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» Christian Message Boards   » Bible Studies   » Favorite Devotions   » Lost Sheep: Anger

   
Author Topic: Lost Sheep: Anger
helpforhomeschoolers
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ha ha you are a sneak TYME!!! [Razz] [Razz] [Razz]
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Tyme
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Lost N Found.

I knew H4HS, had in the past mentioned she went thought similar issues that you had told me.

I had hoped that having been down the same road together, you two could help build each other up.

I hope she has helped you a bit, if you want more infroation, I am sure she would be more then happy to provide it.

Tyme.

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I dream of a world.......

Posts: 527 | From: United States | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
helpforhomeschoolers
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I came here to answer you Katz about the cursing of the tree, but I would like to speak to Lost and found and then I will answer you afterward:

Lost and Found:

I can relate to much of what you have posted; I am a survior of incest. My father was an abusive alcoholic who battered my mother and myself verbally and physically. I married an abusive alcoholic manic depressive that kept my life a rollercoaster ride for for more than 15 years. I divorced and remarried, I got cancer not once but twice, I lived in a suicidal state of depression for 8 years, and in the middle of this depression I suffered the loss of the custody of my children for 6 months while my family battled for our lives against social services who perverted a statement made by one of my children and falsely accused my husband of abuse.

I was angry for most of my life. I was angry at my mother who didnt protect me; I was angry at my father who abused me; I was angry at first husband who wouldnt grow up. unlike you I did vent my anger, I became violent myself. I learned that it was easier to be the aggressor than the agressed upon; I learned that I could end most battles with my mouth that could cut most people to shreads and leave them lying in a heap on the floor before the first punch was every thrown; I learned to be ruthless in business and what anger I didnt vent ate my body alive in the form of cancer and numerous other physical illnesses.

I was a Christian through all of this; but I was not living in any of the freedom from bondage in this world that is part of our salvation. I didnt know about it; I did not know the Bible, I had not studied the scripture, The only thing I knew was that Jesus died for me that the next life would be better than this one and I held on to that belief because it was all I knew of what Jesus had done for me.

Like your painful past, each of those events is a story within itself and each one had it's lessons and it's little piece of the puzzle. But for me the puzzle didnt make a lot of sense until about 5 years ago, when The Lord delivered me instantly from depression. I was in the middle of this crisis with my children. Nothing in my life made any sense and I was at the lowest of lows; I was sick physically and mentally and I was also in this horrible battle for my family. I was on meds for the depression that caused me to hear voices telling me to run my car off a the side of a mountain pass and life couldnt get much worse. Then one day driving in my car, God delivered me, in an instant. The result was so dramatic that the people in my life who knew what I was going through thought that I had for sure lost my mind because I had no reason for Joy, but I was filled with Joy.

In the next two years that came God arranged my life that I would not work; I would spend almost 24/7 studing his word and as I did I learned so much. Obviously more than I could share with you in a single post.

But I will share this: Anger... that is unrighteous anger, anger that is not rightly placed and for the right reasons, the kind of anger I felt toward my father all those years, the hate that I had for my mother, that kind of anger is the work of the devil. It will eat you alive from the inside out. But we dont have to have anger. We dont have to battle anger, we dont have to stuff anger and we dont have to control anger. Anger cannot enter our door if we put our hearts right with God and allow him to free us.

You are not going to get a "You are just a sinner lecture from me" but you are going to get truth. The truth is that you can do all these things that the WORLD tells you to do with anger and you will find relief.... until the next time you are angry. But you know what, if you look at what science knows about the affects of anger on our body chemistry, you will find that that point is already too late. The damage anger does to us is done the moment we become angry.

Jesus, Jesus has given us something that if we can grasp hold of it, we will never have to be angry in the first place. HIS grace is sufficient. But the first thing you have to do to get rid of anger once and for all is you have to learn to walk in forgiveness.

As I said before and I maintain, anger comes when we are frustrated or bothered or affected by someone that does or says something that we think should be different and it is not.

I was molested by my father. I didnt deserve that; I couldnt control that; he was wrong; I hated him so much that when I was a teenager I used to think about how I could kill him. Now you could say I had a right to be angry. Maybe I did maybe I didnt; but anger would kill me if I let it brew. So Jesus taught me about forgiveness. I learned that Jesus forgives us while we are still sinners, we do not deserve his forgiveness; but he gives it anyway. Really, for forgiveness to exisit the one who is being forgiven cant deserve it. It is only forgiveness, when they dont deserve it. But this is what Christ did for us. He gave his very life for me who did not deserve forgiveness any more than my father deserved forgiveness. But there is something miraculous about our giving forgiveness or grace to another.... it frees us.

