Wednesday with the Word: Don't Be Angry

Welcome to Wednesday with the Word!

My daughter Katherine is what they call a "special needs" kid. Only they can't seem to figure out what her needs are. She has been officially diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety Disorder, as well as meeting the criteria for Educational Autism. All that, along with some plain old stubbornness, makes school work a challenge. She is often behind, and gets extremely overwhelmed trying to get caught back up.

Today was one of those days where she had a major assignment due, but didn't complete it. I had noticed something about these types of assignments, and emailed the teacher this morning with my observation. I was not making excuses for Katherine, but rather looking for some information/insight into a possible solution.

The response I recieved was not what I had hoped. The gist of it was that Katherine's problem is poor time management, and that I need to set down a specific time and place for her to get her homework done, so she doesn't get so overwhelmed.

I was absolutely livid! For one thing, I know all about Katherine's time management issues, because I had dealt with it, every day, for the last 13+ years,  and we do have a set time and place for homework. And as I told this teacher "Having a set time and place for homework dosen't make her get it done any more than taking that proverbial horse to water makes him drink it.:"

People seem to think that Christians shouldn't get angry. I don't know where they get that, because it is not scriptural. The Bible has a lot to say about anger. It is mentioned 268 times. The word "angry" is mentioned 113 times.

Anger is a normal human reaction. There is nothing wrong with being angry. God gets angry (Numbers 11:10). Jesus got angry and drove the crooked money changers out of the temple courts (Matt 21:12). It is not a sin to get angry, it is a sin to stay angry and to let the anger lead you into doing something you shouldn't. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes:

"In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry," Phil 4:6 (NIV)

James has something to say about anger too:

" My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," James 1:19 (NIV)

So we shouldn't be hot heads who fly off the handle, at the drop of a hat.  However, when we do get angry, we need to take a deep breath before we explode all over the source of our ire (or whoever is close). I admit that I have short fuse, at least with certain things. It has taken a great deal of effort to train myself to tell God first, when I am angry. Please understand that I will probably remain "in training" the rest of my life.

Sometimes, I am so mad all I can get out vocally is "Lord?", but he knows what I'm feeling and what I'm thinking, Sometimes just the act of reaching for Him can calm me down enough to respond appropriately, or not respond at all. Not responding is hard, especially when my mind is reeling with a hundred nasty things to say. He has also restrained my hand when I felt like throwing something. If He didn't, we wouldn't have any coffee cups.

I did wait a few hours before I responded,to Katherine's teacher and I talked to the Lord a lot in that time. I didn't want to be rude or hateful, but I did want her to know that I didn't appreciate her insinuations. I don't know that she would agree that I have mastered my anger, but the Lord knows, I did give it a good try.

How has the Lord helped you handle anger?


See ya tomorrow!

Connie

Wednesday with the Word: The Ancient of Days

Welcome to Wednesday with the Word!

A few months ago, our Bible study group did the Beth Moore study of Daniel. It was very deep, and for me, very good stuff. I love Bible prophecy, as well as connecting biblical history with secular history, and this study did all that. In addition, it shows God for who he is and shows, in the person of Daniel,  an example of who we should be in this world. Last week, in our regular Bible reading, Ed and I started reading Daniel again. Even now, we find ourselves discussing new insights about it.

This morning, through facebook and my mother, I heard some local news about a little ten-year-old girl who was missing. Just a short while later, there was more news. The body of the little girl had been discovered and the suspect was in custody. Like everyone else, I was heart sick. I cannot begin to imagine what that child's family is experiencing: the terror, the heartbreak, the rage. I can only pray that they have the Lord to hold on to. In situations like this, people sometimes lose their faith, or question how God could let something like this happen to a beautiful little girl. I don't have the answer to that. I do know that the earth is under a curse, and will be until the Lord returns. I know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matt 5:45), which means that sometimes good and bad just happen; its not anything we do, or we don't do. I know something else too: Something I read about in Daniel.

 “As I looked,

thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.

A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened." (Daniel 7:9-10)

Daniel is having a vision about the end times, dosen't understand everything he sees,
so he asks someone standing there what it means. When the explanation gets to the
part of about the ancient of days, the person says:

"But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed
forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under
heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom 
will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him."
Daniel 7:26-27

When the time comes, God will take his seat as the righteous judge, court will convene,
and everything will be made right. Sometimes, in this life, people get away with stuff.
However, unless that person repents and finds salvation in the Lord, he or she will not
get away with it forever.

The "his" referenced in this passage is the fourth beast, which is a whole other study. 
It's good stuff too! I use Biblegateway.com for my online studies. You can read this 
chapter of Daniel here. 

Have a beautiful day!

See ya tomorrow!

Connie

Wednesday With The Word: The Gospel in a Nutshell

Our winter storm is over, but it left us nearly 10 inches of the powdery white stuff. Now we are supposed to go back into the deep freeze. The low temperature for tonight is supposed to be -10, which means we will be bringing our dogs inside. The cats will be thrilled.

