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ME- Have you ever had something you cared about, become completely worthless to you at another point in time? for those of you who know me you probably know i am super into anime. there was one anime in particular called 7 deadly sins. at some point i thought it was one of the best things ever and whenever a season ended, i could not wait until the next one was released. that was until the 3rd or 4th season, where not only they took wayy too long to release, but the quality was disastrous. all of a sudden i really could not have cared any less about it, i moved on with my life like the show never existed. WE- Has something like that ever happened to you? Unfortunately, this happens with people and human relationships too, someone could mean the world to you right now, but fast forward to the future, maybe because of circumstances, that person means almost nothing. Friends can replace you, partners can lose interest, and people can stop liking you because of something you’ve said or done. unlike with a tv show, when it comes to people, losing interested has a much bigger impact. when others lose interest in us, we can feel lonely, replaceable, or even without purpose. when we lose interest, we can become distant and perhaps let down someone who truly needed us in that moment. could it be that we unknowingly bring this same type of problems in our relationship with God? maybe we worry that at somepoint we’ll cross a line and God will lose interest and give up on us. Maybe we allow our temporary feelings to get in the way of us spending time with God, so that we stop praying or reading his Word. Something I struggle with, and I feel many of us do, is relying on emotions during our walk with God. I’ve heard people say: “I used to feel God’s presence, I used to feel His Love” or Or when waking up, if they feel good, God is close; but if they don’t feel great, they think maybe He isn’t as near today. Maybe you feel like that right now? GOD- jeremiah 17:9 says “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked” firstly, we need to recognise, that our emotions cannot always be trusted to tell us the truth. feelings chnage constantly, they are swayed by time and circumstances, Even though emotions fluctuate, the Bible says that God stays the same. In fact, it says that His love for us is steadfast: lamentations 3:22. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” the biggest challenge will be pushing through in those moments when you feel worthless, when you feel like God is looking away from you. You have to run to Him! regardless of how you feel, the unchanging truth is that He listens and he answers and will not abandon you! —Billy graham said “If you have accepted jesus christ as your saviour, wheter you have feeling or not, those moments that you don’t feel anything may be the moments when He’s closest to you, as you have to walk purely by faith and perhaps you’re being tested.” (not sure if i should include this bit)— CAN YOU IMAGINE..if we lived our lives always conscious of God’s everlasting love for us? everywhere we walked, we’d hold our head up high, we wouldn’t allow people or our minds to questions our value, we wouldn’t panic in situations when things don’t go our way. why? because at all times we would put our trust in God’s love for us, regardless of what our emotions say. YOU what do we do when feelings lie to us? 1. Go back to God’s word it’s faith over feelings. We must trust God’s word over our feeling. - if you feel like God has abandoned you remember that Hebrews 13:5 says “God will never leave me nor forsake me” - if you feel unloved, remeber that Jeremiah 31:3 says “…God loves me with everlasting love” - if you feel like you are replacable or without value, know that 1 peter 2:9 says “you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood” - if you feel like you lack the ability to deal with a certain situation, 1 Cor 6:19 says “Holy Spirit dwells in me” ——— Malachi 3:6-10 “6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.’ ———————- the moments when we are most likely to allow our emotions to change our behaviour in a negative way, are the times where we aren’t doing everything we can to direct our focus in the right directions. for example, skipping out on church often, not reading the word, avoiding quiet time with God. if you are not regularly intaking the truth from God’s word, then it means your thoughts are being influenced by everything else around you. i found that any doubts i have about my identity are erased when im doing all these things INTENTIONALLY. I love myself the most when serving at church, talking to people about God, singing about God, reading His Word etc. the things of God are the only things that have eternal significance and therefore have meaning, when i do these things i feel like i have value, like i am supposed to be here. 2. Environment matters… while being at uni, I've had the opportunity to be surrounded by many other christian students, in particular, after me and will hosted our first group night last friday. Even though we officially ended at around 10, a whole bunch of us stayed till midnight, we talked and talked about personal struggles in our Christian walk, Everyone was very open and everything being said so relatable and familiar amongst us. it was a great reminder that those same feeling experience at times, and it was inspiring to see how despite everything we can and must push ahead nevertheless, pray to God regardless of how we feel, know you are loved and chosen, even if you don't Feel it . Surround yourself with those who can support you in your christian walk. one thing i love about our church is that we put a lot of emphasis on building community, with group nights, socials etc. US?