Decide not to live by how you feel

Decide not to live by how you feel

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We all have times when we wake up in the morning and feel the blahs and
blues; we don't feel very excited. But just because we feel those emotions
doesn't mean we have to stay there and give in to them; we can shake it off
and move forward in faith relying on God's strength.

A great example of someone in the Bible who had a lot of experience in
shaking off negative emotions is David. He had to fight being moody, and he
was the King of Israel. He had all kinds of opportunity, power and
position. He was wealthy, and yet, he still struggled with being depressed
and discouraged. That tells me that having to choose to rule over negative
feelings is something every person has to deal with. Don't think you're
alone if you feel this way. Turn to God and His hope. Don't think, "If I
just had more money, if I had a better job, if I had a different spouse,
then I'd be in a good mood, Joel. Then I wouldn't have to deal with these
feelings." No, you may think that, but every person has to fight the
temptation to just give in and live by how we feel.
I love what David did; he talked to himself. He said, "Why are you cast
down, oh, my soul? Hope in the Lord." That's Psalm 42. He was saying in
everyday language, "David, what are you doing in a bad mood? Stop looking
at your problems and start looking at your God." That tells me that true
joy is found only in God, when you take your eyes off of how you feel and
your circumstances and place them on God and His Word.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is talk to ourselves and speak scripture
over our lives. When you're tempted to be in a bad mood, go look in the
mirror and say, "Listen here, self. You need to cheer up. Get your joy
back, get your peace back. I'm not going to live this day defeated." You
have to stay on the offensive. Don't wait until you've been down for three
days before you decide to do something about it. The moment you feel that
discouragement trying to come on you, rise up and say, "No, I'm not going
there." You wake up in the morning and feel the blahs, you say, "Nope,
that's not for me. This is going to be a good day. It's the day the Lord
has made."

Do you know being in a sour mood because of your problems doesn't make it
better, it makes it worse? It puts more pressure on you. It makes you more
miserable. A better approach is to say, "God, I'm turning this situation
over to You. I'm not going to let it steal my joy. I know You're in
control. And at the right time, I believe You'll not only turn it around,
but You'll bring me out better off than I was before." That's how we rule
over negative feelings. It's simply a decision that we make every day where
we have to dig our heels in and decide that our feelings are not going to
dictate what kind of day we're going to have. You can rule over your
emotions and choose to be in a good mood in spite of how you feel. You can
choose what kind of day you're going to have. You can choose how you're
going to live your life.

I know some of you, maybe in the natural, have a good reason to be down and
discouraged. But don't allow yourself to go there. When you are stable in
spite of what's come against you, that's one of the best ways to show God
that you're trusting Him.

Decide not to live by how you feel. Go deeper than that and start living by
what you know. You know God is in control. You know He's got a great plan
for your life. You know His power is greater than any other power. When you
wake up and those old negative, discouraging thoughts and feelings come,
shake them off. Be done with that roller coaster living. Don't give into
your emotions and let them keep you from God's blessings and promotion.
Start choosing to live each day in God's peace. Decide that you're going to
have a great day. By doing so, you will see God work in your life in
greater ways because your eyes are fixed toward Him instead of your
situation, and you'll live the life of victory He has in store for you!

Thank you for all of your support and prayers continue to keep me and my
family in prayer. I am working on some new things. God has opened up many
doors for me. I will be posting my event that I am invited to share my
testimony so be looking out it might be at a city near you. You can request
for me to come speak at any of your events just email me @
soundthealarmoutreach@gmail.com. I will be glad to share where God has
brought me from and is taking me to it is time to sound the alarm and save
a life. You can send in your prayer request, share your testimonies and get
your friends to follow us @ http://www.soundthealarmoutreach.blogspot.com/ .
God Bless,

Atara Estes aka Sound the Alarm Outreach