Harnessing Your Emotions Part 6

Proverbs 23:7 says that whatever we think in our heart, that is what we are. It doesn't say that as we think in our heart, it has an influence on our life and the way things turn out for us. No, it says that's the way we are.

If you are poor, you may think it's because of your skin color. You may think it's because of the social cla.s.s into which you were born or the geographical area in which you grew up. You may think it's because the government hasn't provided you the right opportunities to prosper. You may think that if you could get more welfare, you wouldn't be in your situation. You may think you're held down because you're not as pretty, as gifted, or as favored as someone else.

All of these are excuses. We all have a thousand and one excuses for being as we are. The truth is, if you're poor today, it's because you're thinking thinking poor. You see yourself poor. You act poor. Now, I am not saying that you may not desire to have wealth, but you honestly see yourself poor. If you were put into a situation where you were given great riches, unless you changed your thinking, it would be just a matter of time until you had become exactly the way you are now. poor. You see yourself poor. You act poor. Now, I am not saying that you may not desire to have wealth, but you honestly see yourself poor. If you were put into a situation where you were given great riches, unless you changed your thinking, it would be just a matter of time until you had become exactly the way you are now.

On the other hand, if you would take the Word of G.o.d and begin to see yourself as G.o.d sees you, sooner or later you would become just what you envision. What you think is what you get. It all begins in the mind.

Thinking Precedes Manifestation For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9 If people would read that verse and really begin seeing themselves as prosperous, thinking of themselves as rich in Christ, it would be just a matter of time until that prosperity began to manifest itself in their lives.

When my wife and I first got started in the ministry, we were so poor we couldn't pay attention! It wasn't because we didn't have money. I was raised in a middle-cla.s.s home, and when I got married I had thousands of dollars in the bank. I had a good start in life, but I was more zealous than I was wise.

I misunderstood how this scriptural principle worked. I knew I was called to the ministry and couldn't wait to start living by faith. So I took all of those thousands of dollars I had, and within one months' time I had given given away all that money. Why did I do such a foolish thing? I did it because I wanted to get right to the place where G.o.d was meeting all of our needs supernaturally. away all that money. Why did I do such a foolish thing? I did it because I wanted to get right to the place where G.o.d was meeting all of our needs supernaturally.

As my good friend Dave Duel says, "That is dumb to the second power; it's dumb, dumb." But, nonetheless, that's what I did. As a result of my stupidity, my wife and I experienced some critical poverty in our life together. But I was not raised in poverty. I didn't really see myself poor even though we were really having major financial problems.

Our first son, Joshua, was born on March 21. Just before that, in the month of January, our total income was $23.53. In February, it jumped up to $53. Our expense for rent alone was one hundred dollars a month, so we were in a critical situation. We were in such dire financial straits that we were going without food.

Yet, during that period of time it never once occurred to me to go and get food stamps or apply for welfare. I don't know all of the requirements, so I'm not sure whether we would have qualified or not, but we were definitely below the poverty level. There was probably some a.s.sistance we could have received, but it never occurred to me to apply for it because I really believed we were prosperous. I couldn't understand the situation we were in. It took me awhile to get it through my thick head that I had caused a lot of my own problems, but G.o.d loved me and finally worked me through them.

The point I am making is that even though I was in as critical a financial condition as anyone reading this book right now, I never saw myself poor. I never thought poor. I didn't dress poor. I didn't talk poor. I didn't act poor. And as a result, I eventually came out of that situation.

All during that period, I saw myself prosperous. I knew it was just a matter of time until the Word of G.o.d would start working in my life. Now G.o.d supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (See Philippians 4:19.) See Yourself the Way You Want to Be

You may be thinking, Man, I could live that way too if I could just win the lottery and get a million dollars. Then all my problems would be over! Man, I could live that way too if I could just win the lottery and get a million dollars. Then all my problems would be over! No, unless you changed your self-image, you would blow that million dollars in no time and be right back where you started. If you won five million dollars, you might last five times as long as the person who won No, unless you changed your self-image, you would blow that million dollars in no time and be right back where you started. If you won five million dollars, you might last five times as long as the person who won

a million dollars, but sooner or later you would lose it all because of your poverty mentality.

