ITCZ 101 - A Calm, Cool Demeanor 2

Emotions are our friend. They are neither good or bad when talking about intrinsic value. How we place them in our thought process will determine their value. Do our emotions lead? If they do, they are clouding our thinking. I submit to you, emotions that lead us become our enemy!

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Recovering Our Thinking

What can we do when our emotions get out in front? If we "throw the switch" and recover with a calm, cool and peaceful thought process the emotions are moved to a place to supplement and support our thinking.

With practice your emotions begin to emulate your core values putting a turbo on your resolve. Activate your faith in the Lord which provides a clear thinking process. Doubt clouds the mind and keeps you off balance. Take a moment to review, Faith… Updating Your Definition for quick recap.

And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. - Isaiah 32:17 NASB


What If They Feel Good?

When talking about emotions in context of putting them in their proper place, we naturally think of the negative emotions. Now, as a fun activity, reread Part I and II from the beginning but this time think of positive emotions rather than negative emotions. That is, when we desire something so bad we make bad choices. Whether its a person or a thing or a pursuit.

In those cases we feel really good. We are in love with someone! It would be great to have a new car! We want to go on that trip! These are emotions that feel so good we actually decide to make a bad decision so we can keep feeling them. Let's put our thinking first and use the power of good decision making which is accomplished with our mind and not our emotions.


Make Your Emotions Your Ally

The goal is to think first in every situation. Emotion is our ally in it's proper place. When in the proper place it makes us a powerful force, just like the Lord intended.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. - Colossians 3:15 NASB

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Take Action!

What is your mechanism for shifting your thought process to thinking clearly? 
Since getting In The Cool Zone comes from a willingness and the practice of choosing a state of mind that is calm, cool and peaceful, your going to need good, meaningful reasons to want it. The scriptures and Holy Spirit provide the reasons you will be looking for.
Forgiveness, understanding your purpose, letting go of pride and holding fast to humility is a very brief list. A quick review of, Galvanize Your Heart may be helpful as well. 
Do you struggle more with the negative or the positive emotions... or maybe both? 
Our thought process before we knew the Lord was fixed on this world. What else did we have? Now we have higher objectives. Better thoughts to think! 
Thinking first, takes time. Even the coolest customer gets challenged. Keep seeking the Lord and becoming the person He intended you to be.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! - Isaiah 26:3 NLT

Please, add your thoughts in the comment section.

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Concept >>> “Think With A Calm, Cool, Peaceful Demeanor”
Next >>> "Throwing The Switch"


In The Cool Zone concept. Think like Jesus thinks.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 14, 2016 at 4:28 PM

    I recently had this conversation with someone. This person acts first on their emotions and allows their emotions to drive their entire life. They aren't even aware of it. When I pointed it out, she became emotional and defensive. We can all be led by our emotions at any given time and not even be aware of it. We have to remain vigilant which is best done from the perspective of the calm, cool demeanor.
    Why is it dangerous to lead with our emotions instead of our thoughts?
    1) we bypass our knowledge of the Word when we focus on emotions.
    2) Emotions change drastically and quickly. One minute you can be feeling great and declare yourself a spiritual giant and then you get hit, your emotions become negative and suddenly you can't understand why anyone would listen to you about the Lord. Focusing on your thought process and your knowledge of the Word enables you to be consistent in your thoughts, speech, and action which makes you a strong witness.
    James2:18 tells us that our faith is shown by our good deeds. If our emotions are constantly taking us up and down our deeds (in words and action) will be up and down and represent our faith as being inconsistent.

    ReplyDelete

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