Apicontent

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice. (Colossians 3:8)

Anger is universal. Everyone across the world has been angry at some time in their life. You can vent it, stuff it, or deny it; or you can get rid of it. Every day you can watch the news and see how anger is at the bottom of rage on the road, in the air, in the schools, at work, and worst of all, in our homes. How do you know if you are angry? Anger can vary in intensity from mild annoyance that is hardly noticeable to extreme rage. Most people know if they are angry, but sometimes we overlook the more subtle forms of anger. 

A grudge, recalling a negative incident from the past, is a form of anger. Other words people use that really are a form of anger include annoyed, wounded, frustrated, or dissatisfied. Most people would agree that unrestrained anger can destroy you, but they don’t always agree with how to tame it. Once again you have a choice: to handle your anger the way the world does or in the way God tells us to handle it.

1 Peter 2:1 – ”Rid yourselves of all malice.”

Ephesians 4:31 – “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”

Proverbs 14:17 – “A quick-tempered man does foolish things.”

Ecclesiastes 7:9 – “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”

James 1:20 – “For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

Psalm 37:8 – “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.”

Proverbs 16:32 – “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”

How can a human being who naturally responds angrily to people and circumstances change from responding in anger to responding in love? This is humanly impossible. It takes a miracle. You need supernatural help which you can only get from God.

Here are 3 basic steps you can use to help you deal with anger God’s way:

1. Recognize your anger is sin – Anger is listed as a work of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:19-21. 
2. Confess your sin – 1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
3. Replace your anger with the fruit of the Spirit – When you have a cleansed heart, you can ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).

Take time to carefully study the verses included in this devotional and ask God to show you areas of anger in your heart. Take action by applying the three steps above. Ask God for a miracle today by exchanging an angry heart for a heart filled with love and peace.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense. (Proverbs 19:11, AMP)

Proverbs 16:24 AMP Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body. (Proverbs 16:24, AMP)

A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, NAS95)

Anger, like stress, can produce negative changes in the body that cannot be ignored. The dashboard on your car has warning lights that tell you when something is wrong. Our bodies also have warning signs that tell us when all is not well in our spirit. Anger has been connected with a long list of diseases such as ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, heart attacks, stroke, impotence, infertility, headaches, thyroid disorders, neck spasms, and even cancer. These can be the warning lights that tell us to check our spirit! 

Dr. S. I. McMillen once wrote, “A mind upset makes a body sick. With every passing year, researchers find more and more ways that the mind produces sickness in the body. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that two-thirds of doctor visits are for ‘stress-related conditions.’ In 1981 scientists at the University of North Carolina studied hostility levels in 255 medical students. Over the years they watched the doctors with high hostility die like raging bulls in a bull ring. By middle age, 13 percent of the high-hostility men had died. In contrast, only 2 percent with low hostility had died. The men with high hostility had more hypertension and five times more heart attacks. Chronic anger had raised their blood pressure and clogged their coronary arteries. Long term anger makes for a short-term life.” 

What about the myth that venting our anger will be healthier for us? The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology has reported that “many studies suggest that ventilation doesn’t work. One study evaluated one hundred engineers, recently laid off when their company downsized. They had transferred from another state and had been promised three-year jobs; but after only one year, they had all been fired. Researchers spent time with each man and discovered that the men who discussed the wrongs done them became much angrier after ventilating their anger. On the other hand, those who had not ventilated anger were less angry.”

“Getting habitually angry is like taking a small dose of some slow-acting poison-arsenic, for example- every day of your life.” (Dr. Redfrod Williams, Anger Kills)

Sit down today and evaluate your anger warning lights. Ask God to show you when you are getting angry and not seeing it in yourself. After God shows you, have the courage to get rid of your anger.

Other Resources: 

None of These Diseases by S. I. McMillen, M.D.

