I feel bad

[Pearl]

You might want to take a few minutes to read the 23rd Psalm.
Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 23 - The Passion Translation

Good suggestion. And apply it to yourself as you read it.

 

[Earburner]

But you act like you see my day to day life or something, you act like you know me, so where is your faith dude?

As much as I am trying to refrain from commenting, you should know that my comment was to Willie and to the title of this thread, of which has a general audience.
But, since you did ask me of where my faith is, I will answer that directly.
John 3:18

 

[Waiting on him]

As much as I am trying to refrain from commenting, you should know that my comment was to Willie and to the title of this thread, of which has a general audience.
But, since you did ask me of where my faith is, I will answer that directly.
John 3:18

Do you need to hear the hippocampus song again?

 

[Willie T]

I forget where I read this, but they say 90% of what we worry about never happens. You're right though, most people are so completely self absorbed in their own worlds, who has time to think about anyone else?

85 Percent of What We Worry About Never Happens
By
Don Joseph Goewey, Contributor
author of The End of Stress, Four Steps to Rewire Your Brain.
08/25/2015 02:11pm EDT | Updated December 7, 2017

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: "My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened." Now there's a study that proves it. This study looked into how many of our imagined calamities never materialize. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen. Lo and behold, it turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning. This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.

Montaigne's quote has made people laugh for five centuries, but worry is no joke. The
stress it generates causes serious problems. The stress hormones that worry dumps into your brain have been linked to shrinking brain mass, lowering your IQ, being prone to heart disease, cancer and premature aging, predicting martial problems, family dysfunction and clinical depression, and making seniors more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's.

If we could get a handle on the worry that habitually, incessantly, and often unconsciously seizes hold of our mind, we would greatly increase the odds of living a longer, happier, and more successful life. But don't worry; new research has found that you can rewire your brain to stop worrying. It starts with the decision not to believe the misfortune that your worried thoughts see in your future. An example of someone who made that decision is an elderly woman my friend Martha was asked to drive to the clinic for an annual check-up. Martha didn't know this woman. All she was told was that this person was more than 90 years old and probably quite frail. But the person who opened the door when Martha knocked could hardly be described as old and frail. The person who stood before Martha was a sprightly lady who appeared to be in her seventies at most.

"Do you mind me asking how old you are?" Martha asked on the drive to the doctor.

"93," the woman answered.

Martha was astonished. "You look so much younger," she said. "What's your secret?"

"Well, honey," she answered, "30 years ago I made the decision to stop worrying and I haven't wasted a moment on worry since."

It was this decision that made her younger and healthier than her chronological age. Think of all the energy she gained through her decision not to worry. Think of all the anxiety she spared herself, all the needless stress she avoided. Martha said that it showed on her face, in her attitude, and in how well her brain functioned.

It's possible to make this same choice to let go of worry and gradually move past worry altogether. You can rewire your brain to quiet the worry circuit. It takes a decision and it takes a special kind of practice, but it's simpler than you might imagine. I present 20 proven tools and processes in my book, The End of Stress, that are neuroplastic in nature, meaning they represent a change of mind that can rewire the brain to extinguish knee jerk fear reactions that set off incessant worry, and all in a matter of four to six weeks. A tool as simple as The Clear Button can get you started.

Here's how it works. You imagine a button at the center of your palm. You press it and count to three, thinking of each number as a color.

• Breathe in, count 1, think red.
• Breathe in, count 2, think blue.
• Breathe in, count 3, think green.
• On the exhale, completely let go of thinking anything for a moment.

Nature gave us a 90 second window to bust stressful thinking before it takes a long walk off a short pier, and The Clear Button gets us through the window in time. The more you bust stressful thinking during the day, the more your brain will strengthen synapses that end worry.

Here is the neurological reason why the Clear Button works. The part of the brain that causes stress reactions literally has the intelligence of a toddler. And every parent knows you don't stop a tantrum by appealing to a child's logic. You distract the child. This tool distracts the terrible two-year-old in your brain from casting you off the deep end.

Another simple approach to dissolving worry is called "Finish Each Day and Be Done With It." It facilitates the choice to let go of the day's problems, so you don't take them home. This piece of wisdom comes from a letter written by the great American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, to his daughter who was worried over a mistake she'd made. This is what it says:

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders, losses, and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; let today go so you can begin tomorrow well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. Each new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays."

By "old nonsense", Emerson is referring to our worries and woes. The two are synonymous. In the study I cited, nonsense and worry were one and the same thing -- not once in a while -- but nearly every single time.

