Feelings are More Important Than Facts - Aviel Schneider ISRAEL TODAY

Feelings are More Important Than Facts

Sunday, May 14, 2017 |  Aviel Schneider  ISRAEL TODAY

No where is "fake news" and "alternative facts" more employed than in reporting on Israel and the Mideast conflict.

The full article appears in the May 2017 issue of Israel Today Magazine.
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Is Grace a License to Sin? by Sue Birdseye

Is Grace a License to Sin? 

by Sue Birdseye

IDENTITY NETWORK

Have you ever gotten a continual message from God over and over and over again, in as many different ways as you can imagine?

Lately that has been my experience with the gospel. Every book I pick up, every sermon I hear, every quote I find and every verse I read points me to the gospel - or at least it seems that way.

And although I've heard the concept of preaching the gospel to myself daily and understood it to some degree, I haven't got it as profoundly as I'd like.

I'm praying for understanding, for application and for ability to live out the gospel daily.

I just read these verses and again what struck me was the gospel!

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (Gal. 1:3-6, ESV).

God truly has been reminding me over and over again about His relentless, passionate and unconditional love for me - for all of us.

Grace….

The first word, grace (love that word, BTW), is defined as "an undeserved act of kindness." It represents all that we have received as a result of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross.

And then that other lovely word, peace, is a result of the grace we have received because of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross.

That sounds a little bit repetitive, but I'm trying to get that gospel message into my head and heart more deeply than ever - that the grace and peace that God gives us is because of Jesus, not us.

Isn't that freeing?

It was God's will for Jesus to die for our sins so that we wouldn't have to, so that we could have a relationship with Him, so that we would know that He loves us more than we could ever imagine.

I don't know about you, but I need to know that - I mean, really and truly know that.

Bogus Fears and Feelings

I have recognized lately that I really struggle with thinking I'm worthy of anything. I wonder if everything happened because I really am a complete mess  -because a lot of times I really feel like one.

Sometimes I feel like I'm such a failure. I wonder if I'll ever get things right with parenting, home management and my career (whatever that may be). I wonder if anyone would truly be able to deal with my life - really. I wonder if I could ever truly be a blessing of a wife to someone; my first time around didn't end so well.

The funny thing about my fears and my feelings is that know they are bogus. They don't reflect who I am in Christ. And I know who I am, so why do I struggle so?

Why is it so difficult to see my value as a child of the King? Why am I so impacted by my successes or failures in this sin-ridden world?

I think the key word is sin-ridden. Stuff is just gonna be a struggle here.

Fear is gonna assail us, but it doesn't have to defeat us.

Doubts are gonna rain down on us, but they don't have to drown us.

Failure is gonna happen, but it doesn't have to define us.

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? 

Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:31-35, 37-39).

More than conquerors! Seriously, how can we be more than conquerors? That's crazy!

Crazy good, though.

Free to Live

God didn't send Jesus to live and die for me so that I could live a life of defeat. He's not even content with me living a life of mediocrity. I'm free from the power of sin and death. I'll struggle, to be sure, but God has already given me all I need to live a life of freedom and victory.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1).

I'm free to live without fear of condemnation. Free to live without fear of failure. Free to live without fear, period.

I'm not a slave to sin, to fear, to anxiety, to past mistakes, to expectations, to failures, to successes, to anything.

I don't have to fear because God loves me perfectly.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

But that love - that perfect love - that is God. That is the gospel. That is what Paul is talking about - the source of our grace and peace.

I want grace to impact me daily, to speak to the way I think about myself, others and life. But how do I make grace not just something I know about, but something I live for and by and with constantly?

Is it as simple as waking up and reminding myself of who I am and who He is? Is that it? I guess that's a definitely step in the right direction!

God's Pursuit of Us

Time in the Word - as always, that's part of the answer. It just is! When I look for it, I see the gospel everywhere in Scripture. God's relentless and loving pursuit of His people is all throughout the Bible.

Prayer - yup, prayer. Who would have thought of this?

I'm asking God to show me how the gospel of grace should impact me and my children. And God is showing me in little ways - in my parenting adventures, in my interaction with friends, in my attitude about things, in how I do what He's called me to do, in everything.

I'm getting it, slowly. I don't get things easily. I gotta work for it. But God is working with me!

I believe that God is showing me the huge amount of grace I need so that I can be a grace-filled person toward others.

My prayer is that grace would spill out of me all over everyone around me.

