Day 7: Anger, Caution: Use Only with Holy Spirit Supervision

February 9, 2013 purposeunderheaven1 Comment

Anger means a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility

Ephesians 4:²⁶be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go down upon your wrath,

²⁷neither give place to the devil;

²⁸whoso is stealing let him no more steal, but rather let him labour, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he may have to impart to him having need.

²⁹Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to the hearers;

³⁰and make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption.

³¹Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice,

³²and become one to another kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive you.

Be angry and do not sin. The verse tells us to deal with the issue immediately and to not sin while dealing with it.

So let’s look at the perfect life to decide about anger.

First Jesus and the Pharisees:

Mark 3:3 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

²And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.

³And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

⁴And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

⁵And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

⁶And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

⁷But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

Jesus felt strong displeasure at the attitude of these men. They worried more about accusing Jesus than loving the man. His displeasure at their attitude is described as anger. He dealt with the anger immediately by explaining to them why they were wrong. He healed the man and reprimanded them. He handled the situation immediately, but that does not mean people with ill intent won’t respond in a negative manner.

Another example:

Matthew 21:¹²And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,¹³And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Here anger had a little more hostility involved. These people harmed other people. They were cheating and forcing people to buy items in order to worship God. They were disgracing God’s temple. Jesus ran them out.

I think, and this is just me thinking, that some times we may have to resort to strong action. When we are called on to to protect someone.

Anger is not wrong, but as a person, I am not capable of knowing when to act or how to act without the direction of the Holy Spirit. We need to slow down the minute anger arrives and ask God to guide us with His Spirit. I personally am more likely to be angry for selfish reasons and to act in unchristian ways. I even can find myself proud of the harm I cause when I act in anger. No, I am not capable of responding properly when anger is involved. I have to have guidance.

Anger needs to come with a big label.

Caution Pray before Acting and Handle only with Holy Spirit supervision.

28 Day Love Challenge · Christian. · February · Love · Valentines

Day 6: Slow to Anger–Pearl or Explosion?

February 8, 2013 purposeunderheavenLeave a comment

I read through the list of words associated with makrothymeō and the slow to anger hit a nerve. I saw the words and knew I needed to explore this deeper.

An intruder, so small you can only see it under a microscope, invades the oyster and settles inside the shell. The irritation causes a secretion. The secretion builds layer after layer to form a beautiful pearl. The slow process of dealing with an irritation creates something beautiful and useful.

A different scenario.

Microscopic grain dust collects in the air. The potential builds. Then an ignition source occurs and boom. The dust explodes like a bomb.

People deal with anger in similar ways I think.

The hot tempered ones who blow up over a situation. They fire off with anger. Words are said. They pop off like a fire cracker.
The slow boiling ones who collect all the wrongs until the moment when they explode as if a bomb detonated.
They recognize the irritation, they take appropriate protective behaviors to reduce anger and the sources of pain.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you Matthew 5:44

Ignoring the hurt is not the best method for “slow to anger”. The pearl approach is the right approach. Go to God. Place the issue before the Lord. Pray for the people who are causing you anger. Focus on their well being. You can not do that on your own. Take the irritation to God where he can build a hard seal around it. He will take the irritation and create something beautiful out of it.

Do not try this on your own. When we collect the little irritations and do not deal with the hurt, an explosive environment builds just waiting for a source of ignition.

Journal

How do you handle anger?

List hurts that you have experienced. Take them to God. Pray sincerely for the person. Ask God to take the pain. Ask the Lord to resolve issues this person my have. Ask Him to bless the person. Seek His guidance in how to deal with the situation. Ask him to create a pearl.

Tomorrow, when is anger the right response?

Thanksgiving

Christian = Those who Call upon the name of Jesus

November 7, 2012November 6, 2015 purposeunderheavenLeave a comment

1 Corinthians 1 (NIV)

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

Christians are those who call on the name of Jesus. A Christian, at least once, has called on the name of Jesus for forgiveness of sins. We reach a place where we understand not by our power, but by Jesus’ sacrifice are we reconciled with God.

Jesus’ death on the cross bridges the gap between God and us. If and only if, we cry out to Jesus asking Him to take our sins and to be Lord of our lives can we come into a relationship where a true life of gratitude to God is possible. Through crying out to Jesus. we start on a path where we become one with Jesus as he is one with God (John 14-16). We see His plan may not be our plan, but His plan will always be greater than our plan.

By growing closer to Jesus, by being one with Jesus, we can reach a point where we trust God that He is honestly in control, and will work all things for good for those who love Him.

Exercise

Describe when you cried out to Christ asking Him to be Lord of your life. If you have never asked Jesus to be you savior, search your heart do you want to hand over your life to Christ. Ask Christ to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart as Lord.

Living a life of Thanksgiving is about being in relationship with God. Accepting Jesus’ sacrifice is the only method God has given us for coming into relationship with Him.

Play list

What A Friend We Have In Jesus Amy Grant Legacy… Hymns and Faith

The Old Rugged Cross Chris Rice Peace Like a River: The Hymns Project