Anger!!!! Is it ever justified? How do I control it?

Is anger ever justified?? Is there room in our lives for feelings of anger?

Is Anger  a sin - Jesus got angry!

Jesus' anger was a righteous anger fuelled by those in the Temple of God using this most holy place to make money for worldly gain. These people had counterfeit godliness - they were passing themselves off as having a rightful place and duty being there. They were so called 'helping' others to attain sacrifices and changing money - but their main aim was to feather their own nests and grab as much money as they could.

They had abused the Temple and perverted the intention of it entirely.

Jesus was furious! he made a whip and drove them off - scattering the money on the floor - which was a good place for it - He certainly didn't keep any of it at all - His intentions wasn't to gain money but to purge the place of the vial sinful nature that had permeated thoughtout the Temple and  so return it to it's rightful status - and that was to be a place of the Most high God.

It is interesting to note that the very next thing Jesus is doing is healing the blind in the temple the very place he was whipping and expelling those that profaned it - Jesus shows that all are welcome in His house and he shows mercy and love to those who humbly seek his face.

So, Jesus sees straight through our pretentions - he sees our motivations (scary when you think of it) He knew what those guys were up to - He knew their hearts - and so he was justly angry!!

So How about us?

Satan is a pro when it comes to temptation and one of those ways he uses to tempt us away from God is our anger - Don't know about you but my anger can sometimes get the better of me.

Our anger can cause us to lash out at a loved one - usually as strange as it sounds at the one you love the most!

Our anger can make us do reckless and sometimes dangerous things maybe behind the wheel of  a car. We can go ballistic in front of strangers and family.

In sport we can resort to pushing or taunting. At school, uni or work,  jealousy can lead to anger and anger to violence - I'm afraid it is all too common.

So being angry isn't a sin . There are plenty of injustices in this world that deserves our anger. However, sin comes bounding in when we allow that same anger to stir up feelings of vengeance and hatred.

Tragedy and grief can also cause anger - in fact anger is one of the classic stages of grief.

For believers and non  believers alike - God is a favourite target of our anger! We can blame him for doing or not doing what we perceive as our right,  and the proper way the problem should have been handled.

Either way the end result is a damaged relationship with God.

The next time you are tempted to get angry with God - look at the long term- instead of anger give Him your feelings and take a step closer to Him whether you feel like it or not,

Are you suffering, like me, with anger - Don't let it simmer away in your life.

Take it to God as soon as it hits you - recognise it for what it is - call it by name - verbalise it.

Ask God to help you to let go of your feelings - because that is what they ultimately are - just feelings.

Do something with them - lay them at the feet of Jesus before you do something you'll regret.

We are:-

Jesus calls us and likens us to all sorts of things in the Bible - when he speaks lots of people listen so when he says something it must be pretty important. Jesus says.........


We are:-
The light of the world
Amazing as it sounds this is what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 God doesn't withhold His light from us and he wants us to 'enlighten' others to His amazing and awesome love. It is so easy to condemn and criticise others - but here we are called to be lights in the world - what an amazing and awesome task to carry - Jesus said We are the light of the world.


We are:-
A city set on a hill. 
As a believer whether we like it or not, Jesus said  we are to be a lighthouse set on a hill where it cannot and should not be hidden - both Christian and non-Christians are looking at us and observing our lives.


We are:-
The salt of the earth
Our task is to be the salt of society, preserving, reconciling and giving meaning where there is no meaning, giving Hope where there is no hope.
We as Christians need to uphold the good values of life working for God's peace and reconciliations in a world hurtling towards death and destruction!


We are:-
His friends
If we keep his commandments but... if we dont' follow Jesus' directives to love one another as he loved us - we do lose His friendship - he will love us in the same way that we love others.


We are:-
the sheep He is the shepherd.
In the world of sheep - it is either follow and feed or dawdle and die - as a follower of Jesus I will very much with all my heart follow the Lord and feed on His love and holy spirit than try to keep up with the world and dawdle my way through life just to eventually die an eternal death separated from Jesus.


We are:-
the bride
Jesus claims us as His bride - the church - us - he refers to us as a bride worth so much that he gave his life for us - amazing and awesome 


We are:-
A pearl of great price
Giving all He had to purchase us - again how wonderful a saviour we have.


Jesus referred to us as all these amazing things  - BUT what we aren't is a slave to sin! we don't have to be Satan's puppet with him pulling the strings to our lives - we need to give our lives over to the prince of Peace, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father and with the guidance of the His Holy Spirit to live fulfilling and rewarding lives in Jesus.

How can I break the cycle?

Can you sin easily? I can! If I want to!

It is certainly easy to sin - heaps of Christians fear they have lost their salvation because they repeatedly sin and seemingly fail - and others, like I used to be, are quite certain that they are beyond hope of attaining salvation at all because they have committed 'deliberate and wilful sins'.

They have done these sins for so long they feel there is no possible way they can change in this life - This leads them like it did me to despondency, depression and a feeling of 'giving up' on the Christian walk and saying it's 'all too hard' and 'I am destined to hell.'

