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Anger
600 Words
I stumbled upon this topic in the General Discussion forum titled, "If I'm angry, I'm going to fight you." You can read it if you like. The author mentions that anger is a sin. I can tell you right now that anger is not a sin. As long as you believe that the Bible is perfect (if someone would want me to post about why the Bible is perfect, or prove that it is, post a question about it *but for now I’ll talk about anger*). Matthew 21:13 says, “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, 'My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’” Jesus was angered at the traders, since they were only there to look for a profit. So, Jesus was angry? Isn’t he perfect? Yes, Jesus is perfect. There are three things God has given us, among any other animal, they are intellect, emotions, and a free will. Anger is a God-given emotion, it isn’t wrong to be angry. Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” “In your anger do not sin,” another proof that anger is not sin, otherwise it would have said ‘do not anger.’ Anger is okay, if your cooling off steam, it starts to become a sin when you direct that anger towards someone/thing. So, what if I’m angry at someone for doing something wrong? Anger is best exploited, when done in respect that may not make sense. Instead of screaming your head off at them, correct those through love not anger. Although a lot of verses say not to anger, but those original words differ from the word used in the verse above. Ever heard, “Don’t go to bed angry?” Now, you know why. So, why did you include verse 27? “And do not give the devil a foothold,” anger when held, turns into rage. In other words, if you let anger, or rage, into your life it’s very hard to get rid of. Not Satan, but rather your evil desires, has one foot in the door and it’s very hard to close. So, what do I do about anger? Well, you kick his foot out of the door and close it. So, how do I do that? First, you have to recognize that you have anger issues, not the easiest thing to catch, but ask your friends, they’ll know. Anger is not the easiest thing to accept either, I wouldn’t suggest you walk up to someone and say they have anger issues. Believe me, that's the last thing you want to do, someone did that to me, but now I realize that I do have anger issues, and I’ll admit that. Now, get in the habit of blowing of steam in other things, I like to play dodgeball. But I mean don’t play aggressively, or you’ll get angered if you get out. Basically, get into an activity where you can freely and safely relief anger. Now you’ve kicked evil desire’s foot out the door. This may be hard, because Satan along with your evil desire is still near the door, saying what you want to hear. Close the door and get rid of anger. Sometimes you won’t be able to close the door the first time, but keep trying.

How to Live in God
633 Words
I’m now saved, and God has forgiven all of my sin. You think you can do whatever you please to do, that if I did fall into sin I can just ask for forgiveness. Right? No, sure your Christian and you have a spot in heaven as long as you have made a genuine decision to be a part of God’s family. Your living with God, but your plans and God’s will for you are not in sync, and you are skipping beats. Have faith in the Lord, confess your sins, and repent. The last part to salvation is the toughest. Repent, literally means “to turn around,” in its original context. That’s right a complete 180. So, now that we’re Christians what should we do? Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God.” You should walk in Christ-likeness not only because you’re told to do so by Pastors, but because you want to. James 4:15 says, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.’” God wants us to do his will, but what is His will? There are four keys to sync your lives with Gods, and they all have something in common.
First, God want you to love Him. In Mark 12:30 Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Love God always! Not just whenever you want, o when things are going your way, always. So, what can I do to show love to God? John says in 1 John 5:3, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” It just said that loving God is not going to cause you burden. There’s an amazing promise attached to this command, found in James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”
Next, God wants us to serve him. In Deuteronomy 10:12 Moses asks, “What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” Jesus came down to Earth, in human-likeness to serve God, so that God can show us how to live our lives. Christians are often called servants, so we should serve the Lord. So, how do I serve God? I think there are three roles of servants, a worshipper, disciple, and (I can’t remember the last one, I’ll add it in if I remember). You may be skilled more in a certain area, than another, but it doesn’t matter as long as you serve the Lord. Worshippers are good at praising God, disciples share testimonies and the word, and…
Not only does God want you to love and serve him, God want you to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” God knows what is best for us, trust in Him. When Daniel was put into the Den of Lions, he trusted in the Lord, and God protected him.
Lastly, but not least, God wants you to seek Him. In Deuteronomy 4:29, Moses says: “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Well, then how do I seek the Lord? To seek to Lord, is to first repent, or turn away from your sins. Also the best place to turn to seek God is in His Word.