Feelings and God

I just read part of a post by David Pratte. The essence of the sermon was that feelings are mercurial and we are not to trust them. Here is his summary

We have learned in this study that we should avoid the abuse of emotions. At the same time, we should not overreact by concluding that all expression of emotion is bad and should be suppressed. The truth is that emotions can be good, but only when we are in control so that we are doing what is scriptural, understandable, and edifying.

It is only good and natural for Christians to feel and express emotions as they serve God. But we must not let emotions determine for us what we will believe or what we will do in worship, nor may we let them hinder people from understanding the meaning of what is done in worship.

What is the basis for your beliefs and your practices in worship?

I have lots of conflicting thoughts about this one. Oh so many. I am not an emotional person. I have emotions (a plenty) but my main way of thinking and reacting is logical. But, I so admire the person who can love Jesus so much that they actually jump for joy or sing in the rain or something. That is not me. I am the look in the Word and feel awe of it kind of girl. But I secretly want to be given over to emotion...lol.

The thing that bothers me about this is that it seems that you are made to either lean one way or the other. I like the idea that thought should lead the way and emotions follow the path the bible has laid out. But God gave us all these beautiful emotions to worship Him with.

Are emotions feminine and is that why they have been given a bad rap? I look at a bible study with Beth Moore. She is such an amazing woman and so beautifully emotional. Through her bible studies she has cried and then praised in the rain, danced and sang around her office and absolutely gushed about how great God is. How can that be wrong. I don't imagine that Beth was in control of her emotions while crying in the rain, she was relating and making a bond with God.

I guess that is it. I am wondering whether the bible has any verses that our relationship with God is a personal one. I haven't found one. I don't know what websters describes as personal, but for me a personal relationship with someone is a relationship where we have met each other and have some sort of bond. I do have a relationship with my husband and my mother and my kids and my friends, I do not have a relationship with the neighbour next store that I see sporadically throughout the year. So from my definition the bond is what defines the relationship for me (it will no doubt be different for others), and Jesus and I we have one heck of a bond. He loves me and He died for me, that would make every other bond I have subordinate.

Something else occurs to me, this personal relationship I have with the maker of the universe. I don't expect anything out of it. Not that I am not getting anything out of it. Not that I don't plead for things, but I don't expect anything (beyond Him to fulfill the promises He has made). I love God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and it would seem presumptuous for me to think that God should heal me, because He loves me. I understand that God knows me down to the numbers of hairs on my head, I know that he loves me and wants to prosper me. But I am so okay with letting Him decide when to heal me (here or in heaven). Maybe that some people are trying to make, that God is a personal God in that we have a bond, but the idea that we have an "in" with Him and we can get what we want done if we only believe...not so much.