2005-04-29
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
It occurs to me that our Lord is directing me to discussing some pretty heavy subjects that impact our lives frequently. Anger is one of them, as people or circumstances can anger us at any time. In asking myself why, I realize that anger is an honest and very normal emotion, but the ways we exert it can be destructive or constructive. God instructs us through Paul in EPH 4: 26-27 not to deny you are angry, but to channel that anger constructively. “Do not let your anger lead you to sin. Do not give the devil a chance.” Think about it; God created us and through the Holy Spirit gave us ability to see the truth through faith. He also gave us the choice as to how we deal with our anger! If we allow it to govern our whole personality, we are holding a grudge, just what the devil loves for us to do. If we deny we have anger, then we end up with ulcers or the eruption of bad behavior that we can no longer control. Somewhere in the middle is the healthy, assertive release of our anger. Imagine what must have been going on in Angela Smith’s mind as Brian Nichols, who had just committed four murders, broke into her home in GA. She had already lost her husband and the father of her son, because someone a few years prior to Nichols’ break-in had knifed her husband to death. She could have allowed her anger at this second assault on her peace of mind (not to mention her physical safety) to lead her to stupid or bad behavior. Instead, she let God take over and actually calmed Nichols down enough for him to listen to her talk with him about chapter 33 of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. What Warren said and Smith discussed led to Nichols giving himself up to the police. What better proof of the truth of MK 10: 27 can we have? “Jesus looked straight at them [His disciples] and answered, ‘This is impossible for man but not for God; everything is possible for God.’”
A number of times I have brought up the subject of the tongue, citing God’s word through James in JAS 3: 5-11. Our words can alter moods, instruct, condemn, i.e. give rise to a wide range of emotions and thoughts. The Aramaic word, “raca,” means “empty-headed” or “good-for-nothing.” That kind of insult gives rise to anger in any language. To call a person a “moros” or “fool” is to distain the fact that God gave him life. That’s what this meant in the ancient world, and it’s not much different today. That’s an even worse insult, because it is saying that person is worthless. For this reason, Christ used both of these words when He preached in MT 5: 22 to get across just how wrong it is to allow your anger to lead you into this sin. “But now I tell you: whoever is angry with his brother will be brought to trial, whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Council [Sanhedrin], and whoever calls his brother a worthless fool will be in danger of going to the fire of hell.” It is true that these are not the worst things that people call others today, but that’s just one more measure of how evil the world has become. We know from what follows in the Sermon on the Mount that God’s intention is to bring reconciliation between his people in conflict. The real problem is that too many people refuse to swallow their pride and take the time and effort involved to bring about reconciliation. I know this even from the grudges that have been held by members of my own family. MT 5: 23-24, “So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”
It is because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that we have the opportunity to come to faith after repenting and be saved. It is also why we can be ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This seemingly simple statement has extraordinary ramifications. It is because of faith God gave us that we have the choice whether or not to sin, the choice whether or not to consider the eternal consequences of speaking and/or taking action before going ahead with it [RO 6: 6]. No one says this is easy, but God builds into the true believer a thirst for righteousness that this person never had before. That is how David, who had in his past committed both adultery and murder, could ask, in PS 42: 1-2, “As a deer longs for a steam of cool water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God. When can I go and worship in Your presence?” And, he can pray in PS 51: 10-13, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from Your presence; do not take Your Holy Spirit away from me. Give me again the joy that comes from Your salvation and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach sinners Your commands and they will turn back to You.”
PRAYER: O Lord, You help us to understand that anger is an honest and normal emotion. Through the stories of the Scriptures, You allow us to see the difference between destructive and constructive anger. The grudges that peoples like the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and the Nazis, had against the Jews brought the Jews much pain, loss, and suffering. And yet, none of these groups except the Jews still exist. These were evil grudges fueled by the devil. On the other hand, Christ’s righteous anger against the moneychangers who defiled His Father’s house (the temple) [MT 21: 12-13; MK 11: 15-19; LK 19: 45-46; JN 2: 13-22] remains with us a primary lesson in the foundational ethics of God’s teaching. This goes all the way back to EX 20: 3, “Worship no other god but Me.” Some people really do make their favorite grudge an idol, and You, Dearest Abba, won’t tolerate that indefinitely. The great question for all to ponder is why does mankind insist on repeating the same mistakes generation after generation? We surely should understand that the adversary is clever and mean-spirited, but that You, through Christ, have given us the power to beat him in the Son’s name [EPH 1: 18-20]. You are a righteous and compassionate God, One Who wants us to be the same and teaches us how through the marvelous example of Your Son. We owe You our obedient faithfulness, thanks, and utmost praise forever. Even that will never fully repay the sacrifice of Your Son and Your loving, guiding presence in our lives. We dedicate ourselves to living as You have called us to live. 1 COR 7: 17, 22 comes to mind. “Each one should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to him, and as he was when God called him…For a slave who has been called by the Lord is the Lord’s free man; in the same way a free man who has been called by Christ is His slave.” We know, Dear Lord, that You deserve nothing less that our best, most faithful obedience-our very submission to You. We are eager to make a sanctuary for the Spirit in our lives, as David described in PS 43: 3-4, “Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my Joy and my Delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.” We praise and thank you without counting the times, because we know You deserve it. To You belongs all the glory for everything good in our lives. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I’m led to write with the value that God places each person in mind about our need to thirst for righteousness when making decisions about adultery and divorce. While it is true that adultery and divorce have been subjects before in this series, we will look at them in the context of how God values each person. All the while, we need to remember that God has said in GN 1: 27, “The Lord created man in His own image. In His own image He created him male and female; He created them.” What that really means is profound when we look at it closely. It gives us a window into the love that God really has for His creation and His motivation for instructing Christ to bring as many of us back to Him for eternity as He gave His Son [JN 6: 39-40]. No matter how each of us grew up on the earth, whether or not we came from dysfunctional families, there is an over-riding truth. God loves each and every one of us. First He gave up enough of His awesome power to us, so that we could decide for ourselves whether or not we will reject Him. Then, He has endured so much sinfulness that even the strongest man would have given up on his kind long ago. If that wasn’t enough, He sacrificed His only begotten Son, watching Him suffer taking on all the sins of the world upon Himself, so that an opportunity for salvation can be made. The list of what God is and what He has done for His human creation doesn’t stop there. Just think about it; God loves each of us so much that there is no way to measure that love or compare any other love to it. Now, in my book, that begs for obedient faithfulness to Him! Our God is eager to bless us. Believe it and revel in it!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn