Emotions 🤨🤔😠😡😱

 Up until Wednesday I was headed in a different direction with CoffeeTime.  (for another time I guess).

Emotions...that is where I am headed now.

We all know about them, we all have them. 

Sometimes we are made to feel emotions (or intense ones) are negative, bad or wrong. 

We try to suppress, control or hide our emotions. 

But I believe scripture says that our emotions are normal, natural, inevitable. 

However;

😡We can be angry ...but can't let it cause us to sin

📖  “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26-27

😭We can be sad and grieve, but can't let it turn into a drowning despair.

📖 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.... 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:20+22

📖 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

😠We can feel hurt but not let it take root and cause bitterness.

📖 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

🤔We can feel betrayal, but not let it fester into retaliation 

📖  Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:17-18

😟We can be concerned but not let it spread into an all consuming worry.

📖 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.   Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:31-34

🫢We can support and even hold others accountable but we are not to judge.

📖 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:1-3

📖Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? James 4:11-12

😱We can be afraid, but don't let it over shadow trust

📖 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

📖 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

♥️LOVE....THERE MUST BE LOVE!♥️

📖 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.1 Corinthians  13:4-7

We aren't asked to do anything that is impossible

Or to do anything that Christ hasn't done Himself. 

📖 We love because he first loved us. 1  John 4:19

📖 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  John 13:34

📖  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

☺️We can be pleased with our accomplishments and even in who we are, but we are not to become filled with pride.

📖 ...God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6b-7

And that is the key to all this...not letting our negative emotions grow into negative behavior....humility 

📖 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

📖  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:3-4

😔Out of a truly humble heart comes love.🤎

📖 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3

🙏🏼 Our gracious Father, thank you so much for continuing to love us and forgive us even when our emotions get the better of us. We pray that you remain our focus everyday and we can humbly love others so that our emotions don't control.our behavior.  May all we do be pleasing to You. 

📖 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.♥️