You know what? All sin is by choice in one sense or another. Even what we call the 'smallest' of sins - (setting aside for the moment the so called 'big' sins) overspending on our budget time and time again - or constantly overeating or jealousy or our bad tempers all these 'sins' can be overcome.

God makes it possible for us not to sin if we are willing to ask for his help.

Heaps of us struggle with on-going sins, habits, addictions and weaknesses. These are what some translations in the Bible calls "besetting sins". BUT.... Romans 2:4 says "or do you presume on the riches of kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that's God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"

You know when the desire of sin hits me - and it does - then God's kindness leads me to repentance each and every time - Yes it is easy to sin if we take our minds off God - if we decide in our heart that Jesus' death which brought about salvation didn't really include me or you - then it is easy to sin.

We then become slaves to our enemy Satan instead of slaves to Christ which is true freedom.

Romans 6:1 says "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?'


If increasing sinning means increasing grace then why should we worry about sinning?

From what I can see there are a few reasons:-

• Counting on God to forgive our DELIBERATE sin offends God's grace and makes a laughing stock of what Jesus did to attain our salvation in the first place
• Sinning with the intention of asking God's forgiveness drains our repentance of all sincerity - in other words we may as well not ask!
• Sin violates us all - God purpose has infinitely more in store for us than that!

It's very obvious that sin in our lives is still alive and kicking - all of us are susceptible to sin and we still fall for Satan's old tricks BUT...

A true relationship with Jesus can break the cycle of sin and it loses it's authority over us.

Sin will still come calling on you. There could be threats or even enticements that we could miss out if we don't cooperate. But God's amazing grace makes it possible for us to refuse.

We are both spiritually and physically dead to sin.

Claim God's promise today.

Roaring lions and bungee jumping!

Well what a week - this week I've been convicted, again I may add, of just how smart and cunning is our old adversary Satan!

It never ceases to amaze me just how fast I, and I guess heaps of other people, can fall into sin - You take your eyes of Christ for a few seconds and POW! there it is - fallen again

And I might add these are the sins we are aware of. There must be trillions of other ones we haven't even known existed all cluttering up our lives and maybe even jeopardising our relationship with Christ.

So there you are - my week has been one of learning over again just how much we all constantly need the forgiveness of our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I took my eyes off the goal and was attacked by putting myself above others and the need for vengeance - what could it be for you?

Immediately asking forgiveness when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin is the only way to stay close to the Lord - We will certainly be made aware of our sin if we are aware of the closeness of God.

We need Jesus every hour every minute - Peter tells us that "Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking out whom he can devour." I'm not going to fall prey to him like that! - Jesus is my Lord and my King and He alone is who I will serve.

It's awesome to me that Jesus did what he did over 2000 years ago - that my sin was there mingled with the others and like the physical burden of his cross they too were laid on His shoulders. Man, what a burden to carry and he did it so willingly for you and me.

What is also quite incredible is that he never lets me go - In Hebrews 13 it says "I will never leave you or forsake you" and I have proved that over and over again.

It's like bungee jumping (Not that I would ever attempt that!). You can free fall for ages and at will - but around you is the everlasting arms always willing to pull you back to himself and save you from a disastrous crash at the bottom.

We may wander away from Jesus, often deliberately often led by those around around us - maybe even clinging to a loved and cherished idol that we have created and have become addicted to but always always are those arms of Jesus around us begging us to come home with Him.

Next blog the question of 'deliberate sin' and where it will lead - interesting and sometimes confusing.

What must I do to make you love me?

Hello Lord - well Here I am on my knees again convicted of yet more sin in my life!!

How you must get totally sick and tired of hearing from me over and over again saying 'sorry' for the things I have done or omitted to do - I am so sorry lord!

Like Paul I find myself doing the things I don't want to do and not doing the things I want to do. What a sorry old place to be in.

and yet...

As I sit in your presence Lord I know deep down deep inside of me a calmness in my spirit - I am captured in your heart I am held secure in your love and your mercy towards me never fails.

Isaiah Chapter one tells me that my sins though they be as scarlet they will be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson they shall be like wool - how amazing is that!

So.......What can I do to make you love me?

I can do nothing because you loved me from the very start.

Isn't that an incredible place to be that my personal Lord - the Great Creator God loved me before I was even born!

There is nothing that can separate me from God's love - His love and mercy are eternal.

Come to Him today - don't hesitate - God loves you the same.

You do have a choice though - accept or reject.

Which one will you choose?

From rags to riches

Have you ever thought about pearls?

When I first started going out with the beautiful girl I eventually married - she had just bought herself (luckily) the most magnificent natural pearl ring.

It was probably one of the most exquisite things (except her of course) that I as a young 17 year old had ever seen.

I used to always look at it and touch it (just an excuse really to hold her hand) - it fascinated me - the shape and the extraordinary glisten to it - very eye catching and so so simple in the design.

She still has that ring and every now and again even after 45 years since we met she occasionally wears it - amazing.

