Happiness at Any Cost

It is hard to imagine that our own hearts can actually mislead us but as we read the opening paragraph of Chapter Two of "Managing Your Moods" most of us see a reflection of our own hearts as we read:

We want to live happily ever after. And what keeps us happy? When things go our way. When everything runs smoothly in the direction we had hoped it would go, we are able to maintain a pleasant frame of mind. No bumps. No interruptions. No inconveniences."

Does that paragraph speak to your heart as much as it does to mine? I hate to admit it but there are times when I definitely want no one or nothing to "upset MY apple cart". Somewhere along the way I guess my heart led me to believe that the apple cart was mine and it was all about me. And that keeping all my pretty little apples all in the order I have placed them would make me happy. Unfortunately, like we shared in last week's lesson, circumstances, relationships, ill health, inconveniences happen and the apple cart gets upset and my happy little world is shattered.

Perhaps I missed the truth of Jeremiah 17:9 (pg 10 #2).
The heart is more deceitful that all else, and is desperately sick, who can understand it?

That word 'deceitful' also means sly. Hard to imagine I have a sly and deceitful heart that would turn on me and lead me down a slippery slope. The words 'desperately sick' can be translated as incurable. Wow! My heart is so sick it is incurable. Talk about spiritual heart disease.

Yet our society is filled with phrases like "our hearts are essentially good" and "follow your heart." The message from God's Word of Truth is that our hearts are not essentially good and are in need of healing. And we should definitely not follow our hearts unless our hearts are following Jesus and His truth.

Mark 7:21-23 (pg 11 #3) shows the depth of our sick hearts:
And Jesus said, “The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean. All these evil things begin INSIDE people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, evil actions, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride, and foolish living. All these evil things come FROM INSIDE and make people unclean.” NCV

So, as much as we are influenced by the world around us to make poor choices we have to realize that before any cultural influences ever entered our lives we had a bent, an inherent tendency toward sin. Just take a look at a two year old child. I have never seen a parent teach a child the word, "Mine!" as they plucked the toy of their desires out of the hands of another "mine" intended child. Likewise, we can look at the life of Cain and readily see there was no influence of violent video games, movies or Internet and yet the jealousy and anger of his heart led him to murder his younger brother. Yes, we must concur with God's Word, our hearts are indeed deceitful and full of incomprehensible sin, whether we want to believe it or not.

In class Thursday I shared how at times I can be in a group of people and suddenly have a really unkind or evil thought pass my mind. Then the very next thought will be, "Edna, what if someone could read your mind." Yikes. I quickly put that one away and try to think on something more, ummmm "godly", just in case ;0). Yet God's word makes it clear that He is the one who reads my mind and heart. 1 Samuel 16:7, Psalm 44:21, Jeremiah 17:10 and Hebrews 4:12 (pg 12 #5) all express how God sees into the depths and recesses of our hearts. Reckon I should be a bit more concerned about what He's seeing in my heart instead of others lest I be found guilty of the desire for the "approval of man instead of the approval of God."

And yet I am amazed in all my depravity that I have this God who loves me beyond measure; who is willing to come alongside me and heal my incurable heart of the sin which seeks to destroy me. Psalm 34:18 tells us to cry out to Him because "He is NEAR to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit." Our God does not run away from us. He seeks to draw near to His children in their brokenness. Whether that brokenness is from self inflicted wounds of our own foolish choosing or from the wounding which comes at the hand of another's sin, He wants to bring healing.

God's Word can do just that, bring healing to your wounded heart. Jeremiah 8:22 speaks of a healing balm and a physician which could heal the Israelites of their incurable hearts. The same balm and physician which could heal them could heal us. I believe in this passage the Physician is God Himself and the balm is His truth, His word. God wants to add healing balm to our incurable hearts of Jeremiah 17:9. Be it those self inflicted wounds or the wounds of others God is in the business of offering His balm of truth to our broken hearts. (To know how you can have eternal healing for your incurable heart see bottom of page)

In Jeremiah 23:29 God's word is referred to as a fire and a hammer. God desires to use the intense heat of His word to purify our impure thoughts, motives and actions. And as painful as it sounds to know God's word is like a hammer, His purpose is to break the hardness that surrounds our rebellious hearts so He might get to a soft, pliable and teachable heart. The use of His word by a metaphorical fire or hammer initially is painful but results in the blessings of peace, joy, hope and the knowledge that He loves us deeply.

