Sinful Anger

A lot of Christians have some wrong ideas about anger. Psalm 4 verse 4 is used to justify their anger. It reads, "Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent." They look at those first two words and believe this gives them the right to be angry. They reaffirm this right by quoting Ephesians 4 verse 26, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger." It sounds almost like the same message as the Psalm. They use the first word, "be" as a command to actually get angry at times.

So what wrong about this conclusion? The first problem is that they ignore or minimize the idea that they aren't sinning when they become angry. Both of these verses explain that any permission to anger can only be when it isn't a result of sin. So now I come to James 1 verse 20 which says, "For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

You see, they think that any anger is OK as long as they don't do something in anger and that they resolve their anger by the time they go to bed. They totally ignore the fact that 99.99 percent of anger is because of their own sin. It isn't righteous anger. They aren't angry that Lord's holiness has been called into question or that people are acting in defiant rebellion against the Lord. They point to Jesus cleansing the temple and think that their anger is of the same category as Jesus's.

There are so many prohibitions against anger in the Bible that it would take a book to talk about them all. You see, our anger comes out of our heart just like Jesus said about many sins. Anger is a result of an impure heart and that can only be cleaned up by agreeing with the Lord about sinful anger and surrendering to Jesus Christ in repentance and salvation.

If you want to get rid of your sinful anger, watch my video on Youtube,"The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation.


May God Bless you!

God Is our Shield

Where do you turn when it feels like everything is going against you? You might turn to comfort food, drugs, people, parties, or other forms of distraction or even religion. But this is not where the Lord wants you to turn. In Psalm 3 David tells us where he turned and why. In verses 3 and 4 he tells us, "But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill."

Before you get all excited about the Lord being a shield about us to protect us and keep us safe, you must understand that this promise isn't for everyone. It is only a promise for those who have put their trust in the Lord through Jesus Christ. If you have surrendered to Jesus that he is your shield. You will be his servant and he takes care of his servants.

When you walk with the Lord daily, he will bring glory or goodness into your life. When those troubles and trial come, he will bring you through them so that you can hold your head high. You won't be ashamed of what is happening to you because you will know that even the bad stuff that is happening is to shape you into his image and bring glory to Jesus.

But if you think this is automatic then remember that David cried aloud to the Lord. He prayed and kept in communion with the Lord. Then the Lord answered. But this isn't a magic formula. If you know Jesus, then you will also accept that persecution and problems are part of this life. But he brings us through them all.

If you haven't surrendered your life to Jesus, you can call on the Lord all day long and he won't answer until you call on him in repentance of your sinful life and ask for salvation through Jesus. If you want to do that, watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation and he will then be a shield around you.

May God Bless you!

Feeling Lost

What do you do when you think you can't be saved?

Listen to David when he was being told the same thing in Psalm 3 verses 1 and 2. "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God." ESV

Who on earth would ever tell another person that they can't be saved? Only someone who doesn't know the Lord themselves and the devil who wants to destroy that person's hope for salvation in Jesus Christ. We may certainly warn people who are engaging in sinful behavior that if they don't repent in this life time, they won't be saved but that isn't the same as telling someone they can't be saved, ever.
There have been many people who have lived ungodly lives and at the last moment repented and turned to Jesus for salvation. Look at the thief on the cross. Luke 23 verse 42 and 43 summarize his interaction with Jesus. And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

There is always hope for a person while still alive to turn to Jesus for salvation. Look at that thief for a minute. He didn't have time to do good works to earn his way into heaven. He simply asked Jesus. But note that his attitude had changed when he contemplated his own sin. This was the Lord working in him. It wasn't him doing any work to earn salvation.

But here is the warning to anyone who thinks they can knowingly live an ungodly life and depend on a last minute confession for salvation. That just smacks of hypocrisy all the way to the end. It isn't true repentance. The Lord know if you are just trying to play the game or if you are sincere when you turn to Jesus for salvation.

If you know that you must turn to Jesus for salvation but keep putting it off because you want to do things your way, there is no guarantee you will have the time to repent. So do it now before it is too late. Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to turn to Jesus for salvation and know you are truly saved.

May God Bless you!

Do You Want to Be Blessed?

Everyone wants to be blessed, right? But what does that mean. I've been posting about Psalm 2 and how people rage against the Lord and how he laughs at them because they can't fight against him. Then he tells us about his Son, Jesus and how he will come and rule over all things. Then the Psalm ends with this in verse 10 through 12.

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." ESV

The message of the Bible is clear. If you want to be blessed, you must take refuge in Jesus Christ. He is the Son and he is the Lord. If you want to be wise, then you must serve the Lord Jesus with fear and rejoice with trembling. What a strange mixture of emotions, fear and rejoicing. This awesome fear is not dread but a keen understanding of who he is and who we are not.

We rejoice when we kiss or submit and yield our lives to Jesus because he has died for our sins. If we don't turn to worship and submit to Jesus, we will have to face his anger and we will perish. But Jesus has paid the price so that will not face his wrath in the judgment. That is what it means to be blessed.

If you haven't submitted to Jesus you won't be blessed until you do. Watch my video on Youtube, "The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and will then be able to have a right fear and rejoice in his presence when he returns.

May God Bless you!

Who is the Begotten Son?

I've been going through Psalm 2 and now we get to the controversial part where the Lord calls someone his Son.

This is recorded in Psalm 2 verses 7 through 9.

I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” ESV

Why the controversy? Because the Lord, that is Yahweh, is saying that he has begotten a Son with a capital s. The translators of the Bible are saying that this Son is therefore deity. The Son is also God. But people say, how can he be God if he is created. But the psalm doesn't say he is created, but he is begotten. But the nay sayers say that the word for begotten is used hundreds of times and almost every one of them indicates a couple having a baby. Well that is true.

But John 1 verses 1 and 2 is very clear that even in the beginning, the Son existed. It says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Then in verse 14 it says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father." So the Word that John is talking about is the same Son found in Psalm 2. The Son or the Word is Jesus. The only conclusion about Jesus being begotten of the Father is that this is a description of his relationship with the Father, not a biological or creation event.

John continues in verse 18, "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him." That relationship of being in the Father's bosom is an expression of the closest relationship two people can have. It is like that of a babe who lays his head on his mother's chest with complete love and comfort.

Jesus came the first time to bear sins. But back to Psalm 2, we find that this Son is going to rule the world and he will crush all the rebellion that is expressed in the first few verses. When Jesus comes back again, he will rule and then everyone will know there is no controversy about Jesus being the Son of God and God in the flesh. They will have already accepted Jesus as God or they will suffer the consequences.

Do you know Jesus as the second person of the Trinity and are saved from this future wrath? If you have rejected this you can still repent and turn to Jesus for salvation.  Watch my video on Youtube,"The Gospel in 3 Minutes" It will tell you how to know Jesus for salvation and will have peace with him when he returns.

May God Bless you!