Deal with it now

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Anger is an outward expression of internal conflict - conflict caused when we allow an offense to be internalized. Something someone does, an event that happens, prompts that internal response of heart, mind, and emotions. The offense happens - a tiny seed of resentment, bitterness, and anger is planted. That seed doesn't have to take root, though. If it is allowed to 'germinate' and take root, anger is an outflow of that internalization of the offense. Hebrews 12:15 reminds us that we are not to allow any root of bitterness to take root as it will defile not only us, but others, as well.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is take the offense to God and talk it out with him. We often need to just speak about it with someone, so who better than God himself? Bring that offense and all those ugly feelings to him, ridding yourself of the very seed that could take root if allowed to fester. We often do just the opposite - we take the offense to another, 'gossiping' about it with them, and what does that do? It almost always allows the offense to grow bigger in your eyes and your heart. When we are honest in our disclosure of the offense to God first, we find we don't need to take it to others. It gets settled right there.

We all have times when it is natural to be angry because of the things that happened. We never have a right to take that offense to the point of us sinning by returning it with vengeance, though. Remember, it is no longer you that lives, but Christ in you (Galatians 2:20). We live a different life, demanding different responses that we might have had at one time to the offense. If the seed never gets to take root, we won't feel like we have to justify ourselves or strike out to return tit-for-tat. If we want to live above or free of anger, we put the offense at the foot of the cross and we work it out with Jesus, not others.

God will do a work in our heart FIRST - often long before he does the work in the heart of the one that offended us. That may not seem "FAIR" to some, but it could just be God's plan to deal with the root of sin in another's life through the testimony they see within our lives. Just sayin!

Mountain Mover

Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities. Hemmed in by barbarians, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Hemmed in and with no way out, in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt; Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in; in God’s name I rubbed their faces in the dirt. I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall, when God grabbed and held me. God’s my strength, he’s also my song, and now he’s my salvation. Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs in the camp of the saved? “The hand of God has turned the tide! The hand of God is raised in victory! The hand of God has turned the tide!” (Psalm 118:5-6)

If you have ever felt 'pushed to the wall' by a worry, hangup, hurt, or circumstance that overwhelms, you know how defenseless it can make you feel. The hardest thing is to get past how we 'feel' about it and let God take control of our defense. Truth be told, God never left your side, you just finally realize he is right there and isn't letting go. He gives you both defensive and offensive 'tools' to be able to resist the attack and stand strong when all that is happening seems to be seeking to make you weak. He is our strong companion - we need not fear ANY enemy - self-made or man-made!

We can feel rather 'hemmed in' by our habits, observing our uncanny ability to turn back to them when it seems like we just cannot resist the thoughts and remembered responses to the thing that lures us back. If you are feeling a bit 'hemmed in' right now, that habit, hurt, or hangup doesn't need to beat you. God is at your side! Your best defense? Use God's name! His name is all powerful. Have you ever had a struggle with a particular thought and just responded to that troubling thought with, "In the name of Jesus I renounce that thought/urge, and in his name, I proclaim peace in my mind, body, and spirit"? Maybe if we started using the name of Jesus to push back some of those 'habitual' ways of thinking and responding, we might just find ourselves a bit less 'defenseless'.

Right on the cliff edge and ready to fall today? God's strength is enough to grab you away from that edge. We may not have the 'self-ability' but God has the ability to move mountains on our behalf - perhaps it is time we start asking for a little 'mountain moving' in our lives. When the mountains begin to move, we may just see that God has already prepared our way out of the muddle we are in. Just sayin!

Forgive and Restore - it is God's way

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)

I know forgiving someone when they have said or done something to hurt you is hard - we all struggle a bit with this one. We might want to say something in return that returns wound for wound, but that rarely works out too well for either of us. We might want to just 'cut them off' and forget about the one who has offended us, but that also doesn't work very well. Probably the last thing we want to do is extend grace, but it is the most effective and godly way for us to deal with one who has offended us. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven. Allow that one to sink in for just a moment. Read it again and let it really grip you. Love - sacrificial, peace-loving, kindness - actually grows out of forgiveness. It is as though forgiveness is the fertilizer that helps the relationship grow. This type of love does not dwell on the wrong - although that may be our first instinct. Remember, that instinct is 'human' and God asks us to see the other person through his eyes - with grace being the very 'lens' by which he views us.

