In the Gospel of John 14:27 Jesus said, My Peace I leave with you; my [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. So let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The Greek reads, “Stop allowing yourselves to be Agitated and Disturbed.” I say Amen!
A mood is defined as a temporary state of mind or feeling. To me, a mood is a temporary mind shift. This could take place upon hearing something said, or by simply seeing a specific person or thing and bam! Immediately our psyche reacts with a temporary mind shift, or what I call moods. Now the change can be positive or negative… good or bad… uplifting or depressing. I have discovered, that it mainly depends on our filtering system and mind set as it relates to how we perceive situations.
I realize that some mood changes come as a result of chemical events in the physical body. And it is also clear to me, that there is an interchange between the mental/emotional and our physical bodies, such, that things that occur in the physical body can affect moods, and vice versa. But let’s focus on moods as it relates to our ability to control them, cause this is a truth that we all need to be clear on.
For example, if you're not used to harnessing your thoughts or exercising self-control when situations present themselves, your mood swings will probably be more frequent and last a lot longer than you might desire. On the other hand, if you learn to deliberately exercise authority over what you will and will not think about and entertain, and if you choose the feelings that you will, and will not react to, then your mood swings will probably not be as frequent or severe; and when they do occur, they will not last as long. Now, I know that this teaching might seem strange. But don't just take my word for it, let's look into the bible and see what it has to say about it.
For example, In (Proverbs 25:28) Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, wrote, "He that Hath No Rule over his own spirit is like a city that is Broken Down, and Without Walls." This is simply saying, that if you don't exercise control over your own life, though In this case, I'm talking about your thought life. You're like a city without walls. "In other words, you are totally Defenseless Against the Attacks of the enemy." Now listen to this same scripture in the message bible translation. "A person Without Self-Control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out." WOW! Now, Can you see what I'm talking about? Bottom line is, "you can't allow your moods to control you," rather, you must learn to control them! Or else, you will become a basket case.
The truth is, the Attitude you have, while you are in the wilderness, will determine how long you will be there. "If you complain, you will remain, but if you Praise, you will be raised." It's totally up to You!
Well, speaking of moods, something happened to me yesterday, which literally put me in a very sad and depressing mood, for a lot longer than I'm accustomed too...
Let me tell you, everything was going great. I had just come out of the recording studio, where I was working on my new album and was happy as can be. When suddenly, one of my secretaries walked into my office and said, "Pastor, Oliver, Jean's husband just died!” I said, WHAT! “What did you just say,” She repeated it. My God man, you talk about a mind shift! Immediately, I went from being on the mountaintop, to plunging into a deep valley… just like that! Have you ever been there? Well, Her news, really, really rocked me, and I must admit, I went totally numb!!!
Even an hour later, I just couldn't seem to shake it, no matter how hard I tried. Finally, about 2 hours later, while I was having dinner with my wife. I guess it must have been very obvious to her, because she kept asking me, ‘J’, are you all right? ‘J’ what’s the matter? So finally I told her. And when I did that, she kindly expressed her sympathy and went on to diligently pray for me, which I greatly appreciated...
Well, it wasn't until a couple of hours later, and after much effort, that I was able to finally push that depressing mood off of me and went on to enjoy the rest of the night. My point is, no matter how strong we think we are, certain news, events and other encounters generally play a large role in the kind of moods we all experience. Now the reason I'm saying this, is because the next day, when I walked into my office, one of my workers came up to me and said, “Pastor, after having heard the news about Oliver yesterday, I got so depressed, that I could hardly sleep at all last night. Sorry, this is why I'm so tired today.” Immediately I thought, “man, "HAD I NOT FOUGHT BACK" and Pushed This Thing Off Of Me when I did, I'm sure, Oliver's news, would have ruined, not just my dinner, but also my entire night, just like it did his... Right then, I heard the Lord say, son; learn from this, cause life is to precious and to short, for you to allow yourself to be moody and upset all the time! Remember, you are Free!!!
This is why I am convinced, that where the mind goes, the emotions, and ultimately, the man follows. And unless we rise up and learn to take control over our thought life and emotions, they will ultimately take control of us.