humanity understands this concept much – our feelings have been kind of, over- indulged.

Our world is tied up with owning things, because we have a lot of freedom to choose. Over the years I’ve learnt that I don’t have to like people to pray for them. Which is why Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and do them good whenever we can. Our actions do not have to be guided by our feelings. However, our feelings certainly know how to put up a good fight at times – especially if someone else jumps up and down on them! But those feelings can be a problem, and giving in to them is a mistake – because feelings cloud faith.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to take my own feelings by the scruff of the neck and tell them – “You are not the boss of me, JESUS IS.” That statement comes with a warning label … ⚠️ …because doing it hurts. It hurts because in my lifetime I have learnt to live by my feelings, so some things feel natural. Just because it feels natural that doesn’t make it good, right and profitable. Actually my feelings lie to me all the time. They tell me that it is not fair when I am sick, or I can’t do stuff I want to do, or eat what I like. Have you ever noticed that your feelings rarely give you a solution? I have! 😳

Moving on …There are times when I feel like I deserve all this fabulous stuff I don’t have. 😂 Yeah. Howzat working out for you baby?  I also feel like everybody should love me because I’m a nice person. But they don’t. My feelings are not accurate, and when I indulge them they take over, and they demand to be fed. Mainly because I have stepped out of the realm of reality. I actually can’t control anything but ME and feelings can shoot that in the foot too!  Hypothetically, I might get cross if someone else does not give me the approval I think I need. Or I can get angry because I know what I want, and you won’t give it to me (!!) 😱… Meanwhile, I can also feel that if you would just do what I want, then everybody would be happy. Well, I’d be happy anyway! And if you dare to make me unhappy, then I will make you PAY.  Like I said, my feelings are totally unrealistic and they lie to me.

Feelings can be cruel taskmasters. They demand this and that, and if people don’t get what they want when they want it, then their feelings will make you get your own straw (Exodus 5:6-20)  just to make sure you know who is IN CHARGE. That sounds a lot like Pharaoh to me!! I know many people who live by their feelings and being around them like is living on a roller coaster. U-P, down …looping the loop …and hanging upside down. 🤢 I get giddy trying to talk to them because I never know what is going to offend them next. It’s like you are walking along with someone chatting away, and suddenly you hit a very deep hole and you can’t figure out how you fell in! 

People who live by their feelings are utterly unpredictable. Many poor souls are so trapped by their feelings that they let their feelings influence their choices. How I feel is a part of who I am, but it is not all of who I am. I am  a person of faith. Faith and feelings rarely coincide. I’ve practiced ignoring my feelings when my feelings told me that I hate someone. I know I can’t do that anymore, because I belong to Jesus! Actually, I found out, as time went on, I  didn’t really hate them – I just didn’t understand them, or the way those people thought. Living by our feelings is a childish indulgence – living by faith means you take big steps into better behaviour. We are led by SomeOne wiser than we are..

There are people in this world who make every effort to try to control every single thing around them. They take over entire countries or people groups just so they can feel powerful or important. Napoleon felt important, and it didn’t work out well for him. Alternatively, it also seems that there are people have never ever heard the word NO! in their lives… and when they do finally hear it they want to take an ax or a knife or a gun and do something appalling with it. Like James says:  ‘…my brothers… this ought not to be so!’ Some actions or attitudes are diagnostic tools, and if we do them, we are exhibiting our lack of our awareness that there is a God and we are answerable to Him. Our feelings are not ever meant to be bigger than our faith.

We simply cannot afford to live our lives the way this world does – living that way will kill off faith. Let’s look at money for a moment. Hubby and I changed our banking system. We give our money to Jesus and use it the way He tells us to use it. When we do that, we are storing our financial security up in heaven where thieves and greedy people can’t get to it. This means we don’t have much down here, so we can’t buy lots of things we don’t need. YAY!  Unless the Lord Jesus, Who is now our banker, decides we need it.  We consult Him about every purchase and if He says NO then we don’t get it. 

Instead, we’ve learnt to thank God that we have somewhere to live, because so many people in this world don’t. Some people even live in fear for their lives daily. Everything in this world depends on how you and I look at things. We can see loss, and sadness, or see opportunities to change our POV and think like Jesus did.  Like I said, feelings oppose faith. 👋🏻