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Peace in Troubled Waters

Sometimes…

When caught in the rush of all that we cannot grasp or change,

We sense what it means to live in the moment

One breath at a time

In the strength and weakness that has been given to us…

Without having to see or to know,

Or to understand all that is going on in and around us…

And ….

Without having to be as good,

Or as right,

Or as faithful,

Or as loving as we long to be…

 

 

Because we know the One who understands it all…

And who has all that it takes,

To be everything we need,

To stand between us… and all that we fear.

(Psa 46:10) (1Kings 19:12)

 

 


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55 Responses to “Peace in Troubled Waters”

  1. SFDBWV says:

    Mart we sometimes here speak of the slippery slope, but I tend to see it as a pressure relief valve.

    In the last topic because of the subject matter, the story of modern Israel and of our own country came boiling over into expressing our *views*; which are sometimes our disappointments and our hopes as well as our heart felt positions centered around the subject.

    Oh yes most often it is with great yearning that I seek that peace that only Jesus offers and can give as well as being quiet and listening to that still small voice in my heart.

    However life has a way of screaming for attention and tugging at my arm and insisting my focus.

    I am not a mushroom and don’t live among other mushrooms; I live in a world that has anger, disillusionment, fear, heartache and heartbreak with out even having the energy to cry or the time to morn.

    All that is left is surviving in the midst of turmoil all the while placing all of my hopes on Jesus and His promises.

    For the past 13 years I have had Psalms 46: 10 on my refrigerator door as a reminder. I also have Hebrews 11: 1 and Proverbs 3: 5, 6 and Philippians 4: 4, 5, 6, 7 and Psalms 119: 105 and 1 Corinthians 13: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and Galatians 5: 22, 23 and Joshua 24: 15 spread around my walls as a reminder as to where my hopes and my source of strength and peace may be found.

    Today is a new day, my hope begins anew and as the day emerges and moves along while I strain to listen to that still small voice in my heart I am also left to dealing with life and all of its noise.
    Would I trade all the troubles life is for a quiet walk in the woods? No for that is not the path God set before me, I am where I am and will remain until that still small voice shouts out to me and anoints me to move along to the next thing He has for me.

    Steve

  2. Mart De Haan says:

    Interesting, isn’t it Steve, that the Bible uses many word pictures that can seem so different and even contradictory. We are to be like a farmer, soldier, student, child, parent, temple, rock, body part, and a branch on a vine. You’re right. No mention of mushrooms :-)… but within the battle, and the work, the celebrating and the grieving, we have moments of resting in all that he is– because of all that we are not.

    Thanks for getting us going again this morning…

  3. BruceC says:

    I think if we became satisfied with ourselves and all that is in our life we would feel that we didn’t need Him and all He provides. We would be “self-satisfied” instead of “Christ-satisfied”.
    The pride of life is likely the most dangerous of slippery slopes.

    BruceC
    Soli Deo Gloria!

  4. bubbles says:

    Mart,
    Thank you for this beautiful post.

  5. Bill says:

    A terrific post!

    So timely. So welcome.

    Thank you, Steve, Mart, and Bruce.

    My morning is off to a great start.

    Bill

  6. SFDBWV says:

    Well Mart in the *overly* testosterone world I have always been in, with out sounding too *rough*, let me say being a mushroom has two distinct explanations.

    A mushroom is fed dung and kept in the dark and exists silent and motionless as it rots away without any knowledge or concern for the world around it.

    Hope you can still smile.

    Steve

  7. tracey5tgbtg says:

    This simple and beautiful post speaks so clearly to me of what it means to be resting and trusting in our Heavenly Father. What a contrast to the prayer of Yom Kippur! What futility to think that we can make atonement for our sins if we somehow manage to name each and every individual wrong.

    Mart, as you mentioned, I long to be good, right, faithful and loving. The more I strive for these things, the faster I fall. It’s not about what we do, it is about God, who He is and what He does.

    I used to walk the tightrope of “do not sin!” What a fearful place that is, trying to keep balance in my own strength and knowing one misstep will plunge me into the abyss of hell.

    Oh how sweet to trust in Jesus. I know God loves me. I know it. He loves every human being that He created. Oh that every human being would know His love and that they would taste and see that God is good!

    I do not see myself as walking a tightrope anymore, or even a slippery slope where I could fall if I don’t watch my step. I see myself on a gentle path with a Shepherd who walks right beside me. He provides soft green grass and beautiful still water for me. He has a crook with which he leads me and guides me back onto the path when I am foolish enough to be distracted from the good things He provides and led astray by the things of this fallen world.

