James 1:19-21 NIV
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness 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.”
Slow to Anger
A lot of people are angry right now over all that is going on
in our individual nations. And they are angry over all that is happening
globally, too, some or much of which also impacts our individual nations and
our individual lives.
Depending upon their belief systems and their political
leanings, they may be angry over different things from each other or over perceived
opposite sides of the same scenarios.
For, while some people may be angry over all the lies that
are being fed them daily via the news media and politicians, others are angry
over what they perceive to be fake news and conspiracy theories which they feel
are lies and which they feel are a threat to what they believe to be real news.
While some who are Trump supporters are angry over how they
perceive their commander in chief is being treated by the news media and by
other government officials, others who were Trump supporters may now be angry
with him, too. And then there are those who are apparently against Trump who
are angry with him over their perceptions of his role in all this chaos.
Then, people are angry over loss of freedoms, over loss of
jobs and incomes, over having to wear masks and having to social distance, over
lockdowns and vaccines, and over the government’s overarching authority over their
lives. And then there are those who are angry with those who are objecting to
having to wear masks and who are objecting to having to take vaccines.
Then censorship now appears to be coming into play full
force, and so there are those who are angry about all the censorship that is
going on, too. So, there is much anger that is being stirred up, at least here
in America, which I do believe was the objective, or one of the objectives of
it all.
For, most all of this is about the breakdown of life as we
have known it on this earth. It is about the destruction of the old order of
things so that out of the ashes of the old order the new order can rise and
take over.
But for those of us who believe in Jesus, we should not be allowing
anger to overtake us. We should hate evil. And we should cling to the good. But
we need to be so careful that we are not quick to believe whatever we hear and
then to react to what we hear with anger.
We need to step back from these situations that present
themselves in the news and on social media, and we need to inquire of the Lord
to give us wisdom to know what is truth and what are lies, and what is really
happening and what is fake, and what has an evil plot behind it, and what that
evil plot really is. For so much of what we see and hear is fake.
Get Rid of Filth
If we are in Christ by genuine God-given faith in Jesus, we
have died with Christ to sin, we have been born anew of the Holy Spirit, and we
have begun our lifelong journey of walking according to the Spirit and no
longer according to the flesh (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet
2:24).
But this is not a one-time thing that happens in our lives
and then we are good to go until we die. This is a journey of a lifetime. Daily
we must deny self and take up our cross (die to sin) and follow (obey) our Lord
Jesus. Daily we must say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions and live
self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Lu 9:23-26; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn
1:5-9).
We need to not be followers of men (or women), but we need
to be followers of God. We must not believe everything we read or hear or think
we see, but we must test everything in prayer against the word of God in context.
And we must pray before we react so that we don’t react in the flesh but in the
Spirit. For not everything is as it appears on the surface.
And daily we must, by the Spirit, be putting to death the deeds
of the flesh, and we must be walking according to the Spirit, doing what our Lord
commands us to do (Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 2:3-6).
James 1:22-25 NIV
“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 someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
We need to be spending much time each day in studying God’s
word (in context) and in prayer, seeking God’s face with regard to how we are
to apply the truths of his word to our daily lives. Most should be obvious.
We should not lie, cheat, steal, murder, commit adultery or
bear false witness against others. But Satan likes to twist the truth to make
it different from what it is, so he may try to convince you that what you just
did wasn’t really cheating, or it wasn’t really adultery, etc. So, we need
discernment so we don’t believe his lies and thus excuse away what we know is
wrong.
And with regard to the current events taking place in our
nations and in the world, we must filter everything we hear and read and think
we see against the word of God so that we don’t end up following after liars
and lies instead of the truth, and so we don’t end up getting all worked up
over things which may not even exist or over which we have absolutely no
control.
The other thing here is that all that is going on in our
nations and in the world is still under God’s control. He is still sovereign.
And if we study the Scriptures we can easily see how prophecy of Scripture is
being fulfilled in our lifetime regarding the things which will take place in
these last days before our Lord returns. So, we have to submit to God in it
all.
Lord,
Move Me
An Original Work / October 16, 2011
Be my desire, my heart set on fire,
Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.
Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.
Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.
Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,
And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.
Lord, how I want to obey You forever.
Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.
Teach me to love You; adore You always.
Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.
Meet me in my need and show me Your mercy.
Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.
Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,
So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.
I love to hear You speak Your words to me.
I am so grateful that You set me free.
Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,
And I will live with You for eternity.
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