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The Bible makes it very clear that we are not to hang on to our anger (Ephesians 4:26), and that we are to forgive (Matthew 6:14-15). How do we make the transition from anger to forgiveness?

Here are the steps. Sometimes we can do this on your own. Sometimes we need help from a godly friend.

1. Focus on the anger. It won’t go away simply because you deny it or will it away. If you do, it will just get buried and come out some other way—ulcers, a fit of uncontrollable rage, consuming bitterness.

2. Figure out why you are angry. Take your time with this. Sometimes the reason will surprise you. Sometimes there are many reasons.

3. Discover why you need to hang on to your anger. Anger always serves a purpose. If you no longer had the anger, where would that leave you? Again, take your time with this. The answer will probably surprise you.

4. Bring the answer(s) from step 3 to Jesus. Own your feelings and beliefs. Hold them up to the Lord and see what He does with them. On this step, most of us need help.

5. When you’re ready, release the anger to Jesus. Let Him carry it for you. This is where forgiveness takes place.

Keep in mind that forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness is about canceling a debt. It is about not needing to exact “payment” for the offense that took place. Reconciliation is about re-establishing a relationship based on (re)earned trust.

Forgiveness is not about minimizing the offense. The offense was all that it was. It isn’t about trying to explain it away. It’s about honestly facing what was done wrong, and finding from God the grace to cancel the debt.

From the Bible:
Sure, you will get angry. Everybody does. But don’t let your anger turn into sin. Release it to God before the day ends. Ephesians 4:26 The Easy Bible

 

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by YuJeen, Flickr, Creative Commons License

Sometimes we want to hand our anger over to Jesus, and, yet, we don’t want to. There is a great struggle inside. The Christian self says, “Give the anger to Jesus,” but other voices say, “No way!”

What do we do?

Do we force ourselves to give up that anger?

Let me suggest there is a better way. We bring Jesus into this struggle, because He makes the impossible easy.

When I’m praying with someone who is trying to process their anger, I ask, “Is there any reason why you would not want to give your anger to Jesus? Look inside your heart, and give me the first reason that comes to mind, even if it seems crazy.”

Then we go through the reasons. Those reasons are like chains that keep the anger bound to that person’s heart.

What do we do with the reasons? I don’t do anything with them. I don’t argue with them. I don’t reason with them. I just hand them over to Jesus. “Jesus, what do you want ____ to know about that?” Jesus knows how to cut the chains; I don’t. So why should I try to deal with them?

Pretty soon the reasons are gone; the chains are gone. Now giving the anger to Jesus is no big deal. What was impossible a few moments earlier is now a snap.

I think you could call that a miracle.

From the Bible:
Sure, you will get angry. Everybody does. But don’t let your anger turn into sin. Release it to God before the day ends. Ephesians 4:26 The Easy Bible

More tomorrow…

 

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Adam Kubalica, Flickr, Creative Commons License

God doesn’t make mistakes. He created us with the ability and the need to get angry sometimes. But in this mixed-up world, sometimes we cannot use that anger for its intended use—to correct a problem or injustice—because we don’t have the freedom to do so.

So what do we do? We trade up. We hand the anger over to Jesus and see what He has in exchange for us. It might be peace. It might be joy. It might be some new insight that we never had before. It might be a plan. I don’t know what it will be, I just know that any time you give anything to God you always get something better in return.

From the Bible:
Sure, you will get angry. Everybody does. But don’t let your anger turn into sin. Release it to God before the day ends. Ephesians 4:26 The Easy Bible

More tomorrow…

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference.

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Magdalena Roeseler, Flickr, Creative Commons License

Anger is like dynamite. Mishandled, it can get you into a lot of trouble.

Do righteous men and women get angry? You bet they do! There is plenty in this world to get angry about.

But how and why are they able to get angry without sinning? It is because they operate from a position of strength. When we know who we are, we understand our connection to Christ. We don’t need anger to protect us, because Jesus is already doing that job. We don’t need to solve all the problems in the world, because Jesus is smart enough and strong enough to deal with all the problems in the world. We only need to deal with what He has put before us, and, at the end of the day, we can hand it back to Him and sleep in perfect peace.

From the Bible:
Sure, you will get angry. Everybody does. But don’t let your anger turn into sin. Release it to God before the day ends. Ephesians 4:26 The Easy Bible

More tomorrow…

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference.

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Uditha Wickramanayaka, Flickr, Creative Commons License

No matter how tough we are on the outside, there are places inside that are fragile. Many people spend most of their lives avoiding these places. After all, who wants to feel weak?

This is, by the way, a big reason why anger hangs on us and we hang on to it. Anger covers over those scary places where we are weak. If we make enough noise with our anger, then no one will hear our fear, our shame, our loneliness.

But Jesus reassures us that He can be trusted with those fragile places inside.

It seems strange to me that people pray that God would break them. God knows that we are already broken. The need is not for God to break us, but rather for us to trust God with our brokenness.

And so here the voice of Jesus speaks softly to fear and doubt. It’s okay. With Jesus we will be okay.

From the Bible
Even the most fragile person is safe with God’s Servant. Isaiah 42:3 The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Travis Miller, Flickr, Creative Commons License

If your feelings could talk, what would they say?

