Have you ever felt depressed? overwhelmed? confused? not wanting to get out of bed?

This is what I read this morning and it smacked me in the face and woke me up:

John 6:62-63 NIV

63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

John 6:63 AMP

63 It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.

It doesn’t matter how I feel? You won’t find that in a Deepak Chopra or a Rob Bell book. God’s Word says it’s no benefit to me whatsoever. We must be guided by the Word of God and not our feelings, circumstances or our five senses. The Word must rule over our mind and flesh. – What a statement!

Several years ago JFK Jr. was in a terrible airplane accident. He along with his wife and a family member were killed when their plane went down due to poor visibility. I remember the reports coming out during the days that followed, from why and how it happened to his skill level for flying in those conditions.

Many of the reports covered the steps to getting a private pilot’s license. First you learn to fly by sight, which takes place during the day and during good weather. If you want to fly at night and in all kinds of weather, you need to get your instrument license. You are taught to rely on your instruments for altitude, speed, course, and pitch because there will be times you will not be able to see where you are.

Back in February I was at Page Field with a friend and he was showing me his plane. While he was getting his luggage I had an opportunity to talk to the pilot and I steered the conversation over to training on a flight simulator. He told me when he first flew in bad weather on the simulator he crashed the plane into the ground. He said the reason was because he was relying on his gut feeling and not going by what his instruments were telling him. Thankfully for him this was just a simulator and this is a good lesson for all of us to learn – do not live by what you feel, see or hear. We must live by what the Word of God (our instrument panel) says to do regarding all of life situations.

Many Christian’s crash, fall, or struggle because they are going by what they feel, think, see or hear and not by what the Word says. Smith Wigglesworth said, “It is a dangerous practice to be governed by feelings. We are saved by the Word of God and not by our feelings.”

As you pray today ask God for wisdom when making decisions. Ask Him to help you separate what you’re feeling in your gut from what His Word says to do. In the flesh we tend to go with what feels safe, what we’ve always done in the past. James 1:5 says ‘if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.’

Remember how you felt 2 days ago, yesterday, 20 minutes ago - aren’t you glad you didn’t make decision based on how you felt then?

God’s Word is meant to prosper you in all areas of your life - your feeling change moment by moment but His Word and His promises never change

Have a great week.

Your Servant,

Pastor Grant