Ed finally got home about 1:00 this afternoon. He is tired and thankful that he has the next two days off. I am too.

Because I know that God is in control, I can experience stressful times like the last few days with an internal peace. When Ed remarked that I had a fire going today, I told him that the Lord started that one, because I didn't have to work nearly as hard to get it going. When I realized I had a good fire, I gave credit where it was due, and thanked Him profusely.

Non-Christians usually react to that kind of remark, as they would to someone they believe is mentally deficient. Thats ok, because the Bible says the unsaved can't understand. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says:

"The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

The "Spirit" in question is the Holy Spirit, the third part of the God-head, which is given to the believer when salvation occurs. How does salvation occur?

One must 
Hear the Gospel (or Good News)
Believe it
Repent of sin
Confess faith
Be Baptized
Walk the Walk

So what is the Gospel?

The bare bones of it is found in what is probably the best known verse in all of the Bible: John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Sin is disobedience to God. A literal usage of the word is "missing the mark" like an archer who misses the target. Adam and Eve sinned when they disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, and every human being on the planet has followed suit, except for one, but we'll get to that in a minute! The Bible says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Rom 3:23.

The problem is that God cannot tolerate sin. Now, he could have just left us like this and banished us all to the lake of fire dscribed in the book of Revelation (Rev 20: 14-15), but He loves us, and wanted to redeem us from our sinful state. I Peter 3: 9 says "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

"The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23) When God sent Jesus into the world as a human being, his job was to remain sinless, and sacrifice his pure and blameless life for the sins of the entire human race. He did exactly that.  Only three days later, God raised him from the dead, and now he sits at God's right hand waiting for the time to come back and get those who accepted his sacrifice on their behalf.

That is the Good News! Jesus died for you!  Do you believe it? Well then you're going to need to repent. That means you're life is going to change directions. Then you need to confess. That means you need to speak out and tell what you believe! Baptism is how we show that our old sinful selves are dead and buried, and we come out of the water a new creation! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Lastly, you have to walk the walk. That dosen't mean you won't trip and fall, because you surely will. You have to keep getting up. It dosen't mean that your life will be perfect. You still live in the world, and you are still going to have problems, but you won't ever be alone again!

One more thing. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation. We have all "earned" eternal damnation, just like it says in Romans 6. but there is more to that verse (remember what I said about taking things in context?) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's a gift! 

Will you accept it?

See ya tomorrow!

Connie

Wednesday with the Word: Taming the Tongue

Every January, the Christian radio station, KLove, offers a 30-challenge for listeners to listen to only Christian music for 30 days. I've been listening to KLove for the last three years or so, and know what a difference listening to Christian music can make in hearts and attitudes. So, every January, on facebook, I offer my own challenge to my facebook friends. Every day in January, to encourage them to listen, I choose a song currently playing on KLove, find a YouTube video for that song, and post the link. I usually post a corresponding thought or scripture for the song too.

This morning, when I was looking for a song to post, “Speak Life” by Toby Mac jumped out at me. You can listen here.The Bible has a ton to say about what comes out of our mouths. The first scripture that came to mind was this one: (probably because I have been trying to memorize it)

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 NIV

I really love the book of Ephesians. We'll have to spend some more time there. Oh, all my scripture references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless I indicate otherwise. Let's look at this verse. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths...” So, what is “unwholesome talk”? The King James version, says “Corrupt communication”, but that doesn't help much either. Well, lets see what else the Bible says about it.

In Ephesians 4:5, it says , “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving”.

Ok, that gives us a little better idea. Cuss words and dirty jokes should have no place in our conversations. That has been a problem for me in the past. I've been known to say things that, to quote Ed, “would peel paint off a wall.” Its something I've had to consciously work on. I do a little better now, but those words still slip out on occasion, especially if I'm startled or surprised by something, so I'll keep working on it.

What else?

“For, 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.'“ 1Pet 3:10

Keeping your tongue from evil covers all kinds of things. Taking badly about people. Saying mean or hateful things, etc. Then there is lying. God is big on telling the truth.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:19 This is number nine of the ten commandments.

Lying is one of those things that everyone does, but pretends they don't . Like all other sin, we have a tendency to downplay our own duplicity. God calls sin what it is: sin. Lying comes from Satan himself. In John, chapter 8, verse 44, Jesus says,

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Sadly, he was talking about the religious leaders of his day.

“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.”  Proverbs 20:14

and

“Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.”  I Tim 5:13.

No gossip or spreading rumors. Oh that might be a little more difficult.  I grew up in an environment where someone was always talking about who did what to whom, how they did it, why they did it, and what was going to happen because they did it. Riding home from church with my Grandparents, I got to hear about every little thing that was going on with everyone else in their congregation, and then I got to hear their opinion of said people  It took me until just recently to realize that all that was nothing more than gossip, along with some self-righteous passing of judgment, and it is displeasing to God.