    When I say things of this world, I mean more than sex, drugs, rock & roll, and bad TV. I’m also thinking of pride, which is my biggest downfall. Thinking I am right, I know best, I must have my way, and worst of all, I’m doing a better job than others.

    1 John 4:18

  8. remarutho says:

    Good Morning Mart –

    Thank-you for the poem. It speaks a beautiful and simple acceptance of being an image-bearer and reflective satellite of the glory of God in Christ.

    You wrote:

    “Without having to see or to know,

    Or to understand all that is going on in and around us…”

    It is well to remember I am a slave of my Lord. He may choose to shine through my life in events that arise out of human depravity or evil circumstances. May I say, “So be it, Lord,” (Luke 1:38) allowing Jesus to call all the shots. (2 Corinthians 4:5)

    Blessings,
    Maru

  9. 7krupas says:

    Wow .. this was a quick answer. Last night before going to bed, I asked only for Peace like a River for what’s coming .. want to reflect His Love and Grace in every opportunity He brings my way. God, You Are Faithful .. I’m so in Awe of You. Let it Flow, let it flow .. Always Love, Joyce

  10. oneg2dblu says:

    Mart… The very thoughts of the diseased and dying world we see around us daily, resonated in me this saving verse:
    “Therefore we do not loose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 16-18 NIV

    Of course, on this blog when we are presented with the dissecting the fallen world and its topics of religion, politics, Nationalisms, world views, and material stuff presented here for discussions of thought, we also momentarily slip off the edge to complete our thoughts.
    But, like America’s foundations that were laid not so long ago,
    We are not told here, that we are not Christian any longer, or that we are now following the ways of modern man instead who will gladly undermine any God-given foundation. “Heaven forbid!”
    We are following the Ways of Christ, as best we can being that we are forgiven fallen creatures, and that foundation will not be taken away by any opposing worldly words or ideals presented before us by others. “Praise God!”
    Gary

  11. cherielyn says:

    What a timely topic! My life has been one series of troubled waters for quite a few years, moreso the past couple years, and yet even more these past couple weeks.

    Without God’s help I would have sunk a long time ago. It’s so hard to keep one’s head above the water when one wave after another comes crashing down, seemingly without end. Without Him, I would never know any peace.

    My peaceful moments come when my spouse goes fishing (without me) giving me time to myself to read the Bible, visit BTA and accomplish tasks that are hard to do when he is present.

    I also cherish Sunday mornings in church. It may be only an hour, but it is a well needed respite from the everyday troubled waters.

  12. His Sparrow says:

    Revelation 22 1,2,3,5 (KJ)

    “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
    In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

    And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.”

    Thank you Lord, you are all that we need.

    Be with my friends today, Lord, standing between each one and all that they fear; give them your breath of life.

    Love
    His Sparrow

  13. poohpity says:

    Oh the peace that could be ours by not thinking; we have to have all the answers, or we have to have all the strength to live in this world. To think our ways are always right and we have nothing learn. To be the only one others can depend one rather than asking for help and pointing them to the One who is able to satisfy all their needs. To that person the burdens would seem overwhelming, peace and rest are no where to be found because in themselves they depend.

    People want admiration for their knowledge, wisdom, strength and riches but God told Jeremiah that we should boast in the Lord in Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV. Paul said that it is in our weaknesses that we should boast 2 Cor 11:30;12:5.

    Can you imagine the peace and rest we could find if our trust was in the Lord and we did not want people to look to us for only what the Lord can provide.

  14. dja says:

    Cherielyn, last night as I was praying for my family, friends and BTA brothers and sisters, I knew that I had forgotten someone. I had gone through all of the names I could remember and even when I couldn’t remember a particular prayer request, I still prayed for each individual. But, I was bothered within that I had forgotten a name, and then all of a sudden the name came to my mind and heart, and I prayed for my Sister, Cherielyn. May the Lord hold your heart and encourage you each day. Know that many are praying for you.

    I have had many trials in my 66 years, but I have always known and been assured that the Lord has always been with me. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. What a promise!

    I recall a particular day of anguish and utter distraught many years ago. I remember sobbing before the Lord, feeling so confused, hurt, angry, and like I just didn’t want to go on anymore. In the midst of my sobbing, babbling prayers, the Lord brought to mind what comes to my mind so often now. “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

    I remember the peace that came over me at that moment. This was over 20 years ago, and I still remember that wonderful peace within. The problem was still there, and I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had a peace and a confidence in the One Who knew every detail of my troubles and was in control of it all. And because of that I was able to “be still”.