I know many people who will say, "But wait a minute. You don't understand - I don't have an education." There are lots of people who don't have an education and are multimillionaires today. A lack of education is not the problem. Now, I'm not saying that education is not a factor, depending on what vocation you're in. Sometimes you have to have an education to progress. I'm not against education at all, but the biggest controlling factor in your prosperity is the way you view yourself - the mental image you have of yourself. If your mental image does not conform to the Word of G.o.d, you're not going to get anywhere in life, no matter how educated you are.

Remember, Proverbs 23:7 says that as you think in your heart, that is how you will be. There is no exception to that rule. If you want to be prosperous, you have got to think of yourself as prosperous. If you want to be healthy, you must see yourself healthy. If you want to be strong, form a picture of yourself as strong in G.o.d and don't let go of it!

Thinking Determines Emotions

Your mental image determines your actions, because it specifically determines your emotions. When your entire thought process is pure and righteous, you can easily choose good over evil because you are in total control of your emotions. I'm not saying you won't be challenged by trying situations, but you won't be controlled by those situations.

I have learned that I can be a loving person in spite of what others may say about me. The Lord has ministered so much love to me and has led me to share it with others so often that it irritates some people. Some have spoken out against me and even threatened to kill me. They have lied about me and accused me of all kinds of terrible things.

A well-known national minister once branded me as a Jim Jones. They said that my ministry was the biggest cult that ever existed. And yet, I can honestly say that I never had one bitter att.i.tude toward that person or any of the others who opposed me and attacked me. I have walked in love. I have even held meetings with that minister and have told that person that I love them and that there is no problem between us. Those accusations have had no negative impact on my life whatsoever.

Now that kind of loving att.i.tude didn't come overnight. It came because I made a commitment to love rather than to hate. I have preprogrammed myself that if someone hates me, I am not going to hate back. I may not like it. I may not get blessed by it. But I am not going to get out of the Spirit over it. I choose to walk in love.

No one is going to change the way I feel, because my joy and my peace are tied one hundred percent to the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done in my life. I refuse to give that up for anyone or anything.

There are times when it takes more effort than usual to walk in love. If a person I really admire and respect comes out against me and hurts me, walking in love toward that individual may take some extra effort. I may have to literally shut myself off from everyone to fast and pray and focus my attention on the Lord. It may take a lot of time and effort, but I can guarantee you that's what I'm going to do. I am not going to be depressed because of the negative things I have to contend with in my life and ministry.

If I allowed myself, I could be in a constant state of turmoil because, like everyone else, I have a lot of problems. Ministers are not immune to problems. In fact, I believe that when you're a minister, more people hate you than if you were in any other profession. But how you handle that situation depends upon where your focus is.

The way you think controls everything. The image you have on the inside is a product of your thinking. It determines your emotions, and your emotions determine your actions. That's why it's so important to have a positive, Christ-centered self-image despite what's going on around you. And the way to develop that positive self-image is by being renewed in the spirit of your mind - staying focused on G.o.d and applying His Word to every area of your life.

Chapter 7

Who Are You?

We have established a basic outline of the truth - there is the new you and the old you. The new you has the mind of Christ and all the abilities of Christ. We have the picture of ourselves in Christ; now we need to finish coloring it. It's not enough to know that there is a new you. You have to have more details before you can actually see what has happened to you in your spirit man.

To get an accurate mental image of your physical features, you look in a mirror or make a photograph or video of yourself. Did you know that when you do that you are using faith? It takes faith to look at a mirror, a photo, or a video and say, "That's me." How do you know for sure the image you are seeing is really you?

Many people think that's a ridiculous question. Yet, I remember a professor I had in my first year of college who asked that very question. He was trying to get us to drop all of our preconceived ideas and come into the cla.s.s with an open mind. So he took a chair, set it in front of us, and systematically tried to prove to us that the chair wasn't there.