God and I have spoken about this, and I have asked him to help me know when what I am about to say is necessary, or if it is merely gossip. If it is the latter, I don't want to say it.  Kind of sounds like “if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.” but God never gives us a “don't” without giving us a “do”.

So if we're aren't supposed to curse, lie, brag, gossip, tell dirty jokes, say mean or hateful things, or spread rumors, what are we supposed to do instead? Lets go back to that verse in Ephesians.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 NIV

The things that come out of our mouths should lift people up and provide good advice.

“The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.” Psalm 37:30

and

“The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4

 Our words should offer sound advice and provide comfort and encouragement to those who need it. That would be just about everybody.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Eph 4:15

 So, instead of lying, we speak the truth, in love! I know a lot of people who are really good at speaking the truth, but they leave the “in love” part out. They cause a lot of pain and damage with their “honesty”.

“My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.”Psalm 35:28 Offering worship and praise to God is the best possible thing we can do with our voices.

The book of James is also one of my favorites. James offers practical advice for every day Christian living, and has a lot to say about what comes out of our mouths. First he says,

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” James 1:26

The Common English Bible (CEB) says it this way: “If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves. Their devotion is worthless.”

Pretty harsh, huh? No, just important! When we get to chapter three, James has a whole lot more to say about the condition of the human tongue. This again is from the Common English Bible.

We all make mistakes often, but those who don’t make mistakes 

with their words have reached full maturity. Like a bridled horse,

 they can control themselves entirely. When we bridle horses 

and put bits in their mouths to lead them wherever we want,

 we can control their whole bodies. Consider ships: They are so

 large that strong winds are needed to drive them. But pilots direct

 their ships wherever they want with a little rudder. In the same way, 

even though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts wildly. 

Think about this: A small flame can set a whole forest on fire. 

The tongue is a small flame of fire, a world of evil at work in us. 

It contaminates our entire lives. Because of it, the circle of life is set on

 fire. The tongue itself is set on fire by the flames of hell. People can 

tame and already have tamed every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish.

 No one can tame the tongue, though. It is a restless evil, full of deadly 

poison.  With it we both bless the Lord and Father and curse human 

beings made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come from 

the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, it just shouldn’t be this way! 

Both fresh water and salt water don’t come from the same spring, 

do they? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? 

Can a grapevine produce figs? Of course not, and fresh water doesn’t

 flow from a saltwater spring either. James 3: 2-12

You can't get much plainer than that, can you? If you can control everything that comes out of your mouth, you have reached full maturity. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen in this life, but I'm going to keep on working on it, as long as I'm here.

See ya tomorrow,

Connie

Wednesdays in the Word: An Introduction

Starting today, Wednesday's blog posts will be about the Word.  The phrase “word of God” is often used to describe the Bible. The phrase is accurate, because the Bible is the word of God. Yes, these blog posts will be Bible studies. However, the Bible itself, in the Gospel of John talks about another “word”, and He is the Word that should always be the focus of our study.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

Who is The Word? Jesus of course! That in itself will be a great study, but its a little deep.

So who am I to write Bible studies?

Nobody. Just some one who loves the word of God, and wants to share what I learn.

I grew up in the Independent Christian Church/Church of Christ. My grandfather was a preacher whose focus was the wrath of God. To be fair to him, I think the fear that he might miss someone that he was supposed to tell, that person would be lost, and God would hold him accountable, was the driving force behind everything he said and did. He was not fun to be around.

Mom (his oldest daughter) got pregnant with me in her first year of Bible college. That pretty much ended her college career. She married my dad and the marriage lasted about four years. I spent a lot of time with Mom's maternal grandmother. She was Lutheran, and didn't get to church much, but her focus was on the love of God. 

My mom remarried when I was about eight years old, and the true nightmare began. My second stepfather was a  cruel man. He was a mean drunk, and a child molester.

I”m telling you this so you can understand what I bring with me to our studies. Please understand that I am not making any inferences about any denomination, just these individuals who happened to be members of them

One thing I have learned in my fifty years is that I should not ever take the word of anyone else about what the Bible says, and I am asking your to do the same thing. We need to be like the Bereans.

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

One other thing that is probably my “pet peeve” when it comes to studying the Bible, and hearing/reading what others have said/written, is taking verses out of context. You can make the Bible say anything you want, if you take what is written out of it's context. Did you know that the Bible says there is no God? It sure does. However a closer examination of the the context (like the whole sentence) shows what it actually says is 

“The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'” Psalm 53:1

Yes, I know this is silly,  but people do it. We have to be on guard. That is why it is so important that we know for ourselves what the Bible says.

So I am going to do Bible study posts on Wednesdays. I am going to study the word so that I can know the Word.

Are you coming with me?