Can Emotions Be Productively Managed?

Managing emotions is a lifelong task whether in close relationships or with acquaintances at work, church, or in rush hour traffic. Managing frustration caused by stressful situations points to relationship issues that need productive change.

The majority of people manage emotions by taking ownership of situations that have resulted in conflict and hurt feelings. However some people refuse to express their thoughts and feelings in ways that can help dissipate the harmful effects of their fear and anger.

While it may seem impossible to trust others with your fear, anger, and guilt, God will provide safe opportunities to do so. He also provides the courage to seek forgiveness. Acknowledging what you feel and think through confession leads to forgiveness. Jesus will provide what you need when the time is right to seek others out to make things right.

Then you will have peace of mind.           

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Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

~Hebrews 12:1-2 New American Standard Bible

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What Makes It Difficult to Keep Your Eyes Fixed on Jesus?

Every family gathering may present challenges and opportunities that are unexpected. How we respond depends on our old baggage or the emotional trappings related to our identity and self-esteem. Baggage can be connected to guilt from which forgiveness has not been received.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us to throw off everything that burdens us down, including sin that clings so closely, and then run with perseverance the race God sets before us. How can this be done? “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus means staying focused on Jesus to prevent discouragement from overtaking you. Philippians 3:14 reminds us to “forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead to win the prize for which God has called us.” May God turn his face toward you and cause his light to create a clear path for you. 

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My eyes are ever looking to the Lord for help, for he alone can rescue me.

~Psalm 25:15 The Living Bible

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Faith's Priority ~ 2020 Vision of Sharing Your Faith

What are your main priorities for this New Year? This can be a year of significant changes, so it can be a time of uncertainty for the nation. As believers in Christ Jesus, what are your hopes for yourself, your family and God’s family? Millions of people place their hopes in a political party and a presidential candidate.

Have you asked yourself, “What about faith’s priorities? What is God’s purpose and plan for America and all its people for this year?” Most of us have expectations and hopes that attempt to cancel out our fears and anxieties. We may be tempted to take up a banner against those who are different.

 

Especially in times of uncertainty, the banner of Jesus Christ encourages us to hold to God’s unchanging hand for faith and his guidance. God sent Jesus to seek and to save those who are lost, so faith’s priority could be for you to share your faith in Christ Jesus with others. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” What a great expectation!  

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God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others. What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace.

~2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Contemporary English Version

Our children too shall serve him, for they shall hear from us about the wonders of the Lord; generations yet unborn shall hear of all the miracles he did for us.

~Psalm 22:30-31 The Living Bible

So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.

~Hebrews 12:1-2 Good News Bible

The Best Balancing Act

When Leah gave birth to four sons for Jacob, her sister Rachel went into a panic because she herself was unable to conceive. One sure way a woman could please her husband was to give birth to sons, which insured security and feelings of fulfillment. Rachel’s desperation is expressed in Genesis 30. "When she could not conceive, she became jealous and said to Jacob, ‘Give me children or I will die.’"

Have you had similar feelings longing for something so special and fulfilling that nothing else could surpass its value? Rachel's passion for a child consumed her. She couldn't let it go. Giving birth to a baby was essential to her identity and sense of mental health. She desperately needed to feel equal to her sister.

T. S. Eliot believed that nothing was more important than thinking appropriately well of oneself. However, the apostle Paul admonishes us not to think higher of ourselves than we should. What helps you from going overboard is balancing what Christ has done for you and what you’ve committed to him.

Endure: Don't Give In or Give Up - Part 2

Endurance is, in truth, a test of values, especially where competing values cause conflict. A book called Values and Teaching, identifies most people as believing in prolonging life. However, place that ideal in a situation where someone is suffering from unbearable pain, caused by an incurable disease, and wishes to die…

Thank God most of us do not face that choice, but other situations where values collide make choosing unpleasant. You appreciate rules for driving safely, and although you need to be on time for work, you're late. You cherish being a patient, kind person, but someone is using you to their advantage. Your integrity depends on choosing your actions wisely.

A man explained he had a chance to reconcile with his ex-wife. He wanted to do right by his family and please God, but lack of trust blocked the pathway. God’s word teaches you to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, and he will guide your path." This is God’s choice for all believers. 

Must I Really Love THAT Person? - Part 3

When my granddaughter was four, she asked if we could take a walk around the neighborhood. About halfway around the block she asked, "Why is the sidewalk different? It's crumbling and I can see little shells in it." Her question caused me to question the values of the company who sold an inferior product.

The Roman Empire was among the first to use concrete for their structures, and some of those structures are still standing twenty centuries later. What gives personal values the sustaining power to withstand the trials and storms of life? Values must be firmly grounded in a clear sense of what is right and wrong.

God has given us Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit and his word to guide our walk through this world. The presence of God in our lives strengthens our values by telling us to strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love and the strength to endure. Whenever anything that is not pure, honest and true gets mixed into our lives, it must be identified and cleaned out. With God’s help, you can do it.  

Focus on Your Values - Part 1

I spent my elementary years of childhood growing up in a small farming community. My uncle owned a combination feed and grocery store there, in addition to being the postmaster and pharmacist. I can't remember crime being major concern, for safety and security seemed to be a given.

I cannot explain how I got this idea, except that human nature being as it is, it came naturally. When I was seven or eight, my cousin and I took some of my mother's hen eggs and sold them at my uncle's store. Sometime later I took a twenty-dollar bill from my mother's purse and hid it under our house. When my mom confronted me, I confessed and gave back her twenty dollars.

My mother confronted me because she loved me and what I did was wrong. Confronting weaknesses is a never-ending process. God’s word offers this challenge. "Continue to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Remain patient, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith."