A new
A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13 NLT
“Emotions play a critical role in how we live our lives, from influencing how we engage with others in our day to day lives to affecting the decisions we make. It is important to remember, however, that no emotion is an island. Instead, the many emotions you experience are nuanced and complex, working together to create the rich and varied fabric of your emotional life.” Kendra Cherry
God’s Word expresses emotions like:
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Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Psalm 51:2–3 NLT
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Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:12–13 NLT
The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove… . Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. John 18:3,10 NLT
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Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” John 20:11–13 NLT
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“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). John 20:15–16 NLT
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Jerusalem, once so full of people, is now deserted. She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow. Once the queen of all the earth, she is now a slave. Lamentations 1:1 NLT
I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people… . Cry aloud before the Lord, O walls of beautiful Jerusalem! Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Give yourselves no rest; give your eyes no relief. Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer. Lamentations 2:11, 18–19: NLT
Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there. Lamentations 4:19 NLT
Our hearts are sick and weary, and our eyes grow dim with tears. For Jerusalem is empty and desolate, a place haunted by jackals. Lamentations 5:17–18 NLT
God’s Word offers hope:
I will
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:20–22 NLT
Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. But Lord, you remain the same forever! Lamentations 5:15, 19 NLT
My prayer: “God, my emotions are real today. But I am going to refocus my thoughts away from my feelings and back to you. Would you help me do this? In Jesus’s name, Amen!”
Memory Verse
A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13 NLT
Next Steps
I will begin to focus on God and not my emotional baggage, beginning now!
I admit that I cannot do this alone. I need help.