“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24

God made all of us emotional beings. We may experience joy, enthusiasm, or passion at times. Other times, we may experience grief, sorrow, or discouragement. We all have feelings, yet feelings do not necessarily give us the truth, as emotions are not facts. You may feel down and depressed when you get up in the morning, but with a cup of coffee, you will feel much better. Feelings can shift in an instant. We make the error of allowing our emotions to dictate our moods. We wake up with negative emotions and go about our days discouraged and defeated. We are upset because we have been offended by someone. We have a bad break and feel sorry for ourselves, then we wonder why we don’t enjoy life. It’s because our emotions have taken over.

You can’t stop negative emotions from happening, but you can choose to reign over them by saying, “Feelings, today, you are not my boss. You are not going to be in charge of my life. ” This is exactly what King David did. He had armies advancing on him and people slandering him, and even his son, Absalom, was attempting to usurp the throne against him. You can imagine how extreme the negative emotions were—guilt, disappointment, anxiety, anger, fear, and self-pity. When everything around him was screaming, “Be depressed and sour,” David answered, “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. ” Psalm 118:24 He wasn’t simply being optimistic; he was saying to his emotions, “You’re not going to rule me.”You will not determine my future.”

Jesus, as a man, knew all the negative emotions we all have felt. Even though he felt them all, he would not allow them to control him, instead, he reigned over them. Jesus felt so much sadness that he wept before Lazarus’ tomb. (John 11:35) Jesus felt anger when he saw the money changers and the dealers committing unlawful business in the temple of God. (Matthew 21:12-17) Jesus felt fear the night before his crucifixion as he was about to be betrayed by Judas, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (Luke 22:44) Jesus felt shame, rejection, and alone when he hung on the Calvary cross for our sins. There, he took all our sins and every negative emotion associated with our sins upon his own body. He nailed them all at the cross, so today you can be free from your sins and your negative feelings.

Today, God wants to grant you His perfect peace and joy over your negative feelings. When all Jesus’ disciples were meeting together in fear inside a locked room, Jesus showed up in the midst of them after his resurrection and said, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36) After Jesus was taken up to heaven in front of his disciples, they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. (Luke 24:52) The tactic of the enemy is to steal your peace and joy to get you to be discouraged, mad, and stressed. When a negative emotion or feeling arises in you, reign over it by saying, “I will rejoice and be glad today! Hallelujah anyway!” When the negative feeling is too overwhelming, submit it to the hands and feet of Jesus by saying, ” Lord, I submit my feeling of ________________ over to you, and I receive your peace and joy over it in Jesus’ name.” This is how you reign over your feelings and choose to have a good emotional state of mind. When you get your mind going in the right direction and fill it with thoughts of faith, hope, and victory, you’ll drive away the blahs, the discouragement, and the discontentment, and you’re going to live happier, have better relationships, and go so much further.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 118: 5-24

This Devotional is from:

“Live The New You – 365 Days Devotional in Living the Real You”