1“dictionary of old testament theology and exegesis” pages 231-233). the man in psalms 1:2 has...

www.sanctifiedemotions.com 1


Table of Contents

Introduction page 3

Chapter 1: Loving God with All Your Heart page 5

Chapter 2: The Spirit, Your Emotions, and the Lusts of the Flesh page 11

Chapter 3: Exercising Your Emotional Choice Part 1 page 27



Chapter 6: The Structure of Emotions page 57

Chapter 7: The Positive Use of “Negative” Emotions page 78

Chapter 8: How to Train Your Emotions page 86

Chapter 9: Knowing the Truth: The Lost Art of Biblical Meditation page 94

Chapter 10: Final Word page 105


Introduction

Welcome to Sanctified Emotions: the e-book! You are about to embark on afascinating study of how your mind and emotions work and how you can getthem to work for you in the service of God!

In the pages to come you will learn:

The difference between the lusts of the flesh and emotions. The important role given to emotions in the bible How to make your emotions your allies rather than your enemies How to use your emotions to renew your mind for change and

transformation The relationship between walking in the Spirit and your emotions How to use “negative” emotions in positive ways How to effectively meditate upon the word for long-lasting changes The structure of emotions and how you can use that structure to change

and transform your emotional experiences. How to get unstuck from limiting and disempowering emotional states

and move to more liberating and empowering ones

What is required of you.In order to benefit from this book there is something you must do:PRACTICE! This book will provide you with a working knowledge andunderstanding of the skills and tools available to you to master your emotionsand gain more emotional choice, but emotional mastery is a skill and like anyskill requires practice in order to be any good at it.

So to benefit the most from this book you will need to practice the skills you willbe learning about. Take time to do the exercises that appear in the book. Theyare designed to help you gain the experience of emotional choice and mastery.The more you practice the skills the better you will get.So don’t just read. Do! There is a huge difference between reading about a steakdinner on a menu and actually ordering and enjoying the meal.

So read - and enjoy!

Mike Davis, Th.D.May 2007


Copyright © 2007 Michael L. Davis

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise without the written permission of the author.

Disclaimer: This material is provided for biblical and spiritual insight, instruction,and education only. It is not intended in any way to be a replacement of orsubstitute for professional counseling. If you feel that you need psychologicalcounseling from a trained professional please seek it out. God’s desire and will isyour emotional wholeness and well-being.


Chapter 1Loving God with All Your Heart

orSanctified Emotions? What’s That?!

The Greatest Commandment of all and your Emotions

In Matthew 22: 36 we read of Jesus being asked by a Jewish expert of the Law inHis day “Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?” to whichJesus answered,

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy souland with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (vss. 37and 38).

Jesus here taught that the greatest of all the commandments is to love the Lord.What did it mean to “love God” biblically and within the Jewish culture inwhich Jesus lived and taught? In other words when Jesus or any Jewish teacherof His day taught others to love God what did they understand this to mean?

Biblically to love God meant to obey God, to live by His Word.

“See I have set before the this day life and good, and death and evil; inthat I command thee to love the Lord thy God, to keep His ways, and tokeep his statutes and his judgments...” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16)

Echoing this biblical concept of love as obedience to God’s word Jesus taught,

“He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that lovethMe…If a man love me he will keep My commandments… and the word whichye hear is not Mine but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21, 23, 24b)


In the First Century Jewish World in which Jesus lived and taught it wasunderstood that to love God meant to obey God’s Word, to conform and liveone’s life by it.

And how are we told to love and obey God? With “all our heart, souls andmind”.

What does this mean to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind?

This was a Jewish and Middle Eastern way of saying “you are to love and obeyGod with all your being. With all that you are”

Jesus was saying that we are to love and obey God with all the powers andfaculties of our being: with our intellect, will, body, understanding-and emotions.

Our emotions? Yes our emotions!

All of our being is to be submitted to God and used to obey Him.

And this includes the emotions.

Understanding the “Heart” of it all

Jesus, in order to emphasize that we as God’s people are to love Him and obeyHim with all that we are used several different words “heart, soul, mind,” againthis was a typical Middle Eastern way of emphasizing a point.

And what was that point? Simply this: all that we are is to be devoted to God inobedience to Him. Now Jesus could have simply said “Love God with all yourheart” and this would have conveyed the same idea (though not with the sameemphasis). This is because in the Bible the heart represents and is the seat of allthat we think, decide, understand, imagine, feel say and do.

The heart is both the seat and source of all our activity: both inward andoutward.

“The heart is not only the source of activity in human life but is also thatwhich determines the direction and course of that life.” (M. ScottFlectcher “The Psychology of the New Testament” p. 76)


The functions of the heart consist of the intellect or reason (Deuteronomy 29: 2-4, Proverbs 15:14), volition or will (Exodus 35:5, Deuteronomy 8:2), andemotion of all kinds (Proverbs 15:2, Deuteronomy 28:65; John 14:1, 27 Psalms21:2)

As theologian James Dunn writes the hearts denotes,

“….the innermost part of the person, the seat of emotions, but alsothought and will” (The Theology of Paul the Apostle p. 74-75 Eerdmans1998)

Thus the call to love God with all our heart is a call to obey and obey Him withour intellect/thoughts, will and EMOTIONS!Just as our thinking, will, and bodies are to be submitted and obedient to Him soour emotions are to be submitted and obedient unto Him also. Our emotions areto serve God!

In Romans 6:13 we are told,

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness untosin but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead andyour members as instruments of righteousness unto God”

The word translated as “member” (mele in Greek) refers to all of our humanfaculties: thinking, perceiving, willing and feeling. As author and scholar N.T.Wright states in commenting on Romans 6:13,

“Our limbs, and organs, and for that matter, mind, memory, imagination,emotions and will are to be put at the disposal not of sin, but of God.”(Tom Wright “Paul for Everyone” page 109)

Just as you and I once yielded our faculties to sin and served sin with them sonow we are set free in Christ to yield our faculties to God and use them to obeyHim. And this includes our feelings and emotions.

All of our being is now meant for service and obedience to God!

And this points us to the meaning of “sanctified emotions”


Sanctified Emotions Defined

In I Thessalonians 5: 23 we read,

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God yourwhole Spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ”

In the Scripture above Paul prays that our whole being would be sanctified. Theword sanctified refers to that which has been “set apart and dedicated to God forHis exclusive use”. Or as Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon states, to sanctifymeans

“to separate from things profane and dedicate to God” (page 6 #37)

Our entire being is to be dedicated unto the Lord for His exclusive use, and aswe have seen above this includes the emotions.

Sanctified Emotions the means that our emotions and desires have beenset apart and dedicated unto God for His exclusive use.

Sanctified Emotions means that our emotions now serve God and God alone.

Loving God with all your heart, and Sanctified Emotions all mean the samething: directing your emotions (and other faculties) unto God in order to obeyHim and fulfill His will.

Does the Bible actually teach that you are to serve and obey God with youremotions as well as with your intellect, will, and actions?

It sure does.

The Place and Importance of Emotions in Obeying God

Over and over again we are taught in the Scriptures that we are to serve GodWITH our emotions.

In Psalms 100:2 we are exhorted to “Serve the Lord with gladness (or joy)”;obedience to God is to be accompanied with joy!


In Deuteronomy 28:47 Israel is told that one of the reasons they will come intojudgment is because they did not serve or obey the Lord with “…. joyfulnessand gladness of heart…” for all His blessings upon them.

In Psalms 1:2 the psalmist writes of the man whose “…delight is in the law ofthe lord and in His Law he meditates day and night”

The word translated as delight is a very strong emotive term in Hebrew . Itmeans to “turn one’s heart towards something with strong passionate desire” (Chaphets:“Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis” pages 231-233). The manin Psalms 1:2 has such a strong desire and passion for the word of God that hispassion leads and motivates him to pursue it and meditate upon it day and night.

In Amos 5:15 we are told to “Love the good and hate the evil”. The wordlove here refers to a strong emotional attachment to and desire for something tobe in your presence or for you to be in its presence (Vines Expository Dictionaryof Bible Words). It denotes an inner feeling or desire to be attached or devotedto something or someone and the external actions taken to demonstrate thatdesire. Hate refers to an inner feeling of detachment. It can also denote to be sorepulsed by something that you take action to remove it from your presence.(Social Science Commentary on the Letters of Paul by Bruce J. Malina and JohnJ. Pilch page 375, 376)

To love and hate involves not only will and action but also feeling and emotion.We are to strongly desire what is good and of God and pursue it, and berepulsed by and reject what is sinful and ungodly.

In I Peter 2:2 we are commanded “Like new born babe desire the sinceremilk of the word that you may grow thereby” The word “desire” in thepassage here means “to long for, to intensely crave possession of;desire drectedtoward an object”. Just as new born babies have a strong passionate desire forthe milk of their mothers we are to have strong passionate desire for the thingsof God as revealed in the word of God. (Strong’s Greek Concordance andThayer’s Greek English Lexicon #1971; The New Linguistic and Exegetical KeyTo the Greek New Testament page 570)

In Philippians 2:13 Paul tells us that God “….worketh in us both to will andto do of His God pleasure” The word translated as worketh in our English text


speaks of a decision and determination that arises from desire. It speaks of takingdelight or pleasure in something (Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon # 2309). Whatthis tells us is that God Himself is at work in our desires and emotions incliningand directing them toward His will. God is working in us to desire and takepleasure in His will.

Over and over throughout Scripture we are taught that emotions are a vital partof our obedience to God; they are to assist and support us in fulfilling His will.

As I often like to say “emotions are meant to be our allies not our enemiesin the service of God” But too often the emotions have been left out of theequation when it comes to obeying God. We talk about the need of yielding ourreason, will and behavior to God in order to obey His will – but we leave theemotions out. And, I believe, we have done this to our spiritual detriment.

As author Peter Scazzero in His book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality” writes

“…a failure to appreciate the biblical place of feelings within our largerChristian lives has done extensive danger, keeping free people in Christ inslavery” (page 70)

Why have we kept the emotions out? I believe it is because we havemisunderstood the relationship between the Spirit, our emotions and the lusts ofthe flesh. A relationship we will explore in the next chapter.


Chapter 2The Spirit, Your Emotions, and

The Lusts of the Flesh.

In Galatians 5: 16 we are given in a very simple and succinct manner the key toliving a victorious Christian life, to overcoming the flesh and living obedientlyunto God

“This I say then walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of theflesh”

There it is in a nut shell. This is the key to overcoming thoughts, feelings,emotions and desires that trip you up and hold you back from obeying God.Walk in the Spirit; and if we do this we are told that we will not walk in the flesh.

I love the way this is written in Greek. In the Greek text it is emphatic “Walk inthe Spirit and you absolutely will not fulfil the lust of the flesh!!” Wow! What astatement and promise.

To overcome the flesh and obey God all you have to do is walk in the Spirit!

But what exactly does this mean? How do we walk in the Spirit? And what place(if any) do your emotions play in walking in the Spirit?

Walking In the Spirit: What does that mean?

I am from a charismatic background. At the time of this writing I attend acharismatic church where I serve as an assistant pastor. Practically all of myChristian life I have heard about the need for the believer to walk in the Spirit.

What does this mean? Well growing in up in charismatic Christian communitythis generally meant following the leadership of the Spirit. Listening for andobeying that still small voice or the inner witness and promptings of the Spirit(see I Kings 19:12, 13; Romans 8: 14, 16).And what this meant was that we are to allow the Spirit to lead and guide us as towhere we are to go, what we are to be involved in, what job to take, whom to


marry what school to go, etc. In other words walking and being led of the Spiritis usually defined and understood as allowing the Spirit to determine your life’sdirection. Behind this is the belief that God has a plan for your daily life and theSpirit is given to reveal and guide you in that daily plan.

Yet as we look more closely at the Scriptures that are generally used to speak ofthe Spirit’s leading we see that they speak of His leading in a different fashionthan the one above.

“For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit domortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by theSpirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:13, 14)

“This I say then walk in the Spirit and you shall not walk in the lusts ofthe flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against theflesh and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do thethings that ye would. But if you be led of the Spirit you are not under thelaw” (Galatians 5;16-18)

In the passages above the leading of the Spirit or walking in the Spirit is spokenof in the context of moral and ethical behavior. In other words the focus ofthese passages has to do with the Spirit leading and guiding us in regards toobeying God and fulfilling His will. They do not have to do with the Spirit givingyou direction concerning your life or decisions you need to make in your life(should I take this job, should I marry this person, should I move or nor move,etc?.)

This is not to suggest that the Spirit does not and cannot lead us and give uswisdom and discernment in these matters (others Scriptures speak to this James1:5-8; Proverbs 2:1-5; 4:7,8; Proverbs chapter 8 I Kings 3: 5-12). My point is thatthe Scriptures cited above have more to do with the Spirit leading us and guidingus in matters of moral obedience rather than life- direction.

In The Scriptures the Spirit is seen as the power of God. In the first century,especially among the Jewish people they were awaiting the giving of the Spirit byGod as a fulfillment of prophecy. One such prophecy is recorded in Ezekiel36:26-27.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a


heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk inmy statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them.”

In the passage above God promises Israel that in the time to come He wouldgive them His Spirit and His Spirit within them would cause them to obey andfulfill His will.

In Jesus day this passage was understood by the Jewish people and in Jewishtradition as meaning that when the Messiah comes God would break the powerof sin over their lives (signified by the ‘stony heart’ being removed) and wouldgive them the Spirit that would enable and empower them to live lives ofobedience unto Him according to His will.

The Spirit then was connected and equated with obedience to God and His will.This is what the Spirit would “cause” or lead them to do. He would lead andempower them to fulfill and obey the will of God.

This is the understanding that Paul also had of the Spirit (though not the onlyunderstanding. For an excellent study on the Spirit in the New Testament see“God’s Empowering Presence” by Gordon Fee). To walk in the Spirit, to be ledof the Spirit is to be empowered by the Spirit in order to fulfill obedience toGod. When one is led by the Spirit or is walking in the Spirit then that personovercomes sin and fulfills the will of God as revealed in His word.

While the Spirit can lead and guide us where our life-direction is concerned firstand foremost He leads and guides us in our moral and ethical life. He leads andempowers us to obey God.

This is how Paul would have understood “walking in the Spirit”.

The Lusts of the Flesh

In Galatians 5:16-17 we are told that the Spirit enables us to overcome the lustsof the flesh. We are told that “….the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and theSpirit against the flesh” In the Scriptures of the New Testament the lusts ofthe flesh is seen as one of the main problems and enemies of the Christian andof humanity in general.“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshlylusts that war against the soul.” (I Peter 2: 11)


“Put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corruptaccording to deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22)

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in thelusts thereof” (Romans 6:12).

“Everyman is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.Then when lust hath conceived it brings forth sin…” (James 1:14-15a)

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, evenof your lusts that war in your members?”

In the first century, in both Jewish and Greco-Roman understanding the sourceand fountain head of sin was understood to be what Paul calls “the lusts of theflesh”. What are the lusts of the flesh?

The term “lusts” in Greek (epithumia) simply means “strong desire”. The termitself is morally neutral. It can speak of good desire or bad desires. It is thecontext that the word is used in that determines if the desire in question is goodor bad, negative or positive.

When the Bible speaks of the “lusts of the flesh” it is speaking of the strongdesires of the flesh. It is using “desire” in this context in a negative way.

“Flesh” in the New Testament is often used in a negative sense (though notalways). It refers to our humanity, our humanness apart from God. Flesh speaksof that which is weak, frail, without strength.

The lusts of the flesh then are those strong feelings emotions and desires thatprevent us from obeying God and doing His will. They make us weak or unableto do what we know is right to do. In the words of Romans 7:18

“For I know that in me, ( that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing: for towill is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not”

Paradoxically the strong desires of the flesh weaken us or make us unable todo the will of God.And why does the flesh do this? Because of sin within us. In Romans 7:5, 8 Paultells us that it is sin that works in us all manner of evil desire.


And what is this sin? It is that inclination, that bent, within all human beings todo that which is contrary to the will of God (in Jewish tradition this is known asthe yetzer ha-ra or the Evil Inclination).

It is sin within us that stirs up our desires and emotions and directs them in amanner that is contrary to the ethical and moral will of God.

Now did you notice what I wrote in that last sentence?

Let me repeat it again: sin within us stirs up our desires and emotions anddirects them in a manner that is contrary to the moral and ethical will ofGod.

Now why am I emphasizing the above sentence? Because of an important pointthat the sentence contains: And the point is this:

Your feelings, emotions and desires are not in and of themselves evil norare they the problem. The problem is feelings, emotions, and desires thatare out of control and contrary to the will of God.

Let me explain a little more.

