I have to admit, I struggle with anger. I think a lot of people do. There are examples and warnings of anger spread all throughout the bible. It is incredibly easy to be angry, but God wants us to be patient when we are angry.

Anger is a natural emotion, it’s the way we deal with our anger that is typically the problem.

According to Leland R. Beaumont, each instance of anger demands making a choice:(1)

• Respond with hostile action, including overt violence
• Respond with hostile inaction, such as withdrawing or stonewalling
• Initiate a dominance contest
• Harbor resentment
• Work to better understand and constructively resolve the issue.

“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the laps of fools” Ecclesiastes 7:9

“Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Romans 12:19

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” James 1:19

“A Man’s wisdom gives him patience, it is his glory to overlook an offense” Proverbs 19:11

Whenever you are angry, stop and pray. If we can do this these two simple things, we can avoid a lot of conflicts and sin in our lives!

(1) Leland R. Beaumont, Emotional Competency, Anger, an Urgent Plea for Justice and Action, Entry describing paths of anger

Do you compare yourself to others? Worry about what other people think? How about thinking “If only I had this…people would like me or I would fit in”?

These thoughts are caused by our own insecurity. God wants us to find security in Him.

2 Corinthians 10:12
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

We have worth because of God. He created us, loves us, and sent His son to die for us!

Ephesians 1:4
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

Find your worth in God. Identify the times when you feel insecure and pray that God will take it away and fill the insecurity with security from Him. God, and God alone, gives us our identity. And, always, praise Him!

Psalms 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Luke 17: 11 - 19

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

How often are we like the other nine? It is so easy to pray for certain things, but when God blesses us with those things, do you take the time to say thank you? Praise God no matter what. Even unanswered prayers are answered prayers. We don’t always know what we need - only God knows.

God bless your day today!

If your office is like most typical office settings, you have a dress code. Business casual, right?

I came across this verse the other day and realized that God has laid out somewhat of a dress code for us:

Colossians 3:12 - 14

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

In our daily lives, God wants us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Also forgiveness and love. If you are like me, most of these traits do not come naturally. So let’s spend time in prayer and meditation on these virtues. You may find opportunities to show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love to those around you. It may be to someone you don’t even expect - so always look for those opportunities!

The entire section of Colossians 3:1-17 is called “Rules for Holy Living”. It’s a great read, especially as you are beginning your day. Check it out here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%203:1-%2017;&version=31;

The reality of life is that life just isn’t fair. Criminals go unpunished, politicians are unethical, capable people are unsuccessful, the right person doesn’t always get the promotion, bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people.

Why does God let these things happen? There are several reasons, some of the best I have heard are:

• He gives us freedom of choice
• To show us we need a Savior
• Because pains/trails can develop spiritual character

So what can we do about it?

Accept that life is unfair

Ecclesiastes 4:4 And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Do the right thing anyway

Proverbs 29:7 The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

2 Thessalonian 1:6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you

Wait for God’s reward

Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

This blog was featured on the Carnival of Healing.

I’m back from a few days vacation in the mountains. It is so nice to get away from everything, especially work! My husband and I spent time relaxing, hiking, watching movies, etc. The worst part of the trip was the incredible amount of ticks! We had to check ourselves and our dog every time we went outside.

The best part of our trip was celebrating the birth of my niece. Grace Kathryn was born on July 3rd at 12:35PM. Her older brother Tucker is incredibly excited! My sister, Karen, is doing great. Thank God for that!

Jesus loved children. In Luke 18:16, Jesus call the children to him and said

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Returning to work after a long, holiday weekend is never fun. Let’s try to remember what we are thankful for today - like long weekends! Today, I am thankful for the mountains, ticks, and a baby!

In 2 Samuel 11, David - a man after God’s own heart, King of Judah and Israel - had an affair with Bathsheba, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed in war after trying to make him come home so it would look like the baby was his. Wow! What a tangled web we weave!

Nathan came to David and told him this parable in 2 Samuel 12:1-4:

“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”
Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

When Nathan told David this story, he was outraged at the rich man who had everything and said he should pay for that lamb four times over. Nathan said to him:

“You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’”
This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ “

Wow. Basically Nathan told David that he had everything he could imagine. If he wanted more, all he had to do was ask. Instead he took another man’s wife in private. Nathan told him that his son born to Bathsheba would die because he sinned against the Lord.

My question to you today is - What are you taking for granted? As Americans we are so incredibly blessed. I heard this statistic recently - Although Americans make up only 5% of the world’s population, we use almost 50% of the world’s resources. We as a country are so blessed. Even if you think you have nothing, you have more than a lot of people in the world.

So, count your blessings today. Even if you get frustrated with your job, your boss, your coworkers, etc. - God has blessed you with all of that. Remember to thank Him for all those. You may even have a better attitude! Think of David and Bathsheba when you are envious of what others have. You are blessed! Now act like it!

Character. What does it mean to you?

I had a very special bible class teacher in high school that would say, “Character is who you are when you think no one is watching.” He would always ask the class, “If you are 3,000 miles away from home and there is absolutely no one you know around you, how would you act? That is your character, that is who you are.”

I think that as Christians in the Corporate World we are challenged more that ever to display good character. Your character is the variety of attributes you display - integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, loyalty, general good behavior. These attributes come out in every aspect of your work including personal relationships with coworkers.

The Character Counts program was made to educate kids on the importance of character. Even though these aren’t biblically based, they are definitely biblical parallels. Try to focus on these character traits today:

Trustworthiness

Luke 16:10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Respect

Matthew 7:12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Responsibility

Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Fairness

Exodus 23:1-2 Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in dong wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

Caring

Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Citizenship

Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.

The world is full of many different kinds of people. Can you imagine how boring it would be if we were all the same? I bet you are surrounded by some characters, I know I am! Some people make it very easy to love them, but then there are others who make it very difficult. Do you know that Jesus really does love everybody? Murderers, rapists, drug lords, thiefs, child molesters, every bad person you can imagine. Jesus loves them just as much as he loves you and me.

Ephesians 3:16-19

I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Can you grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ? Pray that you can grasp it, but also pray that everyone in your world can grasp it, too. Remember, Jesus loves EVERYBODY!!

Being a good listener has always been a strength of mine. Because of this, I have several people come to my office and confess problems and issues that they are having in their lives.

Through all these problems and issues I have heard, I’ve discovered the best piece of advice that can absolutely help anyone begin changing their life besides, of course, prayer. I use it all the time for my own problems and especially when trying to reach a goal. Actually, I started this blog from the inspiration from this advice along with prayer.

So, what is the #1 to make a change in your life?

TAKE ACTION!

Be the positive force in your world that makes things happen. People will notice the difference in you and will appreciate the changes you are making.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Facing the Giants is the story about two farmers that prayed for rain. One waits for it hopefully. The other waits for it while “preparing his fields.” The coach asks the question - “Which one is truly trusting God?”

In Luke 3, when John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, the people wondered what they should do. What was his answer? Take Action!

Luke 3:10 - 14

What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Prayer is the most important thing you can do when facing any type of decision. But besides that, take action! Be the farmer that prepares his fields for rain!