I invite you to cut-and-paste the statement and post it where you'll see it at the close of your work day. If you allow Emerson's words to release you completely from your day's labor, your evening is guaranteed to be more enjoyable, more relaxing, and more restorative. You'll also sleep better. I've framed Emerson's statement and placed it on my desk and I read it with conviction before closing up shop for the day. Then I head into the evening committed to being happy and at peace, so I can enjoy the people and things I love

 

[Willie T]

The sure sign of a Christian in trouble are the words: "I feel _____."
Add in any word you like, and it will always be "sensual" of how "the flesh" feels through emotions.

So, is that what Christianity is to most here? About how one feels?
Faith is not about feelings, its about endurance to the end, in overcoming the flesh and the world through Jesus! Mark 13:13

And what were we instructed, in the Bible, to do when we see "a Christian in trouble?" Were we to shout "Ah ha!, I've got another one!", and align our sights on them?

 

[Waiting on him]

And what were we instructed, in the Bible, to do when we see "a Christian in trouble?" Were we to shout "Ah ha!, I've got another one!", and align our sights on them?

He has given us the power to become the sons of God.

 

[Waiting on him]

Another little musical snack!

 

[Willie T]

I wonder if it was "feelings" Jesus experienced when the verse "Jesus wept" was written about Him? Or when He stood with Mary and Martha at their brother's grave? When He sweat drops of blood? Or when He asked God if He had forsaken Him there on the cross? (Should I continue with the dozens of other situations in Jesus' life where He exhibited pure, raw emotional FEELIINGS?)

Frankly, a Christian without feelings, is about as useless as salt that has lost its flavor.

 

[VictoryinJesus]

He has given us the power to become the sons of God.

The question is do we deny that power to become the Sons of God?

Mark 4:16-17 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; [17] And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

Matthew 24:9-10 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. [10] And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Is persecution the focus or The fruit? The power Given to become the Sons of God during a time of persecution: to endure and bring forth fruit unto perfection? (Luke 8:14-16), (Matthew 13:23), (Romans 12:14),(Matthew 5:44-45) That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
^Power to become the Sons of God...what does it mean to deny that power?

 

[Earburner]

Do you need to hear the hippocampus song again?

I prefer not to listen to psychological manipulations in music to help me to get through the day.

And what were we instructed, in the Bible, to do when we see "a Christian in trouble?" Were we to shout "Ah ha!, I've got another one!", and align our sights on them?

Its not good to put one's thoughts in other people's mouths. You might hurt their "feelings"

 

[Earburner]

I wonder if it was "feelings" Jesus experienced when the verse "Jesus wept" was written about Him? Or when He stood with Mary and Martha at their brother's grave? When He sweat drops of blood? Or when He asked God if He had forsaken Him there on the cross? (Should I continue with the dozens of other situations in Jesus' life where He exhibited pure, raw emotional FEELIINGS?)

Frankly, a Christian without feelings, is about as useless as salt that has lost its flavor.

"Feelings" are not the measure of our "walk" with God, but FAITH is.
Hebrews 11:6

 

[VictoryinJesus]

I wonder if it was "feelings" Jesus experienced when the verse "Jesus wept" was written about Him? Or when He stood with Mary and Martha at their brother's grave? When He sweat drops of blood? Or when He asked God if He had forsaken Him there on the cross? (Should I continue with the dozens of other situations in Jesus' life where He exhibited pure, raw emotional FEELIINGS?)

Frankly, a Christian without feelings, is about as useless as salt that has lost its flavor.

God restores what was(is) lost...gives a new savour. (Luke 14:34-35) considering a God which takes in what was cast out of men, Picks up that which was thrown in the dungheap as wasted, draws that which is poor and despised...it has much to do with “He exhibited pure, raw” caring. In a world without shame, without conviction, without mercy and love ...What is lacking in John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.


Mark 4:38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

 

[Earburner]

Frankly, a Christian without feelings, is about as useless as salt that has lost its flavor.

Frankly, I percieve that you are putting your personal spin on what salt was mainly used for.
In the days of Jesus, It was primarily used as a preservetive to keep food etc. from going bad.

Therefore, concerning the words of Jesus about salt, and His value of it in His analogy, the verse reads: Mat. 5[13] Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
.
If then Jesus has likened Christians to be "the salt of the earth", just exactly what are we salting it with?
Please select one:
1. Our opinions.
2. Salvation through faith in Christ.
3. Our feelings.
4. Perfect Christian doctrine.

Now, if the Saving Grace of God through Jesus is no longer preached, and the world cares not to have faith in God, shall we as Christians stop salting the earth, because it will hurt their "feelings"?