Your Emotions and The Lusts of the Flesh: Understanding theDifference

Whenever I teach or train on the subject of emotions one of the statements Ioften make is this:

“All lusts of the flesh are feelings, emotions, and desires; but not allfeelings emotions and desires are lusts of the flesh”

This is an important and crucial distinction. One of the reasons emotions havegotten such a bad “rap” or reputation in the Body of Christ is because we havenot made clear in our teachings and sermons the difference between the lusts ofthe flesh and our emotions in general.

Often we hear statements like:

“Don’t live by how you feel”


“What is most important is not how you feel but what you do”

“It doesn’t matter how you feel what matters most is what the word ofGod says”

“Emotions are the number one enemy of the believer”

And the one I heard most growing up (and quoted often myself) “I am notmoved by what I see, I am not moved by what I feel, I am moved only bythe Word of God”

While there is a measure of truth in all the above statements the problem is thatif these statements are not clearly understood they can leave you with theimpression that feelings and emotions are bad, are to be ignored, and, if possibleavoided all together.

As I said these statements have some truth. When are they true? When they areapplied specifically to the lusts of the flesh.

The above statements are not true when they are applied to emotions in general.

What is the difference between the lusts of the flesh and emotions in general?

The lusts of the flesh are feelings, emotions, and desires that are contraryto God’s word and if followed will cause you to disobey God and sinagainst Him.

Therein lays the difference between lusts of the flesh and emotions in general.

Emotions and desires in general can be defined as:

“Those internal, subjective experiences that motivate and move us toaction”

In the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean world in which the Scriptures were writtenemotions are internal experiences that manifest themselves in outward behavior.What one feels is always expressed in what one does.


As authors Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh write concerning the MiddleEastern view of emotions

“….internal states always connote a corresponding external expression…”(Social Science Commentary On The Synoptic Gospels page 380)

God gave us emotions feelings and desires for the purpose of motivating us toaction, right action as defined by His word.

But sin twists and corrupts our emotions and desires and deceives us in usingthem in a manner contrary to their created and intended purpose.

We see this in James 1:14, 15,

“Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts andenticed. Then when lust hath conceived it brings forth sin…”

Notice that this says that everyman is tempted when he is drawn away by HISOWN lusts or strong desires. When we are tempted satan, the tempter, temptsus by using our own God-given emotions and desires against us. He is pervertingwhat God created and meant for good.

“And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good”(Genesis 1:31)

When God created man everything he made about us was considered “verygood”. This would include all of our human faculties. This would include ouremotions and desires.

But sin twists and corrupts what God creates for good and uses it for evil.

“But sin taking occasion by the commandment worked in me all mannerof concupiscence (or evil desire)…” (Romans 7:8)

When satan/sin deceives us and gets us to use our emotions and desires in amanner contrary to God’s will then our emotions and desires become what theScripture calls the “lusts of the flesh”. The lusts of the flesh are our emotionsand desires inclined in a direction that is contrary to the will of God.

In order to tell if a desire is of the flesh or not simply ask “What direction is thisemotion/desire taking me? If I follow it, if I act on it will I be disobeying God’s


word?” If the answer is yes then you are dealing with a lust of the flesh. You aredealing with a God given feeling, desire or emotion that is being directed in amanner contrary to the will of God.

All lusts of the flesh are feelings, emotions, and desires; but not all feelingemotions and desires are lusts of the flesh.

The Purpose of Your Emotions

As I wrote above your emotions have a God given purpose.

Your emotions were given to motivate you to action. This can be seen in theLatin meaning behind our English word “emotion”

“Emotion” comes from the Latin “exmovere”. This Latin word is composed of“ex” which means “out” and “movere” which means “to move”. Together theymean “to move out”. And this is what emotions do. This is their purpose. Godgave us emotions in order to motivate and move us to action.

And this is a good thing! It also tells us that contrary to popular belief andteaching we are to be moved by what we feel!

Jesus was moved by what he felt! Over and over in the Gospels we read thatJesus was moved by or with compassion (Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34;Mark 8:2; 6:34; 9:32; Luke 7:13)

The word for compassion in Greek (splanchnizesthai) refers to a “strong deepinner feeling that moves one to action”

As scholars Bruce Malina and John Pilch wrote in their “Handbook of BiblicalSocial Values”

“ [splanchnizesthai] describes the feeling which motivated Jesus toheal…and to interact with the crowds” (page 32)

The Bible tells us in Psalms 103:13 (NRSV)

“As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassionfor those that fear Him”


We are also told that God is free to have and show compassion on whomever hewants (Exodus 33:19, Deuteronomy 13:17; 30:3; see also Romans 9:15). Againthe Hebrew word for compassion (racham) refers to strong inner feelings andemotions that moves one to action.

To quote Malina and Pilch again,

“Compassion would thus be defined as the caring concern that ought tobe felt and acted upon…” (ibid. page30)

Another emotion that we see Jesus acting upon and being moved by is theemotion of zeal.

In John 2:13-17 we read of Jesus acting to cleanse the Temple of God. He takessome cords and uses them as a whip to drive out those who were selling (andcheating) in the Temple.

After the incident is over verse 17 states that the disciples

“….remembered that that it is written ‘the zeal of thine house hath eatenme up’”

The word for zeal in both Hebrew and Greek refers to

“….an internal emotional disposition…that activates a person to behavein a possessive and protective manner against injustice” (Malina andPilch “Handbook of Biblical Social Values” pages 209,211).

Jesus was moved by an emotional state. He took action because of what he wasfeeling!

Both Jesus and the Father God show us that it is not wrong to be moved bywhat you feel as long as you are being moved by the right feelings and emotionsand in the right direction.

As a matter of fact they show us that feelings and emotions can be used in theservice of God, for righteous and godly purposes. Jesus’ cleansing of the templebecause of His zeal was for the purpose of protecting the honor of God and Histemple. The emotional state he was in served the righteous purpose of God.


The Apostle Paul also understood and appreciated the role and use of emotionsin serving God and obeying His will.

Scholars have recognized for some time now that the Paul in his letters utilizedtools and techniques from the ancient art of rhetoric. Rhetoric can be defined asthe “art of persuasion”. It was the ability to speak in such a skillful manner as topersuade a person or group of people to adopt a certain point of view, to make acertain decision or to take a particular course of action (it was also used forpurely entertainment purposes).

Training in rhetoric consisted of various techniques that taught the speaker howto persuade an audience by appealing to their reason, to the speaker’s owncharacter and to the emotions of the audience. Appeal to the audiencesemotions were considered powerful because as Aristotle, one of the earlycodifiers of rhetorical theory and techniques taught

“The orator persuades by means of his hearers, when they are aroused toemotion by his speech; for the judgments we deliver are not the samewhen we are influenced by joy or sorrow, love and hate” (Aristotle’s “TheArt of Rhetoric 1.2.5)

Aristotle recognized that different emotional states cause us to make differentdecisions concerning a matter and so taught that necessity of influencing theemotions of the hearers when seeking to persuade them.

Another ancient teacher of rhetoric, Quintilian, also taught concerning rhetoricand the appeal to the emotions,

“As regards appeal to the emotions these are especially necessary indeliberative oratory [a speech that seeks to get the hearers to make adecision to take certain actions]. Anger has frequently to be excited orassuaged and the minds of the audience have to be swayed to fear,ambition, hatred, reconciliation” (Quintilian “Institutes” 3.8.12 as quoted inDavid A. deSilva’s “Despising Shame: Honor Discourse and CommunityMaintenance in the Epistle to The Hebrews” page 42, 43).

So an appeal to the emotions was for the purpose of “putting the hearers in that[emotional]disposition (anger, fear shame or the like) that would make themmore likely to move in the direction desired by the orator” (David deSilva“The Hope of Glory page 14)


Paul also sought to utilize the emotions in this way to get his audience (thosewho received his letters) to decide for and move towards obedience to God.

We see a vivid example of this in II Corinthians 7:8-11. In this passage Paulwrites how through a previous letter to the Corinthians Paul made them sorryto the point of repentance. There were some sinful situations going on in thechurch at Corinth, situations that the Corinthian’s were doing nothing about.The “letter of sorrow” that Paul sent stirred up in the Corinthians the emotionsof godly sorrow, indignation, fear, vehement desire, and zeal (see vs. 11).These emotional states that were stirred in the Corinthians through Paul’s lettermoved them to “set right” what was wrong in the congregation. In other wordsthey were motivated and moved by their emotions to repentance and obedienceto God.

God, though the apostle Paul used their emotions to bring them to obedience.

The Apostle Paul understood that the God-given purpose of emotions is tomotivate and move us to obedience to God and he sought to use them in justthis way.

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews also understood this. This writer alsoused many rhetorical techniques of persuasion in order to motivate the recipientsof the letter to stay faithful to the Lord Jesus.

One of the most vivid uses of a rhetorical technique of persuasion is in Hebrewschapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 has long been recognized as the “faith hall offame” with its extensive listing of those who were faithful to God. But what wasthe purpose of writing such an extensive list?

In rhetoric if you wanted to persuade your audience to embrace and embody aparticular virtue (like faith or faithfulness) one of the ways you would do this wasby providing the audience with examples of people that embodied that particularvirtue – people that the audience respected and honored. This was known as an“example list”

Dr. Michael Cosby in his work “Rhetorical Composition” states that the purposeof examples in rhetorical persuasion was (according to ancient rhetorical theory)

“….to persuade the audience by affecting their emotions, not theirintellect” (Michael Cosby “Rhetorical Composition” as quoted in David A.deSilva’s “Despising The Shame” page 180)


In sighting the examples of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 the writer is seeking toinfluence the emotions of the recipients of the letter and motivate them toremain faithful to God despite the persecutions they are undergoing. Again theGod-given purpose of emotions to motivate and move us to obedience to Godis affirmed.

The writers and speakers of Scripture fully understood and sought to use theemotions in communicating the truth of God. As Dr. Kenneth E. Bailey, anexpert on the Middle Eastern cultural and literary back ground of the NewTestament has written,

“….the Biblical speaker/writer wants to communicate not only howhe/she thinks but also how he/she feels. Whereas in Westerncommunication emotions are often considered a hindrance to thecommunication of truth, indeed a perverter of truth, the Middle Easternerfeels truth is not served unless the full emotional component of the truth isalso communicated”(Kenneth E. Bailey “Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15” page 20)

In the Middle Eastern culture that the Scriptures were spoken and written it wasunderstood and accepted that emotions served the Truth of God. They assistedin helping the recipients of the Word of God to be convinced of, and motivatedto act on Divine truth.

Walking in the Spirit and Emotions

Let’s finish this chapter by looking at the connection and relationship of theSpirit to our emotions. We have already seen that the Bible does give us the keyto overcoming the lusts of the flesh

“Walk in he Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For theflesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh” (Galatians5:16, 17)

By walking in the Spirit we can overcome the strong desires of the flesh that“war against us” (see I Peter 2:11).

But how do we “walk in the Spirit”?


Galatians 5: 25 gives us something of a hint:

“This I say then if we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit”

Literally this means that since we have life in and by the Spirit (we have beenmade alive in the Spirit) let us “keep in step” with the Spirit. To “keep in stepwith” is the literal meaning of the word “walk” in Galatians 5:25. To walk in theSpirit or to keep in Spirit with the Spirit is to live our lives in harmony with theSpirit, in harmony and in alignment with His power, His workings and HisDESIRES in us.

The Spirit has desires?

Absolutely!

Galatians 5:17 tells us that the flesh “lusteth” or desires against the Spirit. That is,the flesh has desires that are contrary and opposed to the Spirit. But it also saysthat the Spirit is “…against the flesh”. Scholars agree that this implies that theHoly Spirit also has desires that are against and opposed to the flesh.

Commenting on Galatians 5:17 scholar James Dunn states,

“The flesh desires against the Spirit, and (set in chiastic parallel) the Spiritdesires (the repetition of the verb is implied…) against the flesh”(The Epistle to the Galatians by James Dunn page 297)

We know that the Spirit has feelings and desires because the Spirit is GodHimself and as we have already seen God has desires, feelings, and emotions.

Also we are told in Ephesians 4:30 that we are not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit.

And in Romans 12: 11 we are told by Paul to be “fervent in Spirit serving theLord”. The word translated as “fervent” refers to the emotions as BenWitherington writes,

“Paul is all for fervency of spirit or perhaps what is meant is fervencycreated by the Spirit, with the aim of one’s activity being serving as to theLord. The participle zeonites means ‘boiling over’ and can be used torefer to a burning passion that simply bubbles up and pours out of aperson’s life….Paul seeks to keep the human emotional/spiritual


dimension correlated to the Spirit (Romans A Social RhetoricalCommentary page 293, 294).

The Spirit of God has emotions and strong passionate desires. To walk in theSpirit s to align ourselves and live in harmony with the power and strong desiresof the Spirit. And because the desires of the Spirit are stronger than the desiresof the flesh when we walk in the desires of the Spirit we “absolutely will notfulfill the desires of the flesh”.

The key to overcoming the desires of the flesh is to walk in another, greater setof desires: the desires of the Spirit!

And how do we walk in the desires of the Spirit? How do we align ourselveswith His desires so that we can keep in step with Him and overcome the lusts ofthe flesh?

Romans 8:5, 6 gives us our answer.

Romans 8:5.6: Minding the Things of the Spirit

In Romans 8: 5, 6 we read

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but theythat are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally mindedis death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”

Paul here is describing two groups of people and how they live: the people of theflesh and the people of the Spirit.

People of the flesh live after the flesh and people of the Spirit live after the Spirit;or said another way people of the flesh walk in the flesh and people of the Spiritwalk in the Spirit. But how do they do this?

Paul tells us that those who are of the flesh mind the things of the flesh and thatthose of the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit. Right here we are told how towalk in the flesh or in the Spirit.

What you walk in – the flesh or the Spirit- is determined by what you mind.

But what does it mean to mind?


“Minding” defined:

The word translated as “mind” in Romans 8:5 refers to the activity of the mindincluding the intellect, will and emotions. It means to direct or incline one’sintellect will and emotions towards something (either the flesh or the Spirit).

“[mind]…to think, to set one’s mind or heart upon something…it denotesthe whole action of the affections[emotions] and will as well as of thereason” (The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testamentby Cleon Rogers Jr. and Cleon L. Rogers III page 330).

When we are walking in the flesh it is because we are directing our intellect, ourwill and our emotions toward what is of the flesh; we are bringing our intellectwill and emotions into submission to the flesh and in service to the flesh.

But the same is true of walking in the Spirit! To walk in the Spirit is to direct ourintellect, our will, and emotions toward the things of the Spirit; it is to bring ourintellect, will, and emotions into submission to the Spirit and in service to theSpirit.

When we walk in the Spirit when we “mind” the things of the Spirit, we arealigning our intellect, will and emotions with the Spirit and with what pertains tothe Spirit.

To walk in the Spirit involves your entire being…including your emotions!

And the way the word “mind” is written in Greek implies that the directing andinclining of our intellect will and emotions toward the Spirit is something thatwe do. It is an action that we take and engage in by the power of the Spirit.

So to walk in the Spirit we must direct and incline our intellect, will and emotionstoward the things of the Spirit. This is what Paul did with the Corinthians in IICorinthians 7: 8-11. His letter of sorrow sought to incline their mind andemotions toward the things of the Spirit, towards the things of God.

This is what the prophets and other writers/speakers of Scripture also sought todo through the emotion-laden words they used. They were all seeking to movehearts – intellect will and emotions – towards obedience to the truth of God.They were all seeking to get their hearers to “mind” the truth and things of God.


But how do we do this? How do we incline and direct our emotions (as well asintellect and will) towards the things of God?

How do we “mind” the things of the Spirit?

This is what we will be exploring in the rest of this book. Paul and the otherspeakers/writers of Scripture used specific techniques and tools to incline anddirect the mind and emotions of the hearers toward obedience to God’s truth. Inthe same way you will also learn specific tools and techniques you can use todirect and incline your own intellect will and emotions toward the things of theSpirit so you can walk in the Spirit and fulfill obedience to God.

Are you ready?

Then let’s get started!


Chapter 3Exercising Your Emotional Choice

How to Get Access to the Emotions You WantAnd get Unstuck from those You don’t Want

Part 1

“How You Feel is Up to You”(Gary Mckay and Don Dinkmeyer)

Okay so far we have learned that Sanctified Emotions means that we are to setour emotions apart for God’s exclusive use. We have learned that we are to useour emotions to serve and obey God, to fulfill His will.

We have also learned that we need to “mind” the things of the Spirit, that is, weneed to align our intellect will and emotions with the Spirit and with whatpertains to the Spirit in order to walk in victory over the flesh and its lusts.

There are several basic skills you need to do this.

Skill #1: Becoming Aware of what you are Feeling.

The first skill you need to learn is the skill of becoming aware of what you arefeeling. In order to exercise emotional choice you need to be aware, conscious ofthe emotional states you are experiencing.

How good are you at identifying what it is you are feeling? Some people are goodat it and some need to practice doing this. Some people are un-practiced in beingable to identify and articulate what and how they are feeling.

As we look at scripture we see that many of the biblical characters were in touchwith what they were feeling, they knew what they were feeling and could expressit.


In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus said to “My soul is exceedingly sorrowfulunto death”. Jesus was quite aware of what he was feeling and was able toarticulate that to His disciples.

In Genesis 6: 6.7 we read that the Lord was grieved that he made man and hesaid “It repenteth me that I have made them”. The word here for “repenteth”means that God felt regret, he was sorry (check this definition in Hebrew) thathe made man because of the sinfulness that man had sunken to. God was awareof His sorrow and grief over man’s sinful condition.

As humans beings created in God’s image we also have the capacity to be awareof and to identify what and how we are feeling.

For instance David was aware of and able to identify his emotional states(Psalms 63: 1, 5; 38:6, 17; Psalms 18:4)

As was Paul (Romans 9:2; Philippians 2:17; )

And Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:16,17, Lamentations 1:16; 3:19.,20, 47-49).

In our Western culture we often are not truly aware of what and how we arefeeling. I believe one of the reasons this is true is because of the negative light weoften hold our emotions in. We are often exhorted to “ignore how you feel’, weare told “it doesn’t really matter how you feel-it’s what you do that counts”. As aresult we pay very little attention to how we are feeling. We are “out of touch”with how we feel. We are emotionally ignorant.

And if we are unaware and out of touch with what we feel, if we cannot identifyand articulate what and how we feel then we will exercise little or no choicewhere are feelings and emotions are concerned.

For example in Psalms 56:3 David wrote “What time I am afraid I will trust inthee”. In order to move from fear to trust David had to first recognize that hewas afraid, that he was experiencing fear. And he had to be able to identify thefear as fear. Once David became aware of his fear he was then able to exerciseemotional choice and move himself to trust in God.

Knowing what you are feeling, having that awareness puts you in a position ofbeing able to respond appropriately to what you are feeling.


Developing Emotional Awareness

So how do you develop emotional awareness?Many researchers in the field of emotional studies recommend keeping anemotional journal or diary as a way of becoming more aware of the emotionsyou experience.

Buy yourself a simple notebook or diary. On the pages of the note book create 6columns: 1) Date/time, 2) emotion/feelings, 3) intensity of emotion 4)circumstance/event, 5) people involved, 6) thoughts

When you experience an unpleasant emotion right it down in you notebook assoon as you can. Using the 6 categories above write down: what or how youwere feeling, the date and time when you experienced the emotion, the intensityof the emotion on a scale of 1-5(with 5 being the most intense or strongest), thecircumstances or events that triggered the emotion and in which the emotionsoccurred, the people who were involved and the thoughts you were having asyou were experiencing the emotion.

If it is too much to carry a journal around then you can use a quick record methodsuggested by Drs. Gary McKay and Don Dinkmeyer in their book “How youFeel Is Up To You”. Carry a small notebook or index cards that will enable youto quickly note what you were feeling and the circumstance surrounding it(“How You Feel Is Up To You” page 266). Then later go back and record moreinformation using the 6 categories above recalling what happen as much as youcan.

Keep this journal for several weeks. Then go back and read over what you haverecorded. This will help you to become aware of the emotional states youexperience on a daily and weekly basis as well as the time of day, the people,events and thoughts associated with the feelings you are experiencing. Afterawhile you may begin to see a pattern emerge in what you are experiencingemotionally. This awareness will serve you in being able to better respond to andeffectively deal with your emotions according to the will of God.

By the way this emotional journal can be used to record positive emotions aswell! So take the time to notice and write them down also using the same 6categories. This will help you to realize the causes (when, where, how, why, andwith whom) of the positive feelings and emotions in your life which is invaluable


information for being able to wisely utilize your emotions for your benefit andthe fulfillment of God’s will..

Name that Emotion!

One of the difficulties people sometimes experience in practicing emotionalawareness is being able to name or label what they are feeling. Below are a fewemotive terms for you to become familiar with to help you better describe whatand how you are feeling.

I will divide the emotions into two categories: Pleasant and Unpleasant (ratherthan negative or positive. I will explain why later).

Unpleasant Emotion terms Pleasant Emotion Terms

Fearful ConfidentAfraid DeterminedIrritated CalmEmbarrassed PeacefulDepressed ValuedDefeated SuccessfulHate Loving/LovedHopeless HopefulDefeated Clear/ClarityConfused CuriousDisappointed MotivatedBored ExcitedOverwhelmed Joyful/HappyAngry AcceptedAnxious GratefulFurious ContentResentful Forgiving/ForgivenHurt AcceptedFrustrated CertainGuilt BraveInadequate Sufficient/CompetentLonely ConnectedDisconnected PassionateLazy ProudApathetic Trusting/TrustedPassive InvolvedWorthless Pleased


Of course the terms above are not all the emotions you can feel. This is just a listto help you get started in naming the emotions you experience. Work onexpanding your emotional vocabulary. The more terms you know the easier it will beto identify what or how you are feeling.

Skill#2: How to Get Access to the Emotions You Want (whenyou want them).

Okay. This is a major (and I mean MAJOR) skill! The Bible tells you to do thingslike:

“Desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2)

“Serve the Lord with gladness (or joy – Psalms 100:2)

“Hate the evil and love the good” (Amos 5:15)

“In this world you shall have tribulation…but be of good cheer (confident,certain) I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

We are directly told in Scripture to purposely use our feelings, emotions anddesires in the service of God. But how do you do this? How do you get access todesire, to joy, confidence, even hate against sin when you need it?

Once while attending a book convention I had the opportunity to speak withacquisition editors about a book idea that I had. As I awaited my first meeting Ibegan to feel really nervous. I wanted to forget about the meeting and not riskrejection. But I knew that I had choice. Using one of the techniques you areabout to learn I was able to turn my nervousness into confidence in a matter ofmoments. I wasn’t faking confidence. I truly felt and was able to act withconfidence. How did I get access to that feeling of confidence? How do you getaccess to any emotional state?

Two Ways of Getting Access to the Emotions You Want: Mind-Body

There are two basic ways of getting access to the emotional states you want andneed. One way is through your body, the other way is through your mind.

Let’s talk about your how to use your body to gain access to the emotional statesyou need first.


Body: When I write about using your body I mean using your physiology: yourmovements your gestures, your posture, even your breathing to access youremotional states. One of the amazing discoveries that researchers in the area ofemotions have uncovered is that while emotions can influence how you act, howyou act can also influence your emotions.

To put it another way how you think-feel can influence how you act and behaveand how you act-behave can influence how you think-feel.

Whenever you feel a certain way that emotion expresses itself in your body in acertain way: you breathe a certain way, you gesture a certain way, you move andwalk certain way. The emotion becomes embodied in your actions and behavior.

The Bible also recognizes this. In the Scriptures emotions are often spoken of interms of the physiological effects and expressions they produce.

For instance in Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus tells us that when we are persecuted weare to “rejoice and be exceeding glad”. The word for “exceeding glad” inGreek means literally to “jump for joy” (Strong’s Greek concordance #21) andits Hebrew equivalent (gil) means to ‘circle or spin around under the influenceof violent (strong) emotions’ (Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #1543 and theTheological Wordbook of the Old Testament #346). The word speaks ofenthusiastic, physical movements and expressions due to great feelings of joy.Because one feels great joy it is expressed in jumping, leaping, and whirlingaround in circles. Strong emotions influence behavior.

The Hebrew word for anger as in “Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel”literally means the nose or the nostrils (Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #639). Ituses this word because of the physiological effect and expression that occurswhen we are angry. When we are angry we begin to breathe more rapidly andheavily through the nose or nostrils. We begin to breathe hard. This is one of theways anger was recognized and described in the ancient world. Again the strongemotion had an impact upon the body.

The word “long-suffering” in the Bible is composed of two words in both theHebrew and Greek that mean “long in breathing” or “long of breath”. As theTheological Wordbook of the Old Testament states of this word when used ofGod


“The thought is that God takes a long, deep breath as He holds His angerin abeyance” (page 58)

Patience is expressed in slow, easy breathing as opposed to impatience and angerwhich are expressed by fast hard breathing.

The point of all of this again is that how you feel influences your actions andbehaviors.

But it also works the other way around. How you act or behave can influenceyour feelings and emotions.

Dr. Paul Ekman in his book “Emotions Revealed” talks about his research inchanging facial expressions and voice tone in order to elicit or change emotionalstates. Ekman states in his book that by assuming the facial expression or vocaltone of a particular emotion you can trigger that emotion within your self (seechapter 2 of his book “When Do We become Emotional?”).

Dr. Stephen J. Kraus also speaks of the fact that by taking on the physicalgestures, movements and behaviors of a particular emotion you can alsoreproduce those emotions within yourself. This is called emotional expressivityeffect: “express the emotion physically and you will feel that emotion internally”.(Dr. Stephen J. Kraus “Psychological Foundations of Success” page 132).

You can see how true this is for yourself. Here is a quick exercise to check it out.

Physiology Exercise:1. If you can, stand to your feet

2. Think of a situation, a mild problem or event that you need to deal with.

3. Notice how you feel as you think about handling the problem. What orhow do you feel?

4. Now slouch you shoulders, feel your rib cage drop and crunch together: Let your chin drop to your chest Let your face “drop” or sag (as if sad) Take a deep breath and let out a “sigh” Shift your weight to one hip

5. Now think of your situation while doing all of this:


Ask yourself “Can I handle this, can I do it?” Notice how you feel Do you feel confident or less confident Do you feel doubtful, hesitant, or discouraged?

6. Now stand up straight Lift up your rib cage Center your weight on both feet Put your hands on your hips like Superman or Wonder Woman Lift up your chin Look up Take deep breathes And laugh out loud with a nice hearty, confident sounding laugh

7. Now notice how you feel Do you feel more confident, more certain? Do you feel like “Yeah! I can handle it!”?

By changing your physiology you can change your feelings and emotions.

This is biblical. In Ephesians 4:24 we are told to “Put on” the new man that wenow are in Christ. In Romans 13:14 we are told to “put on “the Lord JesusChrist.

Both of these passages have to do with how we act, behave and live. We are newcreatures in Christ and we are to ACT like it. We are followers of Jesus Christand we are to Act like Him.

The Word "Put On" (in Greek it is "enduo") means to "clothe oneself with"(Strong Concordance #1746). The word also alludes to an actor playing the roleof a character; an actor playing the role of a character would "Put On" thatcharacter, assuming that character and identifying with it for the entire length ofthe play (James Dunn “The Theology of Paul the Apostle” page 194)

To put on Christ means that we assume the characteristics of Christ, we identifywith Him in our actions and behavior. We act like Him. Thayer’s Greek EnglishLexicon states concerning Putting On Christ that it means “to become sopossessed of the mind of Christ as in thought, feeling, and action toresemble Him and, as it were reproduce the life he lived” (#1746)


In Colossians 3:10-13, we are told that as new creatures in Christ, we are to "PutOn" mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, gentleness and patience. We are toassume, identify with and ACT out or live these qualities in our daily life.

Michael Thompson in his book “Clothed with Christ” states that the idiom“put on”

“….conveyed no suggestion of putting on a mask but referred to an act inwhich one entered into actual relations. Used with an impersonal object itmeans to acquire, to make part of one’s character or possessions…with apersonal object it signifies ‘to take on the character or standing’ of the personreferred to, ‘to become or become as’ (page 150)

So this is not "fake it till you make it". You are not pretending or faking it.

Ephesians 5:8 states "Once you were darkness, but now are you light in theLord; walk as children of the Light. To "walk" has to do with how you live yourChristian lifestyle. You are to walk as - live, behave as - a child of the Light.Why? Because you are a child of the Light, you are the light in the Lord!

As Christians, we do not "fake it till we make it", rather we align our behavior,our physiology to reflect who and what we really are in Christ. To act loving,kind, forgiving, patient, etc. is to choose to be in deed who we really are inChrist.

As you act, truly act loving, kind, patient you will begin to feel these things.These virtues are in you because you are in Christ and one with Him. Bydirecting on-purpose your physiology (how you act and behave), you releasewhat is within you into and you direct and influence your mind-emotions.

The strategy below shows you how to direct and utilize your behavior andactions in order to access emotional states.

The “Putting On” Strategy for Accessing the Emotions you Want:

1. Identify the emotional state you want to experience

2. Decide you will experience and walk in this state (say this to your self)


3. Now coach yourself into this state by asking and answering the followingquestions: “If I were feeling __________ how would I…”

Be standing/sitting right now? (stand or sit this way now) Breathing right now? (Breathe that way now) How would I be moving/walking right now? (Move/walk that way

now) How would I be looking or seeing (how would I view things) What/how would I be thinking right now? What would I be saying to myself right now? How would I be

saying it?

So let’s do this with a specific emotional state.

If you were feeling worshipful and reverent toward God right now…

How would you be standing or sitting right now? (demonstrate aworshipful stance/posture right now)

How would you be breathing right now? (demonstrate the “breath ofworship” and reverence)

How would you be moving/gesturing right now (demonstrate themovements/gestures of worship and reverence)

What would you be thinking right now; how would you be thinkingright now? (take on and demonstrate an attitude of worship)

Look around the room you are in now with eyes of worship andreverence.

So how do you feel? Are you feeling more worshipful and reverent before theLord (I am and I’m just writing about!)?

Now pick three other emotions and using the steps above practice accessingthese emotional states through your physiology.

By taking charge of and directing your physiology, your actions, behaviors,gestures, and breath you can determine, control and direct your mental andemotional states.

Okay, ready to learn some more?

Let’s go!


Chapter 4Exercising Your Emotional ChoiceHow to Get Access to the Emotions You WantAnd get Unstuck from those You don’t Want

Part 2

Okay so now you have learned how to access emotional states by using yourphysiology-by using your body.

Now you will learn another way God has provided to help you gain access to theemotional states you need and want when you need and want them.

That other way is through your mind; specifically we will cover in this chapterhow to do this through that aspect of your mind known as memory.

Through the proper use of your memory you can get access to any emotionalstate you have experienced in the past. Using memory to access emotional statesand influence behavior is seen over and over again in the bible.

In Numbers 11:4-6, we find the people of Israel in the wilderness greatlydiscouraged and depressed. As they are going through the wilderness God isdaily and supernaturally feeding them with manna. So why do they becomediscouraged and depressed?

The passage states that the people said

“We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, the melons, theleeks, the onions and the garlic; but now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all, besidethis manna before our eyes.”

Israel became discontent, discouraged and depressed because of how they wereusing their memories. They remembered what they once had, compared it towhat they had now and became depressed.


The word “remember” in this passage is from the Hebrew word, zakar. Semiticscholar Johanes Pedersen in his book “Israel: Its Life and Culture” statesconcerning zakar and the biblical concept of remembering

“When the soul remembers something, it does not mean that it has anobjective memory image of some thing or event, but that this image iscalled forth in the soul and assists in determining its direction, its action”(page 106)

In other words to remember something biblically means to “recall something tomind in order to be moved by it”

In the Bible, memory serves a very practical purpose: one remembers in order tomotivate and move oneself to action. In Numbers, Chapter 11, Israel used itsmemory to move them to depression and complaining.

In Deuteronomy 7:17-19, we find a positive and empowering use of thisconcept. When facing nations that were greater than them God told Israel tonot to be afraid of them and he told them how not to be afraid, and how to beconfident.

He told them,

“You shall remember what the Lord, thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt. Thegreat temptations which thine eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand andthe stretched out arm where by the Lord, thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy Goddo unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.”

God told Israel that when they began to feel afraid, they were to remember orcall to mind how He delivered them from Egypt, all of the miraculous things Hedid. The purpose of this was to create in them faith and confidence in God, sothat they would take action and not be paralyzed by fear.

What they were to remember was to influence their emotions and behavior.

We see another positive usage of memory in Hebrews 10: 32-35

The author of the book of Hebrews is writing and seeking to encourage therecipients of his letter to remain faithful to God in the face of the persecutionsthey are experiencing. Because of their persecutions they are getting discouragedand are being tempted to abandon their faith in Christ.


So how what does the author of Hebrews exhort them to do?

“But call to remembrance the former days, in which you, after you ye wereilluminated ye endured a great fight of affliction” (vs.32)

The author of Hebrews encourages these battle weary believers to remember, tocall to mind and re-experience how they endured and overcame tests and trialswhen they first came to faith!

Author and bible scholar David DeSilva states concerning this exhortation,

“Appeal to a group’s own past achievements often served as a basis forencouragement to future endeavors….The appeal instills a sense ofconfidence that, as the group succeeded in performing what was requiredbefore, it would have the resources and stamina to succeed again”(“Perseverance in Gratitude: A Social-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle tothe Hebrews” by David A. DeSilva, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.p.356)

The saints that the epistle to the Hebrews was written to were experiencing anemotional attack of discouragement. They were tempted to give up and quit.The author of Hebrews encourages them to use their memory of past successesin overcoming persecution in order to counter and overcome the presenttemptation to give up and quit. They were to use a memory of the past to accessencouragement and confidence for the present so that they would stay faithful tothe Lord.

As DeSilva writes,

“When perseverance is at stake this is an effective technique indeed” (ibid.p. 357).

Memory is a great resource and means of exercising emotional mastery - if weuse it correctly, to our benefit and not our detriment.

The question is – how do we use memory for our benefit?

We can do this by creating and using “emotional tags”

What’s that you say?


Read on!

Emotional Tags

What is an emotional tag?

The term comes from the field of neuro-science and refers to an amazing abilityyou brain possess. Our brains have the ability to attach and color situations,events, places and even concepts and ideas with emotions.

In His book “Healing the Hardware of the Soul” Dr. Daniel Amen, clinicalneuroscientist and Medical Director of The Amen Clinics in California, definesemotional tagging as the brains ability to “tag” or color events with certainemotions depending on the emotional state of your mind.

According to Dr. Amen, “emotional tagging of events is crucial to survival.The valence or [emotional] charge, we give to certain events in our livesdrives us to action (such as approaching a desired mate) or causesavoidance behavior (withdrawing from someone who has hurt you in thepast).”

God has given us the amazing ability to link emotions to people, events, placesand objects. The emotions we link or tag to these things will either move ustoward these things or away from them.

Emotional tagging is something we all do. Let’s do a quick exercise to illustratethis.

Exercise:Think of your favorite person: it might be a spouse, a child or a friend. Think ofthis person and get a picture of them in your mind.

Now as you think of this person and look at that image how do you feel? Whatword would you use to describe that feeling: love, joy, happiness, peace…?

Now think of someone who may be (can we say) your least favorite person(someone you have difficulty with). Now as you think of this person and get amental image of them in your mind how do you feel about them? What word


would you use to describe the feeling (s) you have about them: anger, frustration,fear, sadness?

Okay now go back and think about and focus on your favorite person again.How do you feel now? What do you like so much about them? Why do theymake you feel so good?

Are you still feeling good?

Great!

Now what you just experience is what is called an emotional tag. The peoplethat you picked to think about and focus on have had certain emotions attachedto them in your brain. One person you think about makes you feel good. Theother person – not so good. Our brains have attached certain emotions towardeach person and when we think of them those feelings are triggered.

So we can define an emotional tags a “something we see, hear or feel thattriggers in us certain emotional-behavioral responses”

We see an example of an emotional tag in Numbers 15:37-40. Israel is told toattach fringes or tassels of blue to the borders of their garment. This was so thatwhenever Israel looked upon the fringe, they would remember to do all thatGod commanded them.

Keep in mind that to “remember” biblically means to recall something to mindin order to be moved to action by it. Obedience to God was linked to thefringes. The fringes were to serve as a stimulus, as an emotional tag that wouldmove an Israelite to obedience. The “tag” or fringes were to support Israel intheir obedience and service to God.

We all have emotional tags. They are all around us. Have you ever heard a songthat brought back a pleasant memory and feeling? Have you ever smelledsomething that reminded you of a relative's house that you visited as a child?Does just the name of a particular individual cause you to feel angry or upset?These are all emotional tags. In psychology it is called “anchoring” or “stimulus–response”. There is some stimulus that triggers an emotional-behavioralresponse in us.

Some work for us and others work against us. Some are negative some arepositive. But we al have them.


So how do you create for yourself emotional tags that will work for you andsupport you mentally and emotionally in your obedience to God?

By using our memory- zakar -we can make emotional tagging work for us ratherthan against us.

How? By creating emotional tags on purpose!

Creating Your Own Emotional Tags.

Step #1: First identify an emotional state that you would like to have access to when you want

or need it: love, joy, peace, confidence, ect.

Step #2: Now think of a time when you felt that way; when was the last time you felt that

emotion? Recall that time back to mind.

Step #3: As you recall that memory experience that memory as if you are there again. See

the whole experience from out of your own eyes as if you were there again. See

what you saw at the time, hear what you heard, and feel what you felt at that time.

Step #4: Immerse yourself totally in the experience. Focus on how you are feeling. Enjoy

feeling that emotional state or desire. Feel the state fully and completely. Feel it

strongly!

Step #5: Now as you are feeling the desired emotional state gently squeeze together

your index finger and thumb. Gently increase the pressure of the squeeze as you

continue to feel the desired emotional state even more fully , completely and strongly.

This actions “tags” or associates the desired emotional state to the squeezing of your

index finger and thumb.

Step 6: Maintain the pressure of your touch as you look around the room you are in and

reorient yourself to your present surroundings.


Step 7: Release your fingers and take a moment to notice and enjoy how you are feeling.

Step 8: Now let’s test your emotional tag: Stand up and shake off the emotion you are

feeling. Walk around the room you are in or think about something else (a bill to

pay, cleaning the garage; anything that will shift how you feel)

Step 9: Now touch your index finger and thumb together again with the same type of

pressure you did before. If you re-experience your desired emotional state when you

do this then you have created a successful emotional tag. If you don’t re-experience

your desired emotional state then repeat steps 2-7 until when you squeeze your index

finger and thumb together you access your desired emotional state.

This skill of emotionally tagging is something you do naturally and it is worthpracticing on purpose in order to create specific emotional tags that will give youaccess to the emotional states you want when you want them.

Exercise: Create for yourself at least two more emotional tags that will give youaccess to emotions and feelings you want to experience when you want toexperience them.

What you have nowYou now have two ways of getting access to the emotional states you want andneed when you want and need them: physiology and emotional tagging

The key to becoming proficient in these skills is practice and use. The more youuse them the better you will get.

So use them-and have fun!

In the next chapter we will look at how to use these skills and others to getunstuck from negative emotional states.


Chapter 5Exercising Your Emotional ChoiceHow to Get Access to the Emotions You WantAnd get Unstuck from those You don’t Want

Part 3

Getting Unstuck From Negative Emotions

Have you ever tried to obey God and found yourself hindered by opposingthoughts, feelings, emotions and desires?

Have you ever found yourself stuck in limiting feelings and emotions that keptyou from obeying God and doing his will; or that kept you from taking actionand making use of opportunities God has brought your way?

Have you ever been limited or held back by fear, depression, anxiety or anger?

I have! And you probably have too!

The question is what do you do when you get stuck in such limiting feelings andemotions that hinder and even prevent obedience to God?

Most of the time we are told, “Just ignore how you feel and just obey God!”

While ignoring how we feel and just taking action IS one way of dealing withhindering emotions there is another way.

We can “put off” these limiting and sinful emotional states.

Putting Off Limiting Emotions

In Colossians 3:8-9 we read,

“But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthycommunication out of your mouth. 9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye haveput off the old man with his deeds…”


In Ephesians 4:22 we also read,

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which iscorrupt according to the deceitful lusts…”

Notice in the above passages we are told to put off not only behaviors but alsoemotions.

The words “put off” are actually one word in Greek that means “to lay aide, toput off from oneself like putting off and removing clothing” (Strong’sConcordance #659 and “The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the GreekNew Testament” page 442, 467).

We know from James 1:14-15 that the lusts of the flesh, those feelings,emotions and desires that are contrary to God’s will, are what hinders us,tempts us and draws us into sin.

What we often need to do to is to putt off these emotions and desires beforewe can move forward to obedience.

But how do we do this?

In this chapter you will learn several different strategies for getting unstuckfrom feelings and emotions that hinder and prevent you from living theabundant life in Christ.

Many of these strategies will help you get unstuck in a matter of moments.

So let’s get started.


The Unstuck Strategies

Strategy #1- Shift your Physiology.

This is a strategy you already know about. We covered this in chapter 3. Whenyou are stuck in a limiting, hindering emotional state use the steps in chapter 3above and shift your physiology. Change what and how you are breathing,moving, gesturing, standing, thinking, etc. Ask yourself the questions listed inchapter 3 to move yourself into a state that will serve you in serving God.

Here are some extra tips that can help you to apply this strategy

Identify emotional states that you experience on a regular basis thatare limiting and prevent you from living an abundant life in Christ.

Identify when, where and how often you experience them. Record this in your emotions journal Next identify the emotional state that you would like to have instead that

would help you to obey God in the situation you identified. Writethis down also.

Practice moving into that emotional state using your physiology.Identify what and how you need to move, breathe, act, behave, etc, inorder to enter into the state you want.

Rehearse it. Use your imagination. Imagine being in the situationwhere you go into the limiting emotional state and in practice usingthe physiology questions and moving your physiology to enter intothe emotional state that will serve you in serving God.

Make the decision that this is what you will do and feel when you aretempted to go into the limiting emotional state.

Strategy #2- Use Emotional Tags

You learned about emotional tags and how to set them in chapter 4. Emotionaltags are mental-emotional responses that are linked or attached to certain“triggers”: things you see, hear or feel.

You already know how to set them. Once they are set you can use them to helpyou get out of feelings and emotions that are keeping you from obeying God.

Here are some tips for using them.


Identify the situation where you experience limiting emotions states.Write down when and where you experience them

Identify what emotional state would best help you get out of thelimiting emotional state you experience. Make sure that it is anemotional state that will be strong enough to get you out of thelimiting state and will serve you in serving God

Using the emotional tagging steps (see chapter 4) create an emotionaltag for yourself. This emotional tag should be easy to use and get tofor your situation.

Practice using the emotional tag to get unstuck from the limitingemotional state. Imagine being in the situation when you experiencethe limiting emotional state. Allow yourself to feel the feelings. Thenas you are feeling those feelings use your emotional tag to access thefeelings you want.

Practice this several times until you can use your emotional tag easilyto get out of the limiting state and move to the state that best servesyou in serving God.

A great way to get unstuck from limiting emotional states is to use the twostrategies above- physiology and emotional tags – together!

For instance let’s say that there is a certain situation in which you feel nervouswhen you enter that situation. Using the strategies above you can:

1. Create an emotional tag of confidence2. Identify the physiology of confidence: what and how you breathe,

move, gesture, talk to yourself, stand etc. when feeling confident.3. When you enter the situation that makes you nervous adopt the

physiology of confidence while at the same time triggering youremotional tag of confidence.

Combining the strategies of the emotional tag and physiology is an almostsurefire way of getting unstuck from limiting emotional states and moving intothose emotions and desires that will help you to “mind” the things of God andobey Him.

I used this strategies many times over the years to get unstuck from limitingemotional states.

I have used this strategy to help me get into the proper frame of mind whenworshipping God. Sometimes when I go to church and the worship service


starts I won’t feel “into it”. In other words I just don’t feel like worshippingGod. I am not very motivated.

Now I could ignore how I feel and worship anyway. That is one option. But Ifind that when I do that I am fighting my emotions and trying to ignore themwhile trying to worship.

What I normally do is change my physiology to one of praise and worship. Thisnormally works but if my emotional state does not change in a few moments Ithen trigger either my “motivation emotional tag” or my “reverence for God”emotional tag while at the same time changing my physiology.

This helps me to quickly get into the proper state of mind and emotion toworship God – and I am not fighting myself or my emotions during worship.Rather my emotions become my allies in serving and worshipping God.

So practice using both strategies to get unstuck from states that don’t serve youin serving God.

Strategy #3- Reverse Circle of Excellence

Reverse Circle of Excellence is actually named after another strategy calledCircle of Excellence. It is a tool from the Cognitive behavior model known asNLP (neuro- linguistic programming). You will learn about Circle ofExcellence later.

This strategy utilizes the same principles used in emotional tagging except thistime rather than using the principles of tagging to access a state you use it to“step out” of a negative or unpleasant state that is limiting you.Often before we can step into a positive and resourceful emotional state we mayneed to first step out of and do away with a negative, non-resourceful, andlimiting state. Or as the Bible says we need to “put off” a state. This patternshows you exactly how to do this. This is also best performed standing up.

Reverse Circle of Excellence Strategy

1. Think of a state that sometimes limits you, that gets in the way of you being at your best.


2. Access that state. Allow yourself to feel it in your body fully. Think of a time when you feltthat state and imagine being in that situation now.

Don’t worry it will only be for a few moments.

3. As you are feeling that state imagine that you are inside a circle

4. As you are inside that circle imagine that all of the negative feelings and thoughts you arefeeling and thinking are following out of you through your feet into the circle and fillingthat circle.

As you imagine those feelings and thoughts draining out of you intothat circle give those feelings and thoughts in the circle a color that bestrepresents to you the feelings and thoughts you were having.

Look at and notice all of the color as all the feelings-thoughts drain outof you into the color of that circle

5. Now when you are ready step back and out of the circle leaving all of the feelings-thoughtsthere in the circle.

As you step back out of the circle, leaving all the feelings and thoughtsin the circle notice that you are “here” and the circle with the negativefeelings and thoughts are “over there”.

Notice how you feel

Take another step back – notice how you feel now

Take another step back, notice again that you are “here” and thefeelings-thoughts “over there”. Realize that this means that you are notyour emotions and thoughts, that you are more than your emotions andthoughts and in control of them.

Keep stepping back until you completely feel out of those emotionsand thoughts and disconnected from them.

6. Now how do you gesture when you are finished with something, when you are throughwith it, and have decided “it’s over, no more of that!”

Do that gesture now

Now do that toward that circle with the unpleasant, non-resourcefulemotions. Signal that “it’s done and over” by turning your back on it tosignify “it’s over!”

7. Check how you feel now. If done properly you will have little or no negative emotion left.


8. Access the positive emotional state that you desire to have and experience. Use anemotional tag to establish those states and to have access to them when you want.

Use the emotional tagging strategy, or, Circle of excellence.

_________________________________________________________________________

This is one of the most effective strategies I know of to help peopleimmediately get out of emotional states that are limiting and detrimental.

I have used it with people who were having anxiety attacks, who were depressed,who were tempted with sexual desires that were leading them to act in ways thatwere contrary to God’s will (in other words they were tempted to sin). Thisstrategy enables you to step out or “put off” a lust of the flesh that is pressuringyou to sin; being able to do this enables you to have greater choice as to how youwant to act and behave.

Once while conducting a workshop on renewing the mind a woman came up tome with her husband during the break and said that she was having a panicattack.

We didn’t have a lot of time before the break was over so I quickly led her in thesteps of the reverse circle of excellence. Within moments I was able to lead her,by the grace of God, out of the anxiety and into an emotional state of peace andcalm.

Another time while at a family gathering my wife was talking to a friend of afamily member. As the gathering ended I heard my wife say “You need to talk tomy husband”. The gentleman walked over to me and explained to me that hehad a problem with strong sexual desires and urges and that it often got him intotrouble and caused him to act in ways that were contrary to his values and beliefsas a Christian. My wife told him that I worked with people in helping them torenew their minds and master their emotions so he wanted to know if I couldhelp him.

It was late and we were all going home so I took about twenty minutes andwalked him though the reverse circle of excellence steps. I taught him how to“step out” of and “put off” the sexual desires and urges and then how to stepinto emotional states of mastery and self-control.


Two days later I received a call from him. He was excited! He told me that hehad 3 opportunities to follow after the sexual urges and desires but using thereverse circle of excellence strategy he was able to pass up all three temptationsand not give in. He experienced victory.

Reverse Circle of Excellence is a great strategy for getting out of strongemotional states that are limiting you and keeping you from living a victoriousabundant life in Christ.

Strategy # 5 – Circle of Excellence

Circle of excellence is another, quick effective strategy to access and “put on”the emotional states you want, when you want them, and where you want them. Itutilizes a visual symbolic emotional tag and, the principles of emotionally tagging asa way of accessing the resourceful emotional states you want and desire. It issimple and can be used practically anywhere. This exercise, like Reverse Circle ofExcellence, is best performed standing up.

1. Identify the resource state that you would like to have access to: joy, peace, love, asense of strength, confidence faith, “I can do!”, “I’m unstoppable” etc.

2. Imagine in front of you a circle that is wide enough for you to step into.

3. Think of a time when you felt that resource state. In your mind step back into thattime when you felt that resource state.

See what you were seeing at that time Hear what you were hearing at that time And most importantly feel what you were feeling at that time

4. Take a moment and enjoy what you are feeling, allow yourself to be fully immersed inthose feelings.

Feel those feelings even stronger throughout your entire body

5. As you are feeling these great feelings and emotions look at the circle in front of you;and when you are ready step into that circle with all of the positive feelings andemotions that you are now feeling.

Now as you are in the circle look down at the circle and fill the circle with acolor that represents for you the wonderful emotional Resource State that youare now feeling and experiencing.


Continue looking at the colored circle as you are feeling the wonderfulfeelings and emotions you are experiencing.

6. Now when you are ready step back and out of the circle leaving all of the good feelingsand emotions inside the colored circle (don’t worry you will step back into them again).

Take another short step back from the circle Notice how you feel

7. Now Step back into the colored circle and re-access and feel again all of the wonderfulfeelings and emotions available to you in your circle

Once again step out of the circle and leave all the good feelings thereinside the circle.

When you are ready step back inside the circle and re-access theall of the wonderful feelings and emotions inside the circle.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 several more times until you know that youeasily have access to that state when you want it.

8. Step out of your resource circle.

Think of a time and place, a situation where you would like to feelthis wonderful feeling and emotion.

What would you see hear or feel just before you went into thatsituation that would let you know that it is time to feel yourresource state? What could be your cue or trigger to let you“It’s time to feel resourceful!

Imagine that you are seeing/hearing/feeling that cue or trigger asyou step into your resource circle and feel all of the good feelingsinside that circle.

Imagine that you are in that situation now and feeling all of yourgood feelings and emotions. Imagine that you are acting andbehaving in the ways you want because of the good feelings andemotions you are feeling and that are supporting you.

Now as you are feeling the way you want, and behaving in theway you want say out loud to yourself “ MINE!”

Affirm that this is how you will now think, feel, and behave inthat situation from now own.


Strategy #6 – The Galatians 2:20 Strategy

This strategy is based upon a method developed by Dr. Warren Berland in hisbook “Out of the Box for Life”. In his book Dr. Berland writes of limitingemotional states such as fear, un-forgiveness, excessive anger, etc.,metaphorically as a box in which we sometimes live and that hinders us fromliving life fully. He offers in the book a simple questioning method for stepping“outside of the box” into liberty and freedom.The method is simply asking and answering the following question: “If I wereoutside of the box right now how would I be thinking, feeling, and acting differently”?

While the question (and its derivatives) is simple it is also amazingly effective inhelping one to step out of limiting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Over the years since reading the book I have worked with that question anddeveloped one of my own; one that I have used many times and that has provento be effective in helping me to step out of limiting emotional states and ways ofthinking, and into ways of thinking, feeling and acting that are in line with thewill of God and the image of Christ.

My question and strategy is based upon the reality and truth of Galatians 2:20which states,

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth inme…”

So how do you use this biblical truth of Christ living in you to “get out of thebox” of, or unstuck from limiting feelings and emotions?

1. Notice when you are “in the box”, that is, when you areexperiencing a lust of the flesh or are in the flesh.

2. Stop and ask yourself the following question “Christ is living inme right now-what/how is Christ in me thinking, feeling and doing inme (right now) in response to this temptation and lust of the flesh?”

3. Answer this question! Identify based on the Word of God whatChrist in you is thinking, feeling, and doing right now in you andthrough you. What do you see hear and/or feel in your mind thatChrist is doing? How is Christ in you obeying the word of the Father


in thought, will, emotion, and deed? Form an image of the answerbased upon the word of God.

4. Identify with the answer! Whatever the answer is identify with it inyour thoughts, will, feelings, and deeds. Take on His thoughts, Hisattitude, His actions as your own!

Again this is a simple question yet amazingly effective. You will need to practiceit in order to become skilful in using it when you are feeling stuck in anemotional state that is not serving you in serving God. So here are a few tips:

Identify where and when you need to ask yourself this question Imagine being in that situation and feeling “in the box”, that is,

feeling the limiting emotions that hold you back and keep you fromtaking action.

When you feel like you are “in the box” ask and answer theGalatians 2:20 strategy- question.

When you have identified what Christ is doing in you, based on theword of God, adopt what/how He is thinking, feeling, and behavingin you as your own. Identify with it

Contrast your “in the box” thinking-feeling with what Christ isthinking-feeling-doing in you. Become aware of your limitingthinking and feeling and then ask yourself “Is this what/howChrist is thinking-feeling in me?” “What/How is He thinking–feelingdifferently in me according to God’s Word?”

Again when you answer that question focus on and identify with theanswer.

The Galatians 2:20 strategy is based upon the spiritual reality that it is “….not I,but Christ but Christ who lives in me…” It is also based upon the reality of theSpirit at work within us empowering us to follow and obey the Word and Will ofGod (see Ezekiel 36:26, 27 and Philippians 2:12,13). We know that whateverChrist is living and working in us by His Spirit it is in accordance with the will ofGod.

This strategy enables us to fulfill and obey the exhortation in Hebrews12:2 to“Look unto Jesus the author and finisher (the Exemplar) of faith” when we aretempted. He is the example we follow and imitate.


This “putting on” of Christ, that is, this adoption of His mind, emotions,character and conduct is, in the words of author Michael Thompson,

“….distinguished from mere imitation by the presence and work of His Spirit.”(Michael Thompson “Clothed With Christ” page 158).

Here are a few other ways you can ask this question:

1. “If I were operating or moving in the power of the Spirit right nowhow would I be thinking, feeling, acting differently?”

2. “If I were looking at this through the eyes of God how would I seethis differently, how would I be thinking and acting differently?”

3. (Based on II Timothy 1:7 ask) “How would someone who is themaster of his mind and emotions think , feel, and respond to theselimiting feelings and thoughts”

II Timothy 1:7 states “For God has not given us a spirit of fearbut of power, love, and a sound mind”

“Sound mind” in Greek means discipline and self-control. Itrefers to the ability to curb or control one’s appetites, impulsesand desires (Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon #4495 and Lettersand Homilies to Hellenized Christians vol. 1 page 136 by BenWitherington III)

I have given you several questions to ask yourself that will enable you to get“unstuck” from limiting thoughts and feelings.

Write down one or two questions on an index card. Write down the ones thatreally work for you. For the next week carry the card with you and when you feellike you are “in the box” of limiting thoughts and feelings pull out the card andask and answer the questions you have chosen and then identify with youranswers).

Having the card makes it easier to remember the question(s) when you are underattack by strong lusts of the flesh.


And one more thing: After you get use to asking and answering the questionsabove design your own questions that will help you to get unstuck from limitingthoughts and feelings.

So what question could you ask yourself that will enable you to quicklyget unstuck from limiting thoughts and feelings-hmmm?

What you have now

You now have six different ways to access and get unstuck from thoughts,feelings emotions and desires that trip you up and keep form obeying God andfulfilling His will.

Again it will take practice to get skilful at using these strategies

So identify where and when you will need the strategies, practice using them onpurpose -and have fun!


Chapter 6The Structure of Emotions

“Emotions are not something we are nor are they something that justhappen to us. Emotions are something we do” Dr. A B Curtiss (revised byMike Davis)

As we have already seen to walk in the Spirit requires that we “mind” the thingsof the Spirit. To mind the things of the Spirit involves the whole of our mental-volitional and emotional faculties. In order to walk in the Spirit we must directand incline our thinking, our will and our emotions toward the things of God.

How do we do this?

A key to doing this is understanding the structure of our emotions. It isunderstanding how your emotions work.

The Structure of Experience

Years ago when I first began studying the subject of renewing the mind andemotions I heard a phrase that absolutely changed my thinking about the humanmind and subjective human experience. The phrase was “experience has astructure”.

Wow! What this means is that what you think, feel , decide and do has an orderto it. There are components to what you think-feel-do that are arranged in acertain order that causes you to think-feel-and act in the way you do.

I think the Scriptures also speak to this.

In Proverbs 16:9a we read “A man's heart deviseth his way…”

The word deviseth in Hebrew is “chashab” and means “to think out, to plan, toimagine” Semitic Scholar Johanes Pedersen states that the chief meaning of theword is “planning”; he also states that this word, one of the most important forthinking, has to do with the direction of the mind towards action.(Israel: Its Life and Culture page 125)


This word is used to speak of the plans of the wicked in Psalms 36:4

“He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that isnot good…”

The noun form of chashab ‘machashebeth” means “the plan as it appears in themind”; it is the result of one’s planning, thinking and imagining (ibid. page 125)

This word appears in Proverbs 12:5 where it states

“The thoughts of the righteous are right…”

The word “thoughts” in Hebrew is machashebeth. This is saying that the plansin mind of the righteousness are of what is “right”. The word “plan” means ascheme or program for making, doing, or arranging something (Webster’s NewWorld College Dictionary).

What this tells us is that the human mind is created with the God-given ability tostructure and organize its experience in certain directions that the Bible calls its“way”.

We can create intellectual directions, volitional directions, behavioral directionsand emotional directions.

How do we create emotional direction? By understanding the components thatmake up and create our emotional states.

The Structure of Emotions

The model that I will be sharing with you is based upon the work of LeslieCameron Bandler and Michael Lebeau in their Book “The Emotional Hostage”.

While there are different models that can be used to work with the structure ofemotions the one by Lebeau and Cameron-Bandler is one of the easiest andmost practical that I have found.

In their book Lebeau and Cameron-Bandler list eight components thatcomprise the structure of emotion.


They are:

Criteria Intensity

Chunk size Modality

Comparison Time Frame

Involvement Tempo

I have added two more to the list: Identification and Minding.

Each of these components, when combined together creates your emotional“way” or experience.

You will look at each component briefly to learn how they work and createyour “emotional way”.

Your Emotional Components

Criteria: The standards or rules you live by within a situation; it refers to thatwhich you value and think of as important.

Your emotions are the result of the Criteria that you apply and live by within asituation. We see an example of this in III John 1: 3, 4. In this passage Johnwrites

“….For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of thetruth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greaterjoy than to hear that my children walk in truth”.

The emotion that John was experiencing was great joy; but what caused the joy?What is John’s criterion or rule for experiencing the joy? It is hearing that hischildren are walking in the Truth (i.e., obedience to God’s Word). When hischildren or disciples are walking in the truth then John experiences joy. This let’sus know that obedience to the word of God is important and of the highestvalue to John


We see another example of criteria influencing our emotions in John 13: 34, 35

“A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as Ihave loved you, that ye also love one another”. By this shall all menknow that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

We are called to love as Jesus loved. How does he love? Jesus’ love isunconditional. So to love as Jesus/God loves, to walk in His love requires acriteria of “unconditionality”. In order to love as Jesus or God loves we must notmake our love dependant upon, or limited to anything the object of our lovedoes or does not do. In other word we cannot think or say “if you do this I willlove you, or if you don’t do this I will love you.

Our love for each other as brothers and sister as in Christ is to transcend suchlimitations. To walk in such love we must have and operate by a criterion of“uncondtionality”.

“If love depends on something, when the “something” ceases, the loveceases. If love does not depend on anything, then it never ceases (Rabbinicquote)

To make sure that you have criteria that truly supports you emotionally chooseonly those criteria that you can act upon and fulfill. Criteria that are dependantupon others or are dependant upon circumstances that are outside of yourcontrol will leave your emotionally vulnerable and unstable.

To discover your criteria for a particular emotion in a situation asks:

“What has to happen for me to feel?___________________________________________________

“What rule do I have to operate by in order to feel?____________________________________________________

Your answer reveals your criteria for experiencing that emotion.

You change your Criteria by choosing on-purpose to change it First discover what your criteria is by answering the questions above


Try on other criteria and/or rules that are under your control; that youcan act on and fulfill.

Make sure your Criteria is in line with God’s Truth (John 8:31, 32-Histruth makes us free)

By changing, adding to and/or expanding your criteria you gain more emotionalchoice, control, freedom and flexibility.

Comparison: Comparing one thing to another; focusing on the degree to whichthings are the same or different.

In I Samuel 17:32-37 we see an example of this component at work in thefamous story of David vs.Goliath:

“32And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will goand fight with this Philistine. 33And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to goagainst this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man ofwar from his youth. 34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep,and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35And I went outafter him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose againstme, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36Thy servant slew boththe lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them,

seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37David said moreover, The LORDthat delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he willdeliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and theLORD be with thee.

In vs. 33 Saul compares Goliath’s years of experience as a warrior to David’syouth and lack of experience; this produced in Saul an attitude and feeling of“David, you can’t do it” (vs. 33)

In vs. 36, 37 David makes some comparisons of his own; he compares Goliathto a lion and a bear that the Lord gave him victory over and that he killed. Hestates that Goliath shall be as the lion and the bear. David’s comparisonproduced in him an emotional state of confidence that he could defeat Goliath.

In Numbers 11:4-6, 18-20 we read of Israel’s complaining and murmuring aboutthe manna that God is daily and supernaturally providing for them.

“4And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israelalso wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5We remember the fish,which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and


the onions, and the garlick: 6But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all,beside this manna, before our eyes.

18And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eatflesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat?for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shalleat. 19Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twentydays; 20But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsomeunto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have weptbefore him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?”

Israel began experiencing the emotional state of discontent which causedthem to despise the supernatural provision of the Lord. Their emotional statewas the result of comparisons made between the food formerly eaten in Egyptand the manna they now had.

When you compare you: Match, i.e. notice how things are the same, or Mis-match – notice how things are different This results in different emotional states.

In II Corinthians 10:12 Pail writes that it is not wise to compare and measureourselves against each other

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some thatcommend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing

themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

Why? Because of the effect that such comparisons can produce.

It may produce a sense of inadequacy as when Israel compared themselves and their strength against the strength of the people of the land

“ 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against thepeople; for they are stronger than we. 32And they brought up an evil report of the landwhich they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which wehave gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the peoplethat we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons ofAnak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and sowe were in their sight.”

The comparison that Israel made caused them to feel inferior.Inferiority and inadequacy are the result of comparisons.


Comparison with others can also create feelings of pride like when thePharisee compared himself to the publican in Luke 18:10-14

“ 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other apublican. 11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that Iam not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 14Itell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every onethat exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Pharisee was filled with pride and exalted himself because of thecomparison he made between himself and the publican.

Paul tells us that the proper comparison to make is a “self-to-selfcomparison” on the basis of God’s Word. This is where we look at whatwe are doing and ask:

How am I doing How have I improved since I started? If I had to focus on one are of improvement no matter

how small what would it be? Where can I still improve?

We do this of course in relation to God’s word that acts like a mirror(James 1:22-25) by which we can compare and make adjustments toour behavior.

Chunk Size: Deals with HOW MUCH of something you are thinking aboutand focused on.

Have you ever experienced feelings of overwhelm? Overwhelm is the result ofthinking about and focusing on too much of something all at once.

Deuteronomy 7:22- And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee bylittle and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increaseupon thee “

God broke Israel’s battles and victories into “small chunks” (by little and little) tokeep them from being overwhelmed.

When you break something down into chunks or pieces that youcan handle that is called “chunking down”.

God “chunked down” Israel’s battles Why? Because when we focus on too much at one time it can

create overwhelm or fear; it can paralyze us.


Think of a task that you feel overwhelmed about right now. How are youthinking about it? Are you thinking of everything you have to do all at once?That’s the recipe for overwhelm!

Try this: Chunk down your task. Focus on one aspect of the task that you canbegin, something you know you can handle. As you focus on just one aspect ofthe task how does that make you feel? Do you feel more empowered or lessempowered?Do you feel less overwhelmed or more when you chunk it down?

“Chunking down” tasks can cause motivation and a sense of empowerment; ithelps to create a feeling of “I can do it/I can handle it”

Not only can we chunk down but we can also “chunk up”. When we chunk upwe focus on more and more of something. We build it up in our minds.

In Deuteronomy 7:18-21 Moses tells Israel what to do to build their confidencewhen they are afraid

“18Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy Goddid unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; 19The great temptations which thine eyes saw,and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm,whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all thepeople of whom thou art afraid. 20Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornetamong them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. 21Thoushalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God andterrible.”

When afraid Israel is to chunk up, that is, they are to remember allthat they have seen God do. They are to call to mind all of the greatand mighty signs and wonders that they saw the Lord do.

And notice in verse twenty that Moses says “Moreover the Lord will…”In Hebrew the word ‘moreover’ is “gam” and means to gather,addition, to accumulate; it denotes ascension, going up, building up(Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament vol 1#361 Brown DriverBriggs#1571).

It is a word used to create emphasis. What Moses is doing is chunkingup; it is as if he is saying to Israel


“Not only will God do to these people what He did to Egypt but He willdo even more!” Moses builds up in the minds of the people God andHis power for the purpose of strengthening their faith in the face offear.

In verses 19-20, 23-24 Moses chunks up God and His power andchunks down the people of the land (I will let you look up thesepassages). This is to increase faith in God and decrease the fear ofthe people of the land.

“Chunking down” decrease a feeling about or for something (as a rule) and“Chunking up” increases a feeling about or for something (as a rule).

By the way- reverence, worship and praise of God are usually the result of“chunking up” our view and perception of God (see Exodus 34:5,8).

Moses couldn’t handle a larger, more complete revelation of God (i.e, alarger chunk size – Exodus 33:20)

Psalms 34:3 – “O Magnify the Lord with me” Magnify (Heb –Gadal) to make large, great, to increase, to lift up (to Chunkup)

Psalms 8:1,3,4 – As David considered creation (he chunkedup) it caused him to stand in awe of God

The amount, degree, size, greatness or smallness of something that you arefocusing on and paying attention to determines and influences your emotionalstate.

To find the chunk size that is most appropriate for positivelyinfluencing you emotional state – Experiment

If chunking down doesn’t work, chunk up If chunking up doesn’t help, chunk down

Intensity: refers to the degree that you feel and experience an emotion; howstrong or weak your feelings are toward something or someone.

Romans 12:11 tells us to be

“Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;


Fervent (zeo in Greek): To boil with heat, to be white-hot. We are to be intensely enthusiastic and passionate in our service to

God

Psalms 63:1

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee,my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

David had intense longing, desire and passion for God

How do we increase the intensity of an emotion?

Psalms 39:1-3 gives us a clue

“1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep mymouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. 2. I was dumb with silence, I held mypeace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. 3. My heart was hot within me, whileI was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue”

Intensity of emotion can be stirred up by what/and how you are thinking(musing/complaining) within

As the psalmist inwardly meditated upon what bother him he intensifiedthe unpleasant emotions.

Other ways you can intensify your emotional states:

Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger”.

The words you use – your self talk, can either lower or increase youremotional intensity. (this includes voice tone)

What you rehearse and repeat in your mind can intensify your feelingstowards something (Matthew 5:28; II Peter 1:13; Hebrews 11:13-15)

Focusing on and rehearsing the detriments of something (the Pain) or thebenefits of something (the Pleasure) can decrease or increase theemotional intensity you feel towards something.

The words you use, the voice tone you speak with to others or within yourselfinfluence the intensity of your emotional states or decrease the intensity of yourstates.


Do you sometimes hear a critical complaining voice in your head? Make thevoice sound like Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck or Goofy. This will change theimpact of the voice and the intensity of the emotions that it stirs. Now you maythink “That’s silly!” Yes, but remember

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”

Also as we studied in the last component chunking up or chunking downcan also alter the intensity of your emotional state.

Physiology: how you act/behave can also influence the intensity of anemotional state.

Colossians 3:22-23 (KJV)22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, asmenpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Ecclessiates 9:10 (KJV)10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device,nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

As we have studied emotions influences behavior-but behavior alsoinfluences emotions! Acting with passion can stir up passion. Actingcalmly can induce calmness.

Involvement: deals with whether you feel active or passive towards the

circumstances and situations of your life.

Active: feeling that you are a part of or instrumental in making somethinghappen.

Passive: feeling that you are subject to whatever happens or occurs

Examples:

Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be

filled with the Spirit;”


“ Filled”: In Greek is in the “Passive Voice”. Which means it is not something we can do. We cannot fill

ourselves with the Spirit. It is something God does. We are not responsible to do it.

Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit” “Walk in Greek is in the “Active Voice: This means it is something we are responsible to do.

Within Scripture there is a balance between our taking an “active” mindset anda “passive” one

A Passive mind-set is perceiving something as being outside ofyour control and thus you have to wait for something to happen

An Active mind-set is perceiving something as being within yourcontrol; you make it happen.

The Bible speaks of both.

The Key is knowing what you are responsible for and what youare not

What you can do and what you can’t.

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only…” To be a doer is to be active To be a hearer only is to be passive

Negatively a Passive mind-set can lead to fear (as in Numbers 13:31-33);positively it can lead to faith and trust in God (as in Isaiah 26:3 –where“stayed” means to lie, to rest self, to lean on)

Negatively an Active mind-set can cause someone to have false self-confidence and act presumptuously (as in Deuteronomy 8:11-18 and in Acts19:13-16); positively it can lead to an active faith in God that works with Godto move mountains and obtain results in prayer (Mark 11:22-24; James 1:5-8).

Ask yourself: What am I responsible for? What am I not responsible for? What does God hold me responsible for


What does he not hold me responsible for? What does He empower me to do?

The answer to these questions can help you discern when you are operating ina passive mind-set or an active mind-set; or when you need to switch to apassive mind-set or an active mind-set.

Identification: to adopt and affirm a way of thinking, feeling, behaving asone’s own.

Romans 8:5 states that those who are after the flesh “mind” what is of the fleshand those who are after the Spirit “mind” what is of the Spirit. One of thedefinitions of the word “mind” is “to take someone’s side, to espousesomeone’s cause” (as one’s own) (“The Theology of Paul The Apostle”, byJames Dunn, page 479n.78).

When we sin it is because we are identifying with the lusts of the flesh, we areembracing those lusts as our own. In James 1:14-15 we read

“14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,bringeth forth death”

We are told here that when lust or desire has conceived it brings forth sin. Theword “conceived” in Greek means “to take, to clasp or grasp for one self”

When we sin it is because we have identified with sin, with the lust it producesin us. We adopt and affirm the thoughts, the images, the feelings andbehaviors that sin stirs within us, as our own. When we do that we conceive thelust and bring it forth as sinful behavior.

If satan can get us to agree with, adopt and affirm the feelings, emotions anddesires that are contrary to God’s word as our own then we will come underthe authority and power of that lust and be ruled by it.

One of the keys to overcoming the lusts of the flesh is to stop identifying withthem! When we experience thoughts, feelings, emotions and desires that arecontrary to God’s will, i.e., when we are tempted, we must refuse to identifywith those thoughts, emotions and desires.


When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He experienced the feelings and thedesire to act contrary to God’s word. But Jesus recognized the temptation forwhat it was-a temptation from the enemy. He didn’t identify with it .He didn’ttake on the thoughts and images and desires stirred up by satan as His own. Hedidn’t agree with, adopt or affirm the lies of the enemy as His own.As a result he never came under the authority and rule of sin.

We must do the same. We are called to do the same. We are called to “reckonourselves dead to sin” (Romans 6:11a). We are to no longer agree with, adoptand affirm the lusts and lies of the enemy as our own. To reckon yourself deadis to “dis-identify” with the lusts of the flesh.

What we are to identify with, what we are called to agree with, adopt and affirmis that which is of the Spirit. We are to agree with and affirm the word andtruth of God. The truth and desires of God are what we are to identify with.

So began to utter a strong “no” to identification with the lusts of the flesh.Refuse to embrace and affirm the lie of the enemy as your truth and reality(Titus 2:11,12 NIV).

And began to agree with, and strongly affirm the truth of God as your truthand reality (II Corinthians 1:20; Roman 6:11b)

We will deal with more of this later.

Modality: deals with the belief about how necessary, possible, impossible orimportant or desirable things are.

Words that indicate Modalities:

Need Must Can Can’tWant Will Might Won’tShould Shouldn’t Should have been Could


So to walk consistently in the love of God (which is unconditional) requires amodality of:

Must (it’s a commandment “I must walk in love) Can (I can love as He commands because His love is in me and

He lives in me) I “will” love as He has commnded

Our use of modalities must be based upon our life in Christ (Philippians 4:13)In Him we can do all that is God’s will for us to do.By changing your modalities you change your sense, your feeling about whatyou can or can’t do; what you are responsible for or not responsible for. It alsocan give you a sense or feel for what is possible (I can) or what is not possible(I can’t).

Minding: Has to do with the direction of our thinking and the content of ourthinking. What we are thinking about and where our thoughts are beingdirected and focused upon.

Our mind can be directed and focused on the things of the flesh or the thingsof the Spirit (Romans 8:5) And the content of our thinking can be either of theflesh or of the Spirit.

Genesis 6:5 “….and every imagination of the thoughts of men’s heart was only evilcontinually” Here both the direction and content of men’s hearts was only thatwhich is of the flesh.

Proverbs 12:5 “The thoughts of the righteous are right…” Again the direction andcontent of the righteous thoughts and meditation is what is right.

What and how we think influences our emotional states. This is why we aretold to guard our hearts above all else “Keep thy heart with all diligence for outof it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23)

What we think about consistently determines how we feel, act or behave. Thiswhy Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to “think on”, or meditate upon contentthat is virtuous and praiseworthy. What we are thinking about will shape ouremotions, desires and behavior.


So to make sure that your emotions and behavior are moving in the directionof God’s will examine your thinking. Ask yourself:

What am I thinking about right now What am I focusing on in my mind? Is it in line with God’s word Is it supporting me in serving God with all my heart, mind,

soul, and strength? Am I focused on the flesh or upon the Spirit?

Time Frame: using the past, present or future as a reference point for youremotions.

Almost all emotions involve the past, present or future

Deuteronomy 7:17-19 – Israel is instructed to reference PAST events tonurture confidence and faith in God

David did this before facing Goliath (I Samuel 17:33-37)

II Corinthians 4:17-18 – Paul uses a FUTURE time frame to maintain joy andcourage.

There is also for believers an “Eternal” time frame (looking atthings from God’s perspective and frame see Colossians 3:1, 2)

Have you ever felt anxious or depressed? Anxiety has a future time frame.When we are anxious it is usually about something that we are concerned abouthappening or not happening in the future.

Depression has a past time frame. When we are depressed we are usuallythinking about past events, past disappointments or regrets. Sometimes we maybe thinking about the future and how things will be as bad as they have alwaysbeen or even worse.

Many times you can move from anxious to peace and calm or from depressionto happiness or contentment simply my being aware of anf focusing on thepresent-the right now.


In order to practice anxiety or depression effectively you must as a rule be safeand secure in the present. If you are safe and secure in the present then yourmind is free to worry or be depressed about the future!

To deal with anxiety or depression deliberately focus your mind, yourawareness to your present surroundings. If you can, walk outside and noticewhat you see, hear, feel. This will help you feel calm,

Once while riding in my car to take my clothes to the cleaners I received aphone call that turned my world upside down. I began to feel dizzy, like I couldblackout or faint. Instead I prayed and brought my attention to the car, then tothe outside world, to the sunshine, and the people outside walking around. Ireminded myself that at that moment I was safe and secure and that “the Lordis a very present help in time of trouble” (Psalms 46:1). The anxiety began todissipate and I began to feel at peace and calm. I had to repeat this about threetimes until it “stuck”. But by changing my time frame- from future toimmediate present- I was able to change my state.

Tempo: refers to how slow or fast your inner rhythm is

We all have an “inner rhythm”. How slow or fast your inner rhythm is willinfluence your emotion state.

Emotions such as patience/impatience, peace/rest all have specific rhythms. Patience/peace/calm: Have a slow/steady rhythm Impatience: a fast tempo/rhythm Motivation/excitement have fast tempos also Lazy/lethargic/bored has a slow tempo

Things that can influences your Tempo: How you breathe: slow/fast, soft/hard How quickly or slowly you are physically moving Music (slow or fast, internal/external) The Speed of your Internal dialog and/or pictures Prayer, Praise, Worship

In this chapter we have discussed ten crucial components that can influence youremotional states. The Key to changing and renewing your emotions to the will ofGod is to identify the most significant component(s) that created the emotionand then bring that component into alignment with God’s Truth.


How can you do that?

Renewing and Remodeling your Emotions

"The heart of man deviseth his way…" (Proverbs 16:9a)

"What you create you can ‘un-create’ and change" (Mike Davis)

Below is a simple format and pattern for remodeling and changing youremotional states. It is adapted from The Emotional Hostage by Leslie Cameron-Bandler and Michael Lebeau

1. Identify an emotion that you experience often that does not serve you, thatdoes not help you in being your best but rather gets in your way.

Specify the situation in which you experience that emotion

2. Identify the significant components that make up that emotion. Go through the CIMT list (Criteria Chunk Size, Comparison,

Involvement, Intensity, Identification, Modality, Minding, Timeframe, Tempo) and identify which component(s) seems mostsignificant to you in creating that emotion.

Use the Remodeling Your Emotions Worksheet below to helpyou identify the most significant components

3. Change the significant components one at a time to see which one is mostimportant to altering the emotion you feel.

Alter and change your use of the significant component to see howthat changes your experience

Example: change your criteria, extend/shorten your time frame,change your modalities, speed up/slow down your tempo, etc.

4. Notice how your emotions change as a result of the component changes youhave made

5. Ponder the Path of your feet: Imagine going into the situation you identifiedusing your new components.


Do you have the experience you want, does it work for you?Does it allow you to respond and behave in ways that you wantaccording to God's will?

If not repeat steps 2 and 3

Remodeling Your Emotions Worksheet

Emotion: ________________________

Criteria: What has to happen in order for you to feel this emotion?

What must no longer happen for you to no longer feel this emotion?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Comparison: What are you comparing/matching /mismatching?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Chunk Size: How much information are you paying attention to?Do you need to chunk up or chunk down?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Involvement: Is your attitude passive or active in this situation?Are you just accepting what is, focusing on what you can't do or areyou focusing on what you can do, are you choosing on purpose what tothink, feel, and do?

____________________________________________

Intensity: What is the intensity of the state you are feeling?On a scale of 1 -10 with 1 being low intensity and 10 being high intensitywhere are you at on the scale?

______________________________________________


Identification: What are you identifying with in this situation?Are you identifying with what is of the flesh or with what is of theSpirit?Are you identifying with the lusts of the flesh or with the realties of yourNew life in Christ?What must you identify with in order to feel this way?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Modality: What modal operators are you using when you feel this emotion?Need, must, should, should have, shouldn't have, could can, might,Might have been, could have been, can't, can't be done, want will, won't.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Minding: What are you focused on, what is the direction of your thinking and feeling; isit toward the flesh or toward the Spirit?

What is the content of your thinking? Is it limiting or liberating?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Time Frame: What time frame are you using and considering- past, present or future?To feel this emotion what time frame must you use?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tempo: What is your tempo like? Is it slow, fast or somewhere in between?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What You Have Now

In this chapter we have explored the components that make up and create youremotional experiences. Understanding the structure of your emotions gives youchoice about what to feel, when to feel, and where to feel it.

By changing significant components you can and will change your emotionalexperience.


So select an emotion now. Using the form above find out what is the mostsignificant component(s) that creates that emotional experience. Then changeeach component one at a time to change and alter your emotional states.

Experiment.

And remember, as always, have fun!


Chapter 7

The Positive Use of “Negative” Emotions

"Emotions are meant to be our allies- not our enemies" (Mike Davis)

Okay I have studiously avoided labeling emotions as “negative” and “positive” inthis book. Why? Because the terms “negative” and “positive” when used inconnection with our emotions can convey something quite misleading.

When we speak of something as being “positive” we normally think of it asbeing “good”. When we speak of something as “negative” we think of it as being“bad”. When we apply these labels to our emotions they can influence how weperceive our emotions. A “positive emotion” will be seen as “good” andsomething to pursue and have; while a “negative emotion” will be seen as “bad”and something to avoid or be rid of.

This can lead to thinking of some of our emotions as being “of God” (they arethe good or positive ones) and others as “not of God” (the bad or negativeones).

For example is “love” of God or not of God-is it positive or negative?

How about “hate”-is it negative or positive; of God or not of God?

We might immediately say of love that it is positive, good, and of God. After allthe Bible says that God is love and love is of God (I John 4:7, 8). But the biblealso says “Love not the world neither the things that in the world’ (I John 2:15).The word translated as “love” here in I John 2:15 is the same word translated aslove in I John 4:7. In I john 2:15 love is spoken of in a “negative” or sinful sense.It is not positive at all.

What about “hate”? Well of course that is negative and not of God –right?We are told in Leviticus 19:17 “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart”


Here hate is used in a clearly “negative” or sinful sense. But we are also told inAmos 5:15 “Hate the evil and love the good”. Here we have a clear “positive”and godly use of hate.

So we see that emotions that we sometimes designate as “positive” or good arenot always used in a positive/good fashion in Scripture; and those deemed“negative” or bad are not always used in a negative/bad fashion.

I believe that all of your emotions are “good” in that they were created by God(see Genesis 1:31). Because of sin they are sometimes used for sinful or evilpurposes. When your God-given emotions are used for sinful purposes they arecalled “lusts of the flesh”. Lusts of the flesh are your God-given emotionsmoving in a direction contrary to the will of God. The lusts of the flesh is sinusing what is good (your emotions and desires) for evil.

Different Categories: Pleasant/Unpleasant

Rather than calling our emotions positive or negative I prefer to categorize themas either “Pleasant” or “Unpleasant”. Some emotions are pleasant to feel: love,joy, peace, kindness, etc. Some are unpleasant to feel: anger, hate, frustration,sadness, etc.

In saying that an emotion is pleasant or unpleasant we are not saying whether theemotion is good or bad, of the flesh or of the Spirit, negative or positive. We aremerely noting the “feeling effect” the emotion produces –pleasant orunpleasant feelings.Whether or not the feeling is good or bad, of the flesh or of the Spirit, negativeor positive is determined by the direction of the emotion. Is the direction ofthe emotion leading you away from God and fulfilling His will or is it leadingyou toward sin and sinful behavior?

The direction of the emotion determines if the emotion is positive or negative.So if the emotion of joy is leading you to “rejoice in sin” or in someone’smisfortune then we can say that is a “negative” use of joy. Joy in this instance isnegative because it is being used in an ungodly and sinful fashion.

If the emotion of hate is being used to hate sin, racism, injustice or anything thatis contrary to God’s will then the direction of that hate is good. It is being usedin a godly manner. Hate in this instance is positive.


All emotions –pleasant or unpleasant-are positive when they are used to fulfillthe will of God.

Every emotion-pleasant or unpleasant- is negative when it is used to motivatetoward and produce sin.

Emotions as Signals

Pleasant and unpleasant emotions serve as motivators.

“Those emotions that we experience as being undesirable [what I call unpleasant –Mike] tend to turn us away from their object. For example, we try to move away fromthose things we fear [fear being an unpleasant emotion-Mike]. In contrast those emotionswe experience as being desirable tend to draw us toward their object. For example we tryto be with persons we like [like –a pleasant emotion].” (Marilyn Vander Goot“Healthy Emotions” page 23)

Pleasant emotions motivate us to move toward something or someone, andunpleasant emotions motivate us to move away from something or someone.

What this tells us is that are emotions –pleasant or unpleasant- serve as signals.They are signals that we are to take some sort of action-either toward somethingor away form something. To quote Marilyn Vander Goot again,

“The signaling function that emotions serve is tied with actions. It is as though our emotionsturn us toward certain actions and away from others”

In their book the Emotional Hostage Leslie Cameron-Bandler and MichaelLebeau refer to this signaling aspect of emotions as their functional attribute (page35-38). We can define the functional attribute or signaling aspect of youremotions as

“What an emotion is endeavoring to communicate to you or get you to dothat is to your benefit”

Actually, I would say that as a child of God it’s what you are communicatingto yourself or endeavoring to get yourself to do that is according to God's wordand to your benefit and advantage.


All emotions carry and communicate important information-both the pleasantand the unpleasant ones. This is something that I have found all researchers andwriters in the field of emotions research agree upon.Emotions carry important information that is crucial to your well-being. Godmeant for your emotions, even the unpleasant ones to be your allies-not yourenemies in His service.

As someone once said “emotions make wonderful servants but tyrannicalmasters”. Your emotions are to serve you in serving and fulfilling the will ofGod. When you look upon them and respond to them as signals that arecommunicating important information, that are transmitting to you an importantmessage they work in just that way.

While you can readily see how this is true of pleasant emotions it is equally trueof the unpleasant emotions you may often feel. They too are communicatingimportant messages that you need to heed and pay attention to.

As the Scriptures tell us

“"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Gen 1:31)"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, (Romans 8:28)

Unpleasant emotions and experiences serve a positive purpose; they convey apositive signal and message. Let me give you some examples:

Examples of “Negative” or Unpleasant Emotions used in Positive Ways

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (KJV) the Apostle Paul write of his experience with a“thorn in his flesh”; something that was causing him to have a negative, or morespecifically, an unpleasant experience

“7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, therewas given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should beexalted above measure.8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect inweakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christmay rest upon me.10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, indistresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”


The thorn was causing an unpleasant experience of weakness in Paul. But afterthe Lord spoke to Paul Paul's weakness served a different purpose: it became asignal letting him know that Divine Strength was being perfected in him.This led Paul to rejoice in his weakness, to take joy and pleasure in it; becausewhat was formerly only negative and unpleasant was now being used in apositive and empowering manner.

We see another example of this in Psalms 56:3 where David states

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee”.

David used the unpleasant emotion of fear as a signal to let him know that it wastime to trust in God. The fear served David as a message to move from feelingsof fear or insecurity to feelings of safety and security in God (The Hebrewmeaning of batach/trust: see Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament #233page 101)

The “negative” emotion of fear served a positive purpose of signaling David totrust in God. Davis used the “negative” in a positive way.

Let’s look at one more example

Deuteronomy 7:16-19 (KJV)

16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shalldeliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou servetheir gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can Idispossess them?

18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God didunto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mightyhand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall theLORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.


When Israel saw the great nations before them and felt fear, the fear was toserve as a signal to remind them to focus on God's greatness and power. Thiswas for the purpose of nurturing in them confidence in God

The “negative” emotion of fear served a positive purpose and contained apositive message:

“This is what you do when you feel afraid before your enemies-call tomind and focus on the great and mighty deeds of the Lord your God!”

The fear, the unpleasant emotion was a signal, and contained a message to take apositive action.

As stated above unpleasant emotions and experiences serve a positive purpose:

They are a signal and contain a message to take positive action according to thewill of God. We just need to know what that signal and message is so that wecan properly respond to it and use it to support us in obeying God.

Below are some suggested meanings we can give to the signal of someunpleasant emotions

Emotional States and suggested signals and messages they convey:

Regret: Feed back for letting you know that you made a mistake in the past;how can you use that information now and into the future to your benefit andbenefit of others?

Guilt: A signal that you have violated a personal standard and need to make surenot to do that again in the future.

Anxiety: A signal to let you know that there is something in the future that youneed to prepare for better.

Frustration: let's you know that you are not achieving something you desire butthat it is still possible to get it. It may suggest doing something different, or setting alonger time frame.


What new empowering and useful meaning can you give to theunpleasant emotional states below or to some you experience?How can they serve you; what positive message do you want them toconvey to you based on God’s word? Write your answers below.

Anger:

Overwhelm:

Inadequate:

Worthless:

Discouraged:

Others:

It is worth your time to pray, think about and come up with “signal meaningsand messages” that will enable you to use unpleasant emotions to your benefit.

Here is an exercise and pattern to help you accept and appreciate yourUnpleasant emotions as allies in serving God.

Embracing Unpleasant Emotions as Your Allies

Access a state of Acceptance Think of something that you easily and naturally accept (a rainy day, traffic, the day of

the week). really feel the acceptance As you feel that state of acceptance think of unpleasant emotions you feel on a regular

basis Choose to feel the acceptance for these unpleasant emotions Accept and embrace these emotions as signals that communicate to you something

important that you need to do for yourself in order to obey God and live life fully.


Access a state of Appreciation/thankfulness Think about something that you naturally and easily feel appreciative and thankful for

or about (your family, something you own, an experience you’ve had, etc,.) Feel this appreciation/thankfulness towards God about the emotions. Appreciate that you have been given a signaling system that lets you know when you

need to do something different for your own benefit.

Imagine experiencing this state in the future and responding to it as a signal, as anally that let's you know that you need to take action and do something for your ownbenefit What will you do differently? Imagine doing it now as a response to your signal Feel thankful and appreciative toward God for your new response-enjoy it and

rejoice over it.

It is important that after you embrace your unpleasant emotions as your alliesthat signal you to take positive actions that you identify what those actions are.This will enable you to get the full benefit from the signal.

What You Have Now

In this chapter you learned that rather than labeling your emotions as negative orpositive it is more useful to label them as pleasant or unpleasant.

You also learned that your emotions –both the pleasant and the unpleasant –serve as signals, as messages that convey to you important, and empoweringinformation about positive actions you need to take for your well-being and inorder to fulfill the will of God.You were then asked to identify what the positive and empowering message ofyour own unpleasant emotions are and what they are signaling you to do that isfor your benefit.

You were also given a strategy for embracing your emotions as your allies.Practice this strategy at least once a day in order to begin thinking and feelinghabitually about your emotions as your allies. This pattern will help you torespond to and make positive use of your unpleasant emotions.


Chapter 8How to Train Your Emotions

"Emotions make wonderful servants but tyrannical masters"(anon)

By now you should be convinced of the fact that where your emotions areconcerned you have choice. You are not stuck with or limited to any particularemotional experience or expression. You can choose what you want to feel,where you want to feel it, and when.

And you can do this not only for the short term but also for the long term. Inthis chapter you will learn a simple format that will show you how to train andcondition your emotions so that you can emotionally respond in situations theway you want more consistently.

Emotions can be Trained

First let’s look at the fact that your emotions can be trained.

In II Peter 2:14 Peter writes about those whose hearts have been

“…exercised with covetous practices…”

The word translated as “exercised” means in Greek “to train the body or mind(which would include the emotions)”.

What Peter is telling us is that these people have their intellectual and emotivefaculties trained and exercised in covetous desires and practices. They haveconditioned their emotions towards desiring what should not be desired.

So Peter teaches us that we can train our hearts and emotions, our very desires inthat which is ungodly.

Micah 2:1, 2 also supports this fact. In this passage Micah speaks of those whocovet fields and houses and take them by violence. This happen Micah tells us, inverse 1, because they

“….devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds…”


The word “devise” in Hebrew means to imagine or to plan, and the word“work” in Hebrew translates the word “pa’al” which means “to do or makesystematically and habitually; to practice” (Strong’s Concordance #6466)

The people that Micah speaks against are people who through their imaginationdevise and practice coveting. They train their desires in wrong ungodly desires bytheir evil imaginings.

But just as we can train our emotions and desires in what is ungodly we can alsotrain them in what is godly.

In I Timothy 4:7 Paul writes

“…exercise thyself rather unto godliness”

The word translated as exercise is the same word used in II Peter 2:14. Thus Paulis telling us to train body, mind, and emotion in what is godly.

Author Warren Shibles also speaks to the reality that emotions can be trained ordeveloped.

“We can learn how to change from being an angry person to hardly everbeing angry. We can change our entire personalities in this way. We caneliminate negative emotions (jealousy, anger, envy, etc.) and developpositive emotions such as warmth, love, being happy, enjoying humor,etc”

(Warren Shibles “Emotions: The Method of Philosophical Therapy pages 17-19as quoted in “Self Care” by Ray Anderson page 69).

Let me share with you a 5 step process for training your emotive faculties ingodly emotions and desires. This process can be used to train, direct and developyour emotive faculties in practically any emotion you want.

I call this process: The Sanctifying Emotions Pattern

This process will enable you to train and set your emotions apart for godlypurposes. I will give you the pattern first and then we will look at specific waysyou can apply it.


The Sanctifying Emotions Pattern

1. Decide How you want to respond in a specific situation-then decideyou will respond that way

Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us “I have set before you life and deathblessing and cursing therefore choose life…”

James 1:2 tells us that we can choose to respond to tests andtrails with joy!

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us that in the midst of test and trials wecan be confident or of good cheer.

You have a choice about what and how you will respondemotionally to a situation and in a situation

2. Reject and say no to every thought, attitude and emotion that iscontrary to Gods will and your decision.

Titus 2:11, 12 “For the grace of God which brings salvation has appearedto all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness, and worldly passions andto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.” (NIV)

Once you have chosen and decided on purpose how you willrespond emotionally in a situation, decide on purpose to rejectand renounce every response that is contrary to your newdesired, chosen response.

In Colossians 3:8 we are told to “put off’ lusts of the flesh likeanger, wrath and malice (ill feelings toward another, the desire tosee harm come to them). The words “put off” also mean torenounce and reject.

Literally say out loud to yourself “I will no longer think-feel or respondin this way any! No! I am done with responding in this way”

Say this with strong commitment, passion and determination. Say it as many times as you need to until you know within “I am

done with responding in this way”

3. Practice and rehearse in your imagination the mental-emotional responseyou have chosen to live

Proverbs 12:5 “The thoughts of the righteous are right” “thoughts”: in Hebrew means meditations/imaginations, plans Remember that in Micah 2:1 the wicked used their imagination

to practice covetousness.


Use the zakar principle to access the emotion you need (seenext step)

4. The Zakar Principle: Deuteronomy 7: 17 -19 Zakar to remember; to recall something to mind in order to be

moved by it (mentally, emotionally and behaviorally). Moses told Israel to remember God’s great deeds against Egypt

when they were faced with fear so that they would feelconfident. They were to use a memory of the past to createemotional confidence in the present and for the future.

The zakar principle is one of the steps you use to create youremotional tags.

Think of a time when you felt the emotion you have chosen As you feel it imagine being in your specific situation fulfilling

the will of God with that emotion and being motivated by thatemotion.

5. Rehearse this new mental-emotional response daily in yourimagination until it becomes your natural way of thinking-feeling-behaving in the specific situation you identified.

Repetition is the key to installing a new way of thinking feelingand behaving and making it stick. In Deuteronomy 6: 7 Israel iscommanded to teach the Torah diligently unto their children. Theword diligent means to “inculcate; to impress upon the mind byfrequent and urgent repetition”

Proverbs 3:5, 6; Philippians 2:13 – acknowledge God’s Presenceand power at work in you.

I Thessalonians 5:18 - Do this by giving Him thanks as yourehearse and practice your new response in your imagination

This is the process in a nut shell. And you can use it to create new, habitual waysof thinking-feeling and acting that are in alignment with God’s will.

For example a few years ago I had gotten out of the habit of spending time withGod on a daily basis. As a matter of fact due to some negative events anddisappointments that had taken place in my life I had begun to feel like “What’sthe use of spending time with God? What’s the use of praying? God is going todo what He wants anyway!”


Needless to say such thinking and feeling did not motivate me to spend timewith God. But I still loved God and I did want to spend time with Him. Nowone way of handling that would have been to simply ignore how I was feelingand tell myself “Mike get with the program. It doesn’t matter how you feel –youspend time with God!”

I could have done this. But instead I decided to retrain my emotions and redirectmy desires to want the things of God.

So I decided how I wanted to feel. I wanted to have desire for the things of God.I wanted to desire spending time with him and studying and reading His word. Iwanted to desire prayer. So I decided that is how I would think and feel aboutspending time with God – as something I wanted and desired. And I decidedthat from now on this is how I would feel (Step #1)

And then I decided I would no longer put up with and keep the thoughts,feelings, and emotions that were contrary to God’s will and my desire. I rejectedand renounced them! I said “No!” to them. I would no longer have it! (This wasstep #2).

I then remembered a time in my life when I really desired to be with God; a timewhen I really enjoyed reading and studying my bible and praying. I picked a timewhen I was sixteen years old, a time in my life when I would wake up in themorning excited to spend time with God! In my imagination I went back to thattime when I would awake at 5:00 am in the morning, slip out of bed, go into thebathroom and worship and sing songs to God in a whisper so I would not wakemy 2 brothers whom I shared a room with (of course my brothers said theyheard my 5:00 am whispers of “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! and Thank youJesus!”-and that it drove them nuts!).As I went back and relived those memoriesI felt all the feelings of joy and excitement that I felt then.

As I felt those feelings I then imagined spending time in prayer andstudy of God’s word now in this day and age.. I imagined getting up in themorning motivated by those wonderful feelings and going to my place of prayerand spending time enjoying the Presence of God (Steps #3 and #4).

I did this daily (step#5). When I would awaken in the morning, if I didn’t feellike praying I would immediately go back to that time and place when I was 16years old and feel those feelings again. Then I would take a moment to imaginegetting up and spending time with God being motivated by these wonderfulfeeling. In a matter of moments I would feel motivated and would get up to prayand study.


I did this daily until it became a habitual normal way of thinking-feeling aboutspending time in prayer.

And when I feel like my desire is waning I go back and repeat this process torenew my desire for the things of God (I Peter 2:2).

The Bible tells us that in God’s Presence is fullness of joy and at His right handpleasures forevermore (Psalms16:11).Furthermore we are told that his wordrejoices the heart and is to be desired more than gold; that his word is sweeterthan honey (Psalms 19:8,9).

No where in the Scriptures are you told that time spent with God has to be alaborious chore that you have to do no matter how we feel. Time spent withGod should be a joy, a delight, and a pleasure! And if you don’t feel like it is youdon’t have to wait until you do! Using the Sanctifying Emotions pattern you canalign your emotions and desire with the truth of Scripture concerning the joy ofHis presence and enjoy your time with God!

Starting today! Starting right now (if you so choose)!

We all have mental and emotional habitual ways of thinking-feeling that weautomatically go into when we encounter certain people, events, or objects.

You can develop spiritual mental-emotional ways of responding also!

Remember Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh, mind the things of theflesh; but they that are after the Spirit [mind] the things of the Spirit”?

Well Romans 8:6 goes on to say “For to be carnally minded is death but to bespiritually minded is life and peace”

The word minded in Greek is “phronema” and refers to the result of practicinga certain way of thinking. It refers to a mind-set, a set way of thinking-feeling-and deciding that is the product of consistently thinking –feeling and deciding ina certain way.

