Let God’s Word Work Its Medicine in Your Emotions
(Proverbs 4:22,23)
Today, so many people are hurting with emotional pain, put-downs, feelings of fear and anger. People who are hurt tend to want to hurt others. What a joy to know that He heals the broken-hearted and sets the captives free. He makes those of us who are emotionally lame to walk with restored souls and causes those with limited perspectives to see with hope, love and healing.
Illustration: The Bible isn’t a psychology textbook, but it gives us the wisest counsel for experiencing happiness here and now. Proverbs 17:22, for example, assures us that "a merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."
That simple statement was recently corroborated by the extensive research of Dr. Daniel Mark, a heart specialist at Duke University. The New York Times article that reported his findings carried this headline: "Optimism Can Mean Life for Heart Patients and Pessimism Death." The article begins with these words: "A healthy outlook helps heal the heart."
But Dr. Nancy Frasure-Smith, a heart specialist who has studied the effect of depression, anxiety, and anger, admitted, "We don’t know how to change negative emotions."
Faith in God, however, can produce that change. People who look beyond their present difficulty and put their trust in God’s goodness cannot help but be joyful.
It’s significant that our Savior said on several occasions, "Be of good cheer" (Matthew 9:2,22; 14:27; Acts 23:11). Knowing that life is filled with many crises, He encourages us with this word of reassurance: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). —Vernon Grounds
All your anxiety, all your care
Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there;
Never a burden He cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus. —Joy
No matter what happens, you can find joy in the Lord
(Our Daily Bread)
God’s Word is medicine — for any weakness or sickness in body, mind, finances, family, marriage, etc.
Whatever sickness or disease you suffer from, God’s Word can cure it. God’s Word is effective for any condition. It works as a preventative as well as a cure. There is no cost and no danger of taking an overdose.
1. Like any medicine, God’s Word must be taken to be effective. It will not work sitting on the shelf. And it has to be taken according to the directions.
But if you will follow God’s directions as faithfully as you would follow the directions of a human doctor, you will see wonderful results.
Follow the prescription for emotional healing, restoration and reoccurence of hurt:
PROVERBS 4:20-23 NKJ
20 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them, and health (medicine)to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs is filled with medicinal prescriptive cures for emotional, mental and spiritual pain:
A. You will gain a buoyed outlook on life that springs out of God’s hope instead of fearfulness. "The fear of the wicked will come upon him and the desire of the righteous will be granted." (Prov 10:24)Let the word of God help you fully appropriate the truth that He is the glory and the lifter of your head. For He is strength and shield, a very present help in the time of trouble. So you do not have to fear though the seas rage and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. You can drink from the never failing river of life that flows from the Holy Spirit that lives within you. (John 7:38) Jesus said, "He who believes in me from His inner-most being will flow rivers of living water."
B. You will be showered with blessings instead of violence, destruction and hurtful speech. "Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked." (Prov. 10:6)Thank God for the ability to expect great things from God so you can attempt great things for God as William Carey did in inspiring tens of thousands to begin the modern missionary movement.
C. You will persevere against evil of all kinds instead of being brought down by calamity. "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity." (Prov. 24:16)Thank God for the ability to be resilient and bounce back from emotional let downs.
D. You will gain a greater respect for yourself as well as from others by walking in the way of His word instead of allowing circumstances or others to lead you into sin. "The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death. Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard." (Prov. 16:14,15)Thank God you will be given an unending supply of energy, enabling and sustaining strength to do whatever God asks you to do with the help of Christ who gives you the strength and power.
E. You will gain stability, security and consistency in your conduct instead of having to be devious. "The way of a guilty man is perverse but as for the pure, his work is right." (Prov. 21:8) Thank God for the freedom you have from guilt as you confess your sins and enjoy the freedom, cleansing and renewal given to you from His forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)
F. You will gain a greater care for the needs of other hurting people. "The righteous considers the cause of the poor but the wicked does not understand such knowledge. Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath." (Prov. 29:7,8) Thank God that He is able to turn your emotional concerns toward bringing help, healing and wholeness to others instead of always worrying about your own problems. It is a great liberating experience to come to serve and not just to be served. (Mark 10:45)
G. You will enjoy the deliverance from depression, discouragement and emotional debilitation when you allow God’s word to direct your paths. "The righteous is delivered from trouble and it comes to the wicked instead." (Prov. 11:8) Thank God that He encourages, consoles and lifts us up with the joy that we have in Christ. We can rejoice in the Lord always regardless of our feelings, circumstances or problems. We can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, what can man do to me." By calling on the Lord He will always deliver us in His good time, way and will.
