... Yes, our minds are for the love of God. As the Apostle Paul said, we should "Study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). Love Of The Will So, we can love God with our emotion and our intellect. But is there yet another expression our love for God can take? Yes, there is. In the text, Jesus says, "Love God with all your soul." This means that we can love God with all our will. For instance, there is a lady who is getting a ...
... fragile to go out on your own." Isn't it good to know that there is One who always believes in us? Who says to us, "You are created in my image. You can make it. I will be with you." Good religion heals the body. Good religion heals the emotions. GOOD RELIGION HEALS THE SOUL. By the soul we mean "the whole person." Who we really are inside. Not what other people see, not a tiny fragment of our being, but the totality of our being…our personality, our dreams, our fears. When we understand who we are under ...
... just for everybody in the crowd but for all of Israel. God’s promised Messiah had come to them and he was Jesus of Nazareth. God’s promised Christ, Peter told them, was “this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Wow! That really fanned their emotional flames. Our text states that “when they heard this, they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). In one powerful address, Peter had described how God still claimed them as God’s own children, even though they killed their own God-given messiah. In ...
... to forgive, we know we need to let go of our hurt, our sinful longing, our pride, our resentment, or whatever the negative emotion may be, but our heart won’t let us. And we pray with David, “Oh, Lord, give me a new heart.” There is ... this body of death?” (21-25) Paul is speaking to this very thing. He’s saying he cannot control his heart. He cannot control his emotions. He cannot control his sinful nature. Indeed, to a point they control him. If that was true of St. Paul, how much more true is it ...
... they don't want me as their king any longer. They have had this rebellion in them from the beginning even when I showed them that I was their king. And now they are doing it to you. What was the ultimate values that is underneath all the layers of emotion and circumstance? From their words, we see: "for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving ...
... Some people turn us on, others turn us off. It has nothing to do with that. Christian love is not a feeling, but a position of active goodwill toward another person whether you happen to feel anything toward that person or not. You cannot whip up an emotion if it is not there, but you can take a position of goodwill toward someone, which means that whether or not I feel anything toward this person, I will, as a matter of principle, act lovingly toward this person. I have always appreciated the fact that in ...
... the streets to preach about Jesus because they couldn't help themselves, we have to ask, how should the our direct experience manifest itself? Or to ask it another way, how should it make us feel, and how should it make us act? Those who have had emotional religious experiences — and some of us have — perhaps at church camp or a youth rally or in a revival service or even in private, know that the "high" we felt at the time was terrific. It was something we wanted to keep flowing. But sooner or later ...
... up residence in your household. It will make a difference. When Jesus is present, there is healing. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law discovered that. For the past two thousand years millions of other people have discovered it as well. Whether it is physical healing, emotional healing, or the healing of a relationship, trust Christ. Healing does not always come as we would choose, but a life of constant prayer will reassure us that we are not alone. 1. Robert W. Youngs, What It Means to Be a Christian (New York ...
... : A passive or listless feeling. Sadness An attitude of “nothing seems to matter.” A feeling of helplessness. A feeling of hopelessness. An attitude of feeling nothing is ever going to get better. An idea that no one cares or under-stands. A sense of rejection. An emotion of “I would be better off dead.” A desire for death itself. More than anything in the world I want this message to be a help for the hurting, and a hope for the hopeless. One of the greatest heroes of the Old Testament, King David ...
... fragile to go out on your own." Isn't it good to know that there is One who always believes in us? Who says to us, "You are created in my image. You can make it. I will be with you." Good religion heals the body. Good religion heals the emotions. GOOD RELIGION HEALS THE SOUL. By the soul we mean "the whole person." Who we really are inside. Not what other people see. Not a tiny fragment of our being, but the totality of our being. Our personality, our dreams, our fears. When we understand who we are under ...
... will read about preaching. We will read about missions. We will read of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We will read about who Jesus was, is, and is to be. And we have a Christological hymn that allows us to understand that and give it emotional expression. We have a hymn that shares with us the life and meaning of Jesus. Bobby McFerrin is best known to us for his iconic 1988 feel-good hit song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Since then he has received ten Grammy Awards. McFerrin’s love of ...
... do not marry for economic or survival reasons. Men do not need wives to help with the farm. Women do not need husbands to support them. Today, people marry expecting more. We want our husband or wife to make us feel loved and appreciated. Today emotional support is the central reason for the relationship. If great-grandma and great-grandpa loved one another (in the sense that we have come to use that word), it was considered a wonderful added benefit, but not a requirement. Obviously, all people do not need ...
... of the American Psychosomatic Society that it's not known why this happens or if people can change their behavior, but "It's not going to hurt people to adopt a more positive view of others." (3) That is certainly the understatement of the year. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE NOT ONLY DESTRUCTIVE BUT THEY ARE DEGRADING TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT. You may have read about a reply that came to the credit department of a jewelry store from an irate customer. It seems he was angry over a mistake in billing. He wrote: "You ...