King David is a classic example of one who needed the the hammer of God's truth as Nathan the prophet spoke truth to David's heart regarding his adulterous sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. In Psalm 51 we see David's hard heart broken by the knowledge of his sin against God. What emerged was a heart tender and humble toward God. Most telling of the pain of David's sin is in verse 12 where he says, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation." This indicates that at one time David enjoyed a wonderful intimate relationship with God which became hindered when David determined that Bathsheba was what he needed to be happy. What he thought would bring happiness only brought a temporary euphoria which cost him greatly in the long run. Much like Eve who was convinced that "everything in the garden" was just not enough to make her happy, David paid a heavy price.

And what about us? What do we find our hearts yearning for? What are the affections of this world and our flesh which tell us that God is just not enough? If we ask God those penetrating questions we are assured some answers. Psalm 139:23-24

Let me close with a quote by Martin Lloyd Jones and some practical applications.

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.......You must take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, you have to preach to yourself, question yourself......then you must go on to remind yourself of God. Who God is, and what God is and what God has done and what God has pledged to do.

In three practical steps this profound quote tells us to:

1. Stop listening to yourself. Stop allowing your heart to lie to you, to play those wrong thoughts over and over and over again in your mind.


2. Start talking to yourself. Yes, give yourself a good talking to. Say no to the thoughts which try to convince you that what you need to be happy is something more than or other than God, himself.


3. Remind yourself of God. Go to His word. Be reminded of who He is and what He has done to heal and capture your heart through Jesus Christ. Remind yourself of all He has done to prove His love to you. And remind yourself of all those promises He has made in His word which can never and will never be broken because He is faithful.

Have a wonderful day and be happy, IN HIM.

God's eternal healing of your incurable heart:
Your initial healing begins when God, through His Son Jesus Christ, gives you a new heart and a new life through a born again experience by His Holy Spirit. [John 3].

This takes place as you recognize the truth that your sinful heart is incurable [Jeremiah 17:9] and will result in eternal death [Romans 6:26] apart from God's intervention.

He intervenes as His Holy Spirit makes known to your heart the truth that Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is your only hope for healing and eternal life as you put your trust in Him alone for salvation. As you repent (have a change of heart to turn from your sin to follow Jesus) and trust Him alone and nothing of yourself [Ephesians 2:8-9] He will hear your prayer, for He promises to hear the prayers of a humble and contrite heart. [Psalm 51:17]

For more information on how to have the hope of eternal life go to lovelybranchesministries.org which you can access at top right of this page. Once there click the HOPE link on the right side of page.

Feel free to email me at edna@lovelybranchesministries.org

A Bundle of Emotions

If you are doing the study, "Managing Your Moods" with us then you have just finished Chapter One titled A Bundle of Emotions. If you are not doing the study you are welcome to join in on this blog with or without a book and share your thoughts. If you are interested in a book you can order one using the info at the bottom of this blog.

Key verse:
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. Luke 6:45 [Ladies make it a point to memorize your key verse or/and other verses God lays on your heart as you work through your study each week.]

Yesterday at study we read through the beginning paragraph on pages 1-2 listing many of the "heart" phrases we use in the English language. For instance, being softhearted, cold hearted or even faint hearted; wearing your heart on your sleeve or even having a change of heart; doing things that do a heart good and doing a job heartily, going at it heart and soul, just to name a few.
Amazing how much we use the word "heart" in so many ways so often in our everyday life. It's also interesting that God's Word references "heart" over 750 times in the Bible. For that reason we much sit up and take notice. For when a word is so prevalently used in our culture and in the Bible then it is a word which demands to be understood.

