The Lord loves everything about us that he has created. We are made in his image, and it is very good. The Lord gave us emotions so that we could experience him, the kingdom, and life in the fullest way possible.
Our positive emotions create in us the opportunity to discover God, inspire other people, and open ourselves up to Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The father gave us the gift of tangible feelings so that we could practice the art of living from our heart, with him.
Feelings make us closer to God than thoughts. Positive emotions inspire trust, faith, and expectation. In all his dealings with us, the father will use our emotions positively to connect with us.
Obviously, negative emotions, left unchecked, are detrimental to our well-being and our walk of faith. The father has provided for us in this area. It is a part of the mission statement of Jesus in Isaiah 61 – the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to counsel those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of Joy for morning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planning of the Lord that he may be glorified.
Jesus proclaimed two things in his mission statement; firstly, that the favor of the Lord was upon us and secondly, that vengeance was available against our enemy.
The favor of God trains and equips us to live from a place of expectancy in his goodness so that we can stand in him, no matter the opposition. Vengeance is the anointing and ability to attract favor when we are under attack.
The way that the Holy Spirit does that is to teach us about divine displacement. The key word in this passage is the word instead. It means in place of, or an alternative to something else.
Beauty instead of ashes. The oil joy instead of mourning. The garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. The Lord has made provision for our negative emotions. He displaces them with his own nature. In Christ, nothing negative may work against us. The enemy can use negative emotions against us, which is why the father gave us a comforter (literally someone who provides relief from pain and distress). The Holy Spirit soothes our hearts and brings his own innate cheeriness to us. He supports and encourages us constantly. He brings freedom out of every situation that vexes or annoys us.
When the enemy has one purpose, the father has another instead. He means for the opposite to occur. We see the same thing in Romans 8: 31 – 39. If God is for us, who can be against us? How will God not freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against us? Who will separate us from the love of God?
Instead of being overwhelmed by what we are not, we can be overwhelmed by who Jesus is for us. We are not consumed by the negative; we are overjoyed at the opposite. The Holy Spirit teaches us to move in the opposite spirit to a negative. God can use the enemy to point out our provision. Whatever the enemy has planned, the Lord has planned an alternative instead! It is our heritage to move in the opposite spirit. Think the opposite, move towards it, and reposition for a blessing.
The ultimate vengeance on the enemy is that whatever he tries against us only succeeds in making us bigger, better, stronger. When under attack, we focus on what the father is giving us permission to become.
The father has planned for every eventuality. This is the grandest passion of his life; to make us into his image, to provide an eternal companion for his son. Everything that we need to fulfill that destiny has already been granted to us. Green lights, everyone! Everything in line with his purpose is yes and amen in Christ.
Any experience we want that makes us into God’s image has his fullest permission. Anything that makes us excellent adds to his glory. On our worst day, out of nightmare circumstances, when under insidious attack from people, or surrounded by a corrupt world and an implacable enemy, we can become partakers of God’s divine nature.
Think of it; a life that cannot be stopped, a nightmare for the devil. The promises of God are so huge and have such intense value in the kingdom; yet he gives them away so freely, so easily to us – 2 Peter 1; 2 – 4. The father will deny us nothing in Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit is the cause us to rise up and occupy the word, to be filled with Jesus, to live in fullness, and to think, pray, and speak out of his abundance.
All that we are is to be filled with all that he is in himself. That obviously means that our emotions are a key part of God’s dealings with us. His emotions are beautifully seen in his love, compassion, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, patience, grace, mercy, enjoy.
His feelings for us are so powerful! It’s an odd thing in the evangelical world that the only time we truly talk about God’s emotions is when we claim he is angry about something or someone. Yet god himself claims to be really slow to anger, even under the old covenant. Of course, he is not angry at all in the new covenant, having poured it all out on Jesus on the cross. Jesus was separated so that now we can always be with God in this life – Romans 8; 35 – 39.
