Is There a Biblical Way to Think About Our Emotions?

Is there a biblical way to think about our emotions is one of the questions will be answering on today's edition of core Christianity why this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Israel Sanchez and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day.

You can call us right now with your question.

At 833 the core that's 1-833-843-2673 also put your question on our Facebook, Instagram or twitter accounts. If you want to watch a drill right now he's live on YouTube and you can send him a message that way. Of course you can always email us your question at questions at core, Christianity.com first up today let's go to Becky and Antioch California Becky watcher question for Pastor Israel. By that mention NGO in reading that I can't see that it can be anything that for a dinosaur.

When it by that is described and I just wondered how you felt about that. They Becky, thanks for that question.

Well, you know, there are some who do take the Leviathan in the book of Job to be a dinosaur obviously created by the Lord a little bit earlier so you're referring to Job chapter 41 beginning in verse one, where we read can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with the cord. Can you put a rope in his nose or Pierce's jaw with the hook. This is great sea creature. I earn earlier actually in Job chapter 40 verse 15. We also have this description of the behemoth which I made as I made you he eats grass like an ox.

Behold his strength is in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly.

If other people who will point to those passages a look. Is this it biblical description of dinosaurs. Another way of looking at this from work when were talking about the Leviathan specifically back Becky is that in the ancient world that the sea was viewed as this place of chaos and destruction.

This place were the monsters lived and God was the one who was over the chaos of the ancient world.

In fact, in the Psalms in Psalms chapter 74 beginning in verse 13, you have this kind of language again with the Leviathan you divided the sea by your might. You broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters you crushed the heads of Leviathan there. The Leviathan is is pictured as this. Many of you know, headed sea creature the sea monster that God rules over that he crushed that he destroyed when he delivered his people so part of the language that we have ears just at the picture of God's power over all of his creation. Even the great creatures that he he made that are often a terror to his people in that sense, it would've been an in and was a great a great comfort for God's people to hear about God's power over these terrible creatures. But as I said, Becky. There are some people who do we do take those references there in Job 40 dinner to the behemoth and then 41 to Leviathan to be descriptions of dinosaurs and so appreciate your question. God bless. This is core Christianity with Pastor Israel Sanchez, one of the ways you can ask your question is to email us at questions at core, Christianity.com glory in Modesto, California, wrote to us, and she says why is it that when I'm angry or sad or feeling any emotion. The emotion immediately floods my heart, but often when I'm praying or reading the Bible, my heart doesn't experience any feeling I wouldn't say it's empty, but it kinda feels that way.

I find this troubling. I'm wondering if it's normal for most Christians.

Well yeah glory. First, I would say I think this is normal for most Christians, I think. I think a lot of us you know if work before coming into Christianity from the outside. We join the church as was my experience early on there were a lot of feelings a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement started that honeymoon phase and then after a while you know those feelings slowly went away and worried that that for me personally it really troubled me, and I know it really troubles a lot of people is what I thought will will goodness what happened did the Lord leave me did I sent in some way. How come I don't have the those exciting feelings anymore, but the reality is I think a part of faith. Maturing is getting to the place we realize faith and feelings are two different things. And we don't walk by feelings, we walk by faith. I love the way CS Lewis, put it in mere Christianity heat when he is talking about love. He said look, don't concern yourself with whether or not you have the feelings of love do I do I feel like I love this person, but I feel like I like them, ask yourself the question, what would I do if I did, and just do that and it's it's the same thing in our relationship with the Lord and what we find as we do that is were committed to seeking the Lord to pursuing the Lord even when that the feeling is it necessarily there is that oftentimes the feelings follow. Now that's not always the case. But as we draw near to the Lord, we do have that promise in Scripture that he draws near to us as well but a mature faith is a faith that says I'm to be obedient to the Lord continue to follow the Lord even when I don't have those feelings. I think sometimes God takes those feelings away so that we might mature in our fate, so that we might be consistent in our in our walk with Jesus not up and down you know based on how it is were feeling when we wake up in the morning, but I do want you to know that that your experiences is really a common experience and sometimes it's hard to pray to open up the Scriptures, and that doesn't mean that your unit less spiritual than you once were per se, it would were just called to continue to pursue the Lord to seek him interested in the fact that he's there with us and draws near to us as well as we draw near to him and so glory may the Lord bless you and be with you. Thank you for that. But that question thanks glory. We appreciate you and appreciate the fact that you're one of our regular listeners here at core Christianity go to Elliott who is calling in from Wisconsin.

