It struck me that as I was taking time to intentionally praise God, that so much of what we do in our American culture is driven by what we feel. Most media (advertising), political speeches, many sermons, religious and ministry appeals, advertising for food, restaurant atmosphere, and even the church atmosphere can be about appealing to how we feel. I had recently visited with a Naturopath who explained to me why we eat what we eat over the centuries and it had a lot to do with taste, look, texture, and how a person felt eating the food. Unfortunately most of this has nothing to do with what is really life-giving to our body. In the middle of praising the Lord I felt like He was giving me a revelation of the difference between living by faith and living by your feelings. When you offer up the "sacrifice of praise" when you don't feel like it pretty soon if you continue praising God your feelings change and you are seeing things differently. But if at this time I did what I felt like, I would tend toward discouragement because there are lies in my soul that are producing some feelings. Feelings are not bad they are just the fruit of what I am believing and experiencing. If my feelings are coming from experiencing being united to Christ and being one in spirit with Him, then there will be fruit of the Spirit. On the other hand if my feelings are coming out of my beliefs rooted in my soul from past experiences and memories than the fruit is not going to be fruit of the Spirit. If you stop and think about how much of our lives are lived from our feelings and how much of our culture is focused on trying to get me to feel something, this is a sober line of thought. I believe feelings are a gift from God otherwise Jesus would not have felt every human emotion to its very depth. Yet if I guided by my feelings rather than the Holy Spirit I will be ruled by the earthly realm and not experience the heavenly realm which I was born again to walk in. Believe me I am not pointing any fingers because I have been a person who has lived by their feelings rather than the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that part of the difference in being a follower of Christ is that we actually understand the human condition and find real answers in Jesus Christ and His finished work. We live in a day and age where so many people seem to be on autopilot ruled by their emotions and reactions to situations, Christ followers are to stand out as people who respond to the leading of the Spirit and dwell in the heavenly dimension. I don't believe that we were seated "in Christ" in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6), just to have God save us a spot for when we die but for this to be the reality that we dwell in daily. You can't experience that reality by feelings first but by faith and revelation first, then the feelings will come.
It is interesting that most of the Fruits of the Spirit are feelings/experiences but most of the time are not just something we experience without making decisions (often sacrifices) based on faith. I think of the analogy of our journey with Christ found in the history of Israel. When Israel was in bondage in Egypt they cried out to the Lord and He delivered them by parting the Red Sea, this is analogous to us coming into a Salvation experience (forgiveness of sins). The Israelites cross over the Red Sea on dry land only to enter the Wilderness and end up wandering 40 years. Most of us as believers spend time in the wilderness where we are still trying to live by our own resources rather than the indwelling Christ, also in the wilderness God provides but we have just enough. Then finally Israel comes to the Jordan River and prepares to enter into the Promise Land, yet the priests must step into the Jordan River at flood stage with the Ark of the Covenant (the Presence) going before them. In the same way we as believers must appropriate our new life and identity "in Christ" by faith through Total Surrender. In the wilderness the Israelites were fed not by faith but the mercy of God to give Manna & Quail, they only needed to collect it and had to trust it would come the next day. In the Promise Land the Manna & Quail are done after 17 days, then Israel must take the seed God provided for them and plant it so they can have a harvest. In the same way I believe we must take the Seed (God's Promises, dreams He gives us, and promptings of the Holy Spirit) plant it in the soil of our souls so it will bear fruit (James 1:21). This comes through meditating on His promises, spending time in worship, prayer, reflecting on the Psalms, or many other ways till I come into an encounter with Him.
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