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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, May 28, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Anger Bible Verse:James 1:19-27 (NIV) "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Message:
Today is “Anti-Anger Day”. We have included a quote from Buddha, whose teachings about morality and life were close in many respects to those of Christ and the early church fathers.
First off, we notice that while Buddhism can be wise in human terms, it is pagan and false as a religion. Buddha’s words, “you will not be punished for your anger,” are simply false; Christ Himself told us that anger violates the Sixth Commandment. It is a sin which, if unshriven, will condemn us to hell.
(“Shrive” is a verb that means, in its broad sense, to obtain absolution from sin by confessing and doing penance. Denominations with the formal sacrament of confession use it to refer to that sacrament, while in most Protestant denominations one shrives sins by, for example, simply asking God for forgiveness, through faith in Christ. Some evangelicals believe that receiving the Holy Spirit and living in faith is sufficient.)
Peace under God’s protection
So why cite Buddha in a Christian devotional? First, to demonstrate where Buddha was wrong; and second, to demonstrate a way in which Christian principles sometimes benefit us not only in our eternal life, but also in our secular life on earth.
As Christians, we must avoid anger, not because it will shorten our physical lives, but rather, because it is sinful. God forbids us to indulge our anger. (We can certainly do things to lengthen and improve our lives, but this is not the source of our morality.) Furthermore, it is a gateway sin; when we become angry, our human emotion drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit and we might do terrible things. This is true of all the “seven deadly sins.”
James goes so far as to call anger “moral filth.” Many Christians who indulge their anger might be well-served to understand that what they are doing is inviting Satan into their hearts. It is shocking, how people will sometimes indulge their red-faced anger in church. It is equivalent to waving pornographic pictures around.
So we must tame our anger, because God tells us to do so. But in the process, it helps us live better and longer lives on earth. It’s a “Win-Win situation”! Scientific studies have proven that a person’s hostility ratings (how hostile and irritable they tend to act towards others) predict heart disease -- the number one cause of death -- more accurately than other known risk factors, including cholesterol, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking and being overweight.
It is in this respect that Buddha’s saying rings true. To become angry, to act out of hatred, harms the person who has the anger. We may do even more harm to someone else, but have no doubt: By acting on our anger, we hurt ourselves physically as well as spiritually.
Monkeys battling snails from Illuminated Hymnal
People who give free reign to their anger live short and miserable lives. Moreover, if we get angry enough, we will hurt ourselves in other ways. What good comes from punching a wall? Broken knuckles and you have to pay to have the wall fixed. Look at the many-faceted results of road rage: you can get put in jail, wreck an expensive car, injure or even kill yourself or someone else. Satan loves anger!
Suppressing anger, although better than giving it free rein, is only half a solution. If we use ego strength to suppress anger, we still need to deal with it, lest it build up like steam in a pressure cooker. The answer is to dissolve it, to massage it into nonexistence, through prayer. We cannot deny that our anger exists, for by denial, we forgo the possibility of asking the Holy Spirit to abolish it. Forgiveness and acceptance, the antidotes for anger, do not come easily: most of us must pray for them every day.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, in utter humility I thank you and glorify you, that you might hear the prayer of one so small as myself, amidst the billions of souls among billions of stars in one of billions of galaxies in your universe. Let me go forth in your peace, keeping your Spirit always in my mind; and bless me, I pray, that I might always follow your will and live in the radiance of your blessing............Amen |
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