“Be angry, and do not sin.” (Ephesians 4:26, NKJV)

Many people use this verse to justify their anger saying that God instructs us to get angry and that we are not sinning if the other person is wrong and we are right. The problem with that line of thought is that we always think we are right and the other person is wrong. To understand the Ephesians verse properly we need to go to the original language that the verse was written in, Greek. 

The Greek verb tense for “be angry” is a present passive imperative. Present means that it is happening right now. Passive means, that you take no action. Imperative is not a command to “get angry” but rather an acknowledgement that there are going to be times when you feel someone or something working on you to make you angry. Applying the present passive imperative verb tense means that as you become angry do not derive satisfaction from the anger, recognize that it is present, and do not act upon it. Be angered, but don’t sin by acting on your anger. 

Didn’t Jesus get angry? Yes, in Mark 3:5, NAS 95: After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 

If all anger is sin, then Jesus sinned. But we know that Jesus did not sin or he would not be holy. How, then, was Jesus angry without sinning? Mark 3:5 is the only passage in the New Testament that uses the word “anger” with the person of Christ. However the word “grief” is also in that same verse. Jesus was angry at their sin and grieved at the condition of their hearts. Seldom does a person get angry at people and also become grieved over their condition at the same time. Jesus had that ability. God’s anger is never occasional, it is eternal. Jesus is eternally angry with sin and eternally forgiving toward sinners. 

How do we experience anger and not sin? The same way Jesus experienced anger—if we are walking in union with Him and in the Holy Spirit—by not allowing the sun to go down on the anger nor allowing the devil a foothold. God states that anger is a part of our sinful nature and it is not listed as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. If we justify our anger as righteous because we are angry at the injustices in the world, we will be angry all the time for we live in a unjust, fallen world. God instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NAS95 to Rejoice always; in everything give thanks, and we cannot do that if we are angry. 

The Bible clearly tells us that God sees anger as sin! Get rid of it!

Adapted from Breaking Free from the Bondage of Sin, Dr. Henry Brandt 

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

There will come a time in every single person’s life when they will face death. If you knew that today was your last day to live, what would be important to you? Certainly your list of chores would be at the bottom of your priority list. When people face death they deal with two things: what they leave behind and where they are going. If you have ever stood next to the bedside of a dying person, you will have noticed they have a desire to wrap things up. They want to make things right with people that they have had misunderstandings with, and tell others how much they have meant to them. Another thing the dying tend to do, is examine their life to see if they are prepared to meet God. If we knew the day that we were going to die, we would certainly make sure that those important relationships were cleaned up before it was too late. The problem is, we don’t know when we will die. We need to live today as if it is our last. 

What about “where we are going?” Yes, there is life after death. We will stand before a just Judge. How do we know? God has told us in His Word.

How can you know without a shadow of a doubt that when you die you will go to heaven?

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 makes it clear when it says, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

1 John 5:12-13 also says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

To be assured of your eternal life you need to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. It is His work that will get you into heaven, not yours. If you have not asked Christ into your life, go back to the devotional #12 entitled” What Does it Mean to be Born Again?” and follow the steps to having a relationship with Jesus. If you do know Jesus Christ as your Savior, stand on the promises of God that He gives us in His Word. Live each day as if this is your last one, loving God, living for Him, and serving others. The finish line may be closer than you think.

You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)

Have you ever prayed really expecting God to answer, or do you just say the words because you know you should? If you prayed for rain, would you carry an umbrella expecting to use it? Can you quickly list how God has answered prayer in your life this week? Maybe you haven’t had an answer to prayer lately and you wonder…why doesn’t God answer my prayers? 

Prayer is simply sitting and talking with God face to face. It’s a conversation. It doesn’t take big fancy words or a special voice, just words from your heart. Some of the best prayers in the world are the prayers of children because they just say what they want and don’t worry about how it sounds to anyone else. Prayer is how we get to know God better. It is the same as building a relationship with a friend. The more time you spend in conversation, the closer you become and the more you know about the other person. 

