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Tag: God

  • ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 4

    ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 4

    “IF we harden our hearts in ANY hatred, we distance the love of ANY who come near – any loved one, even Jesus.

    IF I entertain any anger of my wife, or my child, or my parents, or my boss, or my brothers or sisters or friends; I try to seek their forgiveness and forgive what I hate in their hatred.

    Rather, I give my anger to God.

    “Let’s talk about this, Lord.  I have a complaint here.  I am probably wrong, but You will have to tell me how.”

    I rant and I rave in person-to-Person prayer, releasing my anger to the healing of the Lord.

    I try to stop long enough in silence to listen to His answer of love.  I could never hate the Lord, but I sometimes hate that He does not answer.

    Sometimes I hate His answer; but then… eventually I admit, I am wrong… and will learn to love His answer.  That is hard… but a softening of my heart is necessary to prevent a hardening of the hearts of others.

    ANGRY children of a loving God must bow down in humility to a loving Father who does discipline those He loves.

    It would not do us well to provoke a loving God to anger.

    There is no soundness in my flesh
    Because of Your anger,
    Nor any health in my bones
    Because of my sin. – Psalm 38:3

    Ephesians 4: 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

    Communication: person-to-person truthful relationship.

    This reference is to real relationship between the brothers and sisters of Christ’s body, His church.

    It is ALSO a person-to-Person relationship with Christ Jesus.

     26 And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

     31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

    32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

    We spoke earlier of Ephesians 4:26 – Do NOT let the sun go down on your ANGER.

    (A link to Christian Anger, in case you missed it.)

    [To be continued…]

  • ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 3

    ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 3

    Christians can safely presume that anything wrong in our person-to-Person relationship with God is OUR problem, NOT HIS.

    ANGRY children of God who remain a prodigal son or daughter do NOT look to God for ANY solution for their anger.

    By contrast, Christians pray.

    ANGRY relationships between two ANGRY children of God are quite another matter.  In all likelihood, we are BOTH probably wrong in this person-to-person love-hate relationship.

    The unbeliever or disobedient believer hides in the darkness of their sin.

    Other hidden issues boil beneath the surface of their anger, fueled by a hardened heart against the love of Christ – HATRED for the celebrated Son of the Father.

    Consider your own SELF from Jesus’ Parable of the Angry Brother.

    Are YOU the brother who will NOT let go of grace for another?

    Christ’s caution to the heart of the faithful son, however, is that we must set aside our anger and rejoice in the love of the Father for all.  You know His example:

    FORGIVE US our trespasses, AS WE FORGIVE those who TRESPASS AGAINST US.

    “Do ANGRY children of a forgiving Father really have any right to NOT forgive ANY other?

    [To be continued…]

  • ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 1

    ANGRY Children of a Loving God – Part 1

    “Our lives are weighed on a sensitive scale of love-hate relationships.

    Why do Christian seek secular solutions for problems of God?

    Answer: Because we share in common the same love-hate relationships of man.

    The true answers of ANGRY children of a loving God must come directly from God.

    To begin, let us establish the difference between the scriptural approach of Christians to our ANGER and the ineffective secular approach of those separated from our loving God.

    John 3: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

    18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

    20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

    Do Christians sometimes practice evil?  Of course we do.

    Do we believe in Christ Jesus, the only begotten Son of God?  Of course we do.

    Therefore each time we sin; every time we have anger; all times we hate the light and turn to darkness:

    we must repent and turn back to our loving Heavenly Father and the Perfect example of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

    We must hate only evil and love all that is good.

    Yet it’s not always easy.

    Hear this discussion between a lawyer and Jesus:

    Luke 10:  “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

    26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

    27 So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

    28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

    29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

    Isn’t that just what we tend to do when we do NOT want to love someone?  How like the world we can be in our relationships with others.

    Two commandments: Love God.  Love each other.

    Where does that love-hate relationship seep into each of our lives?  The answer is: in our sin.

    [To be continued…]

    Just in case you missed our earlier related post: Christian Anger