Slides: Pleasant Feelings

By David Feddes

Avoiding emotions

The reason we don’t want to feel is that feeling exposes the tragedy of our world and the darkness of our hearts. To be aware of what we feel can open us to questions we would rather ignore. For many of us, that is why it is easier not to feel. But a failure to feel leaves us barren and distant from God and others. (Dan Allender & Tremper Longman)

Emotional fitness

Fit emotions feel deep realities.

Life is far worse than I dare to admit.
Life is far better than I dare to dream.

I am far worse than I dare to admit.
I am far greater than I dare to dream.

God is far harsher than I dare to fear.
God is far kinder than I dare to hope.

Painful feelings

They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)

They were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. (Acts 19:17-18)

Pleasant feelings

There was great joy in that city... He went on his way rejoicing… The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit… Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God… He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family. (Acts 8:8; 8:39; 13:52; 16:34)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Pleasant feelings

• Hope, joy
• Purity, dignity
• Peace, love

Hope, joy

I will always have hope. (Psalm 71:14)

We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God… And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:2, 5)

Rejoice in the Lord always. (Phil 4:4)

Warped hope, joy

The wicked swallow up the righteous… The wicked foe… rejoices and is glad. (Habakkuk 1:13-15)

The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts. (Revelation 11:10)

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles. (Dan 5:1)

The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. (Proverbs 10:28)

When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing. (Prov 11:7)

Hope, joy

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19)

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)

You believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Purity, dignity

But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor 6:11)

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. (1 Peter 2:9)

Warped purity, dignity

There are those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth. (Proverbs 30:12)

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men.” (Luke 18:11)

Purity, dignity

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness. (2 Timothy 4:8)

Peace, love

… the peace of God, which transcends all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

… to know this love that surpasses knowledge. (Ephesians 3:19)

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:23)

Warped peace, love

“Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)

While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? (Psalm 4:2) You love evil rather than good. (Psalm 52:3)

Jesus’ peace and love

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you… The Father himself loves you because you have loved me… I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace… Father, I have made you known to them… that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. (John 14-17)

God of love and peace

The God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Cor 13:11)

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. (2 Thess 3:16)

Exploring your emotions

Pleasant feelings

• Hope, joy
• Purity, dignity
• Peace, love

Painful feelings

• Fear, sadness
• Guilt, shame
• Anger, hate

Explore pleasant feelings

• What triggers you to feel hope, joy, purity, dignity, peace, and love?
• How do your feelings affect your behavior?
• What are your pleasant feelings saying about reality, others, and God?
• What do your pleasant feelings point to in your heart and God’s heart?
• Do pleasant feelings outweigh painful?

Mixed feelings

…through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (2 Cor 6:8-10)

Emotional fitness

• In tune with reality, others, and God.
• Displayed appropriately.
• Linked with other parts of total fitness.
• Sense true and deep realities.
• Hints of your heart and of God’s heart.
• Limited pain, unlimited pleasure.