Deadly Feelings

Take time in the coming week and memorize one of the following passages: 

·       Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

·       2 Timothy 3:16-17 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

·       Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Hmmmm, I wonder which one I’ll memorize … Fine. I already know the 3rd one. I can rattle off the 2nd in a different version with little difficulty. And I love a challenge. Number 1 it is. I will fall over dead if anyone asks me to recite for them …

Take time to read John's examples of “deadly feelings” on pages 179 and 180. What are some similar feelings you deal with and what does God's Word have to say about these kinds of attitudes and hidden thoughts?

In my last blog, I talked about letting the Devil have free-reign with my thoughts concerning self-worth. These are my most prominent “deadly feelings”. Someone says that they will do something for me; someone says that they will get back to me; someone says they will include me; someone says that will meet me for lunch even; and I almost immediately start betting in my head over the chances that the person will actually follow through.

I tell myself that I am forgettable, invisible, ignorable, a pest, a bother, a desperate and needy person. I tell myself that I have nothing to offer the situation or event. I tell myself that someone else can do it better. I tell myself that people just don’t want me around. I tell myself that people think I’m nuts, or wrong, or old-fashioned – old-school. I tell myself that I’m replaceable. I am not good enough. I can’t do anything right.

But God tells me that He loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me and bring me back to His warm embrace. God tells me that I am more important than the sparrows and not one falls that He is not aware of. God tells me that He knows me intimately – every hair on my head is numbered. He knew me before I was in the womb. He has my blueprint. My blueprint sculpted by God and planned with purpose, in His image. God tells me that I am worthy and unique.

What passages in the Bible might you meditate on to counteract these feelings?

·       John 3:16

·       Matthew 10:29-31

·       Jeremiah 1:5

·       Genesis 1:27

·       Jeremiah 29:11

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:1 (ESV)

And my eyes jumped forward to see:

Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you …
Isaiah 43:4a (ESV)