This type of love does not rehearse the wrong, although it may be hard in a 'human sense' to allow God to replace the way we think about the offense with the way he sees the other individual. This type of peace seeks to maintain relationship rather than forsake it. Forgiveness has no room for broken relationships - it works to remove any distance that is created when hurts are allowed to interfere with the closeness God intends for his children. Does this type of love forgive even when the other individual doesn't seek forgiveness? It might be hard to accept, but there are just times when the other person has no clue how much they have offended you. The shoe could the on the other foot tomorrow, and you won't know how much your actions offend someone else. How would you want them to treat you? I imagine you want forgiveness, to be restored, and to have the relationship flourish, not flounder. Grace is desired. Dwell on God's goodness and grace, not on the offense or the offender.

To keep bringing up the offense is to allow a separation to come within the relationship. Maybe this is why God reminds us to not let the sun go down on our anger. Get right with God, then get right with each other. As long as God's children dwell upon this earth, there will always be a call for forgiving action. As long as there are offenses, real or imagined, there will be a call to forgive and restore. It is God's way. Just sayin!

In us, Around us, FOR us

There are times when we all need to hear the words that are more than 'fluff' or 'flattery' - they need to be words that will bolster our courage, increase our faith, and help to put "steel in our spines" again. No matter how hard we try, we ALL experience moments of doubt - the siege "against" us seeming to be far more prepared than our own defense. The truth is, we are often caught unaware in the moment of attack in our lives. Most of us have little to no clue of the next thing which will put us into a tailspin. As I am writing this, I am listening to the words of a song declaring our God is stronger, our God is for us, so who could stand against us or stop us. Now those are rallying words!

Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, "Be strong! Take courage! Don't be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!" Morale surged. Hezekiah's words put steel in their spines. (2 Chronicles 32:6-8)

The situation: King Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, is coming against the fortified cities of Judah. His strategy: To take the city of Jerusalem as his own by whatever means was necessary to achieve it. The result: He put the fortified cities under siege. When a king puts a fortified city under siege, he is doing so because it is a stronghold and the only way to breach the stronghold is to cut off the supply routes, water, or other vital resources. It has walls of defense which makes attacking it a little more challenging than a fight of an enemy standing out in the open! Different tactics must be used to get what one wants in these types of fights. You have probably heard it said, "The best defense is a good offense." The only plan our enemy has when he sees our "walls of defense" is to attempt to isolate us from help - from those things or people that actually supply our need. As the things we need are cut-off from our use, we become weaker - making attack possible. In fact, when a walled city was encountered, the very "futility" of fighting against the "walls of defense" was a tactic to distract the enemy from even trying to attack in the first place! So, the only tactic the king would have was to keep the inhabitants so busy fighting the attacking forces that no attack would come from within the city. Distract the city long enough with the nuisances of cutting off their supplies and he'd find the "chinks" in the cities defense come to light.

This is how the enemy of our soul operates - first, he seeks to separate us from the very things and people that supply our need. Time in the Word bolsters our faith - cut this off and we grow weak, allowing doubt to enter in. Time in prayer unburdens our heart - attack here and the emotions are allowed to build to a breaking point. Words of encouragement from those who walk alongside in the battle help us to remain focused and motivated to move in the right direction - eliminate these and we walk alone, vulnerable to all kinds of attack and various steps taken in the dark. If this were not enough, he looks for the chinks in our armor, as well. The small areas left undefended in the moment of his distraction with the current skirmish at the walls of defense in our lives. These moments of distraction are all the opportunity he needs to scale the wall and begin his inroad into our stronghold - the mind! His attack begins outside of the mind - his aim is very much our mind! Why? It is not a secret to him - it is our stronghold of defense, for all we do (and even our faith) begins with thought. If he can get into our thoughts - doubts begin to form, fear begins to muster, and we begin to respond in ways we find totally out of character for us.

To those who find themselves under the siege of the enemy in their lives, I speak the words of Hezekiah: "Be strong! Take courage! Don't be intimidated by the enemy! There are more on YOUR side than on his! His power is limited! Ours is limitless - in and through our God we have more than enough to resist his siege!" The enemy of our soul seeks to distract - God says, "Keep your focus on me, not him!" He seeks to find the chinks in our defenses - God says, "Let me shore them up with my even greater defenses!" He seeks to attack the stronghold of our minds - God says, "Let me consume your thoughts!" In so doing, we actually get steel in our spines! This is the result of having both a good defense and a great offense. God in us, around us, and FOR us. Just sayin!

