Monthly Archives: August 2009

Taming Your Anger Part I

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“If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry—get over it quickly; for when you are angry, you give a mighty foothold to the Devil.”1

Your test seems to indicate that you have some buried anger,” said the counselor to his client. “Do you think this could be true?” he asked.

“Me! Angry? Certainly not,” replied the client. “I’ll punch you in the nose for saying that!”

When it comes to anger we all have a tiger of sorts within. At times it provides great courage and motivation. It causes some of us to lash out and hurt others. At other times we are so afraid it will get out of control we bury it so that nobody, including ourselves, will ever know it exists.

Many of us were taught that anger is bad and to show it is immature. The mature person, however, doesn’t deny his anger. He has learned to express it in appropriate ways.

Even though some people never show their anger, everybody gets angry sometimes. Anger is a God-given emotion. Of itself it is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. It’s what we do with it and how we handle it that counts.

In fact, there are many things we ought to be angry about, such as social injustice, child abuse, greed, and even legalistic religion that makes rules more important than people and keeps people in needless bondage.

Jesus was very angry with the religious people of his day for this very reason. When he healed a man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were so furious they plotted to kill him. To them, religious observances were more important than the needs of people. We read that Jesus “looked around at them in anger…distressed at their stubborn hearts.”2

Think too of Florence Nightingale. She was very angry about the terrible conditions suffered by wounded soldiers in the Crimean War. She used her anger creatively to bring about major changes in nursing care. This is a creative and healthy use of anger.

To be continued.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to so live that I will always recognize and resolve my negative emotions as quickly as possible, and do so in creative and helpful ways—and never ever become bitter or nurse grudges. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:26-27(TLB)(NLT).

2. Mark 3:5 (NIV).

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Old Relics—New Threats

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“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” 1

Melvin McDonald served in the Canadian Navy during World War II. One Monday, the 79-year-old McDonald and his wife showed up at the front desk at police headquarters in Winnipeg. His opening line to the police officer who offered to assist him was, “I got a grenade.” He wasn’t making a threat, mind you—just stating a fact. With that, he took a hand grenade out of a brown paper bag and gave it to the officer.

The shocked constable kept his head. He did, however, call the bomb squad immediately. Then things really started to happen. Most of the main floor of the Public Safety Building was evacuated, the fire department was put on alert, and the bomb squad showed up with all its sophisticated paraphernalia.

The grenade was still primed with explosive, and its fuse was intact. “I’ve had it in the house all these years,” the veteran said. “I used to have it on a stand.” His nephew had suggested it ought to be turned over to the police.

An embarrassed McDonald apologized for all the commotion he caused. It was only a keepsake from a training exercise in Scotland in the early 1940s.2

A very unhealthy way, one of the worst, to live is by burying and denying unresolved anger, hurts, bitterness, etc., from the past. These are the supercharged, repressed, negative emotions that, like an old live hand grenade, when triggered can cause an emotional explosion and severely damage or destroy close relationships. On the other hand, if these emotions stay buried and get triggered, they can cause an implosion and destroy a person’s health and well-being.

Like all of God’s directives, it is not without good reason that the Bible advises us to get rid of these destructive emotions. And we don’t get rid of them by burying them and denying their existence. It is imperative that they are recognized, expressed in creative rather than destructive ways, and resolved.

In the next three Daily Encounters we’ll talk about “Taming Your Anger” to further show the importance of resolving buried emotions and explain how to resolve them.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your Word that admonishes us to, ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.’ Please help me to recognize any of these destructive emotions and attitudes in me and show me how to resolve and get rid of them forever. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Note: For further help read “Taming Your Anger” at: http://tinyurl.com/b439f.

1. Ephesians 4:31 (NIV).

2. Chad J Hedgepath. Cited on KneEmail, http://www.oakhillcoc.org.

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You, too, Can Impact Your World

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“They first gave themselves to the Lord.”1

For many years one of my constant prayers that I like to pray every day is, “Lord, I’m available, please help me to be as Christ today in some way to every life I touch.”