Take a look at the definition of the word "heart" below.

A term used especially of the non material part of a person; it can refer to what might elsewhere be described as the mind, the emotions, the will, the spirit, etc.

The source and center of emotional life, where the deepest and sincerest feelings are located and a person is most vulnerable to pain [Encarta Dictionary]

[If interested in the original Hebrew and Greek definitions they are listed at the bottom
of the page] When we consider all the different emotions, good and bad, which we face on a day by day basis we might picture a rubber band ball (Trinket to Treasure - pg 8) because of the complexity of the moods and emotions that are bound up in our hearts. And those moods can be triggered at a moment's notice by a complex range of different things - circumstances; relationships; the weather; health issues; our thought life; worldly media; sights, sounds and smells; holidays; unconfessed sin, just to name a few.

King David, a man after God's own heart and great biblical hero, was one who dealt with a wide range of emotions himself as he struggled through many changes in his life. In Psalm 25:16-18 (pg 3 #4) David cries out to God,

Turn to me and have mercy on me,
because I am lonely and hurting.
My troubles have grown larger;
free me from my problems.
Look at my suffering and troubles,
and take away all my sins.

Take a look below at some of the difficult things David endured and decide for yourself if he had good reason to be an emotional mess.

Before being anointed as king over Israel David spent a great deal of time running for his life as King Saul sought to have him killed. His best friend Jonathon is killed. After becoming king he commits adultery and murder. He eventually repents but then later on has major problems with his children. His son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar creating such anger in Absalom that he kills Amnon out of revenge for Tamar. Absalom flees and he and his father David war against each other for many years. David ends up with many physical ailments, most assuredly as a result of all the crises in his life.

Two other great man of the Old Testament was Jeremiah and Elijah. Jeremiah spent more than 40 years exhorting God's people to repent and turn back to God, to no avail. He became discouraged, at times wanting to "resign" his appointed post as prophet. Enduring hostile oppressions, beatings and imprisonment Jeremiah also found himself with a bundle of emotions ruling over him at times. The book of Lamentations (to cry aloud) is a very sad picture of Jeremiah's pain after God allowed Babylon to come in and destroy Jerusalem and take the people captive. In chapter one, verse 12 he states, "look and see if there is any pain like my pain." His pain was so intense because his crises were intense. Yet in chapter 3, verse 19-24, Jeremiah, after once again recalling all the pain he'd experienced, remembers where his hope is rooted.

But I have hope
when I think of this:
The Lord’s love never ends;
his mercies never stop.
They are new every morning;
Lord, your loyalty is great.
I say to myself, “The Lord is mine,
so I hope in him.” NCV

Even Elijah after doing mighty things in the power of Almighty God (1 Kings 17-18) found himself running for his life out of fear when Jezebel threatened to have him killed. Finding himself in a weak and discouraged state he said to God in 1 Kings 19, "Now, O Lord take my life." God, instead sends angels to minister to Elijah with food and drink so as to restore his strength and revive his heart.

David, Jeremiah and Elijah, all three were great men of God, chosen to be vessels of God for His kingdom work. Yet we look and see that these men struggled through a great many difficulties. They were at many times plagued by a bundle of emotions just as we are due to, as we listed above: circumstances, relationships, unconfessed sin, etc. We are in good company.

You too, ladies, are chosen vessels of God, chosen women for God's mighty purposes. First and foremost for an intimate relationship with Him if you have indeed given your heart and life to Him through faith in His work at the cross.This relationship can never be taken away from you. Even as everything else in your life is in a state of flux - your circumstances, your relationships or even your health changes God will always be your "constant". He never changes and loves you beyond measure. And your crisis, even though different than those men listed above and different than those around you it is still your personal crisis and He wants you to know you can cry out to Him much like David did so many times in the psalms.

