Today we are going to feast on something that each of us deals with daily, emotions. It’s fresh in my spirit because I have been dealing with very negative emotions over the last few days. I’m sure that I have shared this type of message a time or two over the years. It’s time for it again.
Today’s Prayer
Father, we pray that You will work in us and through us to help us get ready for company! We pray that we will be hospitable, showing the love and graciousness of our Savior. We pray that we will always be mindful of strangers, of those in need, of our brothers and sisters in Christ, that we will welcome them into the house of God, that we will extend a hand of fellowship to them, that we will lend a listening ear when needed, that we will give a warm smile and have a friendly attitude to all we meet–even those who tend to have poor attitudes and bad dispositions. We pray that we will prepare our hearts and listen to Your voice, so that our lives may be pleasing to You and we will be ready for company when Jesus comes to take us home. Please forgive our sins that so easily beset us and help us to rely on Your power to be over comers. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Living as if You Were Dead
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. – Romans 6:11
What are the things that arouse the strongest emotions in you? Maybe it is a rude motorist who cuts you off in traffic. Possibly it is the anger you feel when you are wrongfully accused. Perhaps it is frustration that results from not having enough money to meet perceived needs. When do emotions turn into sin?
Whenever our peace is upset over events and circumstances in life, we have moved past emotions into sin. Sin says that circumstances of life now dictate anxiety, worry, fear, or anger. Consider the attributes of a dead man. He doesn’t get angry when slandered. He doesn’t worry about the future. He doesn’t fear what can be done to him. Why? Because he is dead. Nothing can harm a dead man.
Jesus said we are to live as if we are dead – dead to the temptation of responding to stimulus in our lives that are designed to stir up the sinful nature that resides in each of us. We don’t have to respond to that nature; we can consider it dead. Jesus said He is enough. When He is our all in all, nothing can move us. If we are moved, then Christ is not our all in all.
Father, on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Christ and myself, I ask that you forgive us for the times that we fall down emotionally. But it is your grace and mercy that allows us to get back up. For that we thank you, in Jesus’ name.
Quote of the Day
There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions. ~Gilbert Keith G. K. Chesterton~