Transforming Desires for Emotional Health and Joy
Summary
God, as our loving Father, deeply desires for us to experience the fullness of life—peace, joy, and emotional health—even in a world filled with challenges. Just as we long for happiness and well-being for those we love, God wants us, His children, to live with “kingdom emotions.” These are the inner states of peace, love, and joy that characterize life in His presence. In the third heaven, where God’s will is perfectly done, there is no fear, anxiety, or insecurity—only wholeness and contentment. God’s heart is for us to progressively experience more of this reality, even now, by entering into a process of transformation He’s outlined in His Word.
Emotions are complex, shaped by our observations, interpretations, memories, and even cultural influences. They are like warning lights on a dashboard, signaling us to pay attention to what’s happening inside. Spiritual maturity involves learning to recognize and understand our emotions, asking ourselves not just what we feel, but why we feel it, and whether those feelings are rooted in truth or distortion. God invites us to examine our desires, because our desires powerfully shape our emotional lives. When our desires are aligned with God’s—when we want what He wants—we begin to experience the emotional health and satisfaction He intends.
God’s desires are clear and pure: He loves righteousness, justice, goodness, and compassion. He desires all people to be saved, to come to a knowledge of the truth, and to become holy—set apart in character and love, just as He is. Aligning our desires with His means seeking these things above all else. Yet, human desires are often complex and impure, driven by self-preservation, self-gratification, and short-sightedness. The “flesh”—our old, self-directed way of living—leads us to chase after pleasures, possessions, popularity, prestige, and power, but these pursuits ultimately leave us empty and frustrated.
The Spirit of God empowers us to say no to destructive desires and yes to those that lead to life. Becoming “cross-eyed”—viewing all of life through the lens of Christ’s sacrificial love—helps us discern which desires are worth pursuing. Our deepest, God-given desires are for things only He can fulfill: a world of perfect love, justice, and peace. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He not only gives us the right desires, but promises to fulfill them—fully and eternally. The invitation is to stop settling for too little and to let God transform our desires, so we can experience the kingdom emotions He longs to give us.
Key Takeaways
- Emotional health begins with honest self-examination. Emotions are not random; they are signals that invite us to look deeper into our beliefs, interpretations, and desires. By asking ourselves what we feel and why, we open the door to spiritual growth and transformation, rather than remaining stuck in unhealthy patterns. [04:20]
- God’s desires are simple, pure, and always good. He longs for righteousness, justice, compassion, and for every person to come to a knowledge of the truth and become holy. When we align our desires with His, we find clarity and purpose, and our emotional lives begin to reflect the peace and joy of His kingdom. [14:21]
- Human desires are often conflicted and short-sighted. The “flesh”—our old, self-directed nature—pushes us toward immediate gratification and self-preservation, often at the expense of our true well-being. These desires can deceive us, leading to frustration and regret, because they are too focused on the temporary and miss the eternal. [26:16]
- The Spirit empowers us to resist destructive desires and pursue what truly matters. God’s Spirit works within us, prompting us to say no to desires that would harm us or others, and to cultivate desires that align with His will. This is not a passive process; it requires our cooperation, intentionality, and willingness to let go of lesser things for the sake of greater, eternal joy. [33:53]
- Our deepest desires are God-given and will only be fulfilled in Him. When we become “cross-eyed”—seeing life through the cross of Christ—we realize that our greatest danger is not desiring too much, but settling for too little. God invites us to delight in Him, promising that He will both shape and satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts, now and forever. [37:55]
Youtube Chapters
[00:00] - Welcome
[02:51] - The Father’s Heart for Our Emotional Health
[04:20] - Understanding the Source of Our Emotions
[10:39] - The Power and Danger of Desires
[14:21] - God’s Desires: Righteousness, Justice, and Salvation
[15:27] - The True Meaning of Repentance
[17:09] - Turning from Self-Directed to Christ-Directed Living
[20:00] - God’s Desire for Our Holiness
[22:31] - The Complexity of Human Desires
[26:16] - What is the “Flesh”?