H. You will stop feeling that you have to isolate yourself from people knowing that no real harm befalls a righteous person. "No grave trouble will overtake the righteous but the wicked shall be filled with evil." (Prov. 11:21) Thank God that He will spare you from serious problems as He protects, delivers and prevents serious calamity from befalling the godly. God’s word inspires, instructs, and enables us to live with greater hope, faith and love in a way that enables us to engage people instead of withdrawing from them.
Illustration: Alan Andrews, the U.S.A. director of the Navigators says, "When empty, wounded, distrustful, hopeless people encounter the Christian community, they often see little difference between the culture of the world and the culture of the church," Andrews stated. To overcome this, the church must embrace "the Gospel of the Kingdom the whole Gospel, to the Whole Person, to the Whole World." He challenged leaders to make certain the Gospel they preach reflects that reality by being: authentic; graceful; whole and organic; full of integrity; humble, missional and apostolic (not institutional); incarnational; demonstrating an integration of life and message; transforming and built on a relational foundation." In conclusion, Andrews challenged leaders to "go as Jesus went" and cited John 20:21 as the example, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent me, I also send you."
Following Andrews’ comments, Mission America Coalition members spent significant time in prayer and dialogue responding to his address and seeking God’s guidance for impacting American culture with the Gospel. Leaders also discussed "Loving Communities to Christ," a strategic framework for Christian leaders to collaborate together to produce customized, locally initiated and owned strategies, goals and action plans to reach their community with the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
THE COALITION
The Mission America Coalition is a collaborative effort of some 500 national Christian leaders who have prayerfully come together to help unite Christians for prayer, evangelism and revival. Since its inception, leaders from 81 denominations, over 350 ministries and dozens of ministry networks have been involved in the Coalition. Honorary co-chairs of the Coalition are Mrs. Vonette Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Dr. Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) and Dr. John Perkins (Christian Community Development Association).
I. You will gain a greater sense of boldness, courage and confidence with people. "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing but the righteous are as bold as lion." (Prov. 28:1) Thank God that He gives us the composure, confidence and courage to exhibit not a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)
J. You will be able to walk with greater security instead of dread. "He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known." (Prov. 10:9) Thank God that He secures your way with a blameless conscience so you do not have to constantly think about covering your tracks.
K. You can have the confident assurance that your life, your love and your ways will end in good instead of wrath. "The desire of the righteous is only good but the expectation of the wicked is wrath." (Prov 11:23)Thank God that you have good things to look forward to instead of having to dread the pain, problems and remorse of the ungodly.
L. You can rejoice in the fact that God delights in you, your ways and your emotional well being. "Those who are of a perverse hearts are an abomination to the Lord but the blameless in ways are His delight." (Prov. 11:20) Thank God that you can find ways to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work as you increase in your knowledge of God. (Col. 1:9-11)There is great joy in serving Jesus. There is even greater joy in knowing that you have brought pleasure to the Lord and have fulfilled the purpose for which He created you for.
PSALM 107:20 NKJ
20 He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.
God’s Word will heal. It is full of God’s power and carries the authority of God who spoke it.
JOHN 8:31-32 NKJ
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Freedom from fear, anger and bondage to the misery of being hurt or unforgiveness)
You have the guarantee of Jesus — His Word will produce
freedom.
But, you must abide, or continue in His Word. You must feed it in until you know that you know that you know the truth. Then you will act on that truth — and it will make you free.
God’s medicine works by taking His Word into your being. You do that by listening to the Word, reading the Word, and speaking the Word.
You must fill your thoughts with the Word of God. The more of God’s medicine you take, the better off you will be.
SAY THIS: I will meditate on God’s medicine daily and let it will bring healing into my life. (www.Churchforall.org)
Conclusion: Suppose you are rushed to the hospital, where a physician examines you and informs you that you are critically ill. He says you’ll die unless you have proper treatment. He then prescribes medicine and says, "If you will take this, I can assure you with absolute certainty that you will get well."
Now, what should you do? Should you just lie there on your sickbed and believe that the doctor has diagnosed your illness correctly, and that the prescription will surely make you well? No, that’s not enough. To live, you must take the medicine.
It’s the same with salvation. You may believe everything the Bible says about Christ—that He died for your sins and rose from the dead. But if you refuse to "take Him"—that is, to trust Him and His work on the cross in your behalf—you will be just as lost as if you had openly and blatantly denied Jesus.
Saving faith, you see, is not simply acknowledging that certain facts about Christ are true. It is reaching out to personally accept God’s remedy for sin. It is entrusting the destiny of your soul to Him for eternity. It is saying, "Save me, Lord Jesus. I believe that You can and will." That’s "taking the medicine"—that’s receiving Jesus Christ! Have you done that? If not, do it right now. —RWD
The perfect righteousness of Christ
Is free to everyone;
But we by faith must take that gift,
And trust God’s precious Son. —D. De Haan
Faith is not just believing that Jesus can save; it’s asking Him to do it. (Our Daily Bread)
