March 7, 2010
Stressbusters Series

GOD’S ANTIDOTE TO DAMAGED EMOTIONS

‘He restores my soul.’ Psalm 23:3

I. LET GOD REMOVE MY GUILT…

‘My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear… I am bowed down and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.’ Psalm 38:4, 6

‘The Lord gave us a mind and a conscience. We cannot hide from ourselves.’ Proverbs 20:27

‘Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.’ Proverbs 4:23

‘All of us have sinned… yet God declares us “not guilty” IF we trust in Jesus Christ, who in mercy freely takes away our sins.’ Romans 3:23-24 (LB)

‘He has forgiven ALL your sins, he has utterly wiped out the evidence of broken commandments which always hung over our heads, and completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross!’ Colossians 2:13-14 (PH)

II. LET GOD RELIEVE MY GRIEF

‘Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble’ Job 14:1

‘For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful…’ Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

‘Lord, have mercy, because I am in misery. My eyes are weak from so much crying, and my whole being is tired from grief.’ Psalm 31:9(NCV)

1. Accept What Cannot Be Changed…

‘Then David got up from the ground… He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept… But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring Him back alive? 2 Samuel 12:22-23

2. Play It Down And Pray It Up

‘After he had washed, put on lotions, and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.’
3. Focus On What’s Left Not What’s Lost…

‘Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. 2 Samuel 12:24

‘To all who mourn… he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness.’ Isaiah 61:3 (LB)

III. LET GOD REPLACE MY GRUDGES

‘To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.’ Job 5:2 (GN)

‘You are only hurting yourself with your anger.’ Job 18:4 (GN)

‘Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for He has said He will repay those who deserve it.’ Romans 12:19 (LB)

‘Get rid of all bitterness… forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.’
Ephesians 4:31-32

‘Put your heart right, reach out to God… then face the world again, firm and courageous. Then all your troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more.’ Job 11:13-16