When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5 ). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!
There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.
May 20th from "My utmost for his highest"
3 comments:
If I remember correctly, this is not the first time I've disagreed with Mr. Chambers on the subject of emotion. While I'll agree that my feelings are a lousy guide to God, they can be a very useful tool to understanding myself. This I particularly disagree with: "Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self." I believe my emotions are very often rooted in myself and are the result of my environment interacting with my beliefs. When doing introspection, when trying to get to the bottom of the 'deep waters' of my purposes (Prov 20:5), when working with God to try and untangle my deceitful heart (Jer 17:9-10; Ps 139:23-24; Ps 4:4; Prov 14:8), emotions can be an excellent diagnostic tool for discovering beliefs, which then allows me to sort out the sinful ones. I've met too many evangelicals who appear to be living in denial of their feelings to their own detriment, and it's teachings like this one here from Chambers that I think lead these people into legalistic teeth gritted efforts to shake themselves free from what plagues them, rather than owning up to their issues and working them through with the Lord and others in the body.
I appreciate your thoughtful response. Thanks for posting! I do agree with you in that aspect. My problem (and I think many christians) sways towards the opposite as Chambers and relies too much on their emotions as a spiritual guide. This can and does lead to a path of destruction.
I, like you, most of the time takes Chambers' with a grain of salt, or not too literally as I think I look at the bible. I try to look at the heart of what he's saying and it's pretty legit, if you interpret his writings as literal and that's how you SHOULD live your life I'd beg to say that you'd be living a pretty hard life. He's a hard teacher, and sometimes a bit too difficult and impractical.
God made us and we do have emotions and they are like you said a good way to see deep inside of our deceitful hearts. It's just nice to hear that my emotions are unstable and don't control my life, that part is left to Jesus.
Thanks for the comment, I hope things are well in Texas!
Coolness. I have certainly seen times in my life where physical ailments contribute to exaggerated emotional experiences, so there are times when the tool itself gets thrown off course.
Texas is hot right now and going to be hotter ... i forgot where you were going this summer ... ?
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