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| JAMES LESSON #34 Read James 1:18-19 In verse 19 it says, �Let everyone be �quick to hear:� quick to hear what? The Word of �truth.� That is so �key� to our freedom. We�ve covered the weapons of our warfare � discovering that the �belt of truth� is what holds everything else in position. Why are we to be �slow to anger?� Because anger does not breed righteousness. We�re going to look at �anger� a little bit today. Anger is an emotion. It�s sometimes justified by God. In the Old Testament, the One who is angry the most is God. His anger was a �righteous anger.� His anger was not one of �selfish motive� � but one of indignation over the behavior and choices of the people. Anger is never to control you. If it does, it �owns� you. The same is true of any other emotion. Hurt, fear, self-pity, arrogance, depression � the minute you embrace it, begin to act it out and allow it to become part of you, you�ve just �owned� it. Emotion is never to control you. That does not mean that you don�t �feel� it. What controls you is God�s Spirit. As you grow in the Lord you need to be �quick to hear� in two areas. First, you need to listen to the Word of God. In order to do that, you need to be �still.� THAT, in today�s world is not a minor task. Secondly, you need to listen to what people are saying � ALL THE WAY THROUGH � without making judgment or opening your mouth. Even after they�ve finished, you keep your mouth closed so that your own voice doesn�t get in the way of what God needs to say to your own heart. If you are quick to speak you are going to speak without hearing, and you will speak out of emotion rather than from the direction of God�s Spirit. Read Ephesians 4:17-32 This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles (anyone who wasn�t a Jew) walk, in the futility of their mind, (their thinking is off: they do not embrace truth or recognize it) being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, (Why?) because of the ignorance that is in them, (Ignorance of what? The Word of God : Truth) (Why are they ignorant of the truth?) because of the hardness of their heart; (Why are their hearts hardened? Because they chose to not believe. Wrong thinking brings wrong behavior � Get that. Also note that a hardened heart is hardened by �choice� ) and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. (What�s greediness have to do with this? When you jump into sin your cup is never full enough � you just crave more and more and more and you can�t stop it: You�re it�s slave � you don�t own it � it owns you. Your flesh becomes �greedy for more�) BUT- You did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you �lay aside� (mark this: this is NOT something YOU do: this is in the �aorist tense� which means it�s already been done: Ok � so you tell me � where has the �laying aside of all that you once were � the �old you� happened? At Calvary. This laying aside has already happened at Calvary) �this old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, (the old you was being corrupted and destroyed by desires and lies) and that you be renewed (how? Where? By getting your holy �to do� list done daily? By making all the committee meetings? By giving extra in the offering? By �doing?� or by �being?� � still � dependent � and readily �listening� to the Word of God � so that �renewal� and �restoration� can happen where? ) in the spirit of your mind (what is Satan�s number one play ground? Your mind.) and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of what? The truth. (Nothing you do or don�t do makes you �holy.� What makes you �holy� is �truth: God�s Word � IN YOU performing it�s work of restoration and healing- it�s �Truth� that sets you free: not your will and determination to �overcome� something.) Therefore � that being true: Laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, (from this point on Paul is going to shift from what�s happened on the inside of you to how it effects your conduct, and will carefully define how we are to conduct ourselves in light of the �renewal� that�s happening on the inside) with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 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. (Be angry? And don�t sin? Hello? How�s THAT supposed to happen? Goes back to �desire� and the �joint effort opportunity.� You can�t �be angry and not sin� without the �resident teacher� � and you won�t be able to hear the �direction� of the �resident teacher� unless you mouth is closed and you�re listening. HARD TO DO � but rewarding if accomplished. Yes � you WILL �feel� anger. It says, �Be angry.� Good thing it says that because I�m not sure any of us would make it if it said, �Don�t be angry.� God made us �emotional beings.� Feel the anger - but don�t �act out� the �desire.