My backside isn't defended very well

We have a group of people in our lives who worry about everything, don't we?  They find some disaster far, far away - totally removed from them - and worry about how it will affect them or those they love.  I was driving home the other day and caught just a little of the newscast revealing the last Ebola patient has gone home from the hospital in Liberia. Another 40 plus days and they will be declared to be Ebola free in that nation.  Then came the report of the next possible places for outbreaks, all based on their poor healthcare system and lack of sanitation in their countries.  The moment of celebration was absolutely lost when the next few seconds were dedicated to painting the ugliness of potential outbreak.  It was like saying all the hard work to eradicate it in Liberia was good, but those who are not as far along in their prevention methods will be next.  I don't think the intended purpose was to keep people from traveling, but if you are at all inclined to get a little paranoid about the possibility of contracting disease, it would certainly put a damper on your desires!  You might not ever venture out again, especially if you let your imagination carry you away into the places fear can let you go!  Herein is the dilemma each of us face every day.  We have all kinds of input into our sensory system - sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even taste.  What we choose to do with that input is entirely up to us.  We can let it in, give it a place to dwell and take root, or we can reject it as something not particularly worthy of our attention.  This is where common sense and sound judgment begin to play an important part in what we entertain in our minds, how these things will be allowed to affect us, and what we do with them once they attempt to get an inroad.  We don't need "words from on high" to tell us to avoid these things which just don't do us any good, or will steer us down a wrong path. We just need to use the common sense and good judgment God has already given us!

My child, use common sense and sound judgment! Always keep them in mind.  They will help you to live a long and beautiful life. You will walk safely and never stumble; you will rest without a worry and sleep soundly. So don’t be afraid of sudden disasters or storms that strike those who are evil. You can be sure that the Lord will protect you from harm. (Proverbs 3:21-26 CEV)

Look at the passage again - common sense and sound judgment are to be "kept in mind" - meaning their influence is mostly upon our mind.  They influence what it is we do with thought - which ultimately will effect our actions, but they are used most commonly in our thought life.  Look at the influence they can have over our thought life.  The use of common sense and sound judgment can actually help us live a long and beautiful life, not to mention helps us sleep without worry, and walk without stumbling.  Now, that is a pretty good enough reason for me to want to use both of these things in my "filtering" of what it is I let into my senses!  I don't want to stumble and I certainly value a good night's sleep. It doesn't end there - they actually give us a basis to stand upon to reject those things which would make us want to become fearful and caught up in the anxiety of life's unknowns.  

All along throughout the first couple of chapters of Proverbs, Solomon has reminded us of the importance of allowing God's Word to create a sense of direction for our lives.  We know this comes through the influence of the Spirit of God who indwells us. Whenever I think of the things God has given us to assist us in our daily walk, I like to divide them into two parts. The first are those things which help to defend us from attack, and the second are those things which we can actually use to be on the offensive (proactive) in our lives.  We need both, because one without the other actually leaves us a little "open for attack".  For example, we can have a whole lot of defensive techniques or tactics, but if we don't ever do anything proactively to stem off the attacks, we will always be in the midst of the attacks!

This is often were sound judgment and common sense come into play.  When we are prone to some particular habit, such as excessive drinking or eating, the last thing we need to do is constantly visit the bars or restaurants!  We are not exercising sound judgment when we keep putting ourselves in the places where our habits are actually nurtured!  It is no different than fighting off a hugely devastating disease such as Ebola.  In order to eradicate it, certain consistent techniques have to be employed.  Some are defensive - such as the use of the right medical treatment to cure those infected.  Others are offensive - such as teaching healthcare workers, communities, and entire countries how to avoid the spread.  One compliments the other just as common sense and sound judgment compliment each other.

When you look at the armor of a soldier, you might be surprised to see his "coverage" is really on the front side of his body.  The Kevlar vest only really covers his chest.  The helmet only covers his head.  The rest of the body is kind of exposed!  Sure, he has a rifle, pistol, knife, and maybe a few other weapons, but in general there are a whole lot of other exposed areas in his armor.  How does he protect those areas?  He has to be on the offensive as much as he can in order to be ready when he needs to be defending himself in combat! The same is true when it comes to the spiritual and emotional attacks we are under each and every day.  We need to be fully "armored", but we also need to be able to show some offensive tactics, as well.  Just sayin!