On one occasion when I was in a church outside of Melbourne, Australia, and was setting up in readiness for a seminar, a lady approached me and said right out of the blue, “I just saw Jesus in you!” I have no idea what she saw but her words blew me away. I’ve never forgotten what she said and how much her brief sentence reinforced my determination to pray the above prayer every day for the rest of my life. I hope that I so live that many people will “see” Jesus in me and, in so doing, be drawn to him.

Imagine the difference you and I could make and the impact we would have on the world in which we live if every Christian would genuinely pray this prayer every day (and made a commitment to be as Christ in all our doings).

I want to challenge you to pray this prayer every day for the rest of your life and ask you to encourage other Christians to do likewise. (One way you could do this is by sending them a copy of this Daily Encounter.) With God’s help we can all do this and make a difference with our life and help change our world—one person at a time.

For today’s suggested prayer, let us pray the beautiful prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sadness, joy.
“O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

“And Lord, I’m available. Please help me to be as Christ in some way to every life I touch today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 8:5 (NKJV).

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Swimming Against the Tide

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“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”1 And as James says about a double-minded person: he is “unstable in all he does.”2

Someone has explained how, in the frigid waters around Greenland, “Countless icebergs float around. Some are tiny; others tower skyward. At times the small ones move in one direction while their gigantic counterparts go in another. Why is this? The small ones are pushed around by the winds blowing on the surface of the water, but the huge ice masses are carried along by deep ocean currents.”3

In our day there is great pressure to go with the crowd, to be politically correct, to do the convenient thing regardless whether it is right or ethical or not. The reality is, however, unless we have deep roots in God, we too can easily be swayed by the “popular winds of the moment” and be “double-minded and unstable in all we do.”

Think of Jesus, he never worried about being politically correct, or pleasing the crowd or the religious leaders of his day, or even King Herod for that matter. His only concern was to do right and please God, his Father. He did right regardless of the consequences. For you and me to make a difference we, too, need to stand for truth and do right regardless of the consequences.

To do this we need backbone. As the saying goes, any dead fish can float down the river but it takes a live fish to swim against the flow. Furthermore, he who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in this day and age to stand for truth, the principles of which are found in your Word, the Bible, and to always do right regardless of the consequences. Give me the courage to live only to please you in all that I am and do as did Jesus. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. James 4:7-8 (NIV).

2. James 1:8 (NIV).

3. Author unknown.

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The Cup

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“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”1

I have read that when Leonardo de Vinci was forty-three years old, Duke Ludovinco of Milan asked him to paint the dramatic scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.

Working slowly and giving meticulous care to details, he spent three years on the assignment. He grouped the disciples into threes, two groups on either side of the central figure of Christ. Christ’s arms are outstretched. In his right hand, he holds a cup that was painted beautifully with marvelous realism.

When the masterpiece was finished, the artist said to a friend, “Observe it and give me your opinion of it.”

“It’s wonderful!” exclaimed the friend. “The cup is so real I cannot divert my eyes from it.”

Immediately Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup! He exclaimed as he did, “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that nothing I ever do or say will ever detract from the beauty of Christ being seen in me. Help me always in all ways to reflect your glory. This I can only ever do with your help. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV).

2. Quoted from the Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan.

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Spiritual Blahs

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“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son [Jesus]. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”1

A Daily Encounter reader writes: “I have received Jesus as my Savior but after many years I feel like I am just going through the motions. I feel dead spiritually. I have great difficulty reading and understanding the Bible and can’t seem to pray. I feel like I’m in the middle of a thick sludge pool and can’t get out. Do other Christians feel this way? Will I go to heaven if Jesus comes back and I’m in this state? Is our salvation dependent only on our trust in Christ as our Savior—regardless of how we feel?”

“Dear Isabel,” (name changed), I wrote, “let me assure you that you are not alone in your struggle. Most Christians, including myself, and many of the great heroes of faith, go through what has been called a ‘dark night of the soul’ when God seems far away and all seems hopeless. Nor will you miss out on heaven because of the spiritual blahs.