    Tonight we are going to a Psalm Sing. Perhaps we will sing Psalm 46. If there is a time for requests, I will ask to sing this wonderful Psalm.
    May the Lord draw near to each and everyone of you this day.
    ~Della
    P.S. I would ask for your prayers. I have to have an MRI on Thursday, and I am very claustrophobic. Thanks!

  15. cherielyn says:

    Della,

    Thank you, so much, for your encouraging words. And, I WILL certainly be praying for you on Thursday. Thank you for sharing.

    Interesting that many of us are in the same age group. I will be 66 in less than 2 weeks. I think I remember that Steve is also around the same age. Can’t remember who else.

  16. Mart De Haan says:

    me :-) 65

  17. His Sparrow says:

    pooh, Bill, phpat, kingdomkid, everyone

    Please forgive me for disturbing the peace and stirring up trouble in the water on the previously posted topic.

    I will count on the Lord to guide me into better behavior. I’m prayin’ that I listen.

    Love
    His Sparrow

  18. poohpity says:

    His Sparrow, I do not have a problem with people being honest with how they feel and I appreciate truth much more than trying to one up on another. Just as this topic implies we do not know as much as we think we know, or really understanding all that is going on around us but admitting the one thing we all need is Jesus and His unfailing grace and mercy. I thank you very much for understanding who I am, underneath all the exterior garbage, within my heart.

    My chronological age is 58 soon to hit 59 on 12/12/12 but mentally I feel like I am in my 30’s and physically I feel like I am in my 80’s. I do not think age has anything to do with wisdom, I have learned more from children between 3-5 because of their openness and honesty than anyone else.

  19. poohpity says:

    Della, know I will be praying for your fear and good results.

  20. oneg2dblu says:

    I’m 68ish… but was reborn on February 3rd, 1991, so I’m much younger than I think,I think! :)

  21. oneg2dblu says:

    Della take all our prayers with you. Knowing something about fear and able to say, “This too shall pass.”

  22. His Sparrow says:

    Thank you poohpity.

    Della, praying for you also. I had an MRI a few years back. The noise/vibration or whatever it was bothered me–one breath at a time –with Jesus.

    Love
    His Sparrow

  23. phpatato says:

    His Sparrow, I left a post for you in the last topic. Just to let you know, you didn’t disturb my peace.

    Della, I’ll keep you in my prayers.

    Gary, it’s nice to hear from you again!

    I turned 58 in April. …HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS EVERYONE!

  24. kingdomkid7 says:

    His Sparrow: You definitely didn’t disturb any peace. I appreciated your questions because I learned something from the answers. Della: I will pray for you with your MRI. Valium (and prayer) got me through my MRI — the doctor recommended the Valium when I told him I was claustrophobic. It worked, but I needed somebody to drive me home.

  25. BruceC says:

    Cherielyn, My wife and I must be in the same boat as you, or at least hit by similar waves. This past year has been a rough one and it’s not over. My wife has to have oral surgery and she has peradontal disease near two of the teeth that must come out. Please keep her in prayer as I also pray for all here.

    BruceC
    Soli Deo Gloria!

  26. SFDBWV says:

    One of the many things that all of the people God has showcased in Scripture have in common is that they lived, were people of action, experienced both good times and bad and all eventually died.

    Their struggle and trials of life ended with their deaths, but their examples and stories live on.

    That calming wash of peace that can be experienced by any and all that come to Jesus is indeed the peace that surpasses understanding as explained in Philippians 4: 7.

    It is a peace that makes no sense and has been witnessed by many unbelievers as death came to those in who have placed their eternal hope in Jesus of Nazareth.

    It is that same peace that can come when disaster comes or when a doctor tells you that you have any one of hundreds of conditions none of us want.

    It is a supernatural peace that is also a supernatural strength. Most people of the OT experienced it only when the Holy Spirit came upon them, we have the gift and promise of the Holy Spirit being with us always and never leaving us.

    King David was one of those examples of the Holy Spirit never departing from him; we know this because of Psalm 51: 11.

    My position is that in order to experience the supernatural peace that we are speaking of first you have to experience life and have the storms that life thrusts upon us before that peace can come.

    Then, just as Jesus instructed Peter (Matthew 14: 29, 30, 31), we too can walk on the stormy sea. A feat that seems impossible to accomplish and would be except for who it is that gives us the ability to endure all.

    It is in the midst of life and the trials of living that Christ can be seen and found, felt and experienced. Especially when all seems lost and hopes flame extinguished, it is then that Jesus shows up and everything changes.