[33:53] - The Spirit’s Role in Transforming Our Desires
[35:41] - Becoming “Cross-Eyed”: Seeing Through the Cross
[37:55] - Our Deepest Desires and God’s Promise
[40:00] - Closing Prayer and Invitation
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide: Kingdom Emotions & God’s Desires
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### Bible Reading
- Psalm 33:5 – “He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”
- 1 Timothy 2:3-4 – “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
- Romans 7:15, 18-19 – “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
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### Observation Questions
1. According to Psalm 33:5, what are some of the things God loves and desires?
2. In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, what does God desire for all people?
3. In Romans 7:15, 18-19, how does Paul describe his struggle with his own desires and actions?
4. The sermon described emotions as “warning lights on a dashboard.” What does this analogy mean in practical terms? [04:20]
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### Interpretation Questions
1. The sermon says that God’s desires are “simple, pure, and always good.” Why is it important for us to know what God desires, and how might that affect our own desires? [14:21]
2. Paul talks about not doing what he wants, but doing the very thing he hates (Romans 7). What does this reveal about the complexity of human desires and emotions? How does this relate to our daily struggles? [22:31]
3. The “flesh” is described as our old, self-directed way of living, driven by self-preservation and self-gratification. How does this understanding of “flesh” help us recognize the source of some of our unhealthy emotions or desires? [26:16]
4. The sermon mentions that the Spirit empowers us to say no to destructive desires and yes to those that lead to life. What does it look like, practically, to cooperate with the Spirit in this process? [33:53]
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### Application Questions
1. The sermon encourages honest self-examination of our emotions. This week, can you identify a strong emotion you felt and ask yourself, “What am I feeling and why?” What did you discover about the root of that emotion? [04:20]
2. God’s desires include righteousness, justice, and compassion. Is there an area in your life where your desires are not aligned with these? What is one step you could take to bring your desires closer to God’s? [14:21]
3. The “flesh” often leads us to chase after pleasures, possessions, popularity, prestige, and power. Which of these are you most tempted by, and how does it affect your emotional health? [10:39]
4. The sermon talks about becoming “cross-eyed”—seeing life through the lens of Christ’s sacrificial love. What would it look like for you to view a current challenge or relationship through the cross this week? [35:41]
5. When you think about your deepest desires—things like perfect love, justice, and peace—do you find yourself settling for less? What is one way you can “delight yourself in the Lord” this week, trusting Him to shape and fulfill your desires? [37:55]
6. The Spirit prompts us to say no to certain desires. Can you recall a recent moment when you felt prompted to resist a desire? What helped you say no, or what made it difficult? [33:53]
7. The sermon says, “Our greatest danger is not desiring too much, but settling for too little.” Are there areas in your life where you feel you’ve been settling? What would it look like to trust God for more? [37:55]
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Closing Prayer Suggestion:
Invite the group to pray for God to reveal any desires that need to be realigned, and for the courage and help of the Spirit to pursue what truly matters.
Devotional
Day 1: God Desires Righteousness, Justice, and Goodness
God’s desires are crystal clear and pure: He loves righteousness, justice, and goodness, and wants to see these qualities flourish in the world. When we align our hearts with what God desires—seeking what is right, fair, and good for others—we begin to experience the peace and joy that come from living in harmony with His character. God’s goodness fills the earth, and as we pursue His desires, we reflect His heart to those around us, becoming agents of His goodness and justice in our daily lives. [12:00]
Psalm 33:5 (ESV)
He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
Reflection: In what situation today can you intentionally choose to act with righteousness or justice, even if it costs you something or goes against your natural inclination?
Day 2: God Desires All People to Know the Truth and Be Saved
God’s heart is for every person to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth—not just to secure a place in heaven, but to understand who He is, why we exist, and what our true purpose is. This knowledge transforms us from the inside out, leading us to turn from self-directed living to Christ-directed living. When we embrace God’s desire for us to know Him and His truth, we find meaning, direction, and a foundation for lasting joy and peace. [15:27]
1 Timothy 2:3-4 (ESV)
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to let go of your own plans and seek God’s truth and purpose instead?