... have agreed. "For I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified...that your faith may not rest in the wisdom of men but the power of God." It may have once been our parent's faith. It may have started as an intellectual affirmation or an emotional experience. Now it is based upon a daily walk with Christ in which we experience His presence and His power in our lives. We know it is real not because of what we have been told, or what we have deduced, or because of what we felt once upon ...
... , Coke-a-Cola had adopted as their marketing slogan a phrase that sticks even to this day, "The pause that refreshes", that is a perfect way to describe what God intended the Sabbath to be. We need a day a week to refresh our soul and to recharge our emotional batteries. We have totally gotten away from this whole concept of a Sabbath rest. Where do you think we got the phrase "TGIF" - Thank God It's Friday! The next day, technically, is the Sabbath. Most people don't even know what that is. As a matter of ...
... back there?” (2) We’ve all been there, haven’t we? I don’t mean to the motor vehicle bureau. But we’ve all been in situations when things were so aggravating that we haven’t known what we could do with our fury. Paul addressed this very emotion in our lesson for the day from the Epistle of Ephesians when he wrote: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form ...
... with God’s wisdom and strength. He would need to prove ready and solid as the rock he would become for others, the stumbling stone to the strong, and the rock of ages to the weak. To prepare, he would need to dive into his imagination, delve into his base emotions and raw fears, deal with anything that could trip him up in the days, months, and years to come. Jesus entered into his “wild place” for a month and a half or more (40 days and 40 nights as it were), and he came out ready with the battle cry ...
... all of these, wrapped up into one. For Jesus, the scent of his anointing carried him from the time of his anointing through to the time of his crucifixion, leaving the scent of blessing and prayer, hope and presence upon him to remember in his time of greatest emotional pain and grief.^^ We too need reminders of God’s presence in our lives that last beyond the time we spend in weekly worship. We too need to know that Jesus’ presence is with us, that it goes beyond skin-deep but sinks deep into our souls ...
... , I have been suspended in that basket. I was at the end of my rope and feared it would break. Perhaps you have had that experience too. What comfort it is to know that we have a Friend who can heal brokenness of any kind—whether it is physical, emotional or spiritual—if we will let Him. You see, trust in God plays a role in our healing. Charles Kettering, the famous research scientist has said: “Did you ever stop to think what an incurable disease is? It is one the doctor doesn’t know how to cure ...
... is a clever phrase and it is spot on. In fact, science backs it up. Therefore Weisman and Kahn note that “as we approach the hopeful end of the pandemic and its associated lethality,” it’s not enough for us to pay attention to our emotional reactions or our physical maladies, but “it is time we address our souls.”[7] In fact, we know that those who feel spiritually supported, experience spiritual wellness, feel connected to God or a “higher power” do not feel as alone. A recent book written by ...
... aspects of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts? This charismatic renewal is seen as a lay people's movement to take religion out of the hands of the experts. It is a reaction against the lack of feeling in worship and through this rediscovery of emotions, dance, praise, and the senses, the new figure of the "sensuous Christian" is an indication of the spontaneity of our time. When we talk about the Spirit of God and the kingdom of God it is more than just sermons. It is a question of demonstrating that ...
... The poem goes like this: Said the Reverend Joseph McCotten,"The Dance by the Devil's begotten."Said young John to Miss Shy,"Never mind that old guy --To the pure almost everything's rotten." Purity of heart is not a synonym for a spotless life or sterilized emotions. To be pure in heart is not the same as being morally perfect. None of us would qualify for that. I recently heard someone relate a comment from a pastor to an individual who was out searching for a church to join. The pastor said, "If you find ...
... . The poem goes like this: Said the Reverend Joseph McCotten, "The Dance by the Devil's begotten." Said young John to Miss Shy, "Never mind that old guy --To the pure almost everything's rotten." Purity of heart is not a synonym for a spotless life or sterilized emotions. To be pure in heart is not the same as being morally perfect. None of us would qualify for that. I recently heard someone relate a comment from a pastor to an individual who was out searching for a church to join. The pastor said, "If you ...
... that there is no way the team will win, in order to dream glorious dreams of championship trophies. The Living Bible paraphrases Proverbs 18:2 in an unusual way, but it gets to the point: “a rebel doesn’t care about the facts; all he wants to do is yell.” Emotional listening is like a seed that finds itself on rocky soil, a bit of top soil where it can sprout quickly. But since there is no root it soon wilts in the midst of the reality of the sun and the heat. In contrast a good listener balances ...
... more exciting?" I usually conclude that the person who says it may be somewhat out of touch with what the church is doing on an everyday basis. It is true, the church generally doesn’t do a very good job of being exciting, at least in terms of emotional appeal. It is good when we can appeal to people in such a way that they feel taken to the mountaintop, and experience a time of special spiritual awareness or enlightenment, or even conversion. But then we need to hear, as the disciples heard, "This is my ...