Pastor James Some Emotion Required-Pt.2
Trying to serve God without expressing emotions is boring. Attempting to do so will leave a person without any passion for the one they say they love. There is a difference between being emotional and expressing emotion. Being emotional is one who responds to the circumstances of life by how they feel. If things are going good then they are good and if they’re bad they emotionally act according to the events around them. Strongly expressed emotions can reflect the depth of ones conviction. Jesus demonstrated this for us on a number of occasions.
Let’s look at one found in John 2:13-17 which says; And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. This phrase zeal for thine house hath eaten me up can be described like this. My love for your house; My hunger for your house has grabbed me; My zeal for thine house burns in me like fire. This describes an strong emotional expression that reveals the passionate heart of Jesus.
Our emotional capacity plays a major role in the quality of life we live on earth. Faith and its operation can be greatly affected by our outward emotional expression. Romans 15:13 says their should be a certain emotional experience when faith is operating correctly. May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope. [AMP] This scripture unmistakably reveals the evidence of the involvement of our emotions when were in faith. Our emotions should never take the place of a believing heart but rather reveal one.
When we are experiencing discouragement and heaviness when we say we believe. Our emotions are working against what we are striving to believe. It would be much like trying to grow a plant without adequate conditions. To much sunshine and to little water will stress the plant and all it can do is survive or even regress. A healthy emotional response and condition is a vital necessity in life. Even when we look at the subject of praise and worship our emotions are required. Our emotions can be expressed in a variety of ways according to 1 Peter 1:9 which says ; You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, [TEV] There can be a shout, dance, lifting hands, twirling, jumping, running and a variety of other things. We should not just limit ourselves to words only or put others down for their excitement of joy.
All to often the church reserves their emotions for natural things and avoids spiritual excitement. This type of behavior is damaging to our passionate pursuit of Him. Our emotional status also has an effect on our health according to Proverbs 17:22 Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time. [TEV] Our relationship with God can be affected like our health upbeat or sad and gloomy. Emotions are required when were serving God. Until next time may Gods blessings continue to flow freely in your life...... Pastor James