    37 degrees this morning as the leaves are nearing their peak and colorful glory.

    Steve

  27. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    “It is in the midst of life and the trials of living that Christ can be seen and found, felt and experienced. Especially when all seems lost and hopes flame extinguished, it is then that Jesus shows up and everything changes.”

    Thanks Steve!

  28. His Sparrow says:

    I second Bob’s “Thanks” Steve!

    71.6 degrees at 12 am in the Mojave and the sparrows are singing.

    Love,
    and praying for all my neighbors-

    His Sparrow

  29. poohpity says:

    Mart, this topic has brought to light what Philip Yancy talked about in his book “Where is God When it Hurts?” that many focus on the cause of our pain, fear and suffering rather than our response to it. Having a childlike trust in God or becoming bitter and resentful then turning away from God. We do not have to understand all that is going on around us but because we trust in the One who has it all in His hands we can rejoice, rest and have peace knowing that it can all turn around to good. Romans 8:28 NLT; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-13.

    Coming honestly before God and sharing what is in our hearts whether it is yelling, screaming, anger and grief, God can handle it all. When we have expressed our true feelings then we can hand it over and trust what the outcome will be to comfort and give us peace. We will we grow from the experience to have compassion and share the comfort we received from our loving and caring God. 2 Cor 1:3-4

  30. bubbles says:

    This whole thing about our emotions not being wrong is something I never heard of until communication with people here on this blog mentioned this.

    I have always been taught at church and when I was young that certain feelings were wrong.

    Is there a verse that could settle this in my mind? I would not know what word to run in a concordance.

    For instance, I was taught about “be angry and sin not” was being angry at sin in the world: like angry about murder and violence. But that it was wrong to be angry about other things.

    Then here some are saying it’s not sin to be angry, but to control the anger. I have always been taught it was sin to be angry to begin with, that we should not be feeling the anger; it’s not a fruit of the Spirit. And that there was something wrong with us if we felt anger.

    I am not attemtping to stir a pot, but am trying to learn here. Is what I have been taught wrong?

    If we look at Joseph’s brothers, they were jealous. They allowed it to grow in their hearts, and this turned into anger and hatred. I have always thought the jealousy was sin in itself, and then it led to other sins. So, was it not sin to feel the jealousy, but that they allowed it to grow in their hearts and that they acted on their emotions?

    If the emotion had been confessed as sin in the first place, wouldn’t the other problems not ensued?

    God says to not let the sun go down on our anger.
    There are examples of those who became angry, and the lesson was look what happened because they were angry, and it was wrong for them to be angry in the first place.

    I am very confused by all of this, and wish to understand, but I’d like a verse or passage that can help shed light on this question.

    Thank you.

  31. Bill says:

    Thank you, sparrow. I appreciate it. But you did not offend me. Questions are always welcome!

    Please continue to be yourself. I learn much from you.

  32. His Sparrow says:

    Bubbles, here’s my attempt to share my understanding about sin and anger.

    The Bible shows God has emotions; and, we have the same emotions. I think it is physically impossible to not have an emotion.

    For me, in Galatians 5 the Bible gives examples of emotions and behavior called ‘works of the flesh manifest’ and there’s a list of behaviors and emotions.

    The flesh lusts against The Spirit.

    Galatians goes on to list the Fruit of the Spirit.

    The list is opposites and controlled behaviors and emotions.

    That is evidence that we who are in Christ have crucified that flesh.

    In Ephesians 4:26 is the “be ye angry, and sin not…”

    Without getting lost writing it out, the comma and the word ‘and’ don’t say to me that it’s sin to be angry. Anger happens-it is part of ‘to be,’ or to be conscious.

    I’ve put on the new man (v24) and have a new way of thinking-anger without acting on it or anger restrained.

    I would say that’s correct orthodoxy and correct orthopraxy as listed in verses 26-32.

    I used to wear the ‘anger is sin’ chains and I died spiritually and emotionally. It caused me to be everyone’s doormat for most of my life. I turned 57 last week.

    Experiencing anger is a response. It is cause for self-evaluation, to cry out to God and to allow the Holy Spirit to guide.

    I don’t know how the teaching you received affects you. But that’s what happened to me.