Secondly, God has purposed you for tasks only intended for you in his kingdom. Much like the godly men and women of old you have a calling on your life. And the things you go through are there to draw you close to Him and transform you day by day into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Take a look at many of the New Testament people as well, like Paul and Peter and you will find they too struggled greatly with a bundle of emotions. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before his crucifixion, dealt greatly with emotion you and I could not even comprehend. As it states in Matthew 26, He was "grieved to the point of death." His emotions were way too deep for anyone of us to comprehend when we consider what Jesus knew he was about to face at the cross, the onslaught of sin upon his shoulders and the separation for a time from his Father.

Knowing Jesus' endurance of so much in his short 33 years on this earth in human form we realize from Hebrews 4:14-15 that He understands the depth of our emotions more than we realize:

Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has gone into heaven, let us hold on to the faith we have. For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin. NCV

The very next verse offers even more hope:

Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.

It's encouraging to know that we, like David, Jeremiah, Elijah, Paul and Peter, can approach God's throne of grace. This place where He knows everything about us - our tangled and complex bundle of emotions; our circumstances, our tough relationship, our crazy thoughts, our poor choices and even the sin deep in the recesses of our hearts. And yet He says "Come" so that He might offer us healing balm and apply it ever so lovingly to our wounded and sick hearts. That is where the hope lies, in his loving hand.

Ladies, let me close by encouraging you to take Paul's exhortation seriously in Colossians 3:16a (pg 6, #9) to "let the word of Christ dwell richly within you." Let His very words as written in His Holy Bible live abundantly inside your heart. For this is where the power to get a grip on those emotions which currently have a grip on you can be overcome. Make it your life's mission to search out, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength those truths God has laid out for you.


Hebrew definition of heart:

3820 לֵב, לֵב קָמָי [leb /labe/] n m. A form of 3824; TWOT 1071a; GK 4213 and 4214; 592 occurrences; AV translates as “heart” 508 times, “mind” 12 times, “midst” 11 times, “understanding” 10 times, “hearted” seven times, “wisdom” six times, “comfortably” four times, “well” four times, “considered” twice, “friendly” twice, “kindly” twice, “stouthearted + 47” twice, “care + 7760” twice, and translated miscellaneously 20 times. 1 inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding. 1A inner part, midst. 1A1 midst (of things). 1A2 heart (of man). 1A3 soul, heart (of man). 1A4 mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory. 1A5 inclination, resolution, determination (of will). 1A6 conscience. 1A7 heart (of moral character). 1A8 as seat of appetites. 1A9 as seat of emotions and passions. 1A10 as seat of courage. [Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon]

Greek definition of heart:

2588 καρδία [kardia /kar•dee•ah/] n f. Prolonged from a primary kar (Latin, cor, “heart”); TDNT 3:605; TDNTA 415; GK 2840; 160 occurrences; AV translates as “heart” 159 times, and “broken hearted + 4937” once. 1 the heart. 1A that organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life. 1B denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life. 2A the vigour and sense of physical life. 2B the centre and seat of spiritual life. 2B1 the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours. 2B2 of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence. 2B3 of the will and character. 2B4 of the soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions. 1C of the middle or central or inmost part of anything, even though inanimate. [Strong’s Greek Lexicon]

Managing Your Moods by Women of Faith [Thomas Nelson Publishing]
Can be ordered through Christian Book Distributors

Get A Grip - Orientation Class

Yesterday we held our first class, morning and evening on our new study, "Get A Grip". We will be using "Managing Your Moods" by Women of Faith (first lesson ready to discuss next week the 16th) where we will be learning how to deal with the emotional ups and downs we women face on a day to day basis.

For those of you who missed our orientation or are going to do the study through the Rooted and Grounded Blog you will see below what we learned in our first class. This was simply an introductory session. If you have received your book you will be doing Chapter One this coming week and will find info from next Thursday's study posted sometime the following Friday or Saturday.

Orientation - Thursday, September 9th

Carrie (a.m.) & Melanie (p.m.) started our studies off with a youtube video (see below) called Top 3 Laughing Babies. Warning: this video will cause you to laugh uncontrollably, a bit like the babies starring in it.

