I woke up tired this morning. A late deacons meeting last night, did not encourage a restful night's sleep. I went out to my vehicle, which other family members had been using this week, and the low gas warning light was on. I drove for an hour on the busy highway to a seminar for Christian workers on the subject of abortion. The good news shared was that after 40 years of the church fighting abortion in Canada we are in worse shape than ever. On the way home (in busier traffic on the same highway) myself and three of our church staff discussed how often people fail to listen to what we are saying from Scripture.
Can I admit something? I am not feeling so great. I feel lousy. I feel down. I feel sad. I am having a multitude of feelings and none of them are particularly positive right at the moment. I might even admit that I don't feel particularly Christian right at the moment.
I see a multitude of people in my ministry who have days like the one I have just described. At the end of such days and weeks and sometimes even months, they come to me and wonder if they have lost their salvation because they don't feel saved any longer. Their feelings tell them that they must not be a real Christian because real Christians wouldn't feel the way they feel.
GARBAGE!!!!
Where on earth did we come up with the idea that feelings were the most important thing in the world? Where did we get the incredibly stupid idea that if I don't feel like I am saved, I must be lost? Where did we get the idea that just because I am not "in love" with someone, that I am excused from loving them any more? Where did we get the idea that feelings have anything to do with these important matters at all?
I have the simple answer - the Devil. Satan. The enemy. For thousands of years he has been working the human race to the place where we find ourselves today. He has finally created a world where feelings trump facts. If you disbelieve me, take an honest look at mainstream media these days. News shows once were about reporting the facts of the story. Today's news programs are about interpreting the story so that you should know how you should feel.
The result of this Satanic conquest has been a society where the majority ride a daily roller coaster on the ride called emotions. They are up, they are down - and the whole value of their existence lies in the flow of their feelings. And when they no longer can stand the nausea caused by this assault on their senses, they self-medicate with booze or drugs or in the very worst cases stop the ride by committing suicide.
My friend our world does not depend on feelings, but facts. Feelings are fickle things, but truth is forever. For the past century, the world has preached that giving vent to our every emotional whim is the path of freedom. The truth is that it has been chaos. It is only God's truth that completely sets a person free. God's truth never changes, because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So what do I do on a day like this when I don't feel good/happy/joyful/Christian? I speak the truth to myself from God's unchanging Word. I remind myself that my salvation is not dependent upon how I feel, but on the unchanging fact that Jesus Christ died in my place. On days when I am not "in love" with my wife, I find that Scripture tells me that God intends me to choose to love her anyway. We need to stop making the faith about our feelings. We are people of the BOOK. We are people of the truth. We serve the one who is the truth!
And, by the way, -- speaking the truth to myself usually makes me feel better - for all the right reasons.
Can I admit something? I am not feeling so great. I feel lousy. I feel down. I feel sad. I am having a multitude of feelings and none of them are particularly positive right at the moment. I might even admit that I don't feel particularly Christian right at the moment.
I see a multitude of people in my ministry who have days like the one I have just described. At the end of such days and weeks and sometimes even months, they come to me and wonder if they have lost their salvation because they don't feel saved any longer. Their feelings tell them that they must not be a real Christian because real Christians wouldn't feel the way they feel.
GARBAGE!!!!
Where on earth did we come up with the idea that feelings were the most important thing in the world? Where did we get the incredibly stupid idea that if I don't feel like I am saved, I must be lost? Where did we get the idea that just because I am not "in love" with someone, that I am excused from loving them any more? Where did we get the idea that feelings have anything to do with these important matters at all?
I have the simple answer - the Devil. Satan. The enemy. For thousands of years he has been working the human race to the place where we find ourselves today. He has finally created a world where feelings trump facts. If you disbelieve me, take an honest look at mainstream media these days. News shows once were about reporting the facts of the story. Today's news programs are about interpreting the story so that you should know how you should feel.
The result of this Satanic conquest has been a society where the majority ride a daily roller coaster on the ride called emotions. They are up, they are down - and the whole value of their existence lies in the flow of their feelings. And when they no longer can stand the nausea caused by this assault on their senses, they self-medicate with booze or drugs or in the very worst cases stop the ride by committing suicide.
My friend our world does not depend on feelings, but facts. Feelings are fickle things, but truth is forever. For the past century, the world has preached that giving vent to our every emotional whim is the path of freedom. The truth is that it has been chaos. It is only God's truth that completely sets a person free. God's truth never changes, because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
So what do I do on a day like this when I don't feel good/happy/joyful/Christian? I speak the truth to myself from God's unchanging Word. I remind myself that my salvation is not dependent upon how I feel, but on the unchanging fact that Jesus Christ died in my place. On days when I am not "in love" with my wife, I find that Scripture tells me that God intends me to choose to love her anyway. We need to stop making the faith about our feelings. We are people of the BOOK. We are people of the truth. We serve the one who is the truth!
And, by the way, -- speaking the truth to myself usually makes me feel better - for all the right reasons.
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