“There can be many reasons for the ‘spiritual blahs.’ If one is under considerable stress at home or on the job for too long, has been physically ill for some time, has a chemical imbalance, or is generally bored with his work or life—any of these can cause relationships (including our relationship with God) to feel blah and distant. Also, if one is acting out in self-defeating ways or has unconfessed sin in his life—these too can cause a person to feel far from God.

“Super-charged repressed negative emotions are also a very common cause for barriers to come between ourselves, others, and God. These are usually caused by impaired relationships from the past—anywhere from early childhood to yesterday. The walls we build to block out our feelings of hurt, fear, and/or anger so we won’t have to face them also block out our warm, loving and positive feelings. Doing this can also be very damaging to our physical health. This is why the Bible teaches us to resolve all negative emotions and impaired relationships as quickly as possible.

“I would suggest that you have a thorough medical examination to make sure you don’t have a physical problem that needs attention or medication. If you are under considerable stress, see if there are some things you can change or drop altogether. I also suggest that you see a qualified Christian counselor and share with him or her exactly what you have shared with me so he or she can help you resolve your struggle. All of us need help at times like these.

“And even if you don’t feel like it, pray and tell God exactly how you feel. Ask him to help you discover the cause/s of your ‘spiritual blahs’ and to lead you to the help you need to overcome.

“Let me again assure you that if you have prayed and invited Jesus into your heart and life, no matter how you feel, remember that Jesus said, ‘I will never, never, never, never, never leave you or forsake you.’2 This is when you need to take God at his Word and not allow your feelings to control you.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have promised to always be with me no matter what. About my blahs I experience, please help me to see the cause of these and lead me to the help I need to overcome them so I can again feel close to you and the ones I love the most. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

For further help read, “How to Be Sure You’re a real Christian Without Having to Be Religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

1. 1 John 5:11-13 (NIV).

2. Hebrews 13:5 (Paraphrase).

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Creativity in the Mature Years

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“The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness.”1

I have read that “Studies show that older people who hold jobs from which they do not have to retire get along best. Those who have a chance to do something creatively after they retire get along second best. Those with less chance to do something creatively go down most quickly. The body is a closed unit with lots of energy in it. Unless the individual has a way to discharge the energy, he gets into difficulty, and the difficulty is sickness and death.”2

Remember that “Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on a scaffold when almost 90; Paderewski at 79 played the piano superbly; at 88 John Wesley preached every day; Tennyson, when 83, wrote Crossing the Bar. Booth Tarkington wrote sixteen novels after 60, some of them when he was almost totally blind. Benjamin Franklin went to France in the service of his country when 78, and wrote his autobiography when over 80.”3

Jerry Beavan, at age 90, is another man who is still living a very active and productive life. He has worked in various foreign countries for extended periods of time … has been a professor in both a Liberal Arts College and a Theological Seminary … has been involved in the American government process as a state and federal lobbyist … and has been a journalist and news commentator. For 15 years he worked with the Billy Graham team ending up as Director of Crusade Planning and Organization. Dr. Graham said of him, “Jerry Beavan is the architect of world evangelism as we know it today.” In his so-called retirement years Jerry has been able to develop a weekly email newsletter, “American News Commentary,” which discusses and explains current events in the light of historic Christian viewpoints. His comments are well worth reading. You can read his website blog at http://american-news.notlong.com/. To subscribe send a blank email to american_news-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Speaking personally, I am currently 76 and admit that I have never been healthier in my life or more productive. And Carol, my proofreader, is 81 and is a very capable and excellent help for our work. Being actively involved in something to live for that is bigger than one’s self and big enough to die for is a great help for productive and fulfilling living for most, if not all, of one’s life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that you have a purpose for my life. Please help me to know what that purpose is, help me to get the training I need to sharpen my skills so that I can serve you more effectively and therein glorify your name all the days of my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 16:31 (NKJV).
2. Dr. Ewald W. Busse, in Knight’s Treasury of Illustrations, p. 244.
3. Walter B. Knight, Ibid, p. 243.

