Facts Not Feelings

Yesterday I was forwarded an email about a certain famous female. Her name is not important, so I won't mention it in this post.

She is recorded saying a few things about God that completely contradict what God's Word says about Him.

It is interesting to me how people like to choose the things from the Bible to believe that they are comfortable with, and then choose to disregard or not believe the things that they are uncomfortable with.

An example she gave was that one day she heard her preacher say that God is all, God is omnipresent, God is love, etc., and she liked that. However, she did not like when he said God was a jealous God. That made her feel uncomfortable. It didn't feel right in her spirit, so she chose to believe something different.

However, Scripture says in Deuteronomy 4:24
"For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

You can have any opinion or feeling that you want to have, but it does not change what God's Word says or means. If it makes you uncomfortable, chances are God is trying to tell you something regarding that issue in your own life.

I know that this is true for me.

We don't get to pick and choose the things that we like and don't like concerning God's Word.

I will use myself as an example. I have people around me in my life that I do not like. They are not nice to me or my family.

Nevertheless, God's Word says in Matthew 5:44, "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

This does not always make me feel good to do, but it is what I am supposed to do. It does not come naturally to me to love and pray for people who are never even kind to me, but it is exactly what God's Word says for me to do. Doing this is for my own good and for the good of my relationship with the Lord. Even when it is not what I want to do, it is what the Bible says I should do.

Does this mean that I always pray for my enemies and feel love for them?.....Absolutely not. I am not a perfect person. I am a sinner just like every one else on this earth. But it is what I should do, regardless of my feelings about the subject.

I'll share with you another example about what makes us feel better about things, and why it is not always a good idea for us to pick and choose what we like.

I love M&M's. They are one of my favorite candies. I know they exist. I believe in them. I believe the slogan that says they melt in my mouth and not in my hands. I believe they taste yummy. However, what if I chose not to believe what the package says concerning the calories that are in the M&M's?...What if I just decided that I did not like that information; that it made me feel bad to think that M&M's contain a lot of calories?...I could just disregard the number of calories and eat as many bags of them as my stomach could hold, because I had decided that I did not like that part of the product's description.

The fact is, it really does not matter what my opinion or feeling is concerning the calories, they are in fact real. Physically my body would start to prove to me that they are indeed real as my bottom grew bigger and bigger due to all of the M&M's I had eaten.

It's the same thing that happens to us spiritually. When we choose to ignore or disregard the parts of God's Word that make us feel uncomfortable, we are causing harm to ourselves. The damage starts to show up in our hearts, our speech, and our actions.

Just as others would notice the physical change in my body if I eat too many M&M's; they would also notice the spiritual change in my heart if I started to disregard certain parts of God's Word in my life.

When my brother was a little boy, he did not like getting shots. He hated it even. Shots made him feel uncomfortable. However, my mother still took him to the doctor, and he did in fact have to get his shots.

My mother was not trying to make him feel bad then; she was trying to prevent him from becoming sick later. So she chose to let him be uncomfortable for a little while, so that he could enjoy a lifetime of being protected from unwanted diseases.

It is the same with God's Word in our lives today. What makes us feel bad today obeying God, is for our own good. God does not waste our pain. Ever. Everything that happens in our lives, God uses for our good.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God's Word does not tell us this to make us feel better. His Word tells us this because it is true. It is a fact.

Pain never feels good. Change is always uncomfortable at first. But God's Word says in all things God works for our good. Even the things that make us feel uncomfortable.

Psalms 30:5
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime ; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

If I had made all the decisions concerning my life based upon my different feelings at different times, it is very scary to think what my life could be like today.

This famous person I mentioned said that God is a feeling experience, not a believing experience.

Don't let your feelings about any famous individual's opinion of God become your beliefs.

I challenge you to see for yourself what God's Word says is true, and base your beliefs on facts not feelings.