The moment I found forgiveness for a father that didnt deserve to be forgiven, I was free!!!!!!!!!! There was no more reason for anger. Anger left. When we hold onto anger, we are holding onto unforgiveness. We are holding that person accountable for his wrong doing to us. That is what anger is. How did I find the ability to forgive the person that did such a horrible unforgiveable thing to me? By the grace of God I came to understand who the enemy was. The enemy was not my dad, it was Satan. The enemy Satan had been there when his father abused him, he had been there as my dad suffered torure as a prisioner of war in Germany, He had been there when my dad came home to find his wife in bed with another man, he had been there so many times and he had through all of these tragedies that had changed my dad into the monster that molested his own daughter. Then, then I could place my anger where it belonged. Then I could place on sin and the real enemy of this world, and I was free!!!!! I could pray for my dad; I could love him as God did a lost sheep that was in bondage to the devil. And in my forgiveness, Jesus had given me freedom from anger.

Depression is another story. I believe that depression is spiritual warfare. I have not been depressed since the day that God delivered me, but that does not mean the devil has not been back to my door; he has, he has tried to bring that bondage back, but I have learned to resist him. I have learned that he cant stay in the presence of praise for God and he is powerless against the word of God and so; I guard my heart and my mind continually. I do not listen to secular music; I do not listen to much of anything accept very joyful praise music; I read the scripture every day; I live in prayer; I dont watch violence or most things on TV; I dont read things that speak of the devils work; I meditate on the things that are good and I dont want to hear much accept what God is doing. I believe that these things keep me free of depression.

I want to say to you that you have not let God down, because you are back here in this place of darkness; God knows our weakness and he knows the craftiness of the enemy. I dont know how or what things transpired on the road back to where you are, but I do know the way out and it is not the temporary fix that is man's way. You can find relief from anger in these ways; I wont deny that. But only until the next time you are angry. Jesus' way is a more excellent way. It is a way that not only frees you from the bondage you are in but once you learn to walk in it... it will keep you free.

God doesnt promise us we wont go through trial; he doenst promise us we wont suffer abuse in this life; but he does promise us that he is always there and it is never more than he can bear. When we are weak He is strong. His strength is found in our weakness.

Today, I have learned something about all of the tragedy in my life, that I will pray you also come to know. I have learned that every one of those events are now precious to me. I can know give thanks for having suffered abuse; I can give thanks for having lived through alcoholism; I can give thanks for having experienced cancer, and depression; I can give thanks for every tragedy that the devil has ever brought into my life, because through them God has worked every one for good. Every one of those events has given me something... some little piece of grace or understanding that God can today use to bring blessing to someone else and glory to HIM. And that is what this life is about. We are not here for our pleasure, we are not here for our plans and hopes and dreams, we are here for HIS, for his pleasure and his purpose and his hopes and dreams and they are so much more glorious than anything that we can conjure up. Today I can say with all honesty that there is not one of those tragic experiences that I would undo. God has taken those and made them all something beautiful and useful.

He wants to do that for you too. I pray that you will let him.

God bless you and Keep you; May the God of all peace give you peace and comfort. May the enemy takes his hands off you and my you find the Joy that is waiting in Christ. May God use all the tragedy and the pain to mold you into something wonderful and glorious that he can use in mighty ways to bring hope to the hopeless and Glory to HIS NAME! In Christ Name I pray. Amen!

Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Old Salt
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Katz,

How often does anyone have justifiable anger? Most of our anger results in sin, if not outward then definately inward. That's part of our sinful nature. "Lead us not into temptation" certainly covers being drawn into sin by our anger. If that's not reason to take it to the Lord in prayer, then I don't know what is. If you want to beat drums, munch on paper, torch cards or chant go right ahead. If your anger is an anger that doesn't cause you to sin, then why would you need to do these things anyway? You probably would answer that by saying that you are doing it to prevent yourself from sinning. I'd say, then, go to the Lord and ask that He "lead us not into temptation".

