Anger That Grips Your Life

"Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." 
Ephesians 4:26–27

Parorgismos (anger) is not momentary outward, boiling–over rage or inward, seething resentment, but rather a deep–seated, determined and settled conviction.  In this passage, its New Testament use can represent an emotion good or bad, depending on motive and purpose.

There seems to be an ever increasing problem in this world, "Anger".  Anger pops up in every venue even the believers life. How can we be angry and yet be without sin at the same time?

There are many occasions where we have opportunity to be angry but what we do with that anger is at the very core of our hearts.  You see where our hearts are there our treasure is and it reveals who we really are. How do we take our anger and manage it of direct it?

We must first identify the root cause of the anger which has taken root somewhere in our lives.  Where does it stem from?  Anger comes from many places-

Injustice—when people mistreat us.
Strife—which is repressed anger, Strife is often exhibited in arguing, bickering, heated disagreements.
Impatience—When our progress is hindered or slowed down because of others.
Abuse of any kind—sexual, physical, verbal, emotional or mental abuse almost always leads to anger. 
Unmet needs—can also produce anger. 
Jealousy—anger caused by jealousy was one of the first negative emotions mentioned in the Bible.
(Joyce Meyers) 

We are told in Ephesians 4:26-27to not let the sun go down on our wrath.  In, 2Timothy 4:5 "But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation (stay calm and cool and steady), endure hardship (without flinching), do the work of an evangelist, fulfill (the duty of) your ministry.

How do we do this?  Through daily submitting ourselves to God in prayer and practice, practice, practice!!! I also personally us exercise (running) as a way to spend time with God and burn some of the pent-up issues in my heart!

Speaking Life or Death?

What are you saying these day?

Proverbs 18:21 ESV     

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."

How often do we think before we speak?  Do we open our mouths

first and just let whatever comes to the for front of our minds pass through our lips?  All to often this is the case.  Many of us, myself at the top of the list, lack self control because of the environment we allow ourselves to be influenced by.  We as follows of Christ have become what scripture warns us about, lukewarm.  We are so far removed from the FIRE of the the Holy Spirit and been there so long we don't even know that we are cold.  While we have existed for so long in the cold place of our relationship with God, we no long know who He is or even who we are as a Christian.  Once again I say to myself and to you who read this, let us RUN back to God!  Back to the flame of His love and Holiness.  The Church has become a comfortable place where you can't see the difference between us and the world.  We have allowed ourselves, myself, a place where we have excepted that this is the way life should be.  We must begin to speak life to ourselves and to those around us.  Never forgetting the Grace afforded to us as we speak to others.  Proverbs 16:24(ESV)²⁴ Gracious words are like a honeycomb,sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Now as we move closer to the flame getting deeper and deeper into the center of  the flame remember God is Holy and He calls us to be Holy.  Not that we are perfect but we are being made perfect as we draw closer to Him.  As we draw closer to him our speech, our talk, our conversations become more in line with His.  Not religious talk, real relationship talk.  Ephesians 4:29(ESV) ²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Let's get back to the place of our first love and be passionate for Him once again.  Build yourself up and other in Christ!

Daily Transformed in His image.

                                                             

"What does it mean that man is made in the image of God?"

On the last day of creation, God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness" Genesis 1:26 Genesis 2:7.  Thus, He finished His work with a "personal touch."  God formed man from the dust and gave him life by sharing His own breath.  Accordingly, man is unique among all God's creations, having both a material body and an immaterial soul/spirit.  Having the “image” or “likeness” of God means, in the simplest terms, that we were made to resemble God. Adam did not resemble God in the sense of God’s having flesh and blood. Scripture says that “God is spirit” (John 4:24) and therefore exists without a body. However, Adam’s body did mirror the life of God insofar as it was created in perfect health and was not subject to death. 

The image of God refers to the immaterial part of man. It sets man apart from the animal world, fits him for the dominion God intended him to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables him to commune with his Maker. It is a likeness mentally, morally, and socially.Part of being made in God’s image is that Adam had the capacity to make free choices. Although he was given a righteous nature, Adam made an evil choice to rebel against his Creator. In so doing, Adam marred the image of God within himself, and he passed that damaged likeness on to all his descendants (Romans 5:12). Today, we still bear the image of God (James 3:9), but we also bear the scars of sin. Mentally, morally, socially, and physically, we show the effects of sin.

The good news is that when God redeems an individual, He begins to restore the original image of God, creating a “new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). That redemption is only available by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior from the sin that separates us from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through Christ, we are made new creations in the likeness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So even this Pastor with all my flaws (pic above) is being made and transformed daily into the image of my Saviour Jesus.  Daily being renewed and transformed into His likeness.  Join me today and every day in the transformation process of becoming more like HIM!!!

We Remember You Today and Everyday!