As God shows me how to live this grace-filled life, this gospel-centered life, I will share and we can grow together in our walk with the Lord!

Sue Birdseye

www.suebirdseye.com

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Dealing With Church Hurt God’s Way - Jennifer LeClaire, Charisma

Dealing With Church Hurt God’s Way

 1/16/2014 JENNIFER LECLAIRE, Charisma

We except to be mistreated in the world, but we’re often blindsided—and get out feelings hurt—when brothers and sisters in Christ don’t invite us to the party, talk behind our backs, or aren’t there for us in a time of need.

I wrote a short article with some prophetic insight on overcoming hurt feeling’s God’s way some years ago and it’s consistently one of the most visited articles on my site. And on Sunday I was a guest on Love and Life Radio, where I discussed the topic of “church hurt” with Coach Steph. Although some would argue that we need to die to self, overcoming hurt feelings—dealing with offense—remains a relevant topic in the church today.

Have you been hurt in church? What are you supposed to do? How do you handle it? Leave the church? Confront the issue? Bury it? Lash out at the person who hurt you? When people are hurt by a church or church member, how can this conflict be resolved? What does this Bible say about this and how do you practically walk that out?

Take it to God

When a pastor or a parishioner hurts you, the very first action to take is prayer. The hurt you feel is real and pretending like you aren’t hurt isn’t going to bring healing. Sometimes when we get hurt in church folks like to tell us that we have no reason to feel bad and we just need to get over it. Half of that statement is true. We do need to get over it, but it’s not always true that we have no reason to feel bad. If someone is spewing malicious gossip behind your back and you find out about it, it stings.

No matter what kind of hurt you’re dealing with, don’t rush into a confrontation with the offender. Take it to God in prayer. Psalm 50:15 says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble.” That works for a troubled soul just as well as it does any other trouble. Tell Him how you feel and ask Him to heal your wounds. It may be that the Lord is going to deal with the offender directly and anything you say would just make matters worse.

Or, it could be that the Lord will give you a graceful way to explain why you feel hurt. If you take it to God, He can give you the very words to say to your offender (Luke 12:12). And He can bring conviction to that person’s heart when you approach them with a spirit of humility (John 16:8).

Don’t Retaliate

Whatever you do, don’t retaliate. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek (Matt. 5:38) and to love our enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matt. 5:44).

With that in mind, don’t go around telling everybody what someone did to hurt your feelings. And don’t make accusations against those who hurt you if you decide to confront the matter. Instead of saying, “You hurt my feelings!” say, “When you did that I felt hurt” or “When you talk to me like that I feel upset.” Own your feelings because they are your feelings. It’s very possible that your offender has no idea that what they said or did hurt you—and never meant to hurt you. If you approach them in humility seeing reconciliation, your offender may be quick to apologize.

Let the Lord Work

Peter exhorts us to “above all things, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). Again, be led by the Holy Spirit. It’s not always necessary to go to someone who hurt you every time they do something you don’t like.

It could be that the Lord is working something out in you. Maybe you’re too sensitive. We always need to check our hearts. Is the person really being hurtful or are we looking at it through filters of past hurts or rejection or anger that cloud the truth? Ask the Lord. Or it could be that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction—maybe even heap coals of fire on their head—as you bless them outwardly with a heart of love.

You Can’t Heal Until You Forgive

The bottom line is this: It doesn’t matter how wrong your offender is, you have to forgive. Forgiveness is not for the other person—it’s for you. Forgiveness doesn’t justify what someone did that was wrong, nor does it necessarily mean that the relationship goes right back to where it was.

If you don’t forgive, you end up bitter and resentful and before too long you’ll end up hurting other people. The healing process can’t really begin until you spit out the bait of offense. I’ll leave you with this prophetic insight the Holy Spirit gave me once when I was extremely hurt in church:

“When the feeling of hurt arises, the spirit of offense comes on the scene to fortify the pain, tempting you to hold on to the grudge in your heart. Therefore, the proper response to emotional pain of the soul is always an immediate confession of forgiveness from the heart. The alternative to forgiveness from the heart is the ongoing torment of the soul.

So if you want to be free from your hurts and wounds, take thoughts of forgiveness, meditate on them and confess them rather than taking thoughts of the hurt, meditating on them and confessing them. This is God’s way—and it’s the only way that brings true healing. And, while you are at it, pray for those who have hurt you. This process will cleanse your heart and renew your mind. And you will walk free from the pain of your past.” Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at jennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.