| Taking Thougths Captive / God's Word Meant For Me! |
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For the first part of my Bible reading last night, I was reading in 2 Corinthians 10 where Paul says:
10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 10:5 We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, I am working on that in my life right now. I am struggling with anger issues and trying to get that under control before bitterness takes root.
Letting go of anger is a decision that I make, BUT I also have to decide to do something about it. When the anger begins to creep in, I have to take those thoughts captive. I have to turn them around to praise or something that pleases God. I cannot dwell on those angry thoughts. I am making a list of "alternative thoughts" for me to think about when those angry thoughts creep in.
When I begin to feel angry about my financial situation, then I am going to turn it around to praise God for the financial blessings He has given me. When the angry thoughts of working every night comes, I will turn it around to praise that I have the good job that I enjoy AND am able to be here with my children, etc. I am going to capture those angry thoughts, and then make them obedient to Christ.
After pondering on these verses for a little while, I turned to Psalms to read my daily Psalms for that day. It was no coincidence that in one of my regularly scheduled Psalms for last night, I read:
37:8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
Does that amaze you like it amazes me? How does God do it? He always knows what I am dealing with, and always has a Word for me. I think how much I would have missed had I not done my daily Bible reading last night. It's not that I did not know the principle found in that verse, but what makes it so special and so personal is that it was there for me -- in the Psalm the Lord knew I would read on that very day. It's more than just a reminder that anger leads to evil. It's a reminder of how much He cares for me -- enough to put that verse in that Psalm for me yesterday - when He knew I needed it. I think I will have to add that thought to my "altnerative thoughts" list. |
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