You Should Rule Over It

Life would be so much better if we would just listen to Yahweh. It isn't like he has just left us on our own. We were never meant to go it alone; it was always his plan for us to be with him in our journey because we need him. If we could understand and accept his wisdom life would be much better for us. Looking at the beginning of things gives us a clear example of this.

Adam and Eve had already rebelled against Yahweh. They had been sent out of the garden and they had started having children. Cain and Abel were the first and their parents raised them well. They knew Yahweh well enough to want to honour him with offerings, but they still had much to learn. Cain's offering wasn't quite up to par, or perhaps it was his attitude. Whatever it was, Yahweh saw something that concerned him and like any good father, he warned Cain:

He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” (Genesis 4:5-7)

Cain was mad, not understanding that Yahweh was teaching him something here. Like so many youth, he could only see it from his perspective and refused to learn. Instead, he allowed his emotions to take over and lead him in a direction that would bring a lot of pain and destruction. It is hard when emotions take over. Once we give them authority over us it is almost impossible to reign them in.

Yahweh was very tender and compassionate to Cain, pointing out that sin wanted to have his way with him. Like a good dad he tells him that he has to gain control over this thing and not allow it to dictate to him. Any time we allow emotions to rule over us, we wake up the next day filled with regret. In a fit of anger we say things that should never be said; we do things that should never be done; me make decisions and declare things that only produce bad seed. We may not see the results immediately but those bad seeds are going to produce bad things at some point on our timeline.

Cain could not gain the control of which Yahweh had spoken to him and that emotional sin led to the murder of his brother. It seemed such a trivial thing but it is amazing how small things can escalate into large things when emotions lead us into the path of sin. Thousands of years later we still need to hear the council of Yahweh as he tells us that we should "rule over it".

Jesus has given us freedom and authority over such matters in our life. Anything that comes from the root of sin has lost its power over us because Jesus has freed us from the iron-fist slavery of sin. We are no longer the victim of our emotions. Instead, we have become slaves to his righteousness so that we no longer have an excuse for not ruling over that which once ruled over us. It is only a lack of application and discipline on our part. All we have to do is hear Jesus say, "Go and sin no more", believe he made it possible by giving us his power and authority and walk in the authority he has given us over all such things. Emotions are a wonderful thing but they no longer rule over us when we have given ourselves to Jesus.

Emotions Will Not Tell Me What To Do

How will I serve Jesus?

With all my heart.

How will I praise Jesus?

With all my heart.

How will I trust Jesus?

With all my heart.

I cannot begin to tell you how often I have been or almost been the victim of my emotions. I am not exactly a "weeping man" sort, keeping my emotions to myself most of the time, but discouragement provokes debilitating emotions. Failure can bind the heart. Destroyed expectations, disappointments, missed opportunities can leave you with an emptiness, which is the worse emotion of them all. Yet none of these things matter when it comes to our responsibility to praise God.

Most of us will allow ourselves to become a victim of our emotions. We will allow despair to separate us from God. Even though the Word says nothing can separate us from his love, we allow ourselves to feel separated by negative emotions; we will neglect our responsibility to praise our God. But we are expected to praise our God in all circumstances of life because of his character of love and faithfulness. He is our hope and he is with us all the way as we go all the way with him.

So how do we do it? How do we praise him when circumstances have despair knocking on our door? Would you hate me if I told you it is a simple matter of your will and your words?

I will praise you, Lord,
    with all my heart
    and tell about the wonders
    you have worked.
2 God Most High, I will rejoice;
    I will celebrate and sing
    because of you. (Psalm 9:1-2)

"I will" are the most powerful words you can use in the face of emotions that want to undermine your will. I will praise you. I will tell about your wonders. I will rejoice. I will celebrate. I will sing. I will shout. I will dance. I will proclaim. I will speak goodness. I will declare your praise before my enemies. I will send those shadows packing as I allow your light to shine in me.

It is not positive thinking. It is not sticking your head in the sand. It is trust. It is faith. It is trusting that Jesus is who he said he is. It is trusting that he will keep his promises. It is faith in the power and will of our Father to strengthen and equip us to go all the way. He may not remove us from the circumstances but he will enable us to overcome those circumstances with the power and authority given to us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

How do you overcome? Lift up the name of Jesus. Don't feel like it? Who cares what you feel like. What have your negative emotions ever done for you? How are you better off with despair, or loneliness, or anger, or hatred, or depression? What have they ever done for you? Nothing but destroy you! Now what has Jesus done for you? Everything! So who do you want to spend time with?

Get your butt up off that chair, turn up the worship and start dancing and shouting the praises of Jesus. Watch what happens. I guarantee you will not be left the same. You decide. You make up your mind. You make the decision what will have power over you. Decide and then do something with that decision.

All praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ who did not leave us on this planet, weak, miserable or powerless. Praise him for his love that overcomes everything that would try to separate us from him. Praise him for know all of our days and laying down his plans to accommodate them. Praise him that nothing surprises him and he is here to make sure we win. Praise him that we belong to him and not this place. Praise him that we are in his hands and nothing else matters. May the whole earth shout the praises of our King!

