I can not explain why some of us feel so compelled to criticize and complain, feed our minds on fear producing things, worry and fret over things that may never happen, etc. It seems logical to me that feeding on fear produces a negative mind and fear begins to limit me in every aspect of life. Fear backs me into a corner and shuts me down physically and spiritually . I do not enjoy the fruits of fear. Fear brings torment and strife, and I am beginning to see that resentment, low burning anger, frustration and all other negative emotions fill my body with poison and create an atmosphere that effect others negatively.
The Lord rebukes fear and resentment in His followers. He forbids it to take root in my life. This meditation is centered around Psalms 37. Read it for yourself. I will share here some of what I wrote in my journal.
Three times David tells me, "Do not fret." What am I fretting over right now?
"Do not complain, criticize, condemn." Jesus did not model these activities.
"Do not try to change or manipulate others." How often do I stoop to the Devil's ways of control. The world is filled with fear today, every where we go and much of what we listen to by radio and television creates fear. Much of our parenting is fear based.
1."Trust in the Lord and do good." Do whatever He says in each situation that creates negative emotions for you. REST in Father's arms. He is sovereign over all that touches your life. RESIST the voice in you that insists you are obligated to fret. WORSHIP by turning your attention to the One who is love, peace and light. His love casts out fear.
2."Delight in the Lord" by turning your attention to the One who is pure love and get your love-bucket refilled. He will give you the desires of your heart, which is to feel His love flowing through you, His joy and pleasure beamed toward you, His goals and plans perfected in you. This moves you away from fear in all it's many forms. Now I can feel secure, no fear, stress is relieved, provision is provided.
3."Commit your way to the Lord." I surrender all my personal ambition, plans, independent will and ways. When I fell in love with Jesus, all I wanted to do was be with Him, but living in this world creates a conflict between His kingdom and this system of living. Over and over, I must choose whose kingdom will manifest in this present situation.
4."Be still before the Lord." Remember that He is God and He is good. I must hear Him respond to this issue before me. On my own strength, I can not stop the fear, I can not stop the hurt. The negative thoughts intensify negative emotions, driving my focus inward and I get stuck there. Mentally sit before the Lord in deep meditation and let Him renew your mind, re-tune you heart strings, and refresh your body.
5."Wait patiently for Him". Oh, Father, You are so faithful to show up in my emergencies. You are always with me, but I need to connect with You and draw Your mind and Your emotions into myself. My heart is quietly resting in Your presence. When I am conscious of Your being with me, even in me, my whole being comes under Your control.
6."Refrain from anger" is just another way for David to say that we are forbidden to fret. I have added it as another command because You have reminded me, "do not take up an offence for someone else or carry their anger, because you will forfeit the anointing to love and bring healing to others. WOW what a thought!
DO NOT FRET. BE CONTENT. LET GOD'S JOY, PEACEFULNESS AND LOVING PRESENCE FLOW.
Liz what I see in this is a way to abide in truth and in living relationship, connected in the moment to God who is able to transform our heart and situation as we allow Him by faith. You are right we cannot do it ourselves. We have to get out of our head!! It is b/c we are being logical that we have difficulty. We have to get out of being logical to a place of faith. All the ways that Jesus interacted with the religious offended their logic.
ReplyDeleteWhen we call on the Lord, wait patiently for Him, trusting, committing our way to Him we rest in who He is and wait for His deliverance.
Some of your words seem to indicate to me that you are being hard on yourself, and have to much of self in the way...of which is often my biggest struggle...but when you frame these truths in words like forbid and command I hear an anger toward yourself. (Rick Joyner said "when you have a problem it is b/c you are in it somewhere, get out of the way") It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. It is His love that allows all of those negative emotions and fears to be released and washed away. I would encourage you to not fight them but to acknowledge them, release them, and get them out. We have to first BE where we really are before we can be moved to where we want to BE. Often when I see something in me that I do not like I immediately go to where I want to be and start focusing on that. The problem is that in doing so I do not give myself time to BE and acknowledge where I really am and quickly focus on where I want to be instead. I cannot get there in this way. King David allowed himself to BE where He was in all of his emotion and struggle and from that place called on the Lord and waited on Him. Our culture does not model that. It is not safe or "respectable". In this way we stay in control, we deny our reality, and we stay in pride. We want to look good and be good and do the right thing thinking this will get us to where we need to be. Instead we have to find the faith and courage to acknowledge and BE where we really are so that we can be transformed by His love and power. This is HARD and scary and takes a tremendous amount of faith and trust. It even scares me to write this. But this is where healing and freedom rise. I am also finding that many of these things I have to ponder...not think about...b/c it is in the thinking and talking that I stay away from the heart. Ponder, process and express emotionally as the Spirit of God ministers and roots the lies out.
I love you.
Tina
April 23, 2010 7:02 AM