You can rely on God‘s power to strengthen you during times when you say, “but I don’t feel like it“. His power is able to strengthen your inner man. When you don’t feel like it, run to Jesus.
There are days when I don’t feel like being nice, and recently I had one of those days. I was feeling the pressure of having to take care of many different things, being a wife and a mother, while also managing ministry and our business. Some things happened that morning where I then gave in to my emotions and bursted into anger at my husband.
Afterward, God reminded me that the reason I gave in to my feelings was because I wasn’t abiding in Jesus. I hadn’t spent sufficient time with Jesus that morning and my heart was nowhere postured towards Him.
Jesus makes it clear in John 15:5 that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit; apart from Him, we can do nothing. If we want to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, we MUST abide in Jesus. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Him and our hearts one with Him.
Let us walk in step with the Holy Spirit. We have the choice every day to give in to our flesh or to give in to the Holy Spirit. It takes our daily surrender to walk by the Holy Spirit, and when we do, it is well worth it. No one wants anger, worry, hatred, and impatience in their heart. We can bear the fruit of the Spirit as we abide and walk by the Spirit. Let’s make a conscious effort to surrender our ways to the Holy Spirit daily and be in thanksgiving. As we look to Jesus, walking like Him becomes easier.
Will you continue to walk by the Spirit despite how you feel?
Don’t settle with staying in bondage to your struggles. We may feel like we will never overcome our struggles; however, Jesus came to set us free from the bondage of anxiety, worry, anger, lust, and all other sins. Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us to be subjected to the trauma we may have experienced or the sin that has entangled us. Jesus came so that we would be victorious, walking out in complete freedom. Not having complete freedom is not freedom at all. Press into Jesus and fight for full freedom from sin. Freedom requires us to daily surrender our thoughts, feelings, and emotions to Jesus and replace them with God’s truth.
As you anchor your hope in His faithfulness, your strength will be renewed. No obstacle or hardship is too great for Jesus to get you through. He is willing and able to strengthen and comfort you through every pain. As we surrender our lives to Jesus, we will find His power working in our lives to keep going. Ephesians 3:16 says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…” We have the Holy Spirit who has the power to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).
Will you lean on Jesus even when you don’t feel like it?
Let us be effective believers by adding to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love (2 Peter 1:5-9). While there may be times when it may feel hard to have self-control or to love others, the Holy Spirit helps us live like Christ as we surrender ourselves daily. We must turn to Jesus when we are struggling and come to Him with the expectancy that He will change us. God always rewards those who seek Him with faith (Hebrews 11:6). So remember, when you don’t feel like it, run to Jesus.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for your Holy Spirit dwelling with me and doing life with me. Help me to listen to your voice even when I don’t feel like it.
Listen more in our podcast “But I Don’t Feel Like It”
Podcast (iPhone): apple.co/3mNNkOB
Podcast (Android): bit.ly/3EGqazv
0 Comments