Carrie and Mel made the point that laughter is contagious and much like other emotions they effect those around us whether positive of negative.

The gals then introduced us to a game similar to Taboo where the women tried to guess different emotional terms demonstrated by their teammates like "wearing your heart on your sleeve" and "head over heels in love". It was a fun time had by all.

Then we began our introductory session (not from your book). So you too joining us via this blog can participate as you follow below:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/emotion (handout on definition of emotions)

Consider the emotions you have had in the past 24 hours. You will likely have to consider your circumstances to remember most of those emotions - who you received phone calls from, people you ran into while running errands, working on projects, etc. See if you can pinpoint those emotions and recognize how much they varied in a 24 hour span.

As we go through this study in the coming weeks you will begin to recognize your emotions more readily and what caused them in the first place, circumstances, thoughts, people, etc.

Section One - "Gripped by Emotion"

Consider the title of our study "Get A Grip". What other phrases can you come up with that are similar i.e. "settle down", "get control of yourself", chill out". Write down some you come up with yourself. You may even want to share them through the comment page below.

How does it make you feel when someone tells you to Get a Grip or any of the similar terms above when you are experiencing a negative emotion? If you are like most of us you would say it only fuels the flame. Perhaps that's because we know as women that just to "get a grip" on an emotion that has us "in its grip" is easier said then done.

Look up the scriptures below. Note the word "grip or gripped" in the passage (Depending on the version you use, the phrase "take hold of" may be used instead.) You will see that emotions that grip us today were just as prevalent many years ago.

Exodus 15:14-15
Jeremiah 49:23-24
Jeremiah 50:43
Mark 16:8
Luke 1:12
Luke 8:37

You could probably relate to some of those emotions mentioned in the above passages - panic, anguish, fear, etc. Even though the era and circumstances were different, most of would be able
to say at one time or another we have experienced like emotions.


Section two - God Has Emotions Too

Have you ever thought of God as having emotions? The reason humankind experiences emotions is due to the fact that we were created in God's image (Genesis 1:26) for our God is an emotional God. However, we must realize that God's emotions are pure and holy where as our emotions, even though perfect at the start, have been corrupted through original sin and are effected by various circumstances, people and thoughts. Our emotions will always be subject to our sin nature. However, this is not true of God's emotions.

In his book, "Faith and Feelings" Brian Borgman states:
We must keep in mind that God's emotional capacities are both invulnerable and perfect. His emotions are not dependent on anything outside of Himself. Although He responds to and is moved by human events, He is never emotionally vulnerable, never surprised by an event or overcome with emotion. His feelings are not subject to sinfulness, since He is holy. His emotions are perfectly righteous in their essence and exhibition.... "God's emotions are always in line with His holiness and moral character. God's emotions are always correct, righteous and moral because He is always correct, righteous and moral."

Knowing God's emotions are pure and holy look up the scriptures below, taking note of the different emotions He exhibits.

Isaiah 42:1 delight
Isaiah 62:5 rejoicing
Genesis 6:5-6 grief
Proverbs 6:16-19 hate
Psalm 103:13 compassion
Jeremiah 31:3 love

Jesus in His humanity experienced many emotions. We recognize his weeping at the grief of Mary and Martha at the death of their brother Lazarus. You will read over and over again in the gospels how Jesus had compassion on those around Him. And let us not leave out the Holy Spirit as we are told in Ephesians 4:30 not to grieve Him by sinning against Him.

Final Thoughts

Recognizing we have emotions given to us by a God of emotions should bring us to the point of understanding that He is the only one who can give us long lasting help from those emotions which sometimes wreak havoc on our lives. As we go through this twelve week study we want to turn the tables on our negative emotions, no longer allowing them to grip us as we learn to reach out and grip the only answer to help us overcome - God's Holy Word. As we read through the different chapters in "Managing Your Moods" it will direct us each and every time how to turn to God's Word instead of man's solution for dealing with our emotions. So grab your pen, book and Bible and let's begin a journey together in getting a grip on what God says about managing our moods and emotions.