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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
The Ba'al Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name), who founded Chasidism (an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect), believed that being a good Jew was based not so much on what you knew, but on what you felt. While such a view may be open to question, one thing is certain: feelings play an important role in the life of a believer. How understanding God is in this regard!
He does not tell us not to have feelings; he gives us guidelines for handling them. Spirituality does not mean having no feelings. Yeshua wept (John 11:35) and he rejoiced (Luke 10:21). Rabbi Sha'ul (Saul; i.e., Paul) wrote openly of his feelings of despair (2 Corinthians 1:8), as well as his confidence (1 Corinthians 2:4). In the Tanakh we see that King David danced for joy (2 Samuel 6:14) and admitted grief when the occasion warranted (1 Samuel 30:4).
If Abraham had not loved Isaac, there would have been no majesty in his willingness to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. If David had not loved Jonathan, there would have been no majesty to the triumph of friendship over jealousy.
Love, joy, sadness, courage and fear are all part of the existence God has given us. In short, godliness is not measured by how flat the graph of your emotions may be; it is measured by how you allow the choices arising from those feelings to be governed by the Word and the Ruach (Spirit) of the living God.
...allow the Lord to govern my emotions.
BC
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