    Thanks Bill

    Love
    His Sparrow

  33. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    God has just woken me up before my 5:45 alarm after He was speaking to me in dreams in my sleep.
    The dreams were about friends who were acting strange and situations that seemed wrong. These friends were acting like prostitutes and doing bad things.
    Yesterday evening I went to a friends house with other church members to watch a DVD about a guy who’s five year old son was killed by a hit and run driver on drugs and who became a policeman eventually shooting his other son some 18 years later in a robbery. It all involves a black preacher who was also a cop full time to supplement his income.
    All ends up with the father giving his heart to Jesus and the preacher being able to donate his kidney to save the fathers second son.
    Ends with the original hit and run guy coming into the church to ask the fathers forgiveness for what he had done all those years ago that caused so much heartache and bitterness in the father.(can’t remember the name of the film based on a true story)
    Then the first thing I read this morning is about anger and that simple little almost unnoticed truth pointed out by His Sparrow…. In Ephesians 4:26 is the “be ye angry, and sin not…”

    Easily missed, tiny little comma that changes the whole meaning of the statement.
    Don’t let your anger become sin!
    Anger is fine, it is good, it helps focus our attention on things both inside & outside of self.
    When anger becomes sin and we dwell on it, it becomes bitterness that then starts to destroy us.
    The only way to overcome bitterness is to forgive.
    Anger is not sin but the resulting bitterness is.
    Healthy attraction to someone is not sin, but lust is.
    And we could go on.
    This all goes back to my dreams.
    We have a harvest thanksgiving service next Sunday followed by a lunch.
    I was not going to go because all the food brought is to support a local food bank that supplies people who need extra food etc.
    We have only been collecting this for about six months and I have been getting bitter about, having to walk past a bright yellow tub full of packets of stuff every Sunday knowing that I am sometimes short of food and why are they passing on this task of giving out food when they have the “needy” right in front of them and in their own church.
    I also looked after a homeless alcoholic friend this summer and found that church, not just mine, seemed unable to help. I got myself in to more debt because of it and started drinking again myself because I too felt hurt by actions I could not fathom.
    In the car on the way home last night one of the elders said I have a chip on my shoulder, which I denied.
    But as I woke up this morning, this man in the film asking for forgiveness and this food bank issue were both on my mind.
    I realised that I had let a small thing like seeing this giving of food as passing the buck in our responsibility in helping others to fester and become bitterness toward my friends in church.
    I was then letting that make me angry both at them and at God, just like the father in the film.
    Jesus got angry on several occasions but His last words were “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do”.
    His anger did not become bitter or twisted but helped focus His mind & heart to why He had come and who He was put with to help.
    When God puts a person in our lives that makes us angry and we find difficult to love, it is not what is God trying to say to me through this but what does God want for me to do for that person.
    We can all love our friends but we are told to Love our enemies as well!

    Bob

  34. cherielyn says:

    Very good ODB today, titled “Quaking Aspens” and so very appropriate to this post, just in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet.

    The printed version of ODB is printed up months in advance, yet, so often, the subjuect of the day deals with what I am currently dealing with or need encouragement or a spiritual uplift from. Our amazing God knows, in advance, what we need and supplies it at the right time and in the right place of our lives, sometimes directly through His Word and other times using others to get the message across, as He did for me today.

    What would I ever do without HIM?!

  35. cherielyn says:

    subject (from my last post) – it really bothers me when I don’t catch my typos!

    Bubbles, I got thinking about your question about anger and your reference to Joseph’s brothers.

    First, they were jealous of him because he was their father’s favorite son. Then their jealousy turned to hatred (an outflow of anger) after he told them of his two dreams. Out of their jealousy, hatred and anger, they ended up selling him into slavery.

    What was Joseph’s response? The Bible does not tell us if he was angry, or not, over what his brothers did to him. However, later in life, when there was famine in the land, Joseph, who from a human standpoint, should have “paid them back” instead saved their lives and treated them with love and compassion.

    This doesn’t really answer your question, as far as a specific verse or Bible passage, but am just sharing the thoughts that came to my mind after you mentioned Joseph and what his brothers did to him.

  36. SFDBWV says:

    Regarding anger; Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew5: 22 any one who is angry without cause is in danger of judgment, any one who slanders another is in danger of the council (court), but anyone who calls his brother a fool is in danger of the hell fire.

    There are a great many comments given on the Sermon on the Mount that places every one of us in a position of failing to live up to the standard of *proper* living Jesus outlines there.

    The key though is heard in the very first of His statement;” angry with out cause”.

    This gives rise in me to understand that there are times when one can be angry even with another person and it be justified.

    Why then is calling another a fool looked upon from Jesus as being so close to sin? Is it because of the attitude of the accuser? Haughty, arrogant and judgmental?

