ANGER and FORGIVENESS

Anger and Forgiveness https://thedeceptionandthetruth.blogspot.com/2018/10/anger-and-forgiveness.html

Anger and Forgiveness

Anger: a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility.

As it seems, the Bible does not say not to be angry. It instead reveals to us that in our anger we should know or learn how to compose ourselves. As with any teaching, when telling someone how to respond to situations, we must be the living example of what we teach. But then perhaps we should once again look to the best examples, which we find in our daily guide, the Bible. Anger is an emotion, therefore a natural occurrence, so we can only guide it. Life is a continual test, so we must study and teach how to pass through as smoothly as possible. In regards to anger, the Bible says “The LORD [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. (Psalms 103:8). This is our example, and we must be cautious to ask how and not why. In our human nature, many times when given instruction that may not correlate with our plans, we tend to ask why and challenge what we feel is challenging us. Instead though, when instructed from God, even if “challenged”, we should by faith follow his example and ask “how can I do what you have shown me to the best of my ability.”

In the first chapter of James (v.20), it states, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” As said before, anger in itself is not wrong. Our reaction to that anger in a negative way is defined as wrong. The “wrath of man” is that anger taken to another level. It is the response to anger that is composed of a desire to retaliate with a heart of revenge. Righteousness does not contain retaliation. While “the wrath of man” invites this retaliation and an attitude that promotes inflicting harm, the righteousness of God is that which perfectly encourages and enforces what is right and just. Hurting and harming others as a response to the way they treat us or talk about us will only slow our walk with God. We cannot grow while holding on to the weight of wrath. Instead, we should do what is right, what is righteous and open our hearts, thawing the coldness and forgive our offenders.

Forgiveness is not always easy. Once again we need to remember that in our Christian journey, when attempting to be in compliance with God, we need to ask how instead of why? The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:” This verse suggests that we forgive and find resolution before the end of the day. There is no need in beginning a new day with the unnecessary weight of wrath on our hearts. And also, the time spent on realizing the error of wrath could be spent growing ourselves and others in Christ. As humans, this may be difficult, but as Christians we should put this into practice, so that in time it will become easier to do. And as we follow God as our example, so will we too be an example for someone else learning to forgive instead of retaliating.

Being a Christian

It has been said that change is always good. And I agree, because when we look at change, it means that we are finishing one chapter of life and moving to the next. Through difficult times, we need to know how to respond to the change that is going on around us. Knowing the direction that we are going in for that change helps, but sometimes we may not know. And even then, we know that we have God to anchor us during the storms and trials of that change. One thing that we have to make sure of is that we do not compromise ourselves as Christians during this change so as not to become on the outside something that we on the inside are not meant to be. Our outside influence should not be what determines how people see us. The cracks in the vase, that is our life, should not be reminiscent of the hard times, but should be an opening for the light that is within us, so that others can see how to go through those times as well. We should be the example, and in doing so we become the change that is so greatly needed in the world today. And the world around us will be very enticing, but if we keep ourselves “studied up, and prayed up", it will be that much easier to stay in God's path and be able to discern those things to embrace and those from which to flee. This will exercise our mind, our heart, and our will, so that we will enter the continual process of changing or transforming our lives, and with it the lives of those whom we come into contact.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2 KJV

But what good is it to begin the process of change on the inside if it is not reflected on the outside. Sure, internal transformation is important, but what is seen on the outside is just as critical if not more, because we are to people what they perceive their experience with us to be. The things that we do and say must yell “Christian” from the rooftops- they must be a clear declaration and definition of what a Child of God is. Many times people learn from what they see and hear, so it is imperative that we not distort or misguide others to thinking that being saved is not "all it's cracked up to be."

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
James 1:26 KJV

Being a Christian means that we are in Christ- we have a new and better mindset, a new and better heart, a new and better direction in life that, even in the difficult times, gives us reason to smile and rejoice because no matter what, God is with us. We could not always smile and rejoice in the old way. And that is because nothing was certain, but with God we know that He is certain and will never change. His love, and grace, and mercy will always be the same;therefore, giving the firm stability that we seek in life. We leave the old, broken and uncertain life and become new, whole and confident.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

Not only should we essentially dedicate our lives to God with our hearts and minds, but also in our bodies. They are given to us for a short time so as to do the work of God here on this Earth, and it is a gift to be used wisely. Before doing anything to “our bodies", we should consider that what we do with, in,  and to these vessels, will certainly show or reflect the level or lack of relationship with God. The Bible gives instruction on how to nurture and grow the body, what to eat, and more. So we have the instruction to develop a healthy body. Once again, what we do is the blueprint for someone to what a Christian is. So we should be mindful that our clothes, body language, what we consume and what we allow others to do to, and how we present our bodies should imitate what would be pleasing to God as we are always in his sight.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1 KJV

No one is perfect, Christians included. But we have the charge to be better than we were to not only change and transform our own lives but also the lives of others. The Bible says go out into the world and teach. So we must go out from where we are and even who we are, and become more in order to save the souls of those who need a new life. It is God's mandate for us as it was for the Christian that helped us and brought us into the fold of God. And what joy has filled our hearts, so we should jump at the opportunity to share!