Do you know that God cares about how you feel? I’m glad that joy and peace are fruit of the Spirit because it’s hard to fake joy, and it’s hard to fake peace. They are not an act that we can put on; they are not the result of behavior modification. Instead, they are the product of inner transformation.

Jesus was at peace as He slept in the bottom of the boat during the raging storm. And what enabled Jesus to endure the cross? Joy.

We feel what we genuinely believe, whether our beliefs are accurate or not. The fruit of the Spirit is tied to the life-changing truth that God’s victory is our victory, and God’s love is ours forever.

From the Bible:
How do you know if you’re making room for God’s Spirit? If you are, here’s what grows in your life: love, joy, peace …Galatians 5:22a The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by kilgarron, Flickr, Creative Commons License

The world needs to hear your story. The people of God need to hear your story. Never underestimate the value or importance of the work God has done in your life. Your story matters. Your life is worth celebrating because God treasures you. He is at work in you.

When we hear your story, we gain the courage and the tools to experience God for ourselves. You show us the way, because God has taken you to places that only you can convey.

In the end, God’s glory will be revealed in you.

Today from the Bible:
Let those who have been rescued by God tell their story. Psalm 107:2 The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

PS. I’m putting together a book of stories of how God showed up in the lives of real people. Maybe God would use your story to encourage others by its inclusion in the book. Details here.

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Ian Svendsplass, Flickr, Creative Commons License

So what will heaven be like? Will it be bold and wild? Or will it be quiet and thoughtful?

It occurs to me as I write this that every desire we have, in its pure, uncorrupted form, is a desire for God. What do we want? We want God.

Why does a baby come forth from the womb, struggling for life? Because life is where you meet your Creator.

The greatest gift we can give anyone is the gift of connecting someone with God. Yes, I mean what we evangelicals call salvation. But I mean more than that. I mean inviting our neighbor to experience God.

Eternal life begins when we open the first door to Jesus. But heaven begins when all the doors are open. Heaven brings our search to completion. There are no more dark closets, only the light of the presence of God.

Today’s verse:
This is eternal life: Knowing You, the one true God, and knowing Me, the Messiah You sent. John 17:3 The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Jeff Turner, Flickr, Creative Commons License

Trust God with the things we don’t understand.

I believe in healing. Yet sometimes people aren’t healed.

My daughter was born with birth defects. I prayed and believed God for a miracle. I sat in the waiting room of the hospital praying and believing for supernatural healing. But, five hours later, as I propped her bloodstained cast on a pillow, I looked into the eyes of my six-month-old baby girl, eyes dulled by pain and confused by an experience she couldn’t understand.

Why didn’t God heal her? She’s been through two surgeries and, apart from God’s intervention, may need more later in life.

How do we deal with that?

Let me explain that I’m not really writing about healing. I’m writing about doubt, confusion and struggles. I’m writing about not understanding God.

Some people will look at my story and say, “God doesn’t heal supernaturally any more.” Others will say, “It just wasn’t God’s will.” Others will say, “You didn’t have enough faith,” or “There was sin in your life.”

None of these explanations satisfy me. I believe God still cares about people who suffer. The Jesus who went around healing people hasn’t changed—He still wants to heal, and He remains perfectly capable of healing. And just because someone doesn’t get healed doesn’t mean that they are at fault. Maybe they did everything right. And, yet, the healing didn’t come.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me with a question that I’m not smart enough to answer.

Here’s the point: If we are honest, and if we live long enough, we will come to questions that we can’t answer. What does that mean? It means that God trusts us enough to trust Him with things we don’t understand. And there is a quietness that comes when we release the reins and let God be God.

Today’s verses:
When Trophimus, my traveling companion, became ill, I left him in the city of Miletus. 2 Timothy 4:20 The Easy Bible
I get thrown in jail just because I love Jesus and tell my world about Him. Does that embarrass me? No way! I know the God whom I trust. I know that He will guard everything I’ve trusted to Him, and it will all turn out well in the end. 2 Timothy 1:12 The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Christian Scheja, Flickr, Creative Commons License

Suppose I’m not loving. Suppose I’m not joyful. Suppose I’m not patient. And so on. What should I do?

Should I straighten up? Should I act more loving, more joyful, more patient?

Sometimes we confuse description with prescription. These qualities describe the result of God’s work in our life; they are not a to-do list for us. This fruit validates the Spirit’s work in our lives. This list helps us test the spirits.

If we find that we are not loving, then we invite the Holy Spirit into that part of our life that does not love. If we lack joy, then we invite the Spirit into that lack. If we are troubled, then this is where we need God.

Fruit is not produced mechanically, by design and execution. Fruit is produced organically, by connection with the vine.

And thank God for that, because my imitations wouldn’t taste very good.

Today’s verse: The passage commonly known as “the fruit of the Spirit” …
How do you know if you’re making room for God’s Spirit? If you are, here’s what grows in your life: love, joy, peace, patience and perseverance, kindness and integrity; you keep your promises; fragile people are safe with you; you don’t lose control. Your life won’t contradict God’s law because you want what God wants. Galatians 5:22-23 The Easy Bible

 

Remember, you are designed to make a difference!

Dwight

Photo credit: Adapted from a photo by Charles Williams, Flickr, Creative Commons License