I woke this morning into the early morning hours to glance at the phone screen that read 2:20am. Ugh! This is the time I’ve been waking for the past month and half in this apartment. I go to bed between 7pm-8pm. I know I’m getting enough sleep but it never quite FEELS like it.

As I sat on the edge of my bed trying to wake up, God softly spoke to me and said, “Write about faith and feelings.”

My first reaction to His words was, of course, “Ugh, I don’t FEEL like doing that.”

I proceeded to make coffee, take a hot shower, and get myself ready for a new day. While I was going about my morning routing I was thinking about what God had asked me. I was processing my FEELINGS about His request and realized then that I was processing my processing of my reactions to my FEELINGS. I had to laugh at myself a few times this morning… I knew that I would OBEY His request despite how I FELT about it. And that line of thinking led me down the paths of this journey far back beyond when God rescued me and into the hell I was living in before. Then my thoughts traveled further back into my college years. Then my thoughts traveled even further back into my chaotic teens… then finally my thoughts settled into the years of my childhood.

I began to travel the paths of the journey of my life from the perspective of FEELINGS, FAITH, and OBEDIENCE… and what a journey of discovery that was.

FAITH is not a FEELING we FEEL.

And of course we must revisit the definition of FAITH here, as given in the Word of God:

“Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” – Hebrews 11:1

I love the Amplified Version of the Word of God for this passage. Listen to this part here: FAITH comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.

So, to further explore the topics of FEELINGS, FAITH, AND OBEDIENCE… we next must explore what FEELINGS are.

FEELINGS are described as an emotional state or reaction, a belief, especially a vague or irrational one, or a sensitivity to or intuitive understanding of.

If you explore the Word of God, the disobedience of people can almost always be linked with their choosing to listen to their “FEELINGS” instead of the voice, commands, and character of God. Or, if you prefer, they chose to listen to their physical senses instead of having FAITH in God. Of course it is no different today.

Think on your life for a moment. Travel the paths that you’ve walked since birth. I think you’ll find that when you trusted your FEELINGS, your physical senses, over trusting the Word of God, you were walking away from God, and when you chose to trust God, choosing to live by FAITH (trusting in the character and word of God) and not by sight (trusting your physical senses, FEELINGS), you were walking towards God.

FEELINGS = walking away from God.

FAITH = walking toward God.

Any kind of decision making that holds the word “I” in it will lead us away from God.

Any kind of decision making that holds the word “God” in it will lead us toward God.

The distinction here is between the “I FEEL…” statements vs the “God says…” statements.

What is “Eternal Life“?

At some point we will all have to come face-to-face with our FAITH.

So, what better time is there than right now?…

Listen to what Jesus Christ said:

“Now this is ETERNAL LIFE: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.” – John 17:3

Jesus explain it in a parable for us later… the one where He would say, “Get away from Me I never knew you.” or He will say, “Enter into paradise, good and faithful servant.”

Do you know God the Father and do you know His Son who He sent as your Messiah?

If you do, you already have “Eternal Life“, and if you don’t, well… you have whatever the opposite of “Eternal Life” is.

Living FAITH produces OBEDIENCE to God leading to ETERNAL LIFE. FEELINGS lead us to sin and ultimately death.

We humans have this amazing ability to deceive ourselves, to rationalize our FEELINGS, to set aside our FAITH for later, perhaps at some future point in time when we FEEL more like obeying God. After all, aren’t we still living? Haven’t we lived this long? Won’t we wake tomorrow? So, there is always time to obey God tomorrow… when we FEEL like it.

The narrow gate is there for us to choose to enter in by it and travel the narrow paths of obedience to God’s Word… but few are they that travel that path.

If you managed to read this far… and not clicked away… perhaps there is hope for you yet.

God rescued me in my darkest day. He broke into the horrible mess I had made with my life, following my feelings, and pulled me out of that place I had led myself into. He placed me on the narrow path of OBEDIENCE to His Word.

People have called my journey obeying God as “radical”, “crazy”, or whatever else that they come up with… but the truth is… my journey is just the normal journey of FAITH in God’s Word and obedience to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, the God you profess to know and follow, said this:

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” – Matthew 16:24

On the darkest day of my life, God broke in and said, “Now you are going to LISTEN and OBEY.”

His instruction were clear, His command undeniable.

I was to LISTEN to His Words and by FAITH walk in OBEDIENCE to Him.

It’s funny how He didn’t mention my FEELINGS once.

I have a little over two years left of this journey. I plan to LISTEN and walk in OBEDIENCE to God’s voice the best that I can until I have cross the finish line of this race that God has assigned me to.

What’s your plan?

I’ll leave you with this verse:

“But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, while it is said, “TODAY [while there is still opportunity] IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].” – Hebrews 3:13-15

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