    It is again necessary to read again what Jesus said in His statement, “in *danger* of the hell fire.”

    So once again we see that being angry is one thing, but feeling superior another. It is in that *danger* zone of feeling superior to another that sin is near and with it all the trappings of its work.

    I dare say many of us feel we are smarter than another or wiser than another and very often see the actions of another to be not only foolish, but extremely foolish. Does that place us in a category of sin?

    No, but it does place us close to sin in how we react to seeing the foolishness of another and unwisely *say* to that person they are a fool. Placing them in a position of feeling hurt and embarrassed and yes angry. For we can see the foolishness in another, but to cause them to become angry by accusing them of it is where the danger is.

    So then if we see someone about to hurt themselves or make a huge mistake, by foolishness are we not to warn them?

    Yes there is caution here and wisdom must dictate how to approach another person, which is why it is a danger not an unforgivable action.

    More on anger in my next comment.

    Steve

  37. oneg2dblu says:

    Peace in troubles waters presents a huge spectrum of questions for each of us to wade through. What are our troubled waters, today?
    Fear, Anger, Desire, our list is endless.
    There seems to be a heirarchy to some of our emotions that leads to sin, as some develope out of anger, some out of desire.
    In Romans 12:9, verse 9b, Paul states that we are to, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
    In verse 21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
    So, it can be both our desire to sin, and our anger towards it, that can allow us to Hate and Overcome Sin.

    Last night while sleeping I found my thoughts freely drift upon the words of Psalm 119:105, and out of those thoughts came a voice saying, “Ephesians 4:20.”

    I had to wait until the morning light to look it up
    as I could not for the life of me bring it to mind, as I have never given it to any memorization, or any recollection before, but there it was stuck in my head wanting to be read, as if for the first time.

    To give that verse context I started reading the preceeding and following verses, Ephesians 4:17,18,19,then 21-31.

    To what I had just read I immediately remembered Ephisains 4:8,9.

    Peace in Troubled Waters! Gary

  38. oneg2dblu says:

    Sorry my spelling is out of control I tried to correct and found my mistakes still there! Also corrected my mis-direction it is to read Ephesians 5:8,15, notr what is shown above. :)

  39. poohpity says:

    I have yet to read that “one who is angry without cause is in danger of judgment” the “without cause” part. If God equipped us with emotions then how can any of them be wrong. It is what causes the emotion that maybe wrong. A lot of anger seems to be self motivated when someone’s pride or ego is damaged and the first response is anger. Rather than pulling back from a situation and looking at what caused the anger we react. When we have the gift of the Holy Spirit we are given self control which helps us pull back and identify the source. We then see it is because we may have reacted in self protection rather than stating we are hurt and then reacted in anger.

    There is also anger felt when we see someone else being harmed and how we react to that shows where our trust lies. If we trust God then we will take steps like prayer and possibly protection of the other person. Or anger against injustices we see but again we can take steps to follow through and the anger may help take those steps but if it leads to harming another maybe the authorities are better at handling that.

    On a whole anger is a secondary emotion that is a reaction to an action of another. When we have self control we can take a time out and evaluate where the anger is coming from and most times we will find it is a pride issue. Is pride a sin , yes, and that is underneath a lot of anger.

  40. SFDBWV says:

    My apologies pooh I forget that everyone doesn’t have or read a King James Bible I will quote for you from it Matthew 5: 22 “But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:”

    Hope that helps you better understand my comment.

    Steve

  41. His Sparrow says:

    Thanks for the wise conunsel poohpity!

    SFDBWV

    The words in the topic that I noticed are ‘the One who has all that it takes to stand between us…and fear’

    In your first post you listed a lot of passages that are on your refrigerator and the walls at home…for the past 13 years.

    You’re only the second person I’ve known other than me who said this. About 2000, I was doing the same thing. I wrote verses on paper in (big letters) and had them on the wall, table, painted on stones in my waterfall garden and even around my bed on the floor at night.

    It wasn’t like they were ‘good luck charms’ or any protection as a material thing. I was alone, overwhelmed, very scared. The words helped my unbelief that God would help me. I would read them out loud when I felt like I was “loosing it.”

    I read all the verses you listed last night. They sure do point to the One who has all it takes to be everything we need.

    I don’t know how you are able to have lived the past 13 years without an emotional and physical breakdown, but for God. And that you humbly accept that heartbreaking assignment and can live in the moment is a mystery to me except that the Lord is everything you need. My assignments in tragedy have only lasted a few years. I certainly learned alot about agape love.