I love his voice. I love the effect it has on me emotionally. The sound it makes in my heart. I love the sound that comes out of my heart when the sound of his heart touches me. It is a sound of purest joy, the sound of a deep, all encompassing happiness so profound that like a raging flood it carries all before it. When he speaks, my heart sings. The deposit he leaves in my heart is his own innate happiness. These things I’ve spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full – John 15; 11.
It was a good day for the demonic realm when the devil persuaded believers to have a cerebral relationship with God instead of a heart fellowship, when he caused people to equate knowledge only with understanding, but not experience. So theology became academic and lost its experience and vitality. Life in the Spirit gave way to a logical, rational, reasonable, and functional relationship with God that contained little intimacy and no supernatural, miraculous dynamic. Christianity became a religion, a dull, drab, boring, powerless, emotionless (unless we count anger) tradition.
I wonder if this is what James meant when he wrote about a wisdom that was devilish; or what Timothy meant when he wrote about doctrines of devils – 1t Timothy 4; 1? Certainly there is no possibility of God being glorified in a powerless church; nor is there any chance of revealing the majesty and supremacy of Christ through people were drab, dull, and lacking in astonishment. Certainly, we as evangelicals need to repent and return to believing the whole Bible.
Saying that we have a relationship with God but not being able to feel his presence is too silly for words. No child would believe that, yet we adults talk about faith and believing as though they were the antidote to emotions.
How can we not feel faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ – Romans 10; 17. How can we hear incredibly good news and not feel glad as we believe?
If, when God speaks to us and joy rises up, how will faith not rise up with our feelings of abundant joy? Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope – confident expectation – by the power of the Holy Spirit – Romans 15; 13.
We are filled with joy and peace in believing – faith and positive emotions, faith and attributes of God’s nature, faith and feelings, acting together in partnership with the Holy Spirit!
Father loves our emotions. They were his gift to us so that we can live from our heart with him. The emotions of the soul are subject to negativity, doubt, fear, anxiety, worry, panic, etc., because our soul and body are linked to the outside world. They have an external viewpoint subject to harassment by the enemy. Soul and body form the outer man, and our human spirit is made alive in Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The inner man of the spirit only lives in the presence of God. It has no external connection. Life flows from God within, through our spirit to the soul, and beyond. However, it does not flow back the same way. Soul cannot overwhelm the spirit. It can, however, take control of situations if our will permits.
The spirit within uses all the attributes of the presence of God that mingles with our spirit. We are alive to God and all the possibilities of his nature – Romans 6; 11
The father loves our emotions. He connects trust and faith to his own emotions so that our inner man receives joy and peace in believing. He also uses emotions to connect us with our calling and destiny.
What you love is a guide to the gifting and influence that the Lord wants to bestow on you. What do you love to talk about most? What gets you excited about the Lord and his kingdom?
If everyone on earth was paid $20 per hour for work, regardless of the type of job; what would you be? A doctor, professor, CEO of a multi-national company, an actress, sportsperson, a janitor or a rat catcher – all paid the same. What would you do if money was not a factor? When you know that, you know something of who you are and what is your calling in the kingdom.
Personally, I would be exactly what I am now – an intimate son, a loving friend who is paid to meditate, a worshiper, a man who loves to write, even a public speaker who loves to talk about God, a trainer and equipper of people who adores the prophetic.
I love the prophetic. I love the fact that God speaks to us personally from his own mouth, through the Scriptures, through people, circumstances, ministries, and especially through the Holy Spirit in the gifts of prophecy and wisdom.
I love the prophetic. That isn’t surprising, I suppose, as I have dedicated my life to teaching it. I love watching people in tune with God and hearing his voice. I love seeing people find out the will of God for themselves. I love releasing people to hear the voice of the Lord. I am passionate about training people in the prophetic because I love it.
I love that moment when people first hear God for themselves. I love that moment when God’s heart and ours become one, and his voice breaks through into our conscious heart.
What you are most happy about gives you power to inspire others. When our joy is full, we have an authority to lift people in the spirit. Joy gives us influence that arouses desire in people. The Angels came with glad tidings of great joy and inspired shepherds to leave their flock and go searching for a baby in the middle of the night!
