Handling Emotions - Day One

Discerning Your Emotions - pgs 193-197

Realize
1. Read Deuteronomy 4:24; Psalm 30:5; 36:5; and Matthew 26:38. What are some of the emotions God experiences? Why is it important to understand that god expresses emotions?

2. Because we are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27), what does that mean about our emotions?

Reflect
3. Read Psalm16:5-11. What words or phrases in this passage speak of positive emotional expressions? What causes such emotions to flow out of the psalmist's heart?

4. In what ways are our emotions tainted by the Fall? Describe how you have experienced that tainting of emotions in your life.

5. What are some of the things that can cause our feelings to fluctuate?

6. Why is it dangerous for us to live and act completely on the basis of our feelings?

7. Read Psalm 56:3-4. What is the role of faith in dealing with our emotions?

Respond
8. What is one feeling you have experienced recently that is not consistent with the Truth and needs to be rejected?

Prayer of the Day
Lord, I understand that my emotions are part of how You created me, yet many times they are unreliable because they are influenced by changing circumstances. Help me to reject any feelings that are not based on Truth and to trust Your Word rather than my feelings. Amen.