Now you see it's a discipline inside. Now most people want to fill their outside world with stuff to satisfy the inner needs, but if we will build our inner life, our outside world will change. Consciously, as you change on the inside, things around you change as well. Here's another thing we need to do is manage your emotions and your thoughts. Now your thoughts and emotions go together, so thoughts that aren't right, quickly address them because they'll lead to emotions and feelings and old ways. You know, you think about someone, the injustice someone did you, you'll start to feel angry. You begin to think about how much you lack, and how much trouble you have, and you start to feel sorry for yourself. You have a choice what you'll set your thoughts on, and we have to choose to think the things that are good. If you start to allow your mind to go to all the things you have to do, you start to feel anxious and divided, and you lose consciousness that God is with you.
Here's another thing. I'll give you a couple of other things. They're also quite simple, so those are all internal things, consciously and quickly expecting God to forgive me, rushing back into His presence when I've blown it, meditating on His love and dwelling on that, beginning to build an awareness that God is with me, disciplining thoughts and emotions. Those are all very, very simple things you can do, and there's a couple of other ways we can actually experience the love of God. One of the ways is learn to receive from other people. Jesus also lives in a body of people, and so He calls us to love one another, and sometimes people feel so far from God, that what they need is someone who can represent God to them, someone who can actually - it's like God in a skin, coming to them. We need to be able to open ourselves to receive being loved, valued and supported by other believers. Oh, well I'd rather go it alone with God. No, no, no, we're not called to go alone with God.
One of the evidences that the glory of God is growing in our life, and that we're becoming stable in love, is we begin to engage people and connect with people. Why is that? We'll see that just in a moment. So God reveals His love through people sometimes. I remember in my first year teaching, how I was just absolutely desperate. It was really not going good for me, and I got to the end of myself one day. I said that's it Lord! I've had enough of this. This just sucks, I'm out of here, so I'm going to put in my resignation, we'll leave and go somewhere by a beach where I can fish like I always wanted to anyway. I got the place in mind, I got the magazine out, had to have a look at it and see the job away up there Warkworth way, I could just see myself. I pictured there at the beach, out there loving - oh man, don't go there. [Laughter] Maybe for a holiday, you know?
Anyway I said but Lord, You know You brought us here, and so if I'm going to shift well, You've got to help me out here to keep me here, so I'm out of here unless You help me. What I want You to do is send someone to help me, strengthen me and support me, encourage me. You know I hadn't even finished - I don't even know whether I prayed it out loud, or just thought it out loud, but anyway whatever it was there was a knock at the door as soon as I finished. I couldn't believe it. Who the heck could be coming here, it's the middle of the day, I'm home and no one expects me home - and it was my Pastor. He said I felt God put it on my heart to come around and see you like you needed encouragement. I've come to pray for you. I thought oh, I just swallowed it! I just cried like a baby. [Laughter] Now I received the love of God through a person, and it strengthened me, so don't just think you go it alone and get it all from God. None of us goes it that way. Even Jesus said to His disciples, come and join Me, this is a very difficult hour for Me, come and join Me in prayer. I really would like your support.
Now people don't give us everything and they do fail us and they don't come up when we expect, but nevertheless, they are a way God brings His love to us. Don't underestimate how God can love you through people.