Posts: 31 | From: Linthicum, MD | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Katz
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quote:
ok.....there it is.....in a nutshell......does anybody else have anger problems? can anyone relate? or am i gonna get the "you are a sinner" lecture.....again.....
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

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Canst thou bind the unicorn...? Job 39:10
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lost n found
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ok, tyme.....you suggested posting here for more opinions, so here it is.....

i'm having a problem with feeling connected to any of you people.....you all talk about what you think is a right or wrong interpretation of the Bible.....and what you think is or isn't sin in regards to anger.....are you a bunch of machines? or maybe saints? not a single response (unless i missed something) about your own experiences......makes me feel somehow wrong to have experience with anger.....if i dare say anything, am i going to be ostracized for being a sinner? judged? i hope not, because i'm going to say something anyway.....

i grew up thinking anger was a terrible thing. it was never expressed. i held it inside my whole life. through incest, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, domestic violence, accusations of child abuse against my own kids, and criminal fraud charges......each of these is a story in itself, but somewhere in the middle of all that i ended up taking medication for depression, still unable to express the anger......when i finally did start to express it, i turned it on myself.....self mutilation - i am a cutter.....another wonderful label i've given myself.....anyway, i gave up my meds when i gave my life to God.....after all, He is supposed to be enough, right? well, i guess i've failed Him because i'm depressed again and think about suicide on a daily basis......

ok.....there it is.....in a nutshell......does anybody else have anger problems? can anyone relate? or am i gonna get the "you are a sinner" lecture.....again.....

Posts: 2 | From: california | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Katz
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quote:
I agree that anger can be a problem and can cause us to sin, but eating paper, chanting, burning cards, beating a drum? What about getting alone with God and taking it to him in prayer? If the anger has caused us to sin we need to confess that before God. If it involves another person we need to go to them (Matt 18). Let's handle it God's way, not by some secular anger management tool.
He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. (Luke 11:2-4)

more simply put: Glory to God, please provide our needs, forgive our sins, help us to not sin more.

just curious, but where does anger fit into this pattern? just plain ol' anger... you havn't acted on it or anything, but you are feeling it and want to be rid of it...prayer is good... prayer is a wonderful powerful thing, but... don't knock something just because its 'secular', especially if it works. and just so ya know, the drumming thing was taught to Tyme and I by a Christian! i was VERY skeptical about it, like i'm sure you are, but i tried it. it was as powerful as any prayer session i'd been in, i was crying buckets by the end, and i had a great release of pain and fear and hate from out of my heart that i didn't need to be there.

quote:
Now we know that God is at times an angry God and I would describe Jesus's turning over of the tables of the moneychangers as angry. Additionally, we are told that Jesus looked with anger upon the Pharisees when they begrudged him for healing on the Sabbath day.

So, we see from the scriptures that anger is ok; but only if anger does not cause us to sin. And we see that God is angry and Jesus also was angry.

Be Angry; Sin Not. The question becomes when in anger sin?

1. Anger is sin when we in our anger sin.

2. Do you in anger lash out physically or verbally? This is sin.

3. Do you in your anger unjustly judge and condemn your brother? This is sin.

4. Do you hold a grudge against your brother or hold him in unforgiveness? This is sin.

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. (Matthew 21:18-19)

so tell me... what kind of anger is this? is this a righteous anger? you can't possibly tell me that Jesus SINNED by lashing out and making a fig tree wither simply because it had no fruit?

please clarify

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i'm sure you all know the joke about the Christian who's house flooded, and he said "God will save me", and kept insisting so, allowing 2 boats and a helicopter to go on by, and when he drowned, he asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" and God said "what? i sent 2 boats and a helicopter, what more do you want?"
as i said before... open your eyes, open your minds, open your hearts... don't dismiss the 'boat' or the 'helicopter', just because it doesn't have God's name on the side of it... it will STILL HELP YOU.

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Canst thou bind the unicorn...? Job 39:10
handmade beaded jewelry
save a misunderstood dog today!

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Tyme
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- Edit -

Tyme

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I dream of a world.......

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helpforhomeschoolers
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The scripture says be angry and sin not. It also says a man who is angry with his brother without cause is in danger of judgement and that we should not let the sun go down on our wrath.

Now we know that God is at times an angry God and I would describe Jesus's turning over of the tables of the moneychangers as angry. Additionally, we are told that Jesus looked with anger upon the Pharisees when they begrudged him for healing on the Sabbath day.

So, we see from the scriptures that anger is ok; but only if anger does not cause us to sin. And we see that God is angry and Jesus also was angry.

Be Angry; Sin Not. The question becomes when in anger sin?

