19 Jan From Here (How to turn your Setback into a Comeback) part 8
Over the past few weeks we having been sharing with you a key scripture for the series…a very simple, but powerful verse, “Rejoice evermore” (I Thes. 5:16). We discovered that the Greek word translated “evermore” means “from this time on”. In other words, God wants us to live a constructive life from here. We continue this week with our “13 Facets to live a Constructive Life…from here”:
- Part from Pity (Phil. 2:14).
- Never let your tragedy become your identity (Mark 5:26).
- You can’t unscramble eggs (Eph. 5:16).
This week we continue with…
4. What we know is always more important than how we feel (Eph. 6:13-14).
Here the Bible tells us, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”
In these verses, the word “loins” are representative of the inward emotions, and the word “truth” is a synonym for the Word of God. The Roman soldier’s armor that Paul is referring to in this passage of Scripture, was connected to all the other pieces of armor. If you removed the belt of truth, all the rest of the armor would fall to the ground. It is the same with us if we allow our emotions to fly off the handle in the “evil day” (see Ephesians 6:11…the evil day is when negative circumstances come our way), all the rest of our spiritual armor will swirl right down the toilet of our negative circumstances.
Please allow me to share with you “3 Facets of Feelings”:
- Learn to get a hold of yourself before you ever try to get a hold of your circumstances (see Prov. 16:32).
- Allow feelings in your car, just don’t allow them in the driver’s seat.
- Always act your way into feeling. Never feel your way into acting.
At 53 years old, with a very active 13-year-old son, I must stay in great shape. Therefore I put a lot of effort into working out. I jog four times a week and lift weights four times a week. I lift in what I call “Jim’s Gym” (my garage). Many times I will not feel like working out but if I will go down in my garage and begin to fiddle around with the weights, all of a sudden I will sense a surge of blood flowing into my muscles and surprisingly, I will feel like working out!
Many times, after we blow it we feel guilt, condemnation or regret…but we know Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” That was then, but this is now, and now there is therefore no condemnation in Christ! I can’t live my life from then…I must live my life from now. I will go from here! I will turn my setback into a comeback!
Join us next week as we continue in our series…