    Cooler morning, maybe 75 degrees. Hoping on my bike and going to the post office to mail a friend a birthday card.

    Bob
    Would you be able to accept something like a gift card through your local food market (or whatever it’s called in Britain)? I suppose they can be bought online in the U.S. and you pick it up in the store or something.

    Love
    His Sparrow

    I don’t like typos either, but sometimes now, I’m just going to let them roll.

  42. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    His Sparrow,

    Thanks for the thought, especially as you live in the Mojave Desert and that is such a lovely place and so different from anything we have on our wet and windy coast.
    I am sure our national supermarket chains do gift vouchers that could be used for food & our charity food banks also use vouchers that are issued by social services and the like.
    Like everyone, our welfare state has cut back and reduced help to many because of the financial crisis, but I work part time and am only eligible for help with my rent and local monthly council tax which moves up and down as I earn more or less money.
    I have to be careful because of the 5 to 10 week delay it takes them to adjust my allowances and have just finished, this week, paying back over payments from last year when I worked full time for five weeks on our national census.
    Well there seems to be many on other benefits who seem to be able to get any “free” offer that there is, I do not seem to qualify for any “freebees”.
    I am just balancing out on my budget now and hope, as my hours are reduced over the winter that I don’t get caught in an over payment situation again thus not being able to afford heating.
    Fortunately I live in a very mild corner of Britain so last year the temperature stayed above 6-7C all winter both day & night so I got away with it. In 2013-14 I will be over 60 so will get a £200 automatic heating allowance that will be more than enough to cover costs.
    Basically I am saying, with God’s help and careful living, I can get by.
    Thanks for your loving thoughts & offer, but I was really trying to make the point that I feel “church” does not always follow how they lived in Acts and “farm out” their duty of care.
    As soon as I said I was helping my friend and he was staying with me because he was sleeping in the cemetery in early March and shivering, so I took him in and gave him a bath etc. He was still shivering 6 hours later,
    two elders from our church gave me £10 each for food for him, but that was it. Tom stayed with me off and on for three months, so it was hard to make ends meet as he spent most of his own benefit money on alcohol.
    I also paid for Tom to travel to stay with a friend up in northern England.
    Tom is now living in a council provided flat in north Cornwall about 65 miles from me so I don’t see him at the moment.
    I just need to “keep my head down” and trust in The Lord.
    I have vented some of my frustration out on here and upset Steve & Pooh on an earlier topic for which I appolagise, especially to Debbie (pooh).
    Steve was able to understand that I was not acting rationally and quickly knew something was wrong.
    I still feel our friendship has been compromised but I also know time is a great healer.
    Like you said above, I don’t know how Steve copes either, but one thing I do know, & that is he loves his Father in Heaven with all his being and Matt more than himself.

    Bob

  43. SFDBWV says:

    More about anger; was it anger that prompted Jesus to expel the money changers from the temple? (John 2: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)

    Psalms 69; 9 in my King James says “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”

    Apparently Jesus was justifiably angry at the money changers for insulting God and the insult fell equally upon Him and the ensuing result was action born from the emotion of *anger*.

    Did Jesus even commit *one* sin? Not according to my good ole King James, He was presented blameless before God as a sacrifice for us all who were guilty of the greatest and the least of sins, including intentional and unintentional.

    However the rest of us can not so brag, so we are presented holy and blameless before God only because Jesus was.

    There are a great many other things that can evoke anger other than the actions or lack of from people.

    I have found that pain and frustration are excellent doorways to anger as well. With no one to blame except the condition that has created them.

    Many people like myself give all power to God, and so we expect God to be over all circumstances, the one fallibility I see in this way of thinking is, why then does God allow pain and suffering in His children? Especially when they ask for better circumstances in their lives.

    The result sometimes is that people get angry even with God; born of pain, frustration, ignorance and confusion.

    Praise God that we have an advocate and are not punished for being confused and ignorant.

    More about anger later.

    Steve

  44. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    It is so difficult to know what is sharing and what is a request for help or even “begging”.
    I generally take everything to the throne room and let God sort it all out.
    The early church in acts pooled their resources and didn’t live these separated, compartmented lives that we do today, so I assume any need was obvious, like daily bread & clothing etc.
    It seems these days we are as frightened to ask as we are to offer.
    Humility springs to mind!

  45. SFDBWV says:

    Have no fear or concern Bob you are loved by God as well as me and my family. Matt has put you and His Sparrow both on his prayer list and it our pleasure and privldge to come befor God on your behalf.

    Nothing has been compromised on this side of the Atlantic my friend, please be at peace.