I love the Holy Spirit. He is the happiest, most cheerful person I’ve ever encountered. It’s possible to grieve him, but incredibly difficult. Most of us will never manage it personally. The Godhead dwells in an environment of astonishing, everlasting joy. The Holy Spirit is a delight!
He is cheerful, exuberant, and amazingly enthusiastic about us. He loves his role as comforter, tutor, and come alongside friend. He gets to talk about Jesus ( whom he adores) and equip us to fellowship with the father.
He is an absolute genius at life, a brilliant mentor who knows everything. He has a wonderful sense of humor and is a powerful advocate and warrior. He is never fazed by circumstances but loves to lift us up to see more from his perspective.
He is a gorgeous, amazing paradox. He is recklessly cheerful and incredibly wise. He is full of majesty and yet astonishingly gentle. He is completely and radiantly holy, yet comforts us in our struggles and lovingly teaches us the ways of righteousness.
He is inspirational, generous, kind, gracious, and endlessly patient in redeeming us to live in Christ. Talking about him fills me with joy. I love who he is in my life. When I talk about him publicly, the joy rises up in me that hopefully influences and inspires people to be filled with his presence. When I talk about the Holy Spirit, I feel the Christ within smiling through me. When the Holy Spirit talks to me about Jesus, I feel the pleasure of the father in the pirit. The Holy Spirit loves me to feel that I am the beloved of God, accepted fully in Christ – Ephesians 1:6.
The peace of God gives us power to overcome – John 16; 33. In tribulation, there is a place of rest in the Holy Spirit who loves to manifest the peace of Christ and the peace of God that passes all understanding. We are learning to fight from a place of rest and peace. To not be overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, or panic is a part of our heritage as people in Christ. Rest is a weapon. The enemy cannot penetrate our peace, but he can be destroyed by it.
There will always be tribulation in the world. Peace works on us emotionally to create courage. The process of learning rest is wonderfully intoxicating. The Holy Spirit provides massive, ongoing encouragement that is so profound and amazing that worry, fear, and anxiety cannot live in our circumstances. They are banished by the sheer majesty of peace.
Peace releases an authority that commands total obedience. Peace makes us vulnerable to the sovereignty of God – Mark 4; 35 – 41. The Holy Spirit is calm, unworried, untroubled by events. He is peaceful.
The astonishing truth (one of them) about God is that he can use anything to speak to us and help us. Everything is useful – a storm on a lake, a terrifying demoniac, Even death – John Chapter 11 – and taxes – Matthew 17; 24 – 27.
The father can also use any negative emotions to help us and determine our future. For example, what we hate is a guide to what God has raised us up to deliver. I remember watching the Robert Duvall film the apostle. It was an incredible film, with superb acting and a solid script, but I hated it. Duvall played a man who thought he could live anyway he chose and still serve God. He was devious, manipulative, and occasionally violent, but also compassionate. He was locked in a struggle between the two sides of his personality.
I wanted to jump into the movie scene and confront him. I appreciate the acting, but the premise of the film annoyed me. At one point, I told God I was going to have to leave; the movie was making me too upset. In that moment, I felt God whisper into my heart, this is everything I’ve called you to fight against. Immediately, I was refocused.
God said, I love the way you hate religiosity. The statement was true. I do not like performance Christianity. I dislike apathy and mediocrity. When I see it, I have to take it on.
The way we confront issues is vital. We are not fighting flesh and blood – Ephesians 6; 12. So there is no point in attacking people. As a guiding principle, when the enemy has a hold over God’s people, he must be confronted indirectly.
We do that by talking about who God is for us. We must present a radiant idea of God so the people reach out for him in divine exchange.
What we detest is a guide to that which God has called us to deliver. Every part of my anointing is to deliver the church from religiosity and back into compassion and into standing in the presence of God. I want reality. I hate double mindedness.