Day 3: God Desires Us to Become Holy
God’s desire is not only for our happiness but for our holiness—He wants to shape our character so that we reflect His sacrificial, merciful, and trustworthy love. Holiness means using our power and opportunities for the good of others, living blamelessly, and aligning our lives with God’s will. As we pursue holiness, we become more like Christ, and our emotional lives are transformed to experience more of the kingdom emotions God intends for us. [20:00]
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV)
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection: What is one practical step you can take today to align your actions or attitudes with God’s call to holiness?
Day 4: The Battle Between Fleshly and Spiritual Desires
Human desires are complex and often impure, leading us into frustration, recklessness, and disappointment when we follow the short-sighted cravings of the flesh. The “flesh” is our old self, driven by self-preservation, self-gratification, and fear, often resulting in choices that are contrary to God’s design. But when we set our minds on what the Spirit desires, we find the power to say no to destructive desires and yes to the life God intends, experiencing true freedom and fulfillment. [26:16]
Romans 8:5 (ESV)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Reflection: What is one “fleshly” desire or habit you sense God’s Spirit prompting you to resist or surrender today, and how can you take a concrete step in that direction?
Day 5: Delighting in the Lord Aligns and Fulfills Our Deepest Desires
When we delight ourselves in the Lord—learning about Him, trusting His promises, and viewing life through the cross of Christ—He gives us the desires of our hearts. Our deepest, most beautiful desires are God-implanted and will always lead us back to Him, but we often settle for lesser, short-lived pleasures. As we intentionally focus on God and His eternal promises, He transforms our desires and ultimately fulfills them in ways beyond what we could imagine, both now and in eternity. [37:55]
Psalm 37:4 (ESV)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Reflection: How can you intentionally delight in the Lord today—through prayer, worship, or meditating on His Word—so that your desires become more aligned with His?
Quotes
Isn't it true that we want to see our children and others that we love, we just want to see them happy, as happy as they possibly can be. We want to see them experience the best life possible. This series is essentially this, that the Father that loves us, that knows us, that's watched every second of our lives, who is for us, with us, wants to make himself available, wants so much so that we, his children, even in this difficult world with all of his challenges, that we would be as happy as possible, that we would be emotionally as healthy, and we would have kingdom emotions, peace, love, joy, things like that. [00:00:09] (40 seconds)
They don't have any stress. They don't have any worry. They don't have any anxiety. They don't have any feelings of insecurity or inferiority. They never, ever feel unwanted or unattractive or unrespected. They never feel unloved. They're never lonely. They're never angry. They're never bitter. They're never unforgiving. I could just go on and on and on. We'd be shocked at how different it is to be them inside. And this is a good place for us to start. Who are you? Who am I? Who are we inside? Who are we inside? [00:01:37] (35 seconds)
Because what the Lord wants to do in this series is to show us that there is a process that he's given to us in his word. He wants us to enter into this process whereby we can, notice this word, progressively, it's a process, progressively experience right now in this difficult world more of these kingdom emotions, more love, more peace, more joy, and all the fruits that come from that. So that's the overarching purpose of this series, kingdom emotions. God wants us to experience kingdom emotions progressively even now, and we can. [00:02:11] (35 seconds)
But if I looked at you and I believed, and it doesn't matter what was true, it's what I believe is true. If I believe you want to stone me, I'm going to feel uncomfortable emotions. But if I look at you and I believe, no, these are people that are here anticipating hearing from God through me, well then I'm excited to be a part of, you know, what's going on here. So your and my observation but then interpretation of events triggers our emotions. Now what this means is that sometimes we may be very positive emotionally and it may not be accurate. We maybe should not be and sometimes we might be very negative emotionally and again we should not be. We have to have an accurate assessment of our circumstances. [00:04:41] (41 seconds)
