[Faith-talk] FW: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] URCTC Prayer Group 2 Devotional: Managing Your Emotions by Joyce Meyer

[Eric Calhoun]

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Subject: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] URCTC Prayer Group 2 Devotional: Managing
Your Emotions  by Joyce Meyer
Date: 
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:25:48 -0500

*Managing Your Emotions *
by Joyce Meyer

We all have emotions, and they're here to stay. I believe one of the 
main goals of every believer should be emotional stability. We should 
seek God to learn how to manage our emotions and not allow them to 
manage us. An excerpt from the definition I found in the dictionary 
states that /emotions/ are "to excite and to move out." Think about 
this: You're out shopping for a specific item you're in need of. You've 
made a commitment to the Lord to get out of debt. You've promised Him to 
tithe and give offerings as He directs. You've agreed to really watch 
your spending and not purchase things you don't need. But while 
shopping, you discover that the stores are having a big sale of 50 
percent off the already marked down merchandise. What do you do? You get 
excited. The more you look around, the more excited you get. Emotions 
are rising higher and higher. They begin /to move out/, and part of the 
devil's plan is for you to follow your emotions.

God wants you to use wisdom. Wisdom says wait a little while until the 
emotions settle down, then check to see if you really believe it's the 
right thing to do. The Bible says in Colossians 3:15 to be led by peace 
in making decisions. Don't let your emotions make your decisions. A good 
statement to remember is this: "Wisdom says wait; emotions say hurry."

An emotional person is defined as: "One easily affected with or stirred 
by emotion; one who displays emotion; one with a tendency to rely on or 
place too much value on emotion; one whose conduct is ruled by emotion 
rather than reason." Be honest with yourself in this area. If you 
believe that you're not managing your emotions, begin to pray and seek 
God for emotional maturity.

In the past I experienced a lot of ups and downs, or what we call mood 
swings. This kind of behavior was hard on me, as well as everyone around 
me. I felt bad about myself. People who are out of control always feel 
unhappy with themselves. God created us to operate with a free will. We 
choose what we will do and what we won't do. There is a God-given desire 
inside the believer to do the right thing. When we allow our flesh to 
rule, we know we're out of control; however, we're created to operate 
with the fruit of self-control.

Self-control is a freedom, not a bondage. You're free to use wisdom, 
free to obey God, and free to follow the leading of the Spirit. You're 
free not to be pushed around by your feelings. You don't have to do what 
you feel like doing. You're free to do what you know is wise.

Self-control will help you feel better about yourself. When I was 
experiencing so many ups and downs, it also made me physically tired. It 
takes a lot of energy to go through all kinds of emotional changes. I 
noticed that as God helped me learn to manage my emotions, I also had 
more energy. Maybe you should stop and ask the Lord if that's why you've 
been so tired lately. Do you let your emotions manage you?

My moods were hard on my family too. After I was well on my way to 
emotional stability, my husband, Dave, revealed a secret. He told me 
that during the years I was emotionally unstable, while he would be 
driving down the highway after work at night, he would ponder the 
thought, /I wonder what she will be like tonight? /It's really very sad 
to imagine a person in that kind of situation. My husband has always 
been very stable, and it's very comforting to live with someone you can 
depend on to be steady and in control all the time. He was very happy 
for me, and himself also, when I began getting victory in this area. 
Children also need a stable atmosphere to grow up in. Stability is 
really an important issue for all of us.

Jesus is referred to as "The Rock." You can depend on Him to be 
stable---the same Jesus all the time, always faithful, loyal, true to 
His Word and mature. He's not one way one time and another way the next 
time.

Jeremiah 17:8 and Psalm 1:3 both instruct us to be like trees firmly 
planted. First Peter 5:8,9 teaches us to be well-balanced and temperate 
(self-controlled) to keep Satan from devouring us. To withstand him, it 
says to be rooted, established, strong, immovable and determined. 
Philippians 1:28 tells us to be constantly fearless when Satan comes 
against us. Psalm 94:13 says God wants to give us power to stay calm in 
adversity. All of these scriptures are referring to being stable.

I'm going to close with these statements for your consideration:

1. He who lives by emotions lives without principle.

2. We cannot be spiritual (walk in the spirit) /and/ be led by emotions.

3. Emotions won't go away, but you can learn to manage them.

4. You can have emotions, but you can't always rely on them.

Make emotional maturity a primary goal in your life!