Of course, on the surface everyone said, "Well, that's stupid; I can see it." But then he started reasoning.

"How do you know that what you're seeing is true?" he asked. "How do you know your eyes are accurately interpreting to your brain the things you're seeing? How do you know you don't have some kind of a problem that causes you to see things that aren't really there?"

He was challenging things that most people never really think about. By the time we left his cla.s.s, if we had followed his line of reasoning, we couldn't have proved that the chair was there after all.

That kind of reasoning is prevalent in our society today. We have challenged basic foundational principles that we should accept by faith. G.o.d's Word is truth and we ought to accept it as such. (See John 17:17.) When it comes to looking in a mirror, most of us have never challenged the validity of what we see. We are seeing a reflection which we, by faith, believe to be us. But it only represents represents us. It's not the us. It's not the real real us. For instance, we don't know for sure that we have hair on the top of our head. us. For instance, we don't know for sure that we have hair on the top of our head.

Now you may say, "Oh, yes I do. I've seen it in the mirror."No, what you've seen is a reflection of the hair on your head."Well, I can feel it with my physical hands."

Maybe so, but you still haven't seen it. How do you know that what you feel is accurate?

One way or the other, you are taking something by faith. The same thing happens when we look at our spirit. We can't see our spirit in a mirror, so how can we accurately view our spirit?

There are some people who depend upon their senses so much, they can't accept that there is any realm of reality except what they can see, taste, hear, smell, or feel. Because they can't physically sense their spirit, they give up trying. "It's hopeless," they say. "I don't really understand spiritual things." It's because they are looking in the wrong place.

G.o.d's Mirror The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 6:63 If the words Jesus spoke were spirit and life, then the Word of G.o.d is not just a book, it's a look into the spiritual realm. It's like a spiritual mirror we use to see spiritual truth.

If we want to see if our hair is combed, we look in a mirror, trusting that the representation we see is true. In the same way, if we want to see what our spirit is like, we go to G.o.d's Word and see what G.o.d says about us, trusting that whatever He says about us is the way we are - whether we feel it or not.

We may not feel like our hair is combed, but that really has nothing to do with whether it is combed or not. Someone may be able to convince us with their words that our hair is messed up, when in truth it really is combed. So we can't go by our feelings, we have to look and see for ourselves and trust that what we see is true.

It's the same thing with the spirit man. You may have read in the Bible, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). You may know that intellectually, but you don't feel it. So when you come up against a problem, you feel like, "Oh, man, I don't have any power." But it doesn't matter what you (Philippians 4:13). You may know that intellectually, but you don't feel it. So when you come up against a problem, you feel like, "Oh, man, I don't have any power." But it doesn't matter what you feel feel if you are going by what G.o.d's Word says. The truth is that whatever G.o.d's Word if you are going by what G.o.d's Word says. The truth is that whatever G.o.d's Word says says about you is spirit and it is life - it is spiritual truth. about you is spirit and it is life - it is spiritual truth.

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a gla.s.s: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

James 1:22-25

James talks about a man who looks in a mirror and sees his natural face, then goes his way and immediately forgets what he looks like. But James also says that anyone who looks into the perfect law of liberty (G.o.d's Word) and continues in it will be blessed.

Just as we look in a mirror to see our physical self, we look into G.o.d's Word to see our spiritual self.

When a person makes Jesus Christ the Lord of their life, there is a transformation that takes place on the inside. Most Christians know this in their minds, but very few of them have ever gotten an accurate mental picture or perception of who they really are in the spirit. Because they don't have the correct information about who they are in Christ, they can only operate on the information they do have, and they naturally act out of their old selves. They act out of their old abilities instead of their newfound abilities in Christ. This is where so many Christians miss G.o.d's best for them.

Most Christians have the desire to do the right things, but they feel unequipped. They feel that they don't have the ability. I know of many Christians who are praying for faith, power, and all kinds of spiritual gifts. The truth is, according to G.o.d's Word they already have them - all believers have them.

Now you may say, "But wait a minute, I don't have these things. I know because I don't feel them." It doesn't have anything to do with what you feel, feel, it has to do with what you it has to do with what you believe. believe.

The Law of Faith

Christians who cry out to the Lord, "Oh, G.o.d, please give me faith," are going to be totally shocked when they get to heaven and discover they had the exact same faith Jesus had while He was here on this earth.

We don't need more faith. What we need is the realization of what we already have in Christ Jesus. That's the first step. Then once we know we have faith, we need to learn the spiritual laws that govern it.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Romans 3:27

In this scripture, Paul talks about the law of faith. If you are truly born again, you have the same faith in you that Jesus had, but there are laws that govern it. There are certain things you need to do to release that faith. It's just like the law of electricity. Electricity exists, but you have to know how to cooperate with it and use it. After you know you have it, there are things you need to learn to draw on it and operate in it.

Most Christians are perishing for a lack of knowledge. (See Hosea 4:6.) They don't know who they are in Christ, so they are guided and directed by their feelings or emotions. Spiritual truth cannot be perceived by feelings. It can't be seen in a physical mirror. The Word of G.o.d is the only way to tap into it, and most Christians are woefully ignorant of what G.o.d's Word has to say about them. Because they don't know who they are in Christ Jesus, they are missing out on everything G.o.d's Word has for them.

We have established the fact that there are two of us - the old man and the new man - but which one is the real us? What is our ident.i.ty? Most people would say, "It's the part of us that feels fearful, weak, and inadequate - that's the real us." No, the real us is that born-again us; the part of us that is going to live for all eternity. That old self that feels fearful, weak, and inadequate is going to eventually die and be replaced. Right now the real us, the only part of us that is born again, is our spirit.

If you don't know who you are in Christ, you are trying to live out of your old man and you're going to be frustrated and sadly disappointed. There is a new you, and you've got to find out who you are and the power that is there for you.

When I was in Vietnam I went through an experience that I will never forget. It happened not long after I got there when everything was still fairly new to me. I was with about 120 other American soldiers on top of a hill surrounded by about five thousand well-armed, well-equipped, and well-trained North Vietnamese Army troops. We were put on red alert. At night, we could see the muzzle fire from the NVA NVA rifles, and it looked like they were going to overrun our hill. rifles, and it looked like they were going to overrun our hill.

Everyone was supposed to stay awake all night. I was in a bunker with four other guys, and they all went to sleep while I stayed awake on watch. When it came their time to pull guard duty, I couldn't get them up. "Leave me alone," they all told me, so I wound up staying awake all night pulling guard duty because I felt like we could be overrun at any time.

Then the second night came around, and by this time I was worn to a frazzle. But those guys still weren't pulling their guard duty. Finally, I asked them, "What's wrong? Don't you guys realize this is a critical situation? There are five thousand of the enemy, and only 120 of us. We could be killed at any moment." They just started laughing.

"You must be new in this country," they said."Yes, I am," I answered.

So they started telling me about the superior firepower we had on that hill. Even though there were only 120 of us, we had many times more firepower than the enemy. As they described it in detail, it was so convincing that I realized, "I'm not excited about this war, but if we've got to fight it, I'd just as soon the enemy come out of their holes and fight us on our terms." I developed the att.i.tude, Come on - I dare you. Come on - I dare you. I lost all of my fear, all of my worry, and all of my concern. That night I actually got so sleepy I couldn't stay awake. Since I could no longer pull everyone else's guard duty, I just fell asleep. I lost all of my fear, all of my worry, and all of my concern. That night I actually got so sleepy I couldn't stay awake. Since I could no longer pull everyone else's guard duty, I just fell asleep.

The point is that when you understand who you are in Christ and the authority and power you have in Him, your att.i.tude will change. Instead of being intimidated by your problems, you will be confident. Instead of being full of worry, fear, doubt, and care, you will experience totally different emotions. That knowledge will change the way you think, and therefore, it will change the way you feel.

