This excerpt is from 30 Days of Taming your Emotions, it caught my eye as my cousin F~ was saying that she did not like “emotional” outbursts and their inherent manipulativeness. That comment really caught me by surprise, for when we were young that was her calling card… in spades and it was really hard to deal with her because of it. The tantrums she had. The hysterics, it really was like watching a soap opera right there in your house. I hate to say this, but I loved watching the melodrama.
Now that she is older, F said she had disowned that part of her life. It had come up because I do not speak in a monotone but sometimes tend to be excited, down, happy or pessimistic depending upon the topic. F does not like that… at all.
So of course after that conversation this book, Taming your Emotions by Deborah Smith Pegues, copyrighted 2011, really got me. I was surprised thought that it is a Christian Workbook as my cousin is an odd Christian. While F believes in Christ, and heartily thinks it is a big mistake that the American political system is disowning it OTOH disagrees with much of Christian orthodoxy, particularly abortion and homosexuality; she is very openly pro both. . We rarely discuss that; there is little point.
So this excerpt is day 1. Of course I will not be copying the whole day nor every day, that is why you get the book, but I do think that this is a good introduction to it….So read on and perhaps you will agree.
Day 1 God’s Promise
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies
of the living God? 1 SAMUEL 17:26
God desires that His children not be anxious for anything. He wants us instead to rest on His Word. Fourteen generations before the battle with Goliath, God gave Abraham His word about how He would take care of him. He promised, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3).
Goliath had taunted the Israelites for 40 days before David came on the scene. Had any of the soldiers, including King Saul, their leader, believed the covenant, they could have taken care of Goliath themselves because when you believe God’s promises, you do not have to tolerate
any giant in your life but they did not and so needed David, a young man, to show them the way.
We are heirs to the same covenant that God gave to Abraham. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). How long have you tolerated the giant of insecurity?
Do you believe that “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8, emphasis added)? Or have you chosen to let insecurity reign in your life and keep you from pursuing your goals or from having meaningful, trusting relationships? Left unchecked, insecurity will become a stronghold that will influence everything you do.
Too many of God’s children think the Bible is not really for today, that many of its promises are now antiquated. They are sadly mistaken. David rested on a promise of protection that was 14 generations old by the time he as a young man fought Goliath and that promise is still good today. The Word of God endures forever; there are no expiration dates on His promises.
We must be diligent to hide them in our heart. For every project I embark on, I print out and memorize or refer often to passages from the Bible that remind me that apart from God I can do nothing and that He is faithful to complete whatever work He starts in me. For me, such Scriptures take the focus, the weight, and the responsibility from me and put them on Him.
It is not enough, however, to simply memorize Scripture. There is a difference between learning the Word and resting on it. Rest implies that we have ceased our negative thoughts and speculations. Our minds have stopped the doubting, stopped rehearsing what-if scenarios, and stopped being influenced by present realities. Nothing is too hard for God. He said so Himself. “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
We can rest on God’s Word. “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said” (Hebrews 4:3).
Exercise: Try writing out and memorizing the following personalized paraphrased version of 2 Corinthians 9:8,
God blesses me abundantly, so that I, in all things at all times, have all that I need, to abound in my work.
Make a conscious decision to rest on these words in the coming weeks. Share them with a friend; create some art that highlight that quote. Work it into your by-line or signature. Share the wealth.
In my anguish... 