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Devotional
Weekly Bible Devotion By Books
May 8-13, 2023
Enter the Presence of the Lord
(All) walk by the Spirit,
(M) and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
(W) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
(M) forbearance, kindness, goodness,
(W) faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(M) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
(All) let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Selections from Galatians 5: 16, 22-25)
Confession
Lord of our emotions, we confess that we often do not know how to make peace with our emotions. We outburst, impulse, com-pulse, bottle-up, project. We even do not know that you have a way to redeem our emotions. O Lord, we are much willing to bring our emotions to your Cross. We are so much desire to receive the fruit of the Spirit. Holy Spirit, come and fill up us. Redeem our emotions in the blood of Jesus and renew our emotions in the power of your Spirit. Thanks. We pray in the name of your son Jesus Christ, Amen.
Scripture Reading
Psalm 1 -1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 130:1-4 1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Psalm 51: 1-2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 107: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 47: 6-8 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. 8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.
Thoughts to share The Wisdom of Our Emotions
It is amazing that the rich emotions of the Israelites in their life journey over a period of a thousand years are collected in 150 Psalms only. The earliest psalm is Psalm 90 by Moses. The latest Psalms are the psalms on the return of those exiled Israelites.
Just by casually flipping through the Psalms, we will find that the book of Psalms was filled with the feelings of the Israelites. We see that their love, hatred, happiness, anger, sorrow, struggle, sufferings, groanings, sins in their lives. We see that those feelings are plainly and honestly open before God. The Israelites expressed them in narrative form and musical form. They expressed those emotions by individuals and by nation. They expressed them in their prayers, praises, and petitions.
But, the book of Psalms is listed as a book of wisdom. What wisdom can we learn from the book? I believe that at least a few things we can learn on how to handle our feelings. Firstly, we can vent our feelings before God with no shame at all. There is a liberty in God to open our feelings to him. He does listen and receive us unconditionally. We can talk about our feelings and where they are from. We can ask for changing them. We can do so because he is our loving God. We are his beloved children. We are supported by his Covenant with us. Secondly, feelings can be up and down from moment to moment, from one life experience to another life experience. But the true wisdom to handle our feelings is to trust our Savior and his Covenant; Continue to love his law; continue to abide in him to draw the power of life. Thirdly, remember that God is sovereign. He is both in the excitingly jubilant moments and sorrowfully depressed moments in our life journey. He will guide us and lead us in his just and steadfast love. He is worthy to be praised and trusted!
Above all, the Psalms teaches us that there is no fear in the perfect love of God. It is very safe to tell him everything we feel. We are his covenant people. By covenant, we have a love and freedom to tell him. There is a hope in him regardless our circumstances.
Prayer Suggestions:
How are you feeling now? Do you have that intimate relationship with the Lord, who cares our feelings very much? There is no fear in perfect love. Come to talk to your dearest loving friend- Jesus Christ.
Lord of our feelings, you really know how we feel in our everyday’s life journey. You are willing to see our joy, our sorrows, our triumphs, our failures, our struggles. Yes, we need the wisdom for our feelings. Thank you that you did not leave this area unattended. Help us to learn how to make peace with our feelings before you. May you be in our joy and in our suffering in our life journey. We are willing to enter the liberty that you give us in your unconditional and so intimate love. Teach us with your wisdom and model us after your Spirit. We will become emotionally healthy children of yours. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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