Shifting From 'Feeling' to 'Being' | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

You never know what people are going through when they enter the sanctuary.  The people who fill the pews week after week represent both extremes of the human emotional spectrum as well as all points in between.  And for the most part, we've been sold a religion that emphasizes going to church so we can feel better about what's going on in our lives.  Even the praise and worship offered to GOD is so emotional because, for a number of people, church is their routine release.  It's their time to just let go and let it all out.  Furthermore, if there's no moment of emotional release, sadly some people feel like they didn't "have church."

Having served as a praise and worship leader, I've learned in my own journey that my desire to assemble in corporate worship shouldn't be to "feel better" but to "be better."  There must come a point in everyone's experience of GOD and His love that it's no longer enough to just feel better about what's happening in their lives.  Coming to church each week to feel better about life's circumstances in no way serves us well.  There is a necessary shift from "feeling" to "being" that must take place in order for us to become the mature Kingdom citizens GOD desires in the Earth.  We must understand that our feelings (or emotions) are part of our soulish realm, which is subject to change.  Depending on what's going on around us, our thoughts, intentions and emotions can send us in any number of directions.  After all, they're designed to respond to spiritual influences (both good and bad).  However, there just came a time when I got tired of the instability of "feeling" and began to crave the stability of "being."

It is in Christ that we live, move and have our being (according to Acts 17:28), and there's no more stable place in the world than being in Him.  We are NOW seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6).  Experiencing the new birth, therefore, means that we--at the core of our being--are spirit beings (John 3:6).  And since Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forevermore (as stated in Hebrews 13:8), our spirits experience the stability of Christ and are NOT SUBJECT TO CHANGE as we abide in Him.  Therefore, it's to our advantage that we move beyond "feeling better" to "being better."  For me, each time I set foot into the house of GOD for worship, it affords another opportunity TO BE BETTER upon leaving than I was when I entered in.  This is why regular church attendance is so important.  Everytime we forsake the assembling of ourselves, we're missing out on an opportunity to experience the stabilizing power of GOD's presence and His Word to renew our minds and transform our lives.

It's my prayer that you examine your own need to shift from "feeling" to "being."  May the lives of all who make the shift never be the same.  I decree that, as you choose to shift, a highly noticeable sense of stability manifests in your mind, will and emotions.  May your newfound stability be an astounding witness of hope to others that life is not about responding to what happens.  For as you become further grounded and established by the presence of GOD in your life, His power working through you will in turn cause things in the Earth to respond to Heaven's decree for your life.  In the name of Jesus, I declare over you even now that the power of being overcomes feeling; and because you have chosen to shift, no longer will you be overwhelmed by what life may bring.  May GOD's order, which is already established in your being, shift your feelings to align with Heaven's influence.