"Religious people" follow men!
"Born Again Believers" follow Christ!
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
The Drunken Sailor
When we lean into our emotions, thinking with feelings rather than rational thought, we are acting a little like a drunken sailor.
Someone who is drunk knows right from wrong, but ignores it to enjoy their momentary feelings. They may even see a pink elephant in the room where there are no animals.
The drunk choses not to see the sin involved or the consequences of their actions, because their discernment has been quenched while all inhibition to do evil is removed temporarily.
Those who say emotion is good, do not understand that emotions are "stimuli" rather than substance. They come and go most often without thought, while being amazingly inaccurate in terms of truth. Sometimes they are brought on by an imaginary thought life to keep the feelings current.
We know this is true because of our reactions to situations that aren't even real. In watching a movie last night, having seen it before in past years, called "Fiddler on the Roof", I was reminded of all the emotion that was generated by the events in the movie.
WAIT....but the movie was not real, it wasn't even based on the lives of real people, and yet I cried during some of the sensitive scenes.
Why did I cry even at a fictional account? I cried because my mind cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality when it comes to emotions. Emotions are fleshly and often not based on true or accurate information, they are based on stimulation.
Sometimes we cry when someone else is crying even if we don't know what they are crying about. Our empathy for the pain of others is based on how we see them responding rather than on the information we know about situations.
Anyone can work themselves into emotion by sitting in a chair and thinking thoughts that make them cry. Sometimes we are hurt by the comments of others because we have incorrectly interpreted their meaning, that's why we must assess things rather than roll with emotions.
I wonder how many relationships were destroyed because of inaccurate assessment of events based on emotions that ruled the day rather than rationale!
Christ never endorsed or commanded us to enjoy "feelings", just the opposite. That is not to say that if we cry something is wrong, crying can be a wonderful stress reliever for difficult times. However we cannot trust the emotions that cause the tears, we must evaluate them based on truth.
Romans 12:2
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Isaiah 26:3
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (God)."
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."
Someone who is drunk knows right from wrong, but ignores it to enjoy their momentary feelings. They may even see a pink elephant in the room where there are no animals.
The drunk choses not to see the sin involved or the consequences of their actions, because their discernment has been quenched while all inhibition to do evil is removed temporarily.
Those who say emotion is good, do not understand that emotions are "stimuli" rather than substance. They come and go most often without thought, while being amazingly inaccurate in terms of truth. Sometimes they are brought on by an imaginary thought life to keep the feelings current.
We know this is true because of our reactions to situations that aren't even real. In watching a movie last night, having seen it before in past years, called "Fiddler on the Roof", I was reminded of all the emotion that was generated by the events in the movie.
WAIT....but the movie was not real, it wasn't even based on the lives of real people, and yet I cried during some of the sensitive scenes.
Why did I cry even at a fictional account? I cried because my mind cannot tell the difference between fiction and reality when it comes to emotions. Emotions are fleshly and often not based on true or accurate information, they are based on stimulation.
Sometimes we cry when someone else is crying even if we don't know what they are crying about. Our empathy for the pain of others is based on how we see them responding rather than on the information we know about situations.
Anyone can work themselves into emotion by sitting in a chair and thinking thoughts that make them cry. Sometimes we are hurt by the comments of others because we have incorrectly interpreted their meaning, that's why we must assess things rather than roll with emotions.
I wonder how many relationships were destroyed because of inaccurate assessment of events based on emotions that ruled the day rather than rationale!
Christ never endorsed or commanded us to enjoy "feelings", just the opposite. That is not to say that if we cry something is wrong, crying can be a wonderful stress reliever for difficult times. However we cannot trust the emotions that cause the tears, we must evaluate them based on truth.
Romans 12:2
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Isaiah 26:3
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (God)."
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."
They Just Think So
I enjoyed a line out of the "Fiddler on the Roof" movie last night.
That line went something like this; " If you are rich, you don't have to know, if you are rich they think you really know."
We could almost suggest changing the wording a little to describe another problem in our culture.
"If you are a Bible school graduate you don't actually have to have truth, they will think you know truth."
That line went something like this; " If you are rich, you don't have to know, if you are rich they think you really know."
