Healing the Memories - Lesson 3

by Dr. Ray Self

 


 

Destructive and Healthy Emotions



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Destructive and Healthy Emotions



Isaiah 54:4 - Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more

Notice that the Lord first brings up the past (shame and reproach).

It sounds like an oxymoron but in order to forget sometimes we must be reminded.

Isaiah tells us prophetically that shame and reproach are healed by the Lord, which causes His people to be able to forget.

Forgetting means to have memories. but to be healed of the harmful emotions associated with those memories.

We can remember events and that is simply the reality of our past. It is the emotions from the past (that are triggered typically by believed lies) that can be healed.


Satanic Influence

What Satan does so well is to add painful emotions to events.

When Satan stirs up harmful emotions they will always be based on a lie.

Fighting the lie by replacing it with the truth is an important key to healing.

These harmful emotions include feelings like guilt, condemnation, shame, rejection, and unworthiness.

Painful events of the past can create faulty belief systems that cause the harmful emotions.
  • Distorted thinking (any thinking not in line with the truth of Scripture) can cause destructive emotions.
  • Destructive emotions can have negative effects on a person’s present life.
  • These emotions can create blocks that stop a person from the abundance that God has promised.


Emotions can be very powerful motivators.
  • Many choices in life can be made through emotional thinking.
  • Emotional thinking can cloud God’s truth and wisdom.
  • Emotional thinking can have severe consequences, especially when the emotions have come through wounds of the past.
  • Negative emotions can motivate us to do and say destructive things.


God has given us emotions. They can be amazingly positive and can motivate us to do wonderful things.

Emotions can be good when they are triggered by truth.

The Gospel has a divine order – facts of the Gospel, faith in the facts, and then an emotional response can be natural and good.
  • Facts must be true.
  • Faith must be based on true facts.
  • Emotions celebrate the truth.


Past, Present, and Future


The good news is that God has an answer to our past, our present and our future. Revelation 1:8 - "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

The Lord is the beginning and the end. He is with us in our past, our present, and our future.

In looking at our past we can also find the Lord - Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

David was reminded of his past before he defeated Goliath - 1 Samuel 17:37 - David said, “Moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said unto David, “Go, and the Lord be with thee.”

Dr. Cecil Osborne said, “Feelings do not age.” If our feelings do not age then we can still find the healing that will change our feelings.

Psalms 44:21 - Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

Carefully notice in the above verse that it is God who is doing the searching. The Lord is always available to help us find the problems and find the answers.