    Steve

  46. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    Sometimes the one who caused the hurt finds it harder to forgive themselves than the one they hurt by an Angry act of madness.
    That “lack of peace” Caused by that feeling of guilt that can only be dealt with in The Blood of Jesus.
    As I said, “Time Heals” eventually but Jesus Heals completely and for ever.

  47. foreverblessed says:

    Bob, thank God, it is so good to read what you wrote, God bless you. And Steve and Matt, it touched my heart when Matt said he would pray for Bob, this is so good. Thank God for being good, for being Gracious, for showing us our sins and He puts them away as far as east is from the west.

  48. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    Sometimes when the Potter is making a pot it won’t stay on the wheel so He has to remove it and put it to one side.
    The longer it is left from the softening water the harder it gets.
    If someone then comes along and accidental knocks it, it will crack and shatter and cause grief to the one who unknowingly touched it’s sensitive edge.
    What next? Does the potter throw it away, super glue it back together? No, it is made of precious clay. He will take it, crush it and grind it down. Then He will soak it in water and place it back in the centre of His Wheel (Will) and reform it until it is just as He designed it to be.
    Then He will Glaze it and Fire it so that nothing can ever break it again.

  49. poohpity says:

    Bob, thank you for the apology, it is warmly accepted. It did not effect how much I love you and always will. You have woven a place in my heart over these many years so someone will have to surgically cut you out which I doubt if that is even possible. ;-)

  50. poohpity says:

    I find it very difficult to even compare the anger I have in any way with that of Jesus. Not even close. With Jesus there seemed to me no hint of selfishness which human beings can not boast in at all, any time or any where.

  51. poohpity says:

    Steve why are you apologizing to me for using the KJV? Here is how it is worded in my LAB “Under the laws of Moses the rule was, “If you murder, you must die.’ but I have added to that rule, and tell you that if you are only angry, even in your own home, you are in danger of judgement! If you call your friend an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse him, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” I take from that broken relationships with whomever it may be causes a separation and that can hinder our relationship with God. We are a hypocrite if we claim to have a right relationship with God while we have a wrong relationship with others. The quicker we go and make amends with anyone we are angry with especially before the sun goes down then we do not sin. Matthew 5:23,24,25

  52. poohpity says:

    I am excited when anyone reads the Bible no matter what translation they use.

  53. bubbles says:

    Oh, I am not angry with anyone right now. I was only thinking about emotions in general, like anger. The question came about from what others were discussing.

    I still think anger itself is a sin, even if it’s in the heart and no one can see it but God.

  54. Bob in Cornwall England says:

    I think that is the point about Anger, it is one of those quick emotions that needs to be controlled and only becomes a problem when it is dwelt on.
    It can be a motivator to spur us into action but normally we allow it to take control and we hit out and cause pain.

    God got so angry with the children of Israel that only His Love stopped Him from destroying them, then only after Moses pleaded with Him and reminded Him of His promises.
    The same applied to Abraham when God wanted to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah. It would have been ok if Lot had remained out in the fields, but he slipped back into the world and was actually dwelling in Sodom.
    It was Abraham’s love that saved Lot, but God’s will and anger towards the cities was still fulfilled.
    It is because of God’s Anger or Wrath that Jesus came so that He could take all that Wrath on Himself so that God’s Anger could be fulfilled and also His Love fulfilled at the same time.
    Anger in Love is how God is and that is how we should be.
    Anger is a valid emotion only when balanced and outweighed by Love.

    That is why, when we get angry and scold a child we should then show them that it was out of love.
    Difficult to scold a wide eyed little “angel” child so God gave us that emotion of anger to help us do the right thing.
    Exactly how He treats us.

    I hope that made sense so early in the morning!
    7am and raining here at 13C.

    Bob

  55. SFDBWV says:

    Anger is a basic instinct that God placed in all living creatures. It is there for a purpose meant for the healthy balance of emotions; I think Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 3, 5, 8, speaks to this matter.

    There is a phrase “fight or flight”; it is used to explain the choice one makes in certain situations in order to survive.

    Anger is present in us in order to help us to survive.

    The problem is that anger comes up in people not for its original purpose. Cain became angry with his brother Abel and just as God warned sin entered from the doorway anger had opened and the world’s first murder occurred. (Genesis 4: 5, 6, 7, 8,) Anger was not Cain’s sin, jealousy and murder was.

    Whereas anger is not a sin, what one does with it is where sin enters, or where one is able to calm the storm and overcome its negative possibilities.

    Steve

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