Elliott's torture question for Pastor Israel, like all my question is how does God view of the marriage of unbelievers yeah well yeah I guess I is depends on the particular marriage and if you're if you're asking are unbelievers who get married really and truly married I would say yeah I think that the answer is yes. I think that marriage is something that was instituted way back in the beginning of the Bible in early chapters of Genesis where God brought Adam and Eve together.

It's a sort of creation ordinance a part of the common society of this world and yet at the same time. I think that there's so much that we learn about the mystery of marriage through the gospel. And so while I buy believe that non-Christians are are truly married and and ought to be faithful to one another. I think that the essence of what marriage is. Cannot be fully understood apart from the work of Jesus Christ and what he's done and of course you know Paul in the book of Ephesians. He looks at those early chapters of Genesis. Any setting of the mystery of marriage is really about the relationship that Jesus Christ has with his church. And that's when he gets into the those expectations. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her and so I think that the those married so far as marriage is this, this common institution that that the marriage between unbelievers is is a real marriage but that if were really going to understand the depth of what God intends for us.

In marriage we need to look to the gospel and so you can't have that fullness in marriage.

If you will, apart from Christ I would say thank you for your question.

Elliott forgiven us a call here the core you mentioned CS Lewis earlier CS Lewis has a wonderful chapter on marriage.

In his book mere Christianity.

It's just so beautiful and so powerful we would encourage all of her listeners if you have read that book before. It's a great book to read.

First of all, is an apologetics book but also just to talk about marriage and love as you mentioned earlier yeah and even getting back to the question that we received from glory about feeling and he gets into just how you think that when you get married you know you have that sort of honeymoon phase and then asked the love matures. You don't always feel the same fireworks you know 20 years down the line. 30 years down the line, but that doesn't mean that the love has gone away. I know were were learning to love each other in deeper ways, and so really good stuff there on marriage and also on on just feeling and the life of faith, your listing core Christianity with Pastor Israel Sanchez. How often do you pray for your mother and father. Today we are offering a great book that reminds us of the importance of praying for our parents. Add to this book written by Chelsea Stanley and it's called five things to pray for your parents.

I think that white. A lot of times we talk about the ways in which we can be praying for our kids.

And of course that's important. We need to be praying for our children but you don't hear a lot about it. How is it that you can pray for your parents that you can continue to honor your parents.

As the Scripture says honor your father and your mother, even into adulthood.

And that's one of the things that this book is going to help you do is just to pray for your parents consistently gets called five things to pray for your parents, written by Chelsea Stanley want to get this resource into your hands.

You can find it by going to core Christianity.com will send it to you for a donation of any amount just go to core Christianity.com/offers and look for Chelsea Stanley's book 5 things to pray for your parents. You can also call us for that offer or any one of our offers at this number it's 833.core which is 833-843-2673 let's go to John who is calling in from Munich Germany. John welcomed the program and to or all the work that you're doing Christianity. My wife and I have been listening to your show for quite some time and we have a question that we have three children ages three, eight and 10 and we were wondering how we can approach the topic of sex with them. If you catch them some suggestion of how we can start a conversation. Maybe some resources. We know that there is a lot of resources may be out there that have our name Christian, but they may not be thoroughly biblical.

