Spirit-Led Focus
“That’s how expensive guitars get damaged at airports…”
As emotions rise, they often create justification for irrational behavior
“I just got caught up in the HEAT of the MOMENT”
We must remember to allow the Spirit of God in us to be the primary, daily influence in our decisions—not our own will and emotions
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NLT - Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Proverbs 17:22 NLT - A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength
Proverbs 17:22 NLT - A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength
Romans 12:15 NLT - Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep
Proverbs 17:22 NLT - A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength
Romans 12:15 NLT - Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep
John 11:33-36 AMP - When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him [as a close friend]!”
Our emotions can help serve as an indicator of where our heart TRULY IS
Our emotions should not DECIDE or CONTROL a matter, nor should they be where we LEAD from
Galatians 5:16,19-23 ESV - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law
Our emotions can help INFORM a situation, but it’s the Spirit that is to LEAD us
Jeremiah 17:7-9 NLT - “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
- Concern -> Caution -> Fear -> Paralysis
- Enjoyment -> Happiness -> Dissatisfaction -> Greed, Excess, Discontentment
- Desire for efficiency -> Impatience, Idolatry
- Desire for love and companionship -> Impurity, Immorality
- Desire to defend -> Hate
- Desire to be right -> Hard-Heartedness
- Excellence -> Perfectionism
- Confidence -> Pride
1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV - Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall
Psalm 23:4 ESV - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me
Led by The Spirit:
- Keeps Our Focus on the Lord
- Helps Us to See How He Sees
Led by our Emotion:
- Keeps Our Focus on “What Ifs"
- Causes Us to See What’s Not There
H.A.L.T.
H - Hungry
A - Angry
L - Lonely
T - Tired
Esau: SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT FOR A BOWL OF STEW… because he was HUNGRY
Moses: HE DID IT HIS OWN WAY… because he was ANGRY
Elijah: ASKED GOD TO TAKE HIS LIFE… because he was LONELY
Sisera: LOWERED HIS GUARD/LOST HIS LIFE… because he was TIRED
We, at times, need to make ourselves H.A.L.T.
God, at times, causes us to D.R.A.W. to Him
D.R.A.W.
D - DESPERATION
Mark 5:25-29 ESV - And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease
D.R.A.W.
D - Desperation
R - Righteous Indignation
Proverbs 26:17 ESV - Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears
D.R.A.W.
D - Desperation
R - Righteous Indignation
A - Alone
Luke 5:15-16 ESV - But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray
D.R.A.W.
D - Desperation
R - Righteous Indignation
A - Alone
W - Weariness
Matthew 4:11 ESV - Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him
Matthew 26:38-39 NLT - He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”