� What�s the �desire� that naturally accompanies anger? -to take that anger out on whatever it is or whoever it is that�s made you angry. Natural desire- it says �feel the anger� �but don�t go to bed carrying it � why? Because it grows. It doesn�t go away. By morning, the issues are clouded and you�re ready to tear the person apart. Ok � so what do I do with it? I�m supposed to feel it � and take care of it before I go to bed, or it�s just going to get worse � but if I don�t rip the person�s head off in �venting� �how am I supposed to take care of it? Those of you who are �non-explosive people� do not get off the hook in this picture either. The �natural� response to anger will come in one of two ways: You�ll either be a �blow up and out� person who just lets whoever�s in your path have it: or- you�ll be the �suck it in and self-destruct� person who buries it and takes it out on yourself to avoid hurting anyone else and/or embarrassing yourself by your own behavior. Either answer is the WRONG ANSWER. Ok so what�s the right one? It starts by closing your mouth. That�s followed by a prayer for several things: -reaching for the �joint effort opportunity� � and believe me, in the heat of the moment this will be THE LAST THING your flesh will want to do: so- it�s a response of obedience � not one of �desire� - God I�ve just received a dart: I�m bringing it to you because: 1) THE BATTLE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. 2) Please give me the wisdom I need to FOCUS ON THE ISSUES and NOT on the person. 3) Please meet the need that this person has through me in ways I could never understand. 4) Please love them through me in ways that will heal them and help them grow � THIS, is WORK. But � if you approach anger in this way, what will happen is YOU will change- and the �fruit� of the �joint effort� will bring understanding, peace and new direction: NOT destruction. The key is to keep your mouth closed AND PRAY FOR THE OTHER PERSON: You say: why in the world would I want to pray for them? Ok � truth time: Who�s taking advantage of a person you love in order to get to you? Satan. Remember, it�s a war- and the battlefield is your head. The weaponry used most often by the enemy will be the mouth of the person�s closest to you. Don�t forget that. To disarm the enemy � you pray without ceasing FOR THAT PERSON. The text here says � don�t give the devil an opportunity: you won�t, if you pray and won�t let up. THAT is a promise. Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth: (ok � now that most of us just got shot out of the saddle, let me remind you that James is about a �process� � you�re not going to �be perfect in performance� in all of the areas we�re going to cover. When God touches your heart with a gentle reminder that you�re out of line in any of these areas, stop � ask Him for forgiveness and then ask Him to help you by stopping you before you kick into high gear in wrong conduct: the �tongue� is a lesson all in itself � and none of us will walk through it �untapped� by God�s Spirit.) �but only speak such a word as is good for edification (building up and strengthening) according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (remember- the Holy Spirit dwells in you and hears and sees and knows all that you choose to do and not do) Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander (lies) be put away from you, along with all malice. (trashing someone behind their back) �and then finally, the �key to freedom� is found in this last verse: and be kind to one another, tender-hearted (how do you do that when someone has just taken a piece out of you? You ask God to let you see that person as HE sees them: when that truly happens, your heart will ache over their condition and you will pray without ceasing for them: the change will come in you and the strongholds of the enemy will be brought down) �here�s the key: forgiving each other � just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. There�s a lot to this and it CAN NOT be accomplished in a solo act: It requires �joint effort.� Get this: There can be no faith without doubt, no hope without anxiety, no trust without worry and no peace without anger. As long as we refuse to agree with the different faces of fear we�ll walk free. Why? Because they are not things we�re choosing- they are not �voluntary.� When they threaten to own who we are we can overpower them with a simple and deliberate act of trust. �Jesus, by your GRACE I grow STILL for a moment and hear you say, �Be strong � and courageous. Don�t be afraid. The battle belongs to Me. I�m here.� I place my trust in 1) your presence and 2) your love � not, in what you do or don�t do for me right now. Thank you. The more we �practice� �total abandonment� of what �feels natural� and risk the reach for �something too big for us� � God� -the more �sure of Him� we will become: and it�s in that sureness that we will stand silenced by the heat of the fire and whisper: �Father, forgive them � for they know not what they do.� Loving you, Robin �copyright 2001, Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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