All Emotions Dangerous?

I started thinking after reading Cturtle's post about sorrow and grief and how these emotions can give the enemy a way to get his foot in the door. Then I thought about emotions like happiness and joy, and in them I see the same danger. It seems to me that being happy can be as much if not more self-deluding, as sadness or grief. There is very little in this world to be joyful about. Anything that is lovely or beautiful is outweighed many times by human misery, suffering of humans and creatures, and negativity in general. It seems to me that a countenance of seriousness and remaining hypervigilant to attack from the evil one is what one should strive for. I am beginning to believe there is no room for frivolity like happiness and laughter - that these are just the flip side of despair and depression. I have to ruminate on this a little further, but I believe that Cturtle has planted an important seed in me that I now need to cultivate. I am seriously beginning to believe that those who suffer from flat-affect (no emotion) may well be living more in reality than anyone who feel emotions either good or bad. Hmmm...this is a thought that requires serious development. Perhaps it is time for me to wipe the self-deluded smile off my face and start to live a life devoid of emotion. This is something that needs to be thoroughly explored by me and I feel could well change the way I see life in general.
 
I started thinking after reading Cturtle's post about sorrow and grief and how these emotions can give the enemy a way to get his foot in the door. Then I thought about emotions like happiness and joy, and in them I see the same danger. It seems to me that being happy can be as much if not more self-deluding, as sadness or grief. There is very little in this world to be joyful about. Anything that is lovely or beautiful is outweighed many times by human misery, suffering of humans and creatures, and negativity in general. It seems to me that a countenance of seriousness and remaining hypervigilant to attack from the evil one is what one should strive for. I am beginning to believe there is no room for frivolity like happiness and laughter - that these are just the flip side of despair and depression. I have to ruminate on this a little further, but I believe that Cturtle has planted an important seed in me that I now need to cultivate. I am seriously beginning to believe that those who suffer from flat-affect (no emotion) may well be living more in reality than anyone who feel emotions either good or bad. Hmmm...this is a thought that requires serious development. Perhaps it is time for me to wipe the self-deluded smile off my face and start to live a life devoid of emotion. This is something that needs to be thoroughly explored by me and I feel could well change the way I see life in general.
Beware of such thinking. Can we be less than our Master?

John 11:35 (KJV)
Jesus wept.​

Philippians 4:4 (KJV)
Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.​

Psalms 149:3 (KJV)
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.​
 
That would definitely be the one exception - God - for He is definitely something to be joyful about. And tomorrow is Sunday so I can be joyful in my worship of my creator and master.
 
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Amen Abdicate!

Egraine, I'm doing the same thing, keeping one eye on the devil .however, joy comes from the Holy Spirit and we shouldn't loose that. And Jesus went to parties his first miracle was at a party and even though we don't know if he laughed, or not but....I can't see him not smiling whilst rejoicing.
 
Another thing to think about is that Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Joy is a spiritual force as described in Galatians 5:22-23.
And without it... we will not have the strength to stand against all that the enemy throws against us. We will not have the strength to fight the good fight of faith.

We are to imitate Jesus and He was anointed with the oil of gladness. And children loved to be around Him. Now what child do you know of will stay around someone who is grumpy and solom. None.

Grief and ungodly sorrow are evil spirits. Joy comes from God.

Blessings
 
Everything is about moderation, balance. Worry is the first thing we need to chuck out the door, so that includes worrying about emotions. They are part of who and what we are. To discard them is to open a door to the devil to use against you for having them. It's a lie. Too many worry about the past, and worry about the future and don't live in the hear and now, today, this moment.
 
This has been a confusing issue for me over the past few days. On the one hand, counsel was given that grief and sorrow are from the evil one. That made me realize that positive emotions can be just as bad in that they can have us living in a delusional state. However, Abdicate has summed it up nicely in reminding me about moderation and balance. Too much of anything is not necessarily a good thing, which can also be interpreted as too much deprivation can also be harmful. Things done thoughtfully in moderation, however, is the most sensible bit of advice that I have been able to glean from all of this in the past few days. Makes perfect sense to me Abdicate. Thank you for your wisdom.
 
Emotions should not be the basis of our faith. They should be the results of our faith.

Having said that, I know that many of the strongest Christians go through long periods of 'not feeling' God's love. For them, this is not an indication of spiritual barrenness, but a time of building. Keeping in the faith despite the lack of feeling, and in the face of the very real trials life may be providing can result in a 'steel hardened' faith the do His will in the face of adverse conditions.

However, if this becomes a chronic condition, where you are robbed of the quiet joy in the Lord, and where life's challenges cause you unrelenting sadness, or unrelenting non-feeling, then you need to shake yourself out of it. Seek the company of joyful believers. You can learn joy from the Joyful.

The Joy may not be the Giddy bubbly feeling of an amusement park, but more the quiet Joy of being a member of a joyous family (even an imperfect one). There is the joy of hearing "well done, faithful servant".

Do not look to see the Lord in what are the actions of society.

Look to see it in small interactions between believers, and from believers to those around.

If seeing the misery of others (or yourself) gives you the will and the path to act to alleviate that misery, it is helpful.

If seeing misery of others leads you to doubt the effectiveness of God's love, or even the existence of the love of God,you are letting the enemy steer your thoughts and rob you of the legitimate Joy that comes from contemplating the good things God has provided each of us, both as His people, and individually, as His beloved child.
 
This has been a confusing issue for me over the past few days. On the one hand, counsel was given that grief and sorrow are from the evil one. That made me realize that positive emotions can be just as bad in that they can have us living in a delusional state. However, Abdicate has summed it up nicely in reminding me about moderation and balance. Too much of anything is not necessarily a good thing, which can also be interpreted as too much deprivation can also be harmful. Things done thoughtfully in moderation, however, is the most sensible bit of advice that I have been able to glean from all of this in the past few days. Makes perfect sense to me Abdicate. Thank you for your wisdom.
I'm glad I could help. The Spirit uses feelings to get your attention at times. Just before 9/11 me and my whole family knew something was wrong. We were in Madrid praying for my staff the day their 3/11 train attack happened. God warned us just after we left Brussels and then they were attacked. These movements of the Spirit allow us to be used by God to affect the world. It is also God's way of showing His people what's going to happen, to steel ourselves from the evil in the world. Learning where feelings come from help you to know who it is: the Lord, the devil or your flesh. It takes practice for sure, just like a child learning to walk.
 
I'm glad I could help. The Spirit uses feelings to get your attention at times. Just before 9/11 me and my whole family knew something was wrong. We were in Madrid praying for my staff the day their 3/11 train attack happened. God warned us just after we left Brussels and then they were attacked. These movements of the Spirit allow us to be used by God to affect the world. It is also God's way of showing His people what's going to happen, to steel ourselves from the evil in the world. Learning where feelings come from help you to know who it is: the Lord, the devil or your flesh. It takes practice for sure, just like a child learning to walk.
To date, I've not known anyone to have died in any of those attacks, praise the Lord. In fact, two weeks before we were moved to Madrid, we all got this urgent desire to pray for Spain. What happened was someone saw two people swapping out license plates on a van. They called the police, they came and defused a car bomb.... right under the window of my mother-in-law. Yes, God puts urgencies, promptings, unctions into our Spirit to act. Why is this? Here's the answer:

1 John 2:20 (KJV)
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.​

God knows everything, we are in God, and He allows us too, to know all things. We must learn to listen, meditate, and practice. :)
 
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