The God of Emotions: Genesis • Ralf Lubs • (PSDS 1)
The God of Emotions: A Devotional and Emotional Reading of Genesis
Are you emotional? Then you are in good company, God is emotional, too. This is the story of Adam and Eve, Abel and Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the perfect family. The perfect family? You bet they were not that different from us. Apart from having no car, no tie, and no supermarket around the corner, they had the same emotional troubles as we have today. Let’s have a look at them. Why do we need emotional management?
1. Lack of emotional management destroys the individual and the church (see Ephesians 4:26–27).
2. Judas committed suicide because of lack of emotional management. He should have canalized his emotions towards genuine repentance as Peter did.
3. Positive emotional management leads the sinner to genuine repentance.
4. Positive emotional management leads to opening the heart to the work of the Holy Spirit.
5. Trust in God’s promises leads to the personal experience of those promises.
6. Lack of emotional management gives room to the devil.
7. Besides that, there are many more reasons - emotional, apologetic, social, ecclesial, etc.
Genesis tells a true story about what could happen at any home, workplace, and places for leisure time - among friends and foes. We will investigate into God’s purposes with these people and how he engages with their emotional struggles. We can identify with the characters, make choices and learn for our own lives, guided by the Holy Spirit, who intends to communicate peace to our lives.