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20
Feb '23
Seize the Moment – Day 1070
20
Feb '23
Slow to Anger!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, February 20.
Have you ever experienced anger as a burning fire? The more you feed it, the hotter it gets! Anger can be experienced as an incredible source of energy, and each of us must learn how to deal with it so it doesn’t consume our lives, like a wildfire. Are you in control of your anger or is your anger in control of you?
A new and final character is introduced in Job 32, and his motivation to speak is made very clear from the beginning, as written in Job 32:2-5:
But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. … And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned.
Elihu was motivated by an anger that burned within him. This was overtly stated four times alone in this short introduction to Elihu’s six-chapter rant. I have learned this lesson the hard way too many times– anger is not how we are to speak to ourselves or other people. Paul taught us in 1 Corinthians 13:1, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Specifically, Paul taught in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”
Seize the moment and be slow to anger (Proverbs 14:29)! God does not desire for your life to be fueled by wildfires. Rather, God desires your life to be fueled by His holy fire, the Holy Spirit.[1] Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15-16)!
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] To learn more about how to train this application into your everyday life, go to my July 17, 2022 sermon, “Battle Drill #21: Slow to Anger!” (July 17, 2022), https://www.newcastlefbc.com/train-to-live-on-mission-week-21/ (Accessed February 15, 2023).
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