Not just a foxhole

Ever feel like your "battle" in life was more like an all-out attack? There are times when we all feel like taking one more step forward is just going to be met with a barrage of weaponry meant to mortally wound us.  We just cannot move for fear if we do our lives will be lost to the battle.  Most of us don't know the meaning of hunkering down in the depths of a foxhole (or fighting trench). The bullets whizzing by overhead, even shrapnel from shells exploding all around you, one tiny misstep into the line of fire meant you could be struck down in an instant!  What most of us don't recognize is the meaning of the foxhole - it is a place of defense!  That means it actually accomplishes something for our protection!  Instead of bemoaning your position in the foxhole, thinking you have succumb to defeat because you find yourself there, it is time to realize it is in the foxhole a good many positive things actually happen!  The foxhole actually allows a soldier to stand and fight!  He is just protecting his body in the process!

We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm. (Ephesians 6:12-13 CEV)

In modern terminology, a foxhole is termed a "defensive fighting position" and is built not all at once, but gradually.  It begins with what we might have seen in some of the earlier black and white films of military history - that shallow dugout which allowed the soldier to lay on his belly just below the line of fire. This provided a modicum of protection, but what it primarily did was allow the soldier to take time to develop this as a stronghold from which he might fight the battle with a great deal of protection.  The first step in standing against any attack in our lives is to "assume a position of protection".  This might not be physically digging a foxhole, but figuratively speaking - we do assume the position whereby we might "enlarge" our protective stance.  At first, we just duck and cover - finding it very hard to avoid all the "weaponry" of our enemy's attack.  Then in time we find our position leaves us vulnerable.  What we do next is what I think Paul had in mind when he spoke with the Ephesian church about putting on the full armor of God.

One of the things we forget is this idea of armor having two purposes - one is to defend ourselves - the other is to go on the offensive.  One is to stand strong - the other is to take on the attack with a little bit of fighting back.  Try speaking into your place of fear the next time with a strongly believed passage of scripture and see how this "weapon" of offense actually drives the fear back! At first, the tiny "dugout" protects us, but we cannot move all too well.  As we use this place of defense to shield us from the attack, we can actually "dig in" a little deeper, enlarging our place of defense over and over again until it become a full-fledged "dugout" within which we can maneuver.  Why is this significant in terms of spiritual defense?  The truth is that God wants us to have "room" to fight the attack around us.  He doesn't want us to feel like we are just barely escaping the rapid fire succession of the enemy's attacks - but we are carefully under the protective shelter of his enveloping presence.

As a member of the infantry in my younger days, I recall the instruction of our sergeant as we practiced the defensive maneuver of digging in.  What seemed like a lot of work to shield ourselves against attack also proved to be a little bit of an offensive maneuver, as well.  How so?  Well, the more we created the trench with care, we found that we could successfully control the noise which would often carry over the battlefield.  With the noise concealed in the depths of the trench, the enemy virtually did not know where we were.  They would often stumble into our waiting counter-attack without a clue they had!  The enemies we face are not too dissimilar - they may not realize the value of us drawing in, hunkering down, and settling into a defensive mode!  Instead, they see us as "not moving forward" and think they have us where they want us.  In actuality, God has the enemy moving into a position whereby he will be within the reach of our most powerful weaponry - that which will spell his ultimate defeat!

I don't know about you, but sometimes "drawing in", hunkering down, and just plain being enveloped in God's protection is the best place we can find ourselves. As we consider this place of protection, remember it is best when it is enlarged - and to be enlarged requires some effort on our part.  This is one of the things the infantry was really good at - creating places of defense!  As reinforcements came into the battle, they often found the place of defense created by the infantry as a place they might find the protection they would launch their counter-attack from.  We might want to find our "foxhole" a little more often if we'd just recognize the excellent place of defense it provides for us in the midst of the battle heating up all around us!  Just sayin!

Invitation to overlook an offense

⁹ Overlook an offense and bond a friendship;
   fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend! 

(Proverbs 17:9)

There are times in life when an offense seems just too significant to overlook - there is just something about that offense that makes you think it is "justifiable" to remain angry with someone or to perhaps even break off the friendship.  Our passage from Proverbs this morning reminds us that when we overlook an offense, we are actually bringing a "bond" to that friendship that is like super glue.  When we "faster on to" an offense, we are taking the risk that the friendship will be harmed by that action.

To overlook something means more than that we don't take notice of the offense.  It includes the idea of not taking time to consider that offense over and over again - we don't rehearse it repeatedly.  Ever been in a "heated" discussion with someone, only to have them bring up something you had done years before?  People who are "holding on to" offenses are like that - they have an ability to recount the failure of the past over and over again.  

