For a few years I hear people say "you can't run your life on feelings" or something like that. I just don't get it.
We are humans with feelings. Our feelings affect every moment of our lives. How can we just cut them off? What do we have instead?
Good question. We need to know that we are a tripart being, spirit, soul and body. The spirit is the real us. It is the part that is born again.
The spirit is fundamentally conscience, intuition and faith. When we are born again, we are like newborn babies spiritually. Our "food" is the Living Word of God - Christ Himself.
The soul is the organ of expression. We have the ability to choose, think and feel among other things. Adam's choice in Eden was simple. Would he choose to live according to the knowledge of good and evil or by the fruit of the Tree of Life. God warned Adam that the fruit of the knowledge tree was deadly. Adam rebelled, and the rest is the sorry history of the human race.
When we are born again, in effect we face the same choice. We can live according to self will, intellect or by feelings. The strong tend to choose self will. They are the drivers, movers and shakers, who get things done - even when they don't need doing. Some are bookworms, studying much and ensuring that everyone knows how clever they are. Some will only do something if they feel like it. Most people have a mixture of all three. And women are more likely to be governed by emotion than men.
God wants to impart His knowledge to the spirit man. Once we know something in the spirit, nothing can take it away. If I can talk you into something (intellect) another person can talk you out of it.
Having a motivator encourage us is good - unless they are operating in their won strength and wisdom. Satan sure motivated Adam.
Emotions can change quicker than the weather. I was utterly depressed one day and the Lord nudged me to eat. The depression lifted straight away.
Lord Jesus said that His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). He is the "Bread of Heaven", the true manna. Just as the body needs physical food, so our spirit man needs spiritual food. Satan does his best to hinder us. He uses distractions and feelings against us. "I don't feel like reading the Bible". Guess where that comes from. We need to know who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us. It does not come automatically. We need to know the Living Word and we need to know the written Word also. God can bring scripture back to our memory when we need it.
An example may help. I was driving in rain so heavy that the windscreen wipers were useless. The road was curved and I feared running off the road. There were cars behind me and I was afraid that one would run into me. I asked the Lord to stop the rain. He said, "I did not send it and I will not take it away". I remembered how Lord Jesus dealt with the storm on the Sea of Galilee. He rebuked the storm. I did the same. The storm cleared up in moments.
God wants us to live by His Word, by principle, not feeling. We need to put our faith in God's facts. If we do that, good feelings often follow. If we trust our feelings, we will be like a cork on the ocean, constantly tossed about by the waves.
