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| Righteous Anger, Continued... |
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In my last entry, I talked about Moses and the expression of his very righteous anger in relation to the extreme wickedness of Israel. Another man we encounter in the Bible who expressed righteous anger was King David. Let's listen in on his conversation with God. Psalm 101:3-8 NLT 3) I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them.
4) I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil.
5) I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
I will not endure conceit and pride. 6) I will search for faithful people
to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
will be allowed to serve me.
7) I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
and liars will not stay in my presence.
8) My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
and free the city of the Lord from their grip. Wow! David was pretty set against a certain type of person, and against specific actions and attitudes. What did he hate? "All who deal crookedly" That means anyone and anything that is contrast to the "straight ways of the Lord," David would not just frown on or dissapprove of. No, he said he would hate it, not tolerate it, and would devote his energy toward "ferreting out" those who practiced evil against God! As I asked with my blog on Moses, (which is a question directed at myself as much as anyone else) I ask with this entry. When is the last time we got this angry over sin? Do we just kind of shake our head and say "that's a shame?" Or, do we model the passion and holy fervor of David and declare war on sin and on tolerating sinful behavior? So, are you noticing a pattern here? So far, it seems the pattern and formula for righteous anger is that it must be in some way a defense of God and His holiness, or commands. It must be motivated from a godly desire to see those commands and glory, as well as His worship, restored and lifted up. That is to be our "anger guage." Hmmm... a pretty strict guage isn't it?! Well, that's all about this topic for now. One more entry coming soon. Until then, I encourage you to ask what I will be asking of myself. "What's my anger guage reading? Self, or Spirit motivated and controlled?" God bless, Chris |
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| Good one. what angers me are those who present blogs as God's Truth and have nothing to back what they say up. Their words to not Aline with God's Word. this is dangerous. Way to dangerous. Only a fool does this. We don't need fools presenting God's Word. Many young people will take them serious!! God bless!! |
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You'r right Dennis, we are passionate and will get upset about things. I mean, we were made after God's image which includes the capacity for anger and passionate emotional expressions.The key though is to not use that passion negatively and to control the sinfully anger expressions of that passion. Look at this passage: Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT- 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." It's that avoidance that I'm writing about. Thanks for the comments! God bless. |
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Julia |
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March 12, 2008 at 1:38pm |
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Hi Chris!
Well, anger isn't the word I used, but I suppose it is needed. It is very frustrating to see around us the level of tolerence that people have for others. I think people sometimes think "Hey, it's none of my business...it's between you and God", and I agree to some extent, but that isn't all there is to it. Over the past few years my husband and I have had to weed out some people in our lives that did not live for God.I am not judgeing these people...only choosing to separate from them based on bible scripture. Psalm 101:3-8 as you have written above, and others:
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says… “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, (11) or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (12) For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.”Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: (17) Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (18) a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly into evil, (19) a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” Proverbs 20:19 “He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip.”
So here is my question regarding all these verses: What do you do when one of the people that fell into the catagory of "weeds" is a family member...or worse yet, your own mother? Sadly, that has been my situation the past 3 years. Recently God put it on my heart to write her a letter and tell her I forgive her for certain things and beg her to go before the Lord and ask for forgiveness. I obeyed the Lord and continue to pray for her, but I haven't heard anything about her current spiritual condition...and might never know for sure. But a lot of people, especially non-active Christians say that I should be ashamed of myself because she is my mother and I am to honor her. I do not feel as though I am dishonoring her by protecting my family from her toxicity. I truely believe that I am doing what God wants me to do at this time. I am not angery with her...I fear for her spirit and I am sometimes ashamed of her. Your Thoughts?? |
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| FIrst to Chris, as always, way to write a blog that steps on toes...I, for one, am always getting angry in inappropriate situations. I do however get frustrated when people do things that are specifically against God's word. And to Julia, what a tough situation to be in. My father is also unsaved and at times can be hurtful and say things that are inappropriate but I also don't spend as much time around him as I used to in my life. However, when I am around him I talk constantly about the things I love about being involved in church and my church family. I make references to how my God and my church family is a blessing, how they lift me up. I simply try to drop references to my joy in the Lord to him always. I hope that eventually he will start to see that the path to God is the way to "feel better". No one can heal your soul like our Lord can! And, praise God, over the past few months my father has started to engage me with conversations about God. I refuse to give up on him...because praise to my Heavenly Father, He didn't give up on me! So, all of that to say, that distance is not a bad thing...just try to make sure that the encounters you have with your mom are uplifting even when it is painful. Lots of love to you...I value your friendship! |
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Julia |
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March 14, 2008 at 6:04am |
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Thanks for your comments Katrina...and Chris, sorry to HOG your BLOG! I know you are busy being "pretty in pink" the last few day! Congratulations on that by the way.
One thing I would like to add regarding my mother is her ignorance in Christianity. I've always heard "You can't teach someone something when they think they already know it." and that seems to be the case with her...she thinks she is a Christian and she has convinced herself that her association with psychics, witches, gossips, and ghosts do not come between her and God. The first thing that is probably going to have to happen here is conviction from God to open her ears and eyes to what she is doing to her spirit. That has been my ongoing prayer for her. I think I need to post my own blog! Katrina, I truely appreciate your advice and I plan to incorporate it. |
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