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Soul Care Articles

We have hundreds of articles to help you connect with Jesus Christ, the Soul Shepherd.

Rejoice! The Lord is Judge

By Bill Gaultiere © 2011

As Christians today we talk a lot about the love and grace of God, but we don’t talk much about him being the holy Judge — that seems scary or harsh to us. And yet repeatedly the Psalmist rejoices that the Lord is the Judge. He approaches God’s judgment seat not with fear or shame, but with eager confidence, trusting that the Lord will accept him and set everything right.

From the Psalmist I have learned to rely on the Lord as the Righteous Judge so that I don’t fear the criticisms and condemnations of people. I’ve also learned from the Psalmist that when I [...]

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February 12th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Soul Care

Negative Emotions

Shepherd of Psalm 23

By Bill Gaultiere © 2011

Negative emotions. We all have them. We all have struggled with how to deal with emotions like worry, anger, depression, shame, ambition, lust, and jealousy—even a psychologist like me who has devoted 24 years to helping people overcome emotional problems.

Of course, having an emotion isn’t a problem—it’s normal. But how do we respond to troubling emotions? That’s the issue.

Emotions become “negative” when they are internalized or acted on in ways that harm yourself or others. Many of the ministry leaders and other Christ followers that we talk to struggle with negative emotions.

Learn from the Psalmist

“Do not worry… Do [...]

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January 17th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Soul Care

Why Get Angry?

By Bill Gaultiere © 2010

“Cease from anger” the Psalmist counsels us (Psalm 37:8). “Get rid of all anger” the New Testament echoes (Ephesians 4:31).

Throughout the Bible we are cautioned about our anger. And many Psalms, particularly the Laments, show us how to deal with anger in a wise and godly way.

But it seems that few Christians today understand their anger or what to do with it.

 

Understanding Angry Emotions

Anger is a God-given emotion.

We feel angry when our will is crossed, when we’re afraid that we won’t get what we want. Anger is like a headache: it signals to us that something is wrong [...]

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November 4th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: Soul Care

Jesus, in Your Name I Hope

The way to life and freedom is to trust in the name of the Lord. The wise man says: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:12).

But what does it mean to trust in the name of the Lord? In my personal life and in my ministry as a psychologist and spiritual mentor I have learned that we must learn to bring our reliance upon the name of the Lord into our daily life challenges and struggles.

Today I was about to hurry as I drove until I breathed the name of Jesus in prayer.

I helped [...]

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March 25th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: Soul Care

How Fasting Could Help You

Let your hunger pangs be as church bells Let your hunger pangs be as church bells

By Bill Gaultiere © 2009

I tell people that Fasting is Feasting on God’s Word.

A ministry leader responded: “It’s hard enough for me to quiet my mind when I’m not hungry!  How can I learn to enjoy meditating on Scripture when I’m hungry? And why would I want to do this?”

I use fasting (from food, but drinking plenty of water) as part of my own rhythm of life with Christ. I learned this years ago from reading Thomas a Kempis’ classic [...]

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October 18th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Category: Spiritual Disciplines