All tagged wrath
The damage brought by carrying anger or hatred in us for long periods of time is my concentration today. Do we resolve our conflicts and issues quickly, and move to forgive in a timely manner, or do we continue to suffer as we carry that heavy baggage day after day. What does God's Word tell us about this?
Have we wandered from the Lord our God, and worshipped one or more of the many worldly gods that entice us? Have we sought delight in power, wealth, or possessions, and for all our worldly successes, found ourselves lacking? If this is who we are then it is time to return to the Lord and become complete in Him. His anger with us has been overcome, and put to rest, on the cross at Calvary, and we can return to live once more in the merciful comfort of His shadow. Through our faith in Jesus Christ we are made to blossom again.
What happens to us when we stray from God, and we place all manner of gods above Him? What happens when money becomes our god and the focus of our lives, or our sexual desires desecrate our bodies which are the temple of God, and what happens when any number of things turn us away from obeying God’s Word? Well, we are made to see how vile, and ruthless, these carnal gods truly are, and how much our souls suffer under them, until at last we return to prayer, and call out in the name of Jesus for God to place His hand back on us, and deliver us.
As I read Revelation today I came to the account of the seven angels who brought the final wrath of God on the world in the form of seven plagues, but this image was not all gloom and doom; with them came those who had conquered the beast along with its image and the number of its name. These conquerors were singing the song of Moses, and Jesus Christ, and I thought to myself that I wanted to be counted in that number. I want to be one of the victors who will sing with great joy, knowing that the final plagues are at hand. I want to be one who will lift his voice joyfully in the realization that the final victory is at hand. Mighty is our God, merciful and full of grace is He, yet perfect is His judgement upon the world. Do we long for this day?
One of the hardest things we can do, especially for a man, is to walk away from a fight, or to let the law handle a conflict. Yet that is exactly what God tells us to do in Romans. This becomes even harder when there is absolutely no doubt that we are in the right. However the Lord tells us to leave vengeance to him. Are we faithfully doing this in our lives today? Are we strong enough, confident enough in the Lord, and obedient enough to obey Him in this? Can we relinquish control of our wrath, and possibly the need for it altogether?