Deciding by Faith

This is something the LORD spoke to me earlier last week.  Wasn't really anything new it was just put things in a different perspective and spoke specifically into some things in my life.  Hope you can find it helpful as well.

Emotions, such as those of anger, attraction,  etc...in and of themselves are not bad and are not sin.  However, they put a haze over our vision making it harder to see and we all know that without vision you perish. (Proverbs 29:18)  This is why we must learn to act not only beyond what we see but also beyond what we feel.  We must act from the place of faith.  We must align ourselves with truth and the will of God by being intimate with Him, reading His word, and connecting to His heart through prayer.  When we do this it will lift the haze that emotions can bring allowing us to see clearly to make decisions based on truth instead of decisions based on what we see and feel.  As we continue to act from truth and abide in the vine (John 15), eventually our emotions will follow.  This is a hard thing for us to understand sometimes because in America it is common for us to make decisions based upon desire instead of basing them on principles (consumerism and marketing for example all target, you should want this and therefore you should get it).  However, when we do make decisions based upon the will of God the reward is great because emotions are awesome and are a gift from God...but if you let them they can destroy you.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God."  --Ezekiel 36:26-28