MY SECOND DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSIS: We often think of body, soul, and spirit as we proceed from the external to the internal. The Bible reverses that order and speaks of spirit (the core of our being) the soul (the functions of mind, emotion, and will) and the body. We need a therapy that starts in our spirit and proceeds outwardly. Outward therapies often do not penetrate deeply enough to reach the problem of pessimism. I would like to recommend the Holy Spirit who releases into the inner depths of our human spirit the joy of Jesus which radiates out in a more positive attitude and which ministers emotional and physical health.
PRESCRIPTION: Today, I would like to write you a script from Hebrews 1:9. It describes our Savior in these terms: “God anointed him with the oil of gladness beyond his contemporaries.” When you close your eyes and think of God do you see a frowning face? Do you visualize an angry deity, who can’t wait for the slightest reason to rain wrath on your head? It’s time to replace that with the smiling face of Jesus. He did not come to take the wind out of our sails, the spring out of our step, or the blue out of our skies. He came that “we might have life and have it more abundantly.” To have just a fraction of his cheerful disposition, his positive personality, rub off on us, would turn our mourning into gladness. “He that has seen me has seen the Father,” our Savior said. To see the Christ through the eyes of faith is to get a whole new vision of the depths of divine love.
PROGNOSIS: As we turn our eyes upon Jesus, we see that our Creator is everything an ideal Father ought to be. We are welcome to climb up on His lap, throw our arms around Him and call him “Daddy.” We can look up to a star-studded sky and affirm, “My Heavenly Father did that!” We can feel warmed by Papa’s love and sheltered in His care.
PRACTICE: Through the week let your heart-sing with joy: “This is my Father’s world and to my listening ear, all nature sings and ‘round me rings the music of the spheres.” Our God is not an impersonal force; a first cause; an unmoved mover; the eternal ground of all being. That works well for the philosophical, the rational level of our minds. But deep within us is a crying need for personal relationship. The God Jesus revealed to us can meet this need. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Jesus told us that not one sparrow can fall to the ground without the Father knowing it and we are worth more than many sparrows.
CHALLENGE: Why should any believer get stuck in the slough of despondency and be mired in the mud of murmuring. With renewed spiritual resources, we can turn our pessimism into praise and glory in the gladness of God’s Son. Let us determine to be loyal to the royal that is within us.
PRESCRIPTION: Today, I would like to write you a script from Hebrews 1:9. It describes our Savior in these terms: “God anointed him with the oil of gladness beyond his contemporaries.” When you close your eyes and think of God do you see a frowning face? Do you visualize an angry deity, who can’t wait for the slightest reason to rain wrath on your head? It’s time to replace that with the smiling face of Jesus. He did not come to take the wind out of our sails, the spring out of our step, or the blue out of our skies. He came that “we might have life and have it more abundantly.” To have just a fraction of his cheerful disposition, his positive personality, rub off on us, would turn our mourning into gladness. “He that has seen me has seen the Father,” our Savior said. To see the Christ through the eyes of faith is to get a whole new vision of the depths of divine love.
PROGNOSIS: As we turn our eyes upon Jesus, we see that our Creator is everything an ideal Father ought to be. We are welcome to climb up on His lap, throw our arms around Him and call him “Daddy.” We can look up to a star-studded sky and affirm, “My Heavenly Father did that!” We can feel warmed by Papa’s love and sheltered in His care.
PRACTICE: Through the week let your heart-sing with joy: “This is my Father’s world and to my listening ear, all nature sings and ‘round me rings the music of the spheres.” Our God is not an impersonal force; a first cause; an unmoved mover; the eternal ground of all being. That works well for the philosophical, the rational level of our minds. But deep within us is a crying need for personal relationship. The God Jesus revealed to us can meet this need. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Jesus told us that not one sparrow can fall to the ground without the Father knowing it and we are worth more than many sparrows.
CHALLENGE: Why should any believer get stuck in the slough of despondency and be mired in the mud of murmuring. With renewed spiritual resources, we can turn our pessimism into praise and glory in the gladness of God’s Son. Let us determine to be loyal to the royal that is within us.
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