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Hiding From God

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“Where can I go from your Spirit [God]? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. . . . If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.’”1

Roger Ray, a minister in Springfield, Missouri, told of a local physician who was driving between hospital calls one evening, exceeding the speed limit rather shamelessly in an attempt to make up for lost time. Suddenly a police car pulled up behind him and turned on the lights. Having some considerable experience in both speeding and getting caught, the doctor picked up his stethoscope and held it up for the policeman to see in hopes of communicating that he was on a medical emergency. Yet the police officer continued in pursuit with no regard to the physician’s signals. Once more the doctor waved his stethoscope in the air, this time more dramatically, in hopes of conveying the importance of his mission. But when the physician looked into his rear-view mirror to see whether the police officer got the message, he saw a smiling officer waving his own symbol of authority in the air—his revolver.

These are the “Oh-oh” experiences in life when we realize we’ve been caught red-handed. And sometimes I wonder if there are certain things I don’t do more from a fear of getting caught rather than wanting to do the right thing.

However, there’s one thing that is certain … no matter how hard I may try nor how much I try to fool myself, there’s no hiding from God. He sees all. He knows all. But he’s not waving his “heavenly revolver” at us nor is he out to get us to punish us for our sins, but rather to save us from punishing ourselves as a result of our sins—the wages of which are death—eternal death.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you that no matter where I am, what condition I am in, or what I have done or have failed to do, you know exactly where I am and what condition I am in. Thank you, too, that you are pursuing me, not to punish me, but because you want me to come to you for forgiveness, healing, and wholeness. Help me to stop hiding and stop running except to run to your open, loving, and forgiving arms. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Psalm 139:7-8, 11-12 (NIV).

For further help read, “How to Be Sure You’re a real Christian Without Having to Be Religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/real-christian.

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Water of Life

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“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”1

Brett Blair shares how, some years ago in South America, a crew of Peruvian Sailors heading up the Amazon River came upon a strange sight. A Spanish ship was anchored off the coast, and as the Peruvians drew closer they saw that the Spaniards were in terrible physical condition. They looked the picture of death itself, their lips parched and swollen. They were dying of thirst.

“Can we help you?” shouted the Peruvians.

The Spaniards cried out, “Water! Water! We need fresh water!”

The Peruvian sailors, surprised at this request, told them to lower their buckets and help themselves.

The Spaniards, fearing they’d been misunderstood cried back, “No, no we need FRESH water!

But they received the same reply from the Peruvians to lower their buckets and help themselves. They finally did lower their buckets into the ocean waters and when they brought the buckets on deck they discovered to their amazement fresh water. There at the mouth of the Amazon river, anchored for days, too far from land to see the coast, but not too far from the mouth of the river, they had fresh water in abundance.2

How like the blessings of God. They surround us everywhere we look and are new every morning—and he and he alone has the water of life. As Jesus said, “Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for your endless blessings you surround me with every day and, above all, thank you for providing the water of eternal life. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 4:13-14 (NIV).

2. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com

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The Measure of a Man

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven….”1

Some years ago the Raleigh, North Carolina, News & Observer published an article entitled: “How Do You Measure Up as a Man?” The article stated that some extensive research had been conducted on the 20th century standards for measuring a man. The criteria were quite interesting to say the least. They were as follows:

1. His ability to make and conserve money; 2. The cost, style and age of his car; 3. (This is my favorite) How much hair he has; 4. His strength and size; 5. The job he holds and how successful he is at it; 6. What sports he likes; 7. How many clubs he belongs to; 8. His aggressiveness and reliability.

Jesus Christ’s estimation of the measure of a man (and/or a woman) was in stark contrast. His values are as follows:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…those who mourn…the meek…those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…the merciful…the pure in heart…the peacemakers…those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”2

Hmm…I wonder how I measure up. Sobering thought!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to evaluate my life not on the basis of what the world or others think or say, but on what you say in your Word, the Bible. And help me to live and love accordingly. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. See Matthew 5:1-12.

2. Ibid.

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