God gives us some straightforward directions about our prayer life in His Word. James tells us that if we do not come to God and ask in prayer, He can’t answer it. Many times prayer is our last resort after first going to friends or trying to figure it out ourselves. James also gives us another reason for unanswered prayer…wrong motives. If our prayer is simply to gain something for our own pleasure, God tells us that is a wrong motive. 

John 15:7 says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” 

We see in this verse the key to answered prayer…remaining close to God and keeping his commandments. That will help us understand how to pray in a way that will be answered. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 also gives us helpful instruction for praying. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

This is a clear statement of God’s will for our lives. He wants us to always be joyful, pray continuously, and be able to give Him thanks in all of our circumstances. If we truly understand God’s love and caretaking of us, we can be joyful all the time. We will pray continuously because we will believe He hears and answers prayer. Ultimately we will be able to be thankful in any circumstance because we know He is in control and has what is best for us in mind. 

Take some time to think through the commands in this verse. Are you joyful? Do you pray throughout your day giving things over to God? Can you give thanks to Him knowing He has full control and will take care of things so you can relax? This really is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Driving down the road you replay the argument you just settled with your spouse that morning. You can remember the tone of voice they used and the look on their face. Perhaps you start saying out loud all the things you wished you could have remembered to say at the time, just to win the argument. By the time you get to work you are filled with negative feelings about your spouse. When they call you later that morning your tone is less than pleasant. You have become a victim of a negative thought life. What you think will always affect what you feel which in turn gives birth to action. How do you stop the rapid downward spiral of a negative thought life? Take it captive! 

God informs us of the true enemy in the above verse. It is any thought or reasoning that sets itself up against God’s teachings. Thoughts can be subtle, because no one else hears them and cannot correct any error. That is why God has given us His Word and His Spirit to help us recognize the rebellious thoughts and take them captive. Through His Word we will know the truth as we study it so we can recognize the counterfeit when we hear it. Through His Spirit we will have the power to take the thought captive and demolish it. We need to recognize that the battle for our mind is ongoing. We need to evaluate what we think about. 

God actually gives us a measuring stick for our thoughts in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” 

Throughout your day stop and evaluate your thoughts. If they are not true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy then you need to demolish them by taking your thoughts captive and stopping the downward spiral by getting rid of those negative thoughts. How do you get rid of them? You need to recognize that your thoughts have set themselves up against God’s teaching. You need to confess those thoughts as sin. When you confess, you walk away from it and don’t have anything to do with it again!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

When an athlete decides to compete he goes into training. Regardless of the sport, he must be diligent in his training and consistent if he has any hope of completing the competition. When a runner runs he keeps his eyes focused on the finish line but use muscles that have been developing for years. The competitor has one goal in mind, to finish the race and win the prize. In the athlete’s mind the prize is worth the countless hours of training, pain, and self-denial. All the hours of training and practice make it easier to run the race. 

Paul uses the same analogy to teach us that we are also in a race with a finish line and a prize. Ours will be given to us in eternity, but it is definitely there and definitely worth the time of training. There are training tools that the Christian needs to use to help them in the race. These are the “basics” that we need to practice on a daily basis. These “basics” are bible study, prayer, and scripture memory. By using these training tools on a daily basis we will be better equipped to run the race that is laid out for us. We will be developing spiritual muscles that will make the race easier. Along the way we can benefit by having spiritual coaches who can help us grow and hold us accountable to practicing. A coach can help us develop a workout schedule that we can stick to. 

Evaluate your training schedule. Are you out of shape spiritually? Set a goal to read your bible, pray, and memorize scripture. Ask God to guide you to a more mature person who can coach you as you run the race. Meet with your mentor on a regular basis to evaluate how you are doing in your training. If there are other things crowding your training schedule, pray about what you can set aside to make practicing the basics your first priority. There is no other prize worth winning.

Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3)

Why do you need to be born again? What in the world does that mean? You’ve heard Christians talking about how they have been “born again”, or “saved”, or have “received eternal life”. Do they all mean the same thing? Yes, all of those phrases mean the same thing. God gave us the way to be “saved” through His Son, Jesus Christ. He gave us a plan explaining how we can be “born again” and “receive eternal life” in His Holy Word, the Bible. Follow along as we go through some of the thoughts and scriptures God has laid out for us.

• God loves you and created you to have a personal relationship with Him.
  John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
  
• Mankind is sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.
  Romans 3:23; 6:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…the wages of sin is death.
  
• Jesus Christ is the only answer to the problem of separation from God. He died on the cross and rose from the grave to pay the penalty for our sin.
  Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  
• We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love.
  John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
  
• You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.

God is not as concerned about the exact words you use as He is with the attitude of your heart. If you’ve never asked Christ to be your Savior, and would like to ask Jesus to come into your life so that you can be “born again,” you can use the prayer below – or use your own words.

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open my heart and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. Take control of my life and make me the person You want me to be. Amen.

You must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. (Colossians 3:8)

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

Have you ever gone to the doctor only to be told that he didn’t know what was wrong with you but he could give you some pills to make you comfortable? You are comfortably sick. That is what it is like when you find relief from sin instead of obtaining cleansing. Relief from sin allows you to be comfortably separated from God. 

As a follower of Jesus you need to take the subject of sin seriously. If sin is the diagnosis, there couldn’t be better news! There is a cure for sin. Jesus died to cleanse us from sin. The cure is fast if you use the proper diagnosis and treatment. If you fail to get a proper diagnosis for your outbursts of anger, and hostility towards others, you can spend a long time being sick. 

The Bible calls anger and hostility sin. If you accept this diagnosis, turn to God, confess your sin, and repent. You will receive forgiveness, cleansing and renewal. If you reject the sin diagnosis you will continue to look for another source to blame, probably family or friends. 

If you are going to deal with your sin, you must turn to the Creator and Savior for cleansing, strengthening, and changing. If it is sin, society did not put it into you; society only stirs up what is already in you. If it is sin, society can’t help you. This diagnosis of sin requires a supernatural cure. 

The cleansing process is like taking off dirty clothes and putting on clean clothes. The Colossians verses above instruct us to put off, or get rid of, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. We are then told to put on, or clothe ourselves with, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

The choice is yours. Are you a Christian who turns to God for a cure? Are you a Christian and partial humanist who turns to the world for relief from sin? What will it be, a little relief or a real cure?

When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. Now if I am doing what I don’t want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp. (Romans 7:19-20, TLB)

Have you ever decided to get your life in order and do what is right before God, only to find out that you couldn’t get through a day without messing up? You agree with the Bible that swearing, anger, and pride are wrong, and you decide you are going to stop doing those things. You don’t even make it to work! While you are driving, someone cuts you off and you start yelling obscenities at them. You didn’t mean to do that. You really wanted to do what is right! Those words just flew out of your mouth before you knew it! What happened? You were swearing, angry, and your pride took over because you felt like your time was more important than the other person’s. You failed again. It isn’t fair that the Bible tells you to do something and after you decide to do it you find out that you just can’t! 

The Romans verses above give us a clear answer as to why we can’t do what is right even when we decide to. Sin still has us in its evil grasp. That sounds simple enough. We just need to get rid of the sin by confessing and we’ll be ok, right? There is still another step that needs to take place after we are cleaned up. We need the power to walk the way God wants us to. 

2 Corinthians 3:5-6, CEV tells us: Not that we are in any way confident of doing anything by our own resources—our ability comes from God. It is he who makes us competent administrators of the new agreement, concerned not with the letter but in the Spirit. The letter of the Law leads to the death of the soul; the Spirit alone can give it life. 

It is only through God’s Spirit that we can walk uprightly and do what is right. It is through His resources that we will succeed. Left on our own we will try, try, try, only to find we will fail, fail, fail. Take a moment to talk to God in prayer and ask Him for the power, through His Holy Spirit, to do the things He commands in the Bible. Then go out and walk, by faith, in His strength and not your own.