I still get a kick out of seeing it and yes I still hold her hand. God is indeed a miraculous God - I love Him so so much.

When I think of a pearl my mind wanders to the parable of Jesus in Matthew 13: 45-46 when a merchant sold all that he had to buy a special pearl of 'great price'.

You know Jesus thinks of us as 'pearls of great price'

If that doesn't stagger you I don't know what will - The Creator of the universe - the all knowing and powerful God - loves me so much that He thinks I am a pearl of great price!

And again just like the poor old oyster or clam or mussel that makes these awesome beauties by coating an irritant inside their shells - so God works in our lives refining, remodelling, changing and enhancing our lives to be more like Him.

We have a long long way to go - but God in His mercy and love is making us fit for His Kingdom bit by bit just like the coating the oyster is applying to that grain of sand.

At the end of the day our 'pearl' will belong to our Heavenly Father.

Freedom from GUILT

Guilt is too heavy a weight for anyone to carry.

If you try to live with guilt, you will pay the price. Over time it will take a toll of your emotional, your spiritual and even your physical health.

The only safe way to dispose of your guilt is through a genuine prayer of repentance.

You can be guilt-free if you will:-

1) Confess what you've done
2) Ask God to forgive you.
3) Do what  you can to make amends with people you've hurt.
4) Commit yourself to turning away from your sin. Why?

Because God promises to forgive and forget what you've done forever.

If the Judge of the universe doesn't consider you guilty - then you are no longer guilty!

Finding the real God in the real world.

God is a myth  - a fantasy of your imagination - you don't really believe in that sort of thing do you?
How can you subject yourself to that way of thinking?

All these statements are from every-day-run-of-the-mill ordinary people that you would meet anytime anywhere in our world.

People who work with you - people you see at school - even people you may meet in some churches.

My God is very real indeed - I must admit He wasn't always like that to me so in lots of ways that is why I am so passionate about telling His and my story and how he saved my life - a life of addiction to sin and jumping around from one calamity to another - putting on a face to the world on Sundays and another face entirely through the week.

So saying all that where does it leave us:-

Are you struggling with a sin  that you seemingly can't control?

Jesus has the answer - I know that sounds trite it did to me as well for years and years -until one day I came face to face with Almighty God - the God of creation. It wasn't until I realised that God is loving and kind (a fact which I already knew) BUT...

He is also terrifying and just and because he is so just He can't just over look your sin!

What sort of mamby pamby fuzzy wuzzy sort of God is that? NO! Sin has to be Punished.

That is why Jesus came to take our sin and kill it on the cross - Jesus conquered death when He rose again. Jesus took the punishment that should have been yours and mine!

I used to sin so easily - always the same sin saying to myself -"God is so loving and kind - I'll say sorry and he will forgive me" Duh NO....

I remember the day so clearly that God knocked me off my feet with the realisation that heaven is real and so is hell and I had to put everything into God's hands not just pretend - God hates pretence - He wants the lot!

Jesus's love for me is TOTAL! His commitment to me is TOTAL! and my response to Jesus Christ should be TOTAL!

When I came to that realisation through I believe the work of The Holy Spirit an amazing transformation happened in my life......

God's presence through the Holy Spirit exploded into my life, closer to me than I ever imagined. How can I keep on sinning with God so close to me? The desire to sin has gone.

Does that mean I will never sin again - of course not - but the addiction to sin has certainly gone - God is my helper, my strength and my comforter.

Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Have you ever brought everything to God? It's so easy to praise Him for good things - on my Twitter account most people I am following praise God - sometimes with endless praise - it is very uplifting!

It is a constant source of pleasure to me to be able to praise God - it is also very easy! That is when things are going really well.

Not so easy when things are going haywire - when your life is sometimes feeling like it is spiralling out of control - and if we are honest, at least to ourselves, we all, pretty much, have times like that. I can speak from experience that if your life hasn't had many downers - well it will have!

Is you life spiralling out of Control?

So a question: When trouble comes why don't we tell God all about it? - Tell Him our grief. Out of everyone we know He has the heart to comfort and relieve us. NO! we run around sometimes prepared to tell any of our friends what's gone wrong except our best friend.

Are you burdened with today's sins?

Has a real sense of past sins returned to you, even though you have given them over to God?

Do you keep falling for the same old sins time and time again? - if you do, do you hate your weakness!

Is there an addiction in your life which you seemingly can't conquer?

God is our refuge ; God is our strength - He above all others is your strong arm; lean on Him; get a glimpse of His holiness, justice and sheer might; realise that the Creator of Universe is there personally with you every minute of every day; He knows your weakness; He is there beside you right now; He knows what you are thinking and doing.

God is our Refuge and Strength

Let's go to Him and ask for his great strength to get you through this hour. His promise is sure. He has promised that we as His children will be joint heirs with Him - He has made over all that he is and all that he has to us - AWESOME and AMAZING as that sounds.

I imagine there is nothing that Jesus dislikes more than for His people to make a showcase of Him and not use Him - He loves to be our burden-bearer and the more burdens He shoulders for us the more precious he will be to us.