We Remember You Today and Everyday!
I never want to take for granite the freedom I have in the great nation of ours. I praise God that I live in a nation that is protected by soldiers, both men and women, who wake up every morning with just one goal in mind: to fight for freedom. Because of what they do the United States of America remains free. Soldiers spend many days, weeks, months and even years away from their loved ones to meet this goal. There are those who have already laid down their lives for all of us to be able to enjoy this incredible experience called freedom.

The bible says, "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13). The love that they have is unfailing, and it is displayed by their bravery and dedication. Our heavenly Father is the author of unfailing love — steadfast love. The psalmist says “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8).

If you are a soldier or a loved one of a soldier I feel we owe you a debt of gratitude and we honor you all not only today but every day. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do. The sacrifice you all have made gives me the freedom to say thank you!

I pray that you all will be embraced in His strength and love today and always!

RevJayErickson

Letting Go of the Past

Letting Go of the Past

As I look back through the years there are most definitely choices and decisions that I have made that have a lasting effect and consequences.  Some some for the good and others I wish would have never happened.  There are three areas of each of our lives that we all look upon. We all live in the present. We all memories, good and bad some indifferent. We all have a future.

King David is declared to be a man after God's own heart and yet King David in a moment, when he should have been in battle with his men, yield to his fleshly desires and committed adultery with another mans wife.  Not just any man but one of his own mighty men of valour.  This one decision triggered a series of decision King David would later be found in Psalm 51 repenting of.  There were very heavy consequences that effected not only King David but his whole family.  The result of this illicit sexual affair was, as is in every case of adultery, catastrophic! In king David's case it led to deception, murder, rape and civil war; problems which plagued the household of David's family and his kingdom for centuries. But this morning my desire is to share with you the HOPE we have in Jesus. It is when we take the 'DUNG' of our past and give it to the Lord in repentance, confession to God through Jesus, God takes the DUNG PILE of our past and gives us beauty of ashes.(Isaiah 61:3)  You see it is in the ashes of our lives that God takes them and makes them into fertile soil for His will to be done in our lives.  It is in that soil that we become fruitful for the Kingdom of God. 
When King David repented of his Sin in Psalm 51, it was there that God took the ashes of King Davids life and David, according to the scripture, still fulfilled all that God had planned for him.  David was a man after Gods own heart. 
Let me say, this is not an approval for our sin.  This is the Great grace of God and his mercies that are new every morning that make it possible for us to still fulfill the call of God on our lives.  Even when others won't let go of your past, God still will and can use you to fulfill all His will in your life.  Today take King David's posture of repentance and let God have the 'DUNG PILE' of your life and turn your ashes into His beauty in your life.

Pushed to the outside rejected

 Pushed to the outside rejected

Do you ever feel like this?  Have you experienced rejection from even those who love you?  We have all felt like this at one time or another. The pain of rejection by family, loved ones, co-workers and the list goes on.  My personal reality is found in my revelation of Father God's love for me.  Bible tells me that nothing can separate me from His LOVE... THANK GOD!!!  Christ came with a purpose which we find in the book of Isaiah.  Isaiah prophesies about the coming of the Deliverer, the One who is destined to set His people free:

Ask Father God to renew you right now, TODAY!!!  Allow Him to bind up your broken heart, let Him bring you freedom.  Be released from the darkness of despair and let the oil of gladness fill your heart.  Exchange your ashes for beauty.  Be encouraged to know that He understands what you are faced with and that it is His desire to heal you and bring you to a place of restoration.  

Be Blessed this day, 

Rev Jay 

 Isaiah 53:2-3

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
   and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations" (Is. 61:1-4). 

Same attitude

SAME ATTITUDE


Life brings its challenges that God uses to shape our lives.  Its a choice we make each and every time we face a crossroad of decision.  The decision we make is our inward reaction or action we take in any given situation.  Our attitude can shape and mold the outcome of anyone of these circumstances.  When faced with good or bad times reaction is many times based on our "old nature", before Christ.  In order to have a "reaction" that is in the character of Christ we must model our actions after Christ attitude. 

Before I get into the attitude of Christ I think it important to understand a biblical view of Christ. He is all powerful.  All authority is given to Him.  He understood His purpose never gave in nor did He ever quit. He was confrontational with the spiritual leaders of the day yet compassion filled his heart for the people. 

Jesus' attitude was one of determination to do everything and anything it took to fulfill his Fathers will.  He set an example for us in his attitude toward prayer.  Each and everyday he took the time, made the time, to spend with God in prayer.  No matter what Jesus was faced with, such as his friends abandoning him in his great time of need.  Having one of his disciples deny he even knew him.  Facing death all alone.  He never said I quit.  That sounds like someone who might understand what I have gone through.  Christ counted it all joy.  It was the very joy of bringing us back into right relationship with our heavenly Father that drove Jesus to keep on going. 

Do you feel like giving up, washing your hands of the whole thing?  Then "ARM" yourself today with the very same attitude of Christ when you are suffering or going through a difficult time.  Through Christ you can do all things.

1 Peter 4
¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.