1. Anger is sin when we in our anger sin.

2. Do you in anger lash out physically or verbally? This is sin.

3. Do you in your anger unjustly judge and condemn your brother? This is sin.

4. Do you hold a grudge against your brother or hold him in unforgiveness? This is sin.

When is anger not sin?

1. When anger is properly placed. The scriptures teach that we do not war with flesh and blood, but with spiritual powers in high places. It is righteous anger to feel anger about those things that anger God... a person who hurts a child, a person who profanes the Gospel these are examples of righteous anger, but who is the enemy? It is the sin and it is the enemy. That is where our anger should be placed. And when it is placed in the right place, then we are able to deal with the sinner in love and not anger.

2. Anger that occurs because of what someone does to us personally is never righteous anger. Paul was beaten and wrongly imprisoned and worse, but did he feel anger toward his persecutors? No, he counted his persecution as joy! Jesus, look at what Jesus suffered, did he get angry at those who persecuted him unjustly? No, he pled their case before the Father... "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

When we feel anger because of what someone does to us, or says to us, the anger we feel is because we hold esteem in oursleves or we desire to control things that are not ours to control. It is God's place to deal with those who cause us harm... this is not our concern or our place.

"I didn't deserve this!" "It is wrong to treat someone like I was treated."

People do not cause us to be angry. Anger occurs when we are disapointed because someone did not act, or behave, or speak in a way that we thought that they should behave, or act, or speak. But we have no control over how people behave or act or speak; we have not been given by God control over another's actions; does some one hate you because your skin in one color or another? You cannot control their thoughts. Anger occurs when you become frustrated that you cannot control thier thoughts. Freedom from unrighteous anger occurs when you stop worrying about and trying to control those things that are not yours to control. If someone hates you because of your skin color and you know that this is their problem and not yours, you no longer become angry. You are then free to love them anyway and to pray for them earnestly. You are free to forgive them because there is no offence in you.

There is no need for a Christian to eat paper, chant,burn things, or beat things or read Norman Vincent Peal; you dont need to control your anger; these are all examples of man's attempt to solve his own problems or deliver himself from sin; this amounts to a humanistic and not a Biblical approach to dealing with anger.

To deal with unrighteous anger you simply need to come down off the throne. You need to recognize that anger about what another does or says against you comes from your own sin of desiring to control those things that are not yours to control and yes, this is a sin!

You need to leave to God the problems that are God's. This will eliminate unrighteous anger from forming in the first place and will free you to do what has called you to do when you see someone who is in sin... forgive them, pray for them earnestly.

When your anger is righteous anger, you need to understand the enemy is not your neighbor; you need place righteous anger on the correct culprit and then you can once again know that the battle is not yours but his and is already won, and you can not let the sun go down on your wrath.

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Old Salt
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Tyme,

I agree that anger can be a problem and can cause us to sin, but eating paper, chanting, burning cards, beating a drum? What about getting alone with God and taking it to him in prayer? If the anger has caused us to sin we need to confess that before God. If it involves another person we need to go to them (Matt 18). Let's handle it God's way, not by some secular anger management tool.

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TEXASGRANDMA
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I think sometimes anger is good. We should be angry at someone who hurts a child. It was a natural emotion to be angry when Sept 11 happened. What is sinful is when we do wrong with the anger.
Jesus was angry when the people turned the Church into a place to cheat the people. He even threw them out.
Like the Bible says "Be angry and sin not"
Anger can be postive if we see ourselves do something wrong and because of our anger we change.

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Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
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WomanOfFaith
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Wow Tyme, this is an awesome post! I am new here, and after reading this (which I am printing out for my hubby to read) I know this is the right message boards for me! [clap2]

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"Father, search our hearts and show us where we are lacking. Help us to resist the temptations that come our way, and to grow up each day to be more like You. In Christ's name, Amen."

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hey tyme. i like these Lost Sheep topics and you're really putting in a ton of input. Keep em up. Yea, anger, is one tough emotion that's soo hard to keep under control. For me, it's little things. I bump my head, and i get all sour and junk. Crazy stuff. I cant' chill.
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Tyme
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- edit -

Tyme.

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I dream of a world.......

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antitox
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Anger in itself is not bad. What we do with it is what's important.
The Bible really only says that the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. So wrath is something we shouldn't do. In other words, we shouldn't "go off" on people or overreact, etc.
Anger can be a very positive thing if it's channelled properly. It can actually be a fuel for you to do better.

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MJB

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Tyme
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-Edit-

Tyme.

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I dream of a world.......

Posts: 527 | From: United States | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator


 
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