We could almost suggest changing the wording a little to describe another problem in our culture.
"If you are a Bible school graduate you don't actually have to have truth, they will think you know truth."
Flattery Diminishes Discernment
Proverbs 26:24-28 "Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin."
When we focus on the "feelings" we have because someone praised us or elevates us, it disarms our senses to be unable to see things objectively.
We have a tendency to see only the good about someone who uses flattery to control us. The favored person in a relationship will not be able to see the plight of others who are demeaning and mocking others, because he is so full of the praise that was served him, he refuses to see how the manipulator is treating others.
The praised one will interpret anything he sees the manipulator doing as justification in some way for their contemptuous responses. He/she will believe that the unkind act of the narcissist must have somehow been misunderstood or provoked by the targeted scapegoat.
We need to look at everything in truth, ignoring our feelings, good or bad to be able to think clearly, objectively and concisely.
We must never allow ourselves to be the "golden" favored one or we should never allow ourselves to be the disfavored scapegoat. Either condition is a mess waiting to happen in our relationships.
Prosperity preachers and motivational speakers have the ability to manipulate very effectively, crowds that love to "feel good", can be made to do almost anything the speaker wants. They know that almost anyone can be manipulated into almost anything when they have been disarmed by flattery or positive stimuli.
Animals are like this too! Even though we are suppose to be above animals, often we can be induced to do what others want because they give us something we like, that is praise, adulation and encouragement to do what will make us wealthy, healthy or special in some way.
All we have to do to train an animal is praise them constantly and give them the treat they like. All it takes is consistent praise and reward for the animal to love to follow our commands.
God tells us to "think with the mind of Christ", when we allow others to manipulate our minds, we are no longer thinking with His mind, in fact we are not even thinking with our own minds, but rather we are being controlled by the minds of others. These "other minds" have ulterior motives, that is to gain something from us. They can get us to give more money to their organization or give them the worship they desire.
Beware of those who flatter and beware of those who manipulate to make us feel "less than." Both conditions will ruin our walk with Christ while empowering those who control through manipulation.
When we are secure in Christ, we can make our choices based on good information form seasoned believers, the Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Hallelujah we are free as born again believers, free from all those who do not have our best interest in their hearts.
When we focus on the "feelings" we have because someone praised us or elevates us, it disarms our senses to be unable to see things objectively.
We have a tendency to see only the good about someone who uses flattery to control us. The favored person in a relationship will not be able to see the plight of others who are demeaning and mocking others, because he is so full of the praise that was served him, he refuses to see how the manipulator is treating others.
The praised one will interpret anything he sees the manipulator doing as justification in some way for their contemptuous responses. He/she will believe that the unkind act of the narcissist must have somehow been misunderstood or provoked by the targeted scapegoat.
We need to look at everything in truth, ignoring our feelings, good or bad to be able to think clearly, objectively and concisely.
We must never allow ourselves to be the "golden" favored one or we should never allow ourselves to be the disfavored scapegoat. Either condition is a mess waiting to happen in our relationships.
Prosperity preachers and motivational speakers have the ability to manipulate very effectively, crowds that love to "feel good", can be made to do almost anything the speaker wants. They know that almost anyone can be manipulated into almost anything when they have been disarmed by flattery or positive stimuli.
Animals are like this too! Even though we are suppose to be above animals, often we can be induced to do what others want because they give us something we like, that is praise, adulation and encouragement to do what will make us wealthy, healthy or special in some way.
All we have to do to train an animal is praise them constantly and give them the treat they like. All it takes is consistent praise and reward for the animal to love to follow our commands.
God tells us to "think with the mind of Christ", when we allow others to manipulate our minds, we are no longer thinking with His mind, in fact we are not even thinking with our own minds, but rather we are being controlled by the minds of others. These "other minds" have ulterior motives, that is to gain something from us. They can get us to give more money to their organization or give them the worship they desire.
Beware of those who flatter and beware of those who manipulate to make us feel "less than." Both conditions will ruin our walk with Christ while empowering those who control through manipulation.
When we are secure in Christ, we can make our choices based on good information form seasoned believers, the Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Hallelujah we are free as born again believers, free from all those who do not have our best interest in their hearts.
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