Moses hated slavery. When he saw Egyptians beating Hebrews, his anger rose up. Why? There was a call on his life (even if he didn’t know it at that precise moment ) to be a deliverer. But this gift has a cost; what we want most to confront must be corrected in ourselves first. We cannot confront anything in other people unless we have already dealt with our issue. If we stray from this necessary order, we will be hurt. God will not tolerate an individual ignoring the plank in their own eyes to pluck a speck out of someone else’s.
Moses had to be trained in the wilderness in order for him to be changed and to bring change. If he had conceded and given up during that process, he would have forfeited his power. Other people may get weary of you banging the same drum, so keep the song but change the tune. Find creative ways of attacking the same problem. Remain focused on your call. I constantly address the same themes – but in several different ways. It takes wisdom and patience to attack things from every possible angle.
We have to be violent to wage the war God has
laid out for us. If you’re going to be in a fight, be in it to win. Show no mercy when you are attacking the enemy. Give grace to everyone but the devil. When he is on the floor, don’t stop kicking him!
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, – 1 Corinthians 15; 58. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart – Galatians 6; 9. We cannot change something unless we have a God-given hatred for whatever the obstacles are around it. Warfare must be implicit in everything we do.
We must have a compassion for people and a hatred for what holds them in bondage. Mercy for the individual, but rage against what imprisons them, sickness, injustice, poverty, addiction, racial prejudice, abortion – whatever it might be. Many things are wrong in our society, and they will not change unless someone compassionate and angry enough steps forward. Most of us have plenty of compassion but not enough anger to confront issues. We need both.
Anger by itself is destructive. Anger and compassion together are productive. We have to wear this mantle, this anointing, and this call in order to bring ourselves into alignment with God.
Agony is a clue to what we are called to restore. Nehemiah agonized over the state of Jerusalem. It led him to fast and pray until God gave him favor to restore the city’s walls. His agony was a forerunner to his call. Likewise, Jesus agonized over the plight of the oppressed and blind, as his life passage- Isaiah 61 indicates. Jesus’ agony for those oppressed by a religious system was a clue to what he was called to restore them to in relationship with his father. What makes us cry is a guide to what he will empower us to do. It is locked up inside of us and is released as we focus on God’s plan. Jesus wept over Jerusalem; he was passionate about Israel. Paul felt the same grief, as we read in Romans 9; 1 – 3, I tell you the truth in Christ, I’m not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continue grief in my heart. For I wish that I myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God.
Our agony is a guide to the healing power God wants to give us. What grieves you today? Do you know you have the power to heal what you grieve over? When we are grieved, the prophetic word that will come out of our mouth will release people from bondage into freedom instead. Our grief can and will turn into an all-consuming passion in our heart. Some will call it obsession, but it is actually passion spilled over into sacrifice as we pour out our hearts out to God.
1 Samuel, we read of Hannah’s agony over her inability to have children. She wept bitterly, the Bible records in verses 15 – 16; I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I’ve drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I’ve spoken until now.
Hannah’s grief gave birth to a life that became the most compelling voice in a nation where the word of the Lord was rare, and where vision was infrequent, her grief gave birth to a solution. Likewise, Israel was barren and grieved god. perhaps that is why he chose Hannah’s agony to bring restoration. He saw his own anguish reflected in her tears. Hannah’s agony was lifted when she became pregnant with Samuel, and that child later ended God’s own agony with Israel.
Assignment – what negative emotions are ruling you at this time? What would the opposite of that feeling, look and sound like to God, yourself, and others? What is God giving you instead? Ask the father for favor on your emotions so that your heart can be more in tune with his. As you do so, promises will begin to come to you, and revelation of what God wants to be for you will rise up in your heart. Take notes. Ask the Lord to speak to you in such a way that your emotions can connect with his faith.
Commission – what do you feel strongly about? What you love is a guide to your gifting and influence with other people. Journal those thoughts. What you agonize over is a clue to what you are supposed to restore. What is that? What you hate gives you the power to deliver. Who and what are you empowered to set free? Identify your feelings and cross reference them with your permission in the spirit. Claim your identity and your anointing!