The meaning of this word also carries the idea that we extend a pardon - the person who is offending us gets a "buy" as it comes to the offense.  For many of us, giving someone a "buy" when they offend us is conditional - if the offense is minor, we might extend the pardon, but if it is more grievous, we hold on for dear life.  One thing reiterated in scripture is that God is not conditional in his grace - he extends it even before we realize we have need for it.  

When we fail to take notice of the offense, or extend that pardon when it is least deserved, we are bringing a bond in that relationship that is not easily broken.  That simple action on our part serves to unite us in relationship.  It brings a connection between the two parties that helps the relationship be twice a strong as it was prior to the extension of that mercy.  The important thing is that we learn to look beyond the "slights" in behavior that we often have a tendency to "latch onto".


Now, before you get me wrong, you don't need to go through life being the doormat - letting others just walk all over you and leave you covered in dirt!  There are times when an offense is egregious - it is glaringly bad or wrong!  We need to be able to express the way that action of another affected us - without attacking that other individual.  Then we need to let that other person go - not holding them in a place of "owing" us, but allowing God to take that person into his hands for whatever action he feels may be warranted.


There are "little things" in relationships that become "big things" - all because we fasten on to those things - focusing on them, rehearsing them, not being willing to overlook them.  The invitation to us today is to learn how we are to overlook the slights in relationship.  Most of the time, the slights are really done without malice - they are unintentional.  When we learn to focus less on those and more on the person, loving them unconditionally, it is amazing how little those small things will really matter.

Love from the center

^9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

(Romans 12:9-10)

It is so easy sometimes to just "fake it" when it comes to loving other people.  We make everything "look good" on the outside, but on the inside we are really just not all that into it!  Loving others is a LOT of work!  I don't think God challenges us to do anything more difficult than to love unconditionally, just as he loves us.  We almost always have "strings attached" when it comes to demonstrating our love to another human being.

If you don't believe that, then let me ask you if you have ever felt a little bit slighted when a courtesy you have extended to another has been overlooked when you have needed that same courtesy extended in your life?  Maybe someone overlooked an important date in your life, or perhaps they did not pick up on a hint that you'd really like to have them take a small burden off of your pile of things to do.  When that was overlooked, how did it make you feel?  Most of us would honestly admit that we felt like we were "let down".  

Paul's words are more than challenging - they are downright impossible in the natural sense.  As much as we try, we cannot love unconditionally - it is not humanly possible.  It takes a transformation of heart - that which is only available in Christ Jesus - to actually "remove the strings" that are attached to our actions of love.  It also takes an exchange of our will - we may not "feel" like another is deserving of our love because of their actions (or lack of actions), but Christ commands us to love them anyway!

What Paul describes here is the willingness to "play second fiddle".  In a large orchestra, the man or woman assigned to the position of "first fiddle" has a huge role as the lead violinist.  There are perhaps 10-50 other violinists in the orchestra, but not more than one "lead".  "Second fiddle" violinists have the unique role of supporting the lead - they "back up" the lead with all the other parts that need to be played in the piece being performed.

So it is with us when we are being asked to be content playing "second fiddle".  We are to perfectly complement the talents, abilities, and inadequacies of others without envy, malice, or indifference.  In this way, we are displaying the love of Christ to them.  Love from the core of who we are - at the point of new birth (when we ask Christ to be the center of all we are) - there is an exchange of heart.  The "core of all we are" is now Christ.  When we are asked to love from the core - we are asked to love from the life of Christ that dwells within us.  We may not feel like it (because our emotions have not caught up with our "exchanged heart" yet), but we are to do it anyway.

In such a display of love, we are being good friends to those in our circle of influence.  Later in this same chapter, Paul reminds us to discover beauty in everyone.  We may have to look deep to see beauty in some individuals - just because they are always rubbing us the wrong way, but it is there if we look deep enough.  When we begin to ask God to train our eyes to take in the beauty INSTEAD of the things that are offensive in the other person, we often can begin to see small character traits in another that we missed before.  It changes our perspective of how we see another.

Love is a thing of discovery - first we have to discover how God loves us - then we have to discover how to display that love to others God brings across our path.  Whose life have you been asked to "discover" love in today?  To discover is to notice - ask God to give you eyes to notice the beauty in another over the offensive behavior or words they may display on the surface.  In this way, you are beginning to love as Christ loves us.