So if you consistently practice thinking-feeling and deciding according to theflesh you will eventually develop a fleshly or carnal mindset, attitude, or way ofthinking-feeling.


But if you consistently think-feel-and decide according to the Spirit, in alignmentwith the Spirit and word of God you will develop a spiritual mind-set, attitude orway of thinking-feeling.

So by practice you can develop emotional attitudes, habitual ways of feeling anddesiring, that are in alignment with and reflect the will and word of God!

And the Sanctifying Emotions Pattern is designed to help you do just that.

One MoreTip

Before we close out this chapter I want to give you one more tip to help youSanctify and train your emotion unto godliness.

The tip is this: Get a partner (or partners)!

In Hebrews 10:24 we are exhorted

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works”

The word “Provoke” means to incite to what is good”. As Christians we are notcalled to live the Christians life on our own or by ourselves. We are to have othercommitted believers around us who will encourage us (and whom we canencourage) and “provoke” to live godly lives. We are to be a part of acommunity of believers seeking to love and obey God (see II Timothy 2:20-22)

So when I say get a partner I mean partner with someone you trust and givethem permission to speak into you life to help you achieve your goals (and theyshould give you that same permission).

They can help remind you to use what you know and do what you know to do.You can partner with someone (or more than one person) to use the tools in thisbook and to remind one another to daily practice these tools.

And you can help each other to stay focused until you establish your newresponses according to the will of God.

O paraphrase a saying I once heard “you got saved for yourself but you don’thave to stay saved by yourself”

Get and work with a partner!


What you have now:

Okay, in this chapter you were presented with the concept of training youremotions; of conditioning yourself to respond in specific ways, to specificsituations in order to fulfill the will of God with the appropriate emotions.

You were taught a process for doing this “The Sanctifying Your EmotionsPattern”.

By diligently practicing this pattern with a specific emotion you can createhabitual, consistent ways of responding mentally and emotionally that are inalignment with God’s will and Spirit.

And you were encouraged to partner and work with another believer (orbelievers) who can be an encouragement to you (and you to them) in practicingand using these tools.


Chapter 9

Knowing the Truth: The Lost Art of Biblical Meditation

He who knows and does not do, in truth does not know(Chinese proverb)

But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving yourown selves (James 1:22)

As Chrsitians we have been given liberty, freedom and victory in Christ..

We have victory over sin (Romans 6:13).

Victory over the flesh (Galatians 5:24, Romans 8:8,9)

And victory over this world (I John 5:4)

Yet many believers do not live in and experience the liberty and freedom spokenof in Scripture.

Jesus said that when we know the truth-the truth of Scripture- we would bemade free (John 8:31-32). But many believers while knowing what the bibleteaches about their new life in Christ don’t experience what they read about as aliving reality.

How can we experience the words of Jesus and the truths of Scriptureconcerning our new life as a lving reality in our life? What does it take?

Knowing The Truth

Jesus in John 8:31,32 made this statement

“If you continue in my word then are you my disciples indeed. And you shallknow the truth and the truth shall make you free”

Now Notice what Jesus says here in vs. 32 “ You shall know the truthand the truth [that you know] shall make you free”


He didn’t say that it is the truth that we learn or hear that makes us free;it is the truth that we know that makes us free. What is crucial is that weknow the truth. So what does it mean to know the truth?

First let’s remember that Jesus is a part of first century, Jewish MediterraneanCulture. In such a culture to “know” something was to have more than just an“intellectual grasp” of information, or to simply “have information” aboutsomething. To “know” something was to personally experience the object ofthe knowing (“A Social- Science Commentary on: the Letters of Paul” by BruceJ. Malina and John J. Pilch page 375).

Author Robert C. Dentan in his book The Knowledge of God In AncientIsrael states that to the Hebrew mind to know involves more than just anintellectual grasp of information. Rather,

“Genuine knowledge involved the whole of man’s personality – hismind, his feelings, and his deeds” (page 40)

“A man’s theology [i.e. his knowledge] should engage his passions aswell as his thoughts, and must call forth not only the response “Iunderstand”, but “I love” and “I will”. (page 41)

In biblical /Hebraic thought to “know” something is to have the knowledge ofwhat you know influence, shape, and, direct your intellect, will, emotions,words, and behavior. To the Hebraic/Jewish/biblical mind, that which youtruly “know” influences all that you are and is manifested in your behavior andlifestyle. In biblical thought true knowledge is embodied knowledge and isrevealed in how you live.

So when Jesus says that it is the truth that you know that makes you free he isspeaking of truth that you experience, truth that touches and shapes yourintellect, will and emotions. Truth that has become a part of you.

The truth of God’s word must touch you intellectually, volitionally andemotionally if it is to do a transforming and liberating work within you


As author Robert L. Saucy has written

“The union of thought, emotion, and volition in the heart and their inter-relatedness of function indicate that all three are involved in humanbehavior.

Any attempt to facilitate a change of heart necessary for human changeand growth must consider the place of all of these dimensions of theperson as they function in the heart.”

(Christian Perspectives on Being Human)

In order to be set free by the truth the truth must impact and shape all aspect ofour mental –emotional being. Or else change will not happen and freedom inChrist will not be experienced.Truth must be experienced emotionally as well as intellectually for freedom tobe truly experienced.

How do we do this? What is the key?

The key is Biblical Meditation

Biblical Meditation: The Lost Art

In Joshua 1:8 God speaks to Joshua and tells him,

“This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shaltmeditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do accordingto all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperousand then thou shalt have good success.”

In this verse God tells Joshua that in order to live His will, to be a doer (andthus prosper in life) he must meditate in the Word of God (the Law/ Torah)by day and by night.

Biblical meditation is the key to knowing the truth of God, to making it a partof you and becoming a consistent doer of it.

I have found that biblical meditation is a “lost art”. While many believersread the Scriptures, and even study them, most do not meditate uponthem. Time is not set aside for this important practice.


So what does it mean to meditate on the word of God?

Meditation: Hagah and Siach

In Hebrew there are several different words that can be translated asmeditation or that have to do with the concept of meditation. We will examinethree.

The first word is hagah. In Hebrew hagah means to utter, to speak to oneself in a lowvoice, to repeat to oneself out loud. To murmur in pleasure This is the word that is usedin Joshua 1:8 when God tells Joshua to “meditate upon my Law day and night” (Strong’sConcordance: Hebrew and Chaldee dictionary #1897)

The second word is siach. Siach means to speak or converse with oneself, torehearse or repeat to oneself either inwardly or outwardly. This word is used inPsalms 119:97 where David writes “O how I love thy Law it is my meditationall the day” (ibid # 7878 and #7881)

Author and Scholar Johanes Pedersen in his book Israel: Its Life and Culturesays that biblical meditation means:

“…to make oneself familiar with something and thus to bedetermined [or influenced] to act.” (Israel Its Life and Culture byJohanes Pedersen page 126)

So meditation upon the truth is the God- ordained means of knowing thetruth, of letting it impact and influence our thinking, will, and emotions so thatwe can live by it and benefit from it.

So how do we meditate upon God’s word so that we can know it, andconsistently use it?


Effective Biblical Meditation: The 7 Elements

In my studies and teaching over the years on biblical mediation I haveidentified at least seven elements that I consider to be crucial to effectivelymeditating on the truths of scripture in order to “know” them

The seven elements I have formatted in to the acronym D.A.R.E.

The seven elements are:

1. Decision:

Decide what truth of Scripture you are going to meditate upon in order to liveby. Deuteronmy30:19 tells us

“I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore chooselife…”

In the context of chapter 30 the choice the people are asked to make is thechoice to obey God’s word (see vss.15,16). To choose obedience to God’s willis to choose life. Part of meditating effectively upon the truth is to choose thetruth you are going to meditate upon.

2. Declaration:

The second element is to declare or to speak out loud to ourselves the truththat we desire to “know”. Remember that both hagah and siach, the twoHebrew words for meditation, carry the meaning of “to speak out loud” or “toconverse with oneself”. Declaring or speaking God’s word to yourself is one ofthe primary ways to get that word in your heart to do it (see Deuteronomy30:14).

3. Affirmation:

The third element in effective meditation is affirmation. By this I meanspeaking out loud and affirming what you believe. Faith and belief are essentialto knowing the truth. In Hebrews chapter 4:2 it states that Israel, in thewilderness did not profit from the word that they heard because it was notmixed with faith. In Greek the word translated as mixed means, “to assimilate,to commingle, to unite to, and to make one’s own” (Thayer’s Greek-English


Lexicon # 4786 ). It was through faith that the word of God was to beassimilated and become their own.

In II Corinthians 1:20 we are told that all of the promises of God in Jesus areyes-to which we utter the “amen!” According to Scholars “Amen” is spokenafter something in order to identify with it, receive it as your own and tocommit oneself to it. Affirmation or the stating of ones belief is an importantpart of the meditating process.

4. Action:

Action is the fourth element in effectively mediating in God’s Word. In James2:17-22 we are told that faith without works is dead and that through obedience,or action we perfect our faith. By acting on what we believe what we believebecomes even more a part of us. It becomes more of who we are. At first ouractions may be halting and stumbling like the first steps of a baby learning howto walk. But as we continue acting, continuing practicing we get better at it likethe small child who gets better at walking by continuing to walk. Someone oncesaid, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well”.By taking action we get better at what we do.

5. Repetition:

Repetition is the fifth element of effective meditation.

Inherent in the meaning of hagah and siach is the idea of repetition andrehearsal. In Deuteronomy 6:7 we are told,

“And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy

heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children…”

In Hebrew the words “teach them diligently” are actually one word inHebrew “shanan”. Shanan means “to inculcate”, “to impress upon the [heart]or mind by frequent repetition or persistent urging”. To learn anything well andthoroughly we must repeat and rehearse it.


6. Envision:

The sixth element of biblical mediation is to envision obedience to God’sword. By this I mean purposely using your imagination to practice living andobeying the truth of Scripture.

In Proverbs 12:5 we are told

“The thoughts of the righteous are right…”

Here in this passage we are given another word for meditation (our third word)The word for “thoughts” in Hebrew is machashebeth. Machashebeth can betranslated as “the plans of the mind, the meditations of the mind, theimaginations of the mind”. Johanes Pederson writes that machashebeth

“…always indicates the plan, i.e., the action such as it appears in themind…‘Thoughts’ here as else where means plans, i.e., theaccomplished work as a mental image involving its execution” (page125)

The word for “right” in this passage is mishpat. Mishpat means among otherthings “the manner of proceeding, the way in which something is done, thestandard of one’s behavior, that which one is wont to do-their custom”

So we are told in Proverbs 12:5 that the righteous are those who meditate, whoimagine and envision doing what is right; they rehearse and plan in their mindright action and behavior.

To imagine oneself living and obeying the truth is an aspect of meditatingupon God’s Word.

7. Emotion:

The seventh and final element in effective meditation is emotion.

Normally emotions are not considered in discussions of meditationupon God’s word. But they are essentially in helping to effectivelyand efficiently assimilate the word of God. As a matter of factStrong’s concordance gives as one of the definitions of hagah “tomurmur in pleasure”. Positive emotions aid and speed up the process


of knowing the word and having it affect and transform our entirebeing.

Author Robert L. Saucy has stated

“The importance of emotions in human life is seen in that theyultimately drive the behavior…. This truth is behind the biblical conceptof not simply reading Scripture, but meditating on it. The repetition andother aspects involved in meditation is designed to let the truth touch theemotions and thus effect a change of life.” (Christian Perspectives On Being

Human edited by J.P. Moreland and David Ciocchi page 43)

Biblical meditation involves the emotions as well as the intellect and will. InPhilippians 4:8 we are told concerning certain virtues to “think on thesethings”. The word “think” according to the “Theological Dictionary of theNew Testament” has emotive connotations. (H.W. Heidland: Theological

Dictionary of The New Testament volume 4:289)

Again Author Robert L. Saucy translates this verse as

“…ponder to the point of emotional involvement leading to behavior”

(Christian Perspectives On Being Human page 44)

And David in Psalms 119:97 had this to say about his emotional response tothe Word of God

“O how I LOVE thy Law; it is my meditation all the day”

In the above passage David states that he “LOVES” the word of God. Theword for love in the passage is the Hebrew term ahav. Ahav denotes “a strongemotional desire for and attachment to the object of love”. Davidpossessed a strong desire and attachment to the Word of God. It was in thisstate of love and desire that he meditated upon the Scriptures to assimilatethem and make them his own. David’s mediation upon Scripture was withinthe context of strong positive and pleasurable emotions.

Meditation with positive and empowering emotional states helps to make theword we are meditating upon “stick” and become a part of us.


So how do you meditate upon the word of God so that it impacts you mentally,emotionally and behaviorally?

Biblical Meditation: The M.A.P. Pattern

Meditation forAssimilationProcess

The following process is based upon and adapted from “The Mind-to MusclePattern” created by Dr. Michael Hall and found in His book “Secrets ofPersonal Mastery” (page 238-240). This pattern as described here utilizes all ofthe elements of the DARE model. Its purpose is to provide a way of gettingthe truths of God into your heart, so that it affects and shapes your thoughts,emotions, decisions and behaviors.

It is best performed standing up (at least for your first time). And you maywant someone to read the steps to you the first time around.

Step #1 - Identify a principle or truth of scripture you want to make a part of you.

Step #2 - Turn the principle or truth of scripture into a decisive, declarativestatement.

"I choose to believe "

Step #3 - State your declarative statement in words that are compelling for you.

"I believe "

If you believed this with every fiber of your being how would you say thisbelief?

Step #4 - Restate your belief decision as an internal experience

When you fully and completely believe this in your heart, what will youexperience? How will you feel?


Put your feelings into words: "I feel…"; "I experience…"

Notice what you are feeling within

Step #5 - Declare what Action you will take as an expression of your belief anddecision.

It can be small and simple

"The one thing that I will do today as an expression of my belief,decision and feeling is…"

And what one thing will you do tomorrow? And the day after that

Step #6 – Envision/Imagine taking that action - seeing it, hearing it, doing it.

Why are you doing this, because you believe what?

Because you decided what?

Because you feel what?

Step # 7 – Repeat and rehearse steps 1-6

Practice these steps daily until the truth you are meditating uponbecomes “yours”; until it impacts and shapes your thinking,emotions, will and behavior.

The Meditation and Assimilation Process is a wonderful tool and an effectivemeans of practicing the art of biblical meditation. It enables you to take theWord of God and to move from just hearing (or learning) to doing. It providesa truly effective means for knowing the truth in the fullest biblical sense of theword.

So what scriptural truth have you learned that you want to know? What truthdo you want to truly “know” so that it becomes you way of being in the world?

Have you set aside a time each day where you can meditate upon the truths ofScripture that you desire to live?


In I Timothy 4:15 the Apostle Paul tells Timothy concerning the work he wasto engage in

“Meditate upon these, things give thyself wholly to them that thyprofiting may appear to all”

Are you ready to move forward and excel on a consistent basis in yourChristian life? Are you ready to be and do all that God has created andempowered you to be and do?

Then take the time to apply this process in your life and Meditate upon theWord of God.

You will be glad you did.

What you have now.

In this chapter you were presented with a pattern to help you to “know” thetruth in the true biblical sense of the word.

The Pattern, The Meditation Assimilation Process enables you to employ all ofthe different elements of effective biblical meditation: Decision and DeclarativeStatements, Affirming the truth, Acting on the Word, Repetition, andEnvisioning.

Practicing and using this pattern on a daily basis will help you to consistentlyobey and live the will of God in your life.

Final Word

So now what? Where do you go from here?


That my friend is up to you. You now have tools that can help you to exercisemore emotional choice and freedom in your Christian life.

You now have practical strategies to help you to “mind” the things of the Spiritand to stop minding what is of the flesh.

What you have learned will enable you to utilize your emotions in the service ofGod rather than in the service of sin.

I suggest choosing one or two of the “Unstuck Strategies” to learn, practiceand master. Practice it on a daily basis. Use them on specific troublesomefeelings and desires that you want to have more victory over.

Then establish some emotional tags for yourself. Establish strong emotionaltags that will enable you to get out of and have more choice over thoughts,feelings and behaviors that you know are contrary to the will of God.

Use the “How to Train Your Emotions” steps to establish emotionaldispositions and habits that you want in specific areas of life.

Are there certain Scriptural truths that you really want to believe and have inyour heart as a living reality? Then use the Meditation and Assimilation Processand Pattern to help you meditate upon and establish that truth in your heart.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will lead, guide and illuminate you in your useof these tools; that they will be of benefit to you and help you in the renewingof your mind and your experience of your liberty and freedom in Christ.

God Bless

Mike.

1“dictionary of old testament theology and exegesis” pages 231-233). the man in psalms 1:2 has...

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