Psychological needs, we want to feel valuable, significant, like our lives matter. We want to feel secure, we want to feel satisfied that the things that we need and want, that there's some validity to them and they can be supplied. Spiritual, we want meaning, we want purpose, we want peace, we want immortality. By the way, without the spiritual desires being realizable, we flounder in life. We start chasing the five Ps. Anybody remember what the five Ps are? I repeated them enough, you're probably ad nauseum, but the five Ps, we pursue, we pursue, first of all, pleasures of all sorts. We say, I don't know why I'm here, I don't know what the meaning of life is, so I'm just going to get all the pleasure I can while I can. Secondly, we pursue possessions. Newer, nicer, bigger, better. I feel good when I go on a shopping spree. It makes me feel altered inside. My mood changes. So we go pleasures, possessions. Then we go popularity. I want people to like me. I want everybody to like me. I want lots of likes. I want lots of people following me. And then we go from there to prestige. I achieved. I'm a big shot. I've accomplished this. Look at me. Look what I have. Look what I've done. And then from there, we go to the pinnacle, power. I want to control. I want to control as many things as often as I can everywhere. I want people doing what I want done. [00:09:09] (78 seconds)
And he showers compassion on all of his creation. He is tenderhearted and sympathetic to everything. You ever think about how complex our world is and the ecosystem and so forth? And now everything helps each other and unselfishly gives to each other, even in the plant world and so forth. This is kind of an example of God's desires for goodness and tenderness and unselfish dedication and servanthood throughout his creation. [00:13:36] (30 seconds)
God our Savior who wants, or we could say desires, He wants, or desires all people to what? To be saved. And that evidently means, and to come to a knowledge of what? Now here's the thing, we church people, we read this, and we say, okay, what that's saying is that God wants everybody to go to heaven. Yeah, but it means more than that. It's saying He wants us to come to the knowledge of the truth, to come to the knowledge of the truth in God's mind to be saved. So what does He tell me? It's to know where did we come from? Why are we as we are? What image are we made in? What are we here for? What is our purpose? What is our design? What are the laws of our being? [00:14:29] (41 seconds)
What is our destiny ultimately? What did God create us for? Where's human history? Where is all history going? So to come to the knowledge of the truth, it is a knowledge about God, His plans, His purposes, His eternal purposes for us, who we are, how we're designed, and so forth. It means so much more than just, okay, At the end of life, when the last heartbeat comes, I go up instead of down on the elevator. Yet that's the way we minimize this to our own hurt, frankly. [00:15:11] (26 seconds)
Because some of you, you know what it means. And some of you, you have some of the wackiest ideas about what it means. And I would just love to see the screens go up and see all the difference. But it's not your fault. It's just that you've never been taught or you've been taught or you've been mistaught. But repentance, if you take the original word, the New Testament was written in Greek, Koine Greek, common Greek. It is the word metanoia. And it simply means I'm changing my mind about something. And I'm, because of changing my mind, I'm seeing it differently. I am now going to go in a different direction. It is not just feeling sorry for something. That might occur. That's certainly a potential. But it means that, man, the lights went on. I get it. Now I see it. I'm going this way from now. I don't know where you're going. You do what you want. But I'm going this way. [00:16:31] (48 seconds)
I'm going somewhere, I promise you. I promise you, I'm going somewhere with this. Well, what if, what if to get our desires aligned with God's, to get our bad desires corralled and detached sufficiently, what if we needed to become, go with me on this one, cross -eyed? Cross -eyed. Jesus said, anybody that's going to follow me needs to deny themselves daily, take up their, what's the word? Cross and follow me. What if I need to look at everything in life through the cross of Christ? We're the best person in the universe. So desperately wanted to rescue me and you from sin, the stuff that wrecks us, that wrecks everybody around us. He so desperately wanted to deter us from that, to rescue us from it, that he went to the cross to try to give us the alarm. This will kill you. It never works. It never can work. [00:36:49] (66 seconds)
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