This is how the law of faith works: You look into the law of liberty, G.o.d's Word, which is your mirror. You see yourself through G.o.d's eyes, as He sees you in Christ, and you choose to believe and adopt His picture of you. Then you meditate on that picture day and night - don't let go of it.

When you operate in the law of faith, you see yourself as G.o.d sees you - powerful in Him, prosperous in Him, healthy in Him, and wise in Him. Then the law of faith produces what you believe in your everyday life.

You Are a New Spirit Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are pa.s.sed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Identifying who you really are in Christ and living in accordance with that ident.i.ty is the key to the Christian life. The key to understanding who you are in Christ is recognizing that it is your spirit that got born again. It is your spirit that has changed.

I pray G.o.d your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

According to this Scripture, we have three parts - a spirit, a soul, and a body. Paul prayed that G.o.d would keep and preserve the Thessalonians wholly, or completely, in spirit, soul, spirit, soul, and and body. body.

The body is very easy to identify. It is the physical part of us. The soul is the emotional part, or what most people consider to be their real personality. It includes our thinking processes, our feelings, and our will. Then there's another part of us the Bible calls the spirit, and this is actually the most important part.

In James 2:26 the Bible tells us that as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. The spirit is the dynamo of our whole being. It is the life-giving force within us. The spirit is the dynamo of our whole being. It is the life-giving force within us.

And the Lord G.o.d formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7 When the Bible says G.o.d created Adam and breathed into him the breath of life, that word "breath" is the same word from which we get the word "spirit." G.o.d put a spirit on the inside of Adam, and that's when life came. When the spirit leaves, that's when life leaves. So the spirit is the real part of us, and when we get born again we receive a new spirit.

And the Lord G.o.d commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou gayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 2:16,17 The Lord told Adam that in the day he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. When Adam disobeyed G.o.d and ate of that forbidden fruit, his spirit died within him. He didn't die physically for 930 years, but he died spiritually at that exact moment. That doesn't mean that his spirit ceased to exist. It was still there. But it ceased to be under the control of the Lord. It was no longer releasing the life of G.o.d, which made it incapable of sustaining physical life forever.

The spirit of man received the life of G.o.d and then disseminated it through the soul and body. When Adam sinned against G.o.d and did his own thing, the spirit within him was separated from fellowship with G.o.d. He no longer had the divine life of G.o.d - the Holy Spirit - flowing through him. Sadly, another spirit stepped in to take its place, which was Satan, who began to pour his death into the human race through the spirit.

The spirit that was within man from Adam until salvation was united with the devil. That's what Paul was referring to when he wrote in Ephesians 2:2,3 that before we were saved we were by nature the children of disobedience, the children of wrath - in other words, the children of the devil. He meant that until we were born again, our spirit was united with the devil and Satan poured his corruption into us through our spirit man.

As we saw in 2 Corinthians 5:17, when we get born again, we become a new creature or a new creation - old things pa.s.s away and all things become new. Just by the process of elimination, we understand that it is not talking about our physical body, because when we were born again our physical body did not change. If we were fat before we got saved, we were still fat after we got saved. That's not the part of us that changes through salvation.

Neither does our soul change, because as we saw in 1 Corinthians 13:9,10 that now we only know in part, we only prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then we will know all things just as we are known. The mental part of us is not saved. If we were ignorant before we got saved, we were still ignorant after we got saved, until we educate ourselves through the Word of G.o.d.

If our physical body didn't change and our soul didn't change, then the only part of us that is left is the spirit. Our spirit was completely, radically changed when we got born again. We didn't just get improved, we became a totally brand-new spirit. The Christian life derives its power from this new birth. When we are born again, G.o.d places a new spirit on the inside of us, and we have everything we need to live the victorious Christian life.

Our born-again spirit has everything, and it will never change. We are the exact same spirit at this moment that we will be in eternity. When we go to be with the Lord, our spirit isn't going to be improved upon and we're not going to have to be changed again. We are as complete right this moment as we will ever be in all eternity.

That is an awesome thing to think about! We have eternity living inside of us!

Acknowledge Your Ident.i.ty