Songwriter William Gaither describes wonderfully why and what we should share with others.

Shackled by a heavy burden,
'Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Since I met this blessed Savior,
Since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him,
I'll shout it while eternity rolls.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.
Songwriters: William J. Gaither
He Touched Me lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

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Freedom from Sin

Whenever we find ourselves without full control due to a bondage of body or mind, we are in captivity.  It is always easier to appreciate something that you no longer have, and freedom is definitely one of them. But ironically, it is when we subject ourselves to, or submit to a captor that it becomes worse, because not only are we at war with that which is oppressing us, but we are at war with ourselves.
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Galatians 5:1 KJV
Through his sacrifice, Christ has made us free from the ultimate consequence of sin. He has also given us access to God the Father who can give us peace of mind in a world and time saturated with confusion from the desires brought on by sin. When we acknowledge that we are indeed free from the bondage of sin, we must pursue God, who has given us this freedom. As with anything in life that we are trying to turn away from, the pursuit of sin must be replaced. And in order to grow and elevate spiritually, we should set our eyes toward God. If we realize our freedom and independence, yet still continue to sin, confusion will prevail and our testimony is more faint. As Christians, our job here on Earth is to bring souls to Christ. And the only way to bring souls to Christ is to share Christ through love.
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."
Galatians 5:13‭-‬16 KJV
We are Christians, and as such we need to show it and act like it. Once again remembering that in reciprocity for the freedom, we should honor God and be like him, and show others God through us.

"As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God."
1 Peter 2:16 KJV
Perhaps the most important aspect of freedom is to be accountable to maintain it and embrace the responsibility of remaining free. Having been in bondage, we should know when we are walking the edge or seeing red flags that may lead us back to the very thing that so recently controlled our lives. Bondage via music, food, television,  speech, thoughts- those things that ultimately influence an area of our lives where God should be dominant. To stay free of these things, we should remain in prayer to God, to change our hearts, that we might desire only those things that God has for us, and surround ourselves in God's way. For it is only in Gods way that we are and will truly remain free.

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Instruction for Our Children

As adults, it is our responsibility to teach the next generation what they need to know, as far as what to expect and how to respond to circumstances, with the fact in mind that every decision that we make is crucial to the formula of who we will become. Not only do our decisions and actions affect us, but they affect others as well. And because of this, we should seek to be the very best that we can, as our best is potentially an example of a guideline to someone else's success as well. So in order to teach or instruct others with the "best", via our words or more so through our actions, we should look for the best lessons and instructions. For this, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." This verse reveals that instruction from God has been given to us in the Bible, and it will teach us and maintain us in the ways of the Lord. By following the Scriptures, we will have equipped ourselves with what is necessary to keep us righteous, and thus pass it on.

‎From the very beginning, the first and most important lesson to be established is that God is real and all that we do should consider him first. God has blessed us with the opportunity to influence the future and teach this very lesson, and we should do it right. A firm foundation should be set based on God and understanding that we are sent as God's authority. The Scriptures, as afore mentioned, are written doctrine with which we can use to guide ourselves and others, teaching them through examples given in the Bible, by Jesus' life and even our own encounters.

Another crucial lesson on our agenda should be what Proverbs 19:20 says "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." Part of gaining this wisdom for the future is applying the instruction from the knowledge that is taught. If we know what to do and do not apply it, we leave room for inactivity (idle minds) and a potential for free interpretation of what is learned and basically hope that it is applied correctly.
In Psalm 32:8, David declares "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you."
We should witness the interpretation of the knowledge being played out. This will allow us to guide bad decisions back to the right coarse. In my roughly 15 years as a teacher, I watched as children acted on what they had learned. Some things from home, some from myself, and even some things that they had "taught" themselves. I was constantly reminding myself and realizing that they had only been here a few years. They were learning life and lessons that were second nature to me. It was up to me to realize what they did not know, reiterate what they did know and show them how to relate it all. In putting God first, we must teach the children in a way that will grow their intelligence and progression, and show them how to serve God with that knowledge and gained abilities. God has placed us all here on earth with talents and a purpose. We must guide our children in the way that they need to go to figure this purpose out. We must guide them to God.