So what we're looking for is some advice how to talk about sex, marriage, and the changes that especially the older boys are going to be experiencing and we want to biblical teaching, 40 hear all the bad the world out there. Thank you John, thank you so much for that: I have children kind around the same age as my oldest is nine to be 10 742-year-old we X have one more on the way. Is this something my wife and I have talked about quite a bit in it and it's so important that we help our children is one of the areas where we have to disciple them in the midst of culture in a society where oftentimes the way in which sex and relationships are talked about is is very unhelpful and first I think it's important for us to be able to teach our kids about just their body and and even safety related to body. I've a friend named Justin Holcomb. He and his wife Justin and Lindsay wrote a book called God made all of me a read aloud story to help children protect their bodies and so I think with the kids really young ages. That's a great resource to begin just talking about the body and an end. Just observe positive view of the body, one of one of the big issues I think today even in the church as we have this very we can have this very negative view of sex because of the cultures I think were trying to balance the biblical view which is God created.

This is a good thing to be enjoyed in a certain context. And so we don't need to treated as a taboo subject. We want to be very honest with our children open with them to talk about the goodness of God, of relationships of reproduction of how God intended the world to be, but also some of the dangers. Obviously, that we see out in the world today and so I would say that there's got to be that that balance thereof. Work were talking about this in a positive when you think of books like the book of the song of songs right which celebrates marital intimacy as this gift from God. So we don't we don't want to treat it as I think one of the dangers. A lot of times in the churches. We talk about sex so negatively, and our kids here that and they hear about these these corruptions and in the world and in culture and then they begin to have this this sort of darkened view of what really in the Bible is a good thing that is so often abused and so having that that proper balance that that one book is just sort of getting things started for talking about body and body image. Those kinds of things and I I'm guessing Bill, you probably have some good resources on this as well as a counselor and with no families know one of my favorites is our God's design for sex by Stan and Brenda Jones.

Stan is one of the top Christian psychologists in the countries, the former Provost at Wheaton College and they wrote a series of God's design for sex, which is actually there several books and they're all age-appropriate. Based on the child's developmental stage so you can start off like with a three or four-year-old all the way through the teen years, which it with each of these books are paperback and I think they're one of the best things as far as a biblical and accurate.

No medical or psychological perspective on sexuality.

Awesome.

Hey John, thank you for giving us a call and may the Lord bless you out there and in Germany so John so great to hear from you internationally. What a blessing to hear from one of our international callers. Let's go to Marty in Corpus Christi, Texas, Marty, what's your question for Pastor Israel.

Yes, I was wondering why churches, pastors and stuff don't really talk about the rapture and the end of times. Go over get into Marty. There is the doctrine of eschatology eschatology is just a fancy theological term for the study of the last things, and in particular you know Gazette that that study.

The last thing section encompasses all sorts of stuff to talk about the resurrection of the dead, the life of the world to come, but in particular the second coming and there is a lot of difference within the church and there has been historically on that question. There are some group, some Christians it teach that Jesus is going to come the secret way to deliver his people on earth prior to a time of great tribulation and then after that time of great tribulation you're gonna have the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. There are others who believe that Christ is presently raining right now that Jesus is going to come back and there's nothing to be any any rapture in the way that you know the other group might describe these in it, and that when he comes. He's he's ushering in the final judgment, the resurrection, all of those things are happening at the same time and so I think maybe one of the reasons why some some people talk about the rapture specifically is because there difference differences of opinion on the end times. Let's just say this that the key that you need to understand and this is this is what is focused on throughout the Scriptures related to the second coming of Jesus is that it's a bodily return of Christ that is coming back the same way he left. If you will you send into heaven bodily he's coming back to judge the living and the dead, and so anyone who denies that Jesus is is coming back well that would be a problem.

That would be a false teaching related to the end times, but there is a diversity of opinion in the church on this question.

In particular, and I would say for us as believers and of the call that you have throughout the New Testament is to be ready that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the blessed hope of God's people. It's something we look forward to, because we know that Jesus is coming to redeem his bride to to to rescue her fully and finally met anyone since we pray for that. Every time we say Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done. And so it is our great hope as as believers, and it's something that we should talk about. Thank you for your your question, Marty may the Lord bless you Marty if you will hang on the line for second would love to steer you towards our website.