I hope that you do know that such a time is coming, in which Christians will have to decide over FAITH or FEELINGS.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

 

[Jennifer]

There's no reason to persecute or insult someone if they are speaking in Christ, unless real feelings are hurt and involve, people persecute others cause they are jealous or because they hate the person for seeing Jesus in them. If people didn't like his first coming, why would they like his second one. You think the world want to see him a second time? They don't. They hated him the first time why would they like it now? But the world is so demanding and it chooses it's own and I know most of the way people act is pretentious, it's just a big show. But who is the real joke here? Who are people to condemn and persecute someone's calling on thier life. Why take it out on the person, why not go take to God? Would it be a person's fault for being born with such a calling? Hmm. I'm sure the person didn't ask for this. We all have gifts and purposes but is it wrong that the next person loves the Lord and decided to turn to him in it's life? No body is stopping you from turning to God. The Lord doesn't favorite anyone, he treats us all the same, but persecuting someone for something such as is not a way to win God's favor. God has annoiting for each our lives and I'm sure condemnations wasn't one of them. And you sit there and talk to me as if you see my life. Another thing, like some of you say his timing is perfect, well since my life is so terrible now and I have "issues", maybe that's why he is here now. He said he would lose none of his, if his "sheep" is in danger or lost or whatever, why would he abandon that sheep too? Is it because the sheep's stumbles and and falls from time to time, he must abandon it? Is it too awkward or not worthy enough to be saved? Or is it because i'm the black sheep here too? Leave me alone. I have nothing to answer to...and I sure won't listen to your insults assumptions and accusations towards me cause you don't know me or anything about my life.

 

[shnarkle]

He has given us the power to become the sons of God.

He's made us sons of God with the power and zeal to do God's will. There are a number of other ancient texts which say effectively the same thing. One way of putting it which I find quite convincing is that we are sons of God. We just don't know it. On some level, we can't know it because being a son of God is not an epistemological activity. Adam wanted to know rather than simply be.

 

[VictoryinJesus]

In the days of Jesus, It was primarily used as a preservetive to keep food etc. from going bad.

a preservative .to keep food from going bad. Interesting “preservative” how will it be preserved? Luke 17:32-33 Remember Lot's wife. [33] Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

#2 with Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

 

[shnarkle]

I wonder if it was "feelings" Jesus experienced when the verse "Jesus wept" was written about Him? Or when He stood with Mary and Martha at their brother's grave? When He sweat drops of blood? Or when He asked God if He had forsaken Him there on the cross? (Should I continue with the dozens of other situations in Jesus' life where He exhibited pure, raw emotional FEELIINGS?)

Frankly, a Christian without feelings, is about as useless as salt that has lost its flavor.

I think your point is well taken. There is no doubt that Christ not only had feelings, but felt them far more deeply than anyone possibly could. He doesn't just weep because of the loss he feels, or the empathy for his dear friends. He weeps because humanity was never meant to experience the sting of death. Man's state is hopeless and tragic.

There's a greater point here though. We see that Christ feels, but we don't see Christ saying that anyone needs to address his feelings. Christ isn't going around telling people how important his feelings are. He's not spotlighting the blood dripping down his forehead while he's praying, or experiencing the torments of separation from God.

It's ironic and paradoxical that self denial or self sacrifice requires pain and suffering, but it is through that pain and suffering that pain and suffering are abolished. It is only through a sense of self that this pain and suffering is possible, and yet we all ignore this fact that is so pervasive throughout the entire bible, but especially in the gospels. In other words, it's not an end in and of itself. It's something we need to go through and leave behind. When that happens, the last tear will dry as we step into eternity.

Obviously we're not supposed to simply dismiss the feelings of others, and there's far too much of that going on today. It's really become a sort of sport to see how well we can kick someone when they're down. We've lost the ability to employ tact. We walk around like a bunch of proselytizing Neanderthals bludgeoning each other with scriptural beams that end up lodged in our own eyes, and then presume we can remove the spec from those we've been beating.

 

[Helen]

85 Percent of What We Worry About Never Happens
By
Don Joseph Goewey, Contributor
author of The End of Stress, Four Steps to Rewire Your Brain.
08/25/2015 02:11pm EDT | Updated December 7, 2017

Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: "My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened." Now there's a study that proves it. This study looked into how many of our imagined calamities never materialize. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen. Lo and behold, it turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning. This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.

Montaigne's quote has made people laugh for five centuries, but worry is no joke. The
stress it generates causes serious problems. The stress hormones that worry dumps into your brain have been linked to shrinking brain mass, lowering your IQ, being prone to heart disease, cancer and premature aging, predicting martial problems, family dysfunction and clinical depression, and making seniors more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's.

If we could get a handle on the worry that habitually, incessantly, and often unconsciously seizes hold of our mind, we would greatly increase the odds of living a longer, happier, and more successful life. But don't worry; new research has found that you can rewire your brain to stop worrying. It starts with the decision not to believe the misfortune that your worried thoughts see in your future. An example of someone who made that decision is an elderly woman my friend Martha was asked to drive to the clinic for an annual check-up. Martha didn't know this woman. All she was told was that this person was more than 90 years old and probably quite frail. But the person who opened the door when Martha knocked could hardly be described as old and frail. The person who stood before Martha was a sprightly lady who appeared to be in her seventies at most.

"Do you mind me asking how old you are?" Martha asked on the drive to the doctor.

"93," the woman answered.

Martha was astonished. "You look so much younger," she said. "What's your secret?"

"Well, honey," she answered, "30 years ago I made the decision to stop worrying and I haven't wasted a moment on worry since."

It was this decision that made her younger and healthier than her chronological age. Think of all the energy she gained through her decision not to worry. Think of all the anxiety she spared herself, all the needless stress she avoided. Martha said that it showed on her face, in her attitude, and in how well her brain functioned.

It's possible to make this same choice to let go of worry and gradually move past worry altogether. You can rewire your brain to quiet the worry circuit. It takes a decision and it takes a special kind of practice, but it's simpler than you might imagine. I present 20 proven tools and processes in my book, The End of Stress, that are neuroplastic in nature, meaning they represent a change of mind that can rewire the brain to extinguish knee jerk fear reactions that set off incessant worry, and all in a matter of four to six weeks. A tool as simple as The Clear Button can get you started.

Here's how it works. You imagine a button at the center of your palm. You press it and count to three, thinking of each number as a color.

• Breathe in, count 1, think red.
• Breathe in, count 2, think blue.
• Breathe in, count 3, think green.
• On the exhale, completely let go of thinking anything for a moment.

Nature gave us a 90 second window to bust stressful thinking before it takes a long walk off a short pier, and The Clear Button gets us through the window in time. The more you bust stressful thinking during the day, the more your brain will strengthen synapses that end worry.

Here is the neurological reason why the Clear Button works. The part of the brain that causes stress reactions literally has the intelligence of a toddler. And every parent knows you don't stop a tantrum by appealing to a child's logic. You distract the child. This tool distracts the terrible two-year-old in your brain from casting you off the deep end.

Another simple approach to dissolving worry is called "Finish Each Day and Be Done With It." It facilitates the choice to let go of the day's problems, so you don't take them home. This piece of wisdom comes from a letter written by the great American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, to his daughter who was worried over a mistake she'd made. This is what it says:

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders, losses, and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; let today go so you can begin tomorrow well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. Each new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays."

By "old nonsense", Emerson is referring to our worries and woes. The two are synonymous. In the study I cited, nonsense and worry were one and the same thing -- not once in a while -- but nearly every single time.

I invite you to cut-and-paste the statement and post it where you'll see it at the close of your work day. If you allow Emerson's words to release you completely from your day's labor, your evening is guaranteed to be more enjoyable, more relaxing, and more restorative. You'll also sleep better. I've framed Emerson's statement and placed it on my desk and I read it with conviction before closing up shop for the day. Then I head into the evening committed to being happy and at peace, so I can enjoy the people and things I love

Good one, and a good read.

 

[Helen]

He doesn't just weep because of the loss he feels, or the empathy for his dear friends. He weeps because humanity was never meant to experience the sting of death. Man's state is hopeless and tragic.

Hi there

I have always believed that at the grave of Lazarus 'Jesus wept' not because Laz was dead...( for He knew He was going to raise him up)....not because He felt sorry for them in their grief...I believe it was because of their dulness of heart....There right with them stood The Resurrection and The Life...but their minds were so earth bound that they could not comprehend the life of the Spirit. So, Jesus wept...as I am sure He does over us when we are slow to to move from the life of the flesh into the life of the Spirit.


Just my two cents.

 

[shnarkle]

Hi there

I have always believed that at the grave of Lazarus 'Jesus wept' not because Laz was dead...( for He knew He was going to raise him up)....not because He felt sorry for them in their grief...I believe it was because of their dulness of heart....There right with them stood The Resurrection and The Life...but their minds were so earth bound that they could not comprehend the life of the Spirit. So, Jesus wept...as I am sure He does over us when we are slow to to move from the life of the flesh into the life of the Spirit.


Just my two cents.

Yes, good points. It's just so overwhelmingly pathetic. So many times, the authors of the gospels point out Jesus asking his disciples why or how they can be so slow. We read them, and think we see what's going on. We think we're smarter than Christ's disciples, but I think the narratives themselves point out that we're just as dim witted as they were.