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Out Hearts In Sync With God pt.2: Made Whole

Our relationship with God revolves around his love for us. All that has been done for us has been out of love from His heart. This must have been extremely difficult in light of the fact that we are unworthy and imperfect, while He is perfect in this love and in all things. It all stems from the desires of the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” and God the Father, our  Divine Parent, sees it all. He sees man at his core and knows that the “imaginations of the thoughts” are evil daily (Genesis 6:5, 1 Chronicles 28:9).
But not only is this evil seen by God on this “unseen level” of the heart, but by careful observation and listening, we too can determine the status of others and even ourselves. One's actions and words reflect what is on their hearts. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34) and it is because of this that man, in his carnal nature, is “defiled” (Matthew 15:18). This means that man’s potential is tarnished, or ruined; he is weakened. We may not even notice this, as what we do in the flesh becomes so natural and accepted that we see even good actions as being right. But God ponders the heart and sees the true intentions behind these “good deeds”, which then determines whether or not they are righteous. Even so, in these moments of weakness, as said in Psalm 27:14, if we “wait on the Lord and be of good courage, He will strengthen our heart,” and this will in turn place hearts on a pathway to be established in a foundation of being unblameable. This new found strength reverses the effects of being defiled; we will be renewed and cleaned. Then, if we seek him, He too will seek us, and hold us close unto himself. He will give us a new heart and we shall be his people and his children, as our heart has been made whole.

Our Hearts In Sync with God

Sometimes in life we find ourselves taking an inventory of who we are and what we have become, only to realize and, perhaps reluctantly, define ourselves as someone with whom we are not familiar. And if we are completely honest with ourselves, our demeanor and response to situations and people, how we think and perceive, what we say and decide to do, is all a reflection of our relationship with God and how in sync our heart is with him. Being out of sync creates confusion and provides an open gateway, an uninhibited pathway to carnage and utter chaos in our lives. If a computer is out of sync with its software, it will loop or freeze, unable to find what it needs to proceed, all the while being rendered useless. And so we too, like the computer can not proceed and access all potential growth without being in sync, rendering our lives, our witness, our testimony useless. But the great news is that, a pause is not the end. At times, what we see as an the end of our story is just God pausing to edit the story. And if we will just be patient and have faith, we will hear him telling us to simply turn the page and therein see a new chapter.
The familiar verses from Proverbs 3:5-6 say "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Our faith in God should allow us to trust him enough to follow him without question, and make his ways ours. If we can let go of the reins long enough, God will work in our lives and situations, syncing us to his will and we will see and know that He has his hands on our circumstances.

Its all about our hearts. Seeking to be in sync with the desires and wants of God for our life. Being what and who He would have us to be. But no matter the appearance on the outside or what we say even to ourselves, if we do not truly seek to become in sync with God in regards to our hearts, all will be for naught. This transformation has to be a desire that one feels an absolute need to achieve, while understanding that sacrifice is essential, yet worth it. Colossians 1:10-11 sites good reason for being in sync with God. "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
The key points in this verse reflect some amazing happenings to look forward to when we are in sync with God. Being worthy of God, fully pleasing to him, being fruitful, increasing, strengthened... Considering God and putting him first transforms our heart from carnal desires to His Holy fulfillment. This aligns us with God and causes us to walk the path of godliness with patience. To align oneself with him is to align themselves with infinite possibilities and blessings.

Victory pt2: Born Again

In our life time, it is promised that we will live and have tribulations. But being born again, we will overcome the world. Being “born again” may be a troublesome phrase, because as Nicodemus asked, “How can we be born of our mother's womb twice?” But this phrase actually means that we will be born from above in the context of our lives reflecting a new spirit. We will be new creatures, ready to learn and follow the ways of God. It is our faith that causes us to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus and its symbolism toward our salvation. This ensures a future life of victory over the Adversary, because Christ on our side (1 John 5:4).

With Jesus on our side we have access to not only power to overcome, but also an ambassador of sorts that understands what we have gone through. He speaks to us and confirms that we can have peace and be of good cheer. The Bible tells us that we, as “those who live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13) With Christ, we have found our lifeline with which to get out of an endless spiral that is deceiving and being deceived. In other words, we have Truth in a world full of Deception. Light in Darkness. Victory amidst Defeat. Paul writes the following in Romans 8:37-39,

• Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

With Christ we are Victorious, now and forever. Against any foe we will be victorious, and can have peace and praise during the process, because we know the truth. And that truth is that God’s love sent Jesus and bought our redemption. And with this redemption and God on our side, we are stronger than any opposition thrown in our way. We are VICTORIOUS!!!

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Victory

In our day-to-day lives there is so much uncertainty and opposition at every turn. We are constantly being bombarded with unexpected happenings that test our resolve and even the integrity of our faith. Solace is nowhere to be found until we get a change of scenery  or company. But contrary to this mindset, there can be peace in the midst of hard times. And this peace will come upon the realization that in Jesus there is peace. Our Savior himself said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV) All that the world tests us with may be strong and at times seem to be unconquerable, but God is willing and able to help us to overcome. He knows that we are human and helps us when we are weak.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV

God is our Strength and Deliverer. As He has been in the past, so shall He always be. What He has done before He can do again. Many of us pride ourselves on making decisions of belief based on fact. Well, the fact if the matter is that God is All Powerful, and if He has helped us out of trials in the past, then the future trials are already won. God will never leave us or forsake us. He knows what we will need, to either make it through, or to have peace in the meantime.He is always with us, and as a Christian, what better assurance is there.

For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Deuteronomy 20:4 KJV

We pray blessings upon all who have read. We invite you to follow us on social media as well! Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

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