We actually have a great resource on this topic.

It's called what are the main views of the end times. It's one of our core questions. You can find it by going to core Christianity.com/questions just look for what are the main views of the end times. Let's go to Selah in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma seal about your question for Pastor Israel, I really appreciate you and Bill Colcord read the Bible more and more I hear about it. You're reading the Bible to build enduring on John and I will try to meet at 438 think that you love Jesus but you hate your brother and you don't monkey the jetliner called David say that I not so it all of it to me but I'm wondering if I love Jesus are not truly deep down inside like you have someone that I like severely I get you to call hate hate my brother had I truly forgiven him of that transcript your heart. I know I know around evil people I know are not good like God. Now I questioning that. Do I love you that I feel like I do not been to the college and just let the cross so my question is possible that I could hate somebody and not yeah will will seal. I am grateful that you gave us a call and you know that this is a struggle that that many believers have any real passage like this where were called to love God were called to love our neighbor and we look inside and we realize we still have sin. And so then we begin to wonder well can I really say that I love Jesus, do I really love Jesus, do I really have faith in my really a child of God that we have to understand a couple of things. First first John was written to a group of Christians who had just experienced. Really a great schism in the church.

There were a group of people who were once a part of the church that that John is writing to who had left who had abandoned the faith and they had embraced false teachings about Jesus. They were they were essentially denying the truth. They had they had fallen into the spirit of the antichrist. If you will, and Jonathan to talk about that in this letter is even to talk about those who would lefty so you know they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they would really of us they would've continued with us, but it sounds to me like you're aware of the fact that you don't love your brother if you will, your neighbor perfectly and that's all of us.

We recognize we have sin and the false teachers in John's day were actually denying that they had said so in one sense, I would. I would Satan you're actually in even recognizing your shortcomings on the right track on the right track earlier in first John in first John chapter 1 John says if we say we have no sin in verse eight we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Now my little children beginning of chapter 2 I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous key is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

I just want to speak to you and to everyone listening right now to you listening right now is feel weighed down by sin. Your failure, your you're aware you're painfully aware of the fact that you don't love God perfectly and you don't love your neighbor as you should you go to God, weighed down with that and you say God have mercy on me just tell you, you have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. If you say you have no say in your your your deceived but if you realize you you're a sinner. You need God's grace because the spirit of God is at work in you. Selah.

If you believe in Jesus Christ and again you've read this because your reading through first audit. It sounds like if you believe in Jesus Christ you know that you have eternal life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God. John says in first John chapter 5 verse 13, that you may know that you have eternal life. Johnson John's goal here is not to get you questioning your salvation. On the contrary, he's he's calling out the false teachers who deny Jesus, who said they didn't have any say in who hated their brother before those in the church. Those committed to seeking him those painfully aware of their Cindy's and look you believe in Jesus, I'm writing to you so that you would know that you have eternal life. And so we we go to the Lord. We go to the cross as you said Selah we go to the cross and there we fall at the feet of Jesus and are there people who are deceived to say I love God, but that neither they just hate their neighbors all around them. It will, yes, there are and in particular there in first John was the false teachers that John was calling out. Are there Christians who I think can be professing Christians who can be self deceived as well. People who say you love God said a prayer many years ago. You don't really go to church. I don't care about the people there so on and so forth.

But I think I got my fire insurance you know II asked Jesus into my heart when I was 14 that kind of they will, yet there are people can be deceived but it sounds to me. Selah, like you are convicted of your sin like you long to know the grace of God in your life and just I just want to assure you of the hope of the gospel of the object of work of Jesus Christ for you that believing in him, you are forgiven and John gives you that same assurance in first John chapter 5 verse 13.

So thank you so much for forgiving us a call and will will make sure to keep you in our prayers as you continue to study God's word love hearing that your reading first John every day this month, so may the Lord bless you as you continue to do that. Thanks much, Selah. We appreciate your call. This is core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez, just a reminder about today's resource.

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