The text for this lesson comes from Colossians 3:1-13 in 'The Message'.
‘Filling’ emphasizes applying the resources of the Spirit of God to our individual emotional weaknesses. We are supposed to call upon the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ in Galatians and USE them instead of relying on emotions to respond to life! The Bible encourages us as believers to ‘stay in step with the Spirit’(Galatians 5:22-25).
Easier said than done huh? Decisions and the world are being thrown at us at every turn. We are in emotional overload on most days!
What do we do when we can’t gather the ‘WANT TO’ or we ‘DON’T KNOW HOW’ to make that work? We make concrete choices based on the Word of God.
What is the first sentence of Colossians 3:1? “So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.”
The Bible says in the NIV of this verse that we ‘SET’ our hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
What happens when we ‘set our hearts’ on something? Did you ‘set your heart’ on getting married? Did you ‘set your heart’ on getting that degree and pursuing a career? Did you ‘set your heart’ on buying that house? Getting that job? Doing that thing?
When we are focused and ‘set our hearts’ on believing God and following after Him…GREAT things begin to happen! Our emotional overload suddenly disappears and we find ourselves dealing with life on a different level. Our desires transform, our heart seeks something deeper, our minds begin to wonder about the things of God instead of this world!
God takes that emotional weakness that might still be hanging around because of the stimulus we have been subjected to and He FILLS US UP WITH HIMSELF – when we begin to ‘set our hearts’ on Him!
He takes care of the problem! – We have to LET Him!
The focus in the book of Colossians is that ‘God is our life’ and Paul discusses the transformation that should be taking place inside of the believer.
By Satan’s plan – we have gotten off that track through time and have come to believe that we ARE controlled by emotions instead of letting God control us AND our emotions - being filtered through the Spirit.
It is time to get back on track and BELIEVE that God is in control of our life! It is time to get rid of that emotional overload that we often experience and instead - begin to experience PEACE in the Spirit that lives within us! (Philippians 4:8)
When emotions begin to take the front seat in our thinking and actions we create bigger problems and pitfalls to get out of!
We understand that emotions of fear, anger, worry, bitterness are spiritual attacks from Satan and God DESIRES to work in us to overcome this!
Our formula for casting out fear and other emotions that burden us is:
God’s Power + Your Self Discipline = A POWERFUL Force
God wants us to ‘Stand Firm’ against all strategies of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-13 NLT) Standing firm means that we are setting our heart on God and believing Him in our mind so that when emotions come in that are trying to turn us toward the world – we have the ‘Self Discipline’ to defeat them!
I LOVE that the Bible works all things together in us and transforms us! It is a beautiful thing to watch unfold in the life of a believer! I hope that you are able to watch it unfold in someone’s life AND your own!
We have learned that we MUST MEDITATE on God and His Word in order to cause this transformation in our mind. It takes work and effort and it DOES PAY OFF! Our minds become strong in God and our hearts are strengthened to wait upon God in all decisions! We seek His counsel first as opposed to Oprah or Dr. Phil.
How are you meditating today? How much of your time is focused on God? In order for Him to be our center – we must focus and meditate on Him!
We are learning to ‘authenticate’ the Spirit that lives within us! We see God at work in us and it proves that He is who He says He is! The more that we do this exercise the more we will see the Truth at work in us and around us and the evidence will be visible for us to be even more encouraged in the Lord!
Will we have weakness? Yes – but when we are seeking God – He will fill that weakness with Himself to overflowing. (John 10:10) His abundance of love is there for the believer and that is supposed to be where we live out our lives – not wading around in emotional darts from Satan. God wants so much more for us!
So – how do we get ‘filled up on God’ and overcome emotions that control us?
© Pursue God and ACT LIKE WE ARE BELIEVERS inside and outside
© Get rid of all old habits and emotions that are death; those things are shaped by emotions and possessions
© Recognize that you ‘know better now’ and begin to live that way
© Learn God’s Word and speak that Truth into your own heart and the lives of others. Surround yourselves with folks who can help you on your walk and encourage you to be strong!
© Dress yourself inside and out with the clothing of the Lord; compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength and discipline
© Forgive as quickly as you have been forgiven in Christ – to not do so will cause emotions to take over
© Everything you do – do it in love! Look at what God did in love for us – He gave us His Son so that we might have LIFE!
God desires for us to live VICTORIOUS lives in Him! A life lived out like this gives God glory and also is a light for other folks that points to JESUS.
Don’t let emotions rule in your life but depend on God to rule instead. Remember that choices are made every day and unless you are looking to JESUS – there will be fallout from choices not based on Him.
Make those changes today and live a life in FREEDOM that Christ came to give you! (Galatians 5:1)
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