20d • General discussion
I Used to Think God Spoke Through My Feelings
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
1 John 4:1 (KJV)
Yesterday we talked about the counterfeit gospel.
How it looks real, sounds real, and exhausts you while you think you're walking with God.
Today I want to get specific about one of the most common ways the counterfeit shows up.
Feelings.
I used to think every strong feeling was God talking to me.
If I felt peace about a decision, I thought that was God saying yes.
If I felt uneasy, I thought that was God saying no.
If I felt a rush during worship, I thought I was being filled with the Spirit.
If I felt nothing, I thought something was wrong with me.
My entire relationship with God was built on what I felt.
And I didn't even realize it was a problem because everyone around me was doing the same thing.
"I just feel like God is telling me to do this."
"I feel a peace about it."
"The Spirit put it on my heart."
Sound familiar?
I'm not saying those experiences aren't real.
I'm not saying God doesn't work through your emotions.
He created them.
But here's what nobody told me.
A feeling, no matter how strong, no matter how spiritual it seems, is not automatically from God.
And if we learned anything from Day 4, we learned that the heart is deceitful above all things.
If your heart is capable of deceiving you, then the feelings that come from that heart are capable of deceiving you too.
That's why John says to try the spirits.
Test them.
Don't just believe every inner prompting.
Don't just follow every strong feeling.
Test it.
But test it against what?
The Word.
We covered this on Day 11.
Jesus is the truth.
Jesus is the Word made flesh.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.
And the Spirit of truth will always lead you back to Scripture.
Always.
So if a feeling you're having doesn't line up with what the Bible says, it doesn't matter how real that feeling is.
It's not from the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit will never tell you something that contradicts what He already wrote.
That's the test.
And it's simpler than most people think.
But here's why so many believers get this wrong.
We were taught to chase the feeling.
Think about how most churches operate.
The worship builds.
The music swells.
The lights dim.
And when you feel something, when the tears come or the goosebumps hit or the emotion rises, that's called "the presence of God."
And maybe it is.
But maybe it's just emotion responding to atmosphere.
I've been in concerts that made me cry.
I've watched movies that gave me goosebumps.
I've had conversations that stirred something deep in my chest.
None of that was the Holy Spirit.
It was my emotions doing what emotions do.
Responding to stimuli.
The problem isn't that you felt something in church.
The problem is when you start making decisions based on that feeling without ever opening your Bible to confirm it.
"I feel like God is calling me to leave my job."
Did you take that to Scripture?
"I feel like this relationship is from God."
Did you test that against the Word?
"I feel like God told me to do this."
Where in Scripture does He confirm it?
If the answer is "I just feel it," that's not confirmation.
That's Day 4 all over again.
Your feelings are a signal, not a sentence.
They alert you that something is happening.
They don't get to decide what you do about it.
I made major life decisions based on feelings I thought were from God.
Some of them cost me relationships.
Some of them cost me time I can't get back.
And the whole time I thought I was being led by the Spirit because it felt so right.
It wasn't until Pastor walked me through 1 John 4:1 that I realized I had been following my emotions and calling it the Holy Spirit.
That's not a comfortable realization.
I know.
If you're reading this and feeling a little defensive right now, I understand.
I was defensive too.
Because nobody wants to hear that the thing they thought was God might have been their own heart.
But here's the good news.
This isn't about losing something.
It's about gaining something better.
When you stop relying on feelings to hear God and start relying on the Word, your relationship with Him gets deeper, not shallower.
Because now you're building on something that doesn't shift.
Feelings change by the hour.
The Word doesn't.
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."Isaiah 40:8 (KJV)
Feelings come and go.
There are seasons where you'll feel close to God and seasons where you'll feel absolutely nothing.
If your faith is built on the feeling, those dry seasons will destroy you.
You'll think God left.
You'll think something is wrong.
You'll think the relationship is over.
But if your faith is built on the Word, the dry season doesn't shake you.
Because God didn't change.
Your feelings did.
And you already know your feelings are unreliable.
A faith built on feelings will crumble in silence.
A faith built on the Word will stand in any season.
Different S's.
The Spirit of truth is not moody.
He doesn't come and go based on the worship setlist.
He leads through the Word.
Consistently.
Reliably.
Every single time.
So how do you actually hear God?
You open the Book.
Not looking for a feeling.
Not looking for goosebumps or confirmation bias.
Looking for what He already said.
Because God has already spoken.
Sixty-six books.
Thousands of verses.
He's not silent.
You just might be looking for His voice in the wrong place.
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
All Scripture.
Given by God.
Profitable.
For doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction.
Everything you need to hear from God is in that Book.
The Spirit's job is to guide you into that truth, not to give you new revelation that bypasses it.
Step 1: The next time you think "God is telling me something," pause.
Before you act on it, take it to Scripture.
Does the Word confirm it?
If you can't find chapter and verse, hold off.
Feelings without Scripture are just feelings.
Step 2: Don't say, "I don't feel God anymore so He must be distant."
Say, "My feelings fluctuate but the Word of God doesn't. God is the same today as He was yesterday, and my faith is built on His Word, not on what I feel."
Step 3: Start building the habit of going to the Word first, not your emotions.
When you need direction, open the Bible before you poll your feelings.
When you need comfort, read a Psalm before you scroll your phone.
The more your instinct is to go to the Word, the less power your feelings have to mislead you.
The app is built for exactly this.
PRAYER:
Father God, I confess that I've been chasing feelings and calling it faith. I let my emotions tell me what You were saying instead of letting Your Word speak for itself. And sometimes what I thought was You was really just me. That's hard to admit. But I'd rather have the truth than a comfortable lie. Today I stop following feelings blindly and I start testing everything against Your Word. Your Spirit is the Spirit of truth and He always leads to Scripture. Help me hear You through the pages, not just through the goosebumps. Build my faith on what You already said, not on what I feel in the moment. Because feelings fade. Your Word never does. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Blessings,Pastor Johnny Chang
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I Used to Think God Spoke Through My Feelings
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