To The Praise Of His Glorious Grace

Imagine if we got what we deserved.

I don't mean for the bits that people see. Hey any of us can put on a good show. I mean, imagine if we got what we deserved for what we whisper behind closed doors or keep shut away in our heart or allow to take up residency in our thinking. Imagine that, thought police.

I am in no way saying that we can always stop a thought. Sometimes those things flash across before we realize what we are even thinking. But, we can prevent it from taking root.

"What a stupid and ignorant thing for that idiot to say ... but Lord I have been an idiot myself at times. Forgive me. In your authority I will love this person."

Sound corny? Maybe but we need a little more discipline in our thinking as well as our emotions.

Yes, the same thing happens in our emotions. We can't always prevent the emotion from entering in but we can certainly stop it from building a nest there.

"Ah, he makes me so angry when he does that I could hate him ... but I know there are people I make angry as well Lord. I am sure I have made you angry. But you forgave me and chose to love me. I set aside this emotion and choose to follow you Jesus. I will love just like you."

Dumb scenario, I know, but it makes my point. We can put on a show and convince everyone we are a lovely person but inside be filled with ugliness. Jesus told us it is not good enough not to murder. We have to be changed, transformed so that there is no longer a nest for hatred in our hearts. He said it is not good enough not to have sex out side of marriage. He said we can't even have those thoughts in our head. We need transformation.

Imagine if we got what we deserved.

Perhaps now you can start appreciating the blessing of God's grace. Some may think they can live a good life without Jesus but God also judges the thoughts and emotions of a person. Scary, eh? This is why God's grace, receiving the forgiveness we don't deserve, the blessings we have not earned, is a thing that provokes us to such depths of worship:

^... to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:6)

I love that: To the praise of his glorious grace!

I tell you today, I am praising our Father with great love and enthusiasm because of this grace. As bad as my actions were, my thoughts and emotions were far worse. Oh the things I have thought and allowed to build mansions where they did not belong and the emotions I have allowed to send roots down to such great depths. I deserve God's judgement and wrath. But it is not going to happen. It's not going to happen because Jesus saved me.

Oh, imagine if I got what I deserved ... but it's not going to happen ... to the praise of the Father's glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Think about what you have thought and what you have felt. Now remember the words of Jesus when we spoke against such things. Think about your rebellion against God. Now think of the cross. Think of the Spirit. Think of God's love and now feel the embrace of his grace.

Does it not make the praise on your lips that much sweeter today?

Look up!

When Love Hurts

We can't live by emotions but emotions are a good gauge as to where we are with things. If you feel down it would be a good idea to examine yourself to understand why. If you are feeling angry all the time, there is an issue there somewhere. If you are feeling anxious, there is a reason for it. We can't live by these emotions but neither can we afford not to understand them. Emotions should not change our course of living but they can help us better understand how we are reacting to circumstances.

People have this notion that God removes our emotions, that all we feel all the time is love. Yet, when I read the Word of God I see all kinds of emotions in Jesus. I see excitement and pleasure, disappointment and anger, love and compassion. Jesus felt a whole range of emotions, the same ones we have all the time, yet none of it prevented him from moving forward. Not once do we hear him say, "I don't feel like it today guys" or "I'm a bit low today so I think I will stay in bed". Could you ever imagine Jesus saying, "I'm too angry with you to heal you right now"? He had our emotions but he never allowed them to keep him from doing what was right.

Paul is another great example of this. Paul was not the sort of guy who was very good at hiding his emotions. Maybe he was different in the flesh but in his writing we can see his heart all over the place. One of the places that really strikes me is in Galatians 4:

What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (v.15-16)

I wonder if you can relate to that. Ever have a great friend who, one day, just turned around and became your enemy? If that has ever happened to you I am sure you remember the emotions that were provoked by it. There was a lot of pain, hurt, anger, disappointment, questioning, bewilderment, confusion and a bunch of other stuff. We are a relational creature; relations really matter to us. When someone we love suddenly becomes someone who hates us it is difficult to handle. For some of us the easiest solution is to simply walk away. Can you imagine Jesus or Paul doing that? Why not?

Immaturity is when we allow our emotions to dictate our actions. There are a lot of immature adults walking the streets of our cities and sitting in the pews of our churches. Maturity allows us to understand our emotions but to still make the right decision to do the right thing. The reason Jesus and Paul never walked away is because love was always the dominate motivator of their actions. For Jesus it still is and for Paul it was always Jesus' love that compelled him to take the right actions.

So understand your emotions but don't live by them. Just like the pain in your arm tells you there is something that is wrong and that it needs your attention, our emotions warn us if something is not right in us. But that pain in your arm is not going to stop you from living today and neither should your emotions. Understand your circumstances but get on with your living. Emotions change but our reason for living should remain a constant. The greatest and most important things for us to do in our living for Jesus is to love and forgive. Don't let anything interfere with your living for Jesus.