"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all nations to whom I send you drink from it."
Jeremiah 25:15
Anger; translated as wrath in the NASB and ESV are two ugly words, wrath more so than anger. I can't imagine God assiging a cup of His wrath to me. As yesterday's reading told us, He gave them 23 years of warning that his was coming. How could they not have expected it?
Many times without warning we pour a cup of anger or wrath upon those who don't expect it. Personally, I have been guilty of this more times than I care to admit. Sometimes my anger is warranted but the offenders did not deserve the way I made them drink my anger. Other times, the receiptent of my cup was not guilty of any offense but just happened to be "in the right place, at the right time."
Controlling our temper and being longsuffering in our reaction to the things in life that upset us are impossible to do without the Holy Spirit. We are blessed to have a built in Guard over our word, thoughts, and actions. Unfortunately, in the flesh of the moment we fail to yield to our Guard, the Holy Spirit's guidance and force others to drink our cupful of anger and wrath. How do we avoid such behavior?
▪ Pray up - Ask God in advance to help you yield your actions and reactions to the Holy Spirit.
▪ Pause - Think about the choice you have to make: react in the Spirit or the flesh.
▪ Praise - Thank Him for helping you through the temptation of shoving your cupful of anger in somone's mouth.
Is this possible? Yes. How?
"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
Mark 10:27
4 Comments:
Sometimes we want to justify our anger, after all, we know God displayed His anger. Psalm 4:4 reminds us, "In your anger do not sin..." Righteous anger rises against the sin, not the sinner. We need to constantly pray, pause, praise and purpose to listen to God's prompting of peace.
Today Jeremiah 45:5 jumped off the page at me: “Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don’t do it!” Jeremiah 45:5
WOW! That’s quite the question. Am I seeking great things for myself?
I can’t deny there are times I would like to receive accolades for some amazing accomplishment. I probably erroneously associate acceptance with approval, position with popularity, friendship with fame, and respect with recognition. I confess desiring to do something great. I want my life to be pleasing to the Lord, but what is my motivation? What is my purpose for longing for bigger dreams and larger visions? God cares so much more about who I am than what I do. If given the choice, He will always choose character over competency. I tend to measure “great” and “small” by the world’s standards, falling short of expectations…not God’s…mine.
Do I desperately seek great things, not so much for my own success, but so others can see God as great? Whose name will be remembered in the end?
Lord, I look at others who have achieved “greatness” in my eyes and I feel so insignificant. Remind me again that my worth is not found in what I do. Help me obey with greatness regardless the task, without seeking greatness. May I not qualify and rate opportunities You place before me, ranking them in order according to human understanding.
That card written…great.
That e-mail sent…great.
The meal delivered…great.
The surprise gift mailed…great.
The word of encouragement spoken…great.
The prayer offered…great.
The tear shared…great.
The forgiveness extended…great.
The misunderstanding forgotten…great.
The hug given…great.
The time in His Word…great.
A cold cup of water humbly given in Your name has lasting value for eternity. May the only great thing I seek be You, for You alone are great.
Desperately seeking God,
Joy
Wendy, Thank you for breaking it down and giving us the steps to get us through those "moments of anger." To apply them now! :) My problem is my mouth when I'm talking to my mother. The Holy Spirit is more powerful than I once believed, that is for sure. Now, when situations come up when I want to say something to her, I will practice "pausing," and thinking to myself, "thank you, Lord, with You I can keep my mouth shut!" She really only wants me to "listen" to her anyway, not hear what I have to say. :) But, I'm always trying to fix her because I forget, God is doing that, and all He wants me to do is show her love and compassion!
Speaking of compassion, oh my goodness, 36:3, "Perhaps the people of Judah will repent...Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings." God is so compassionate. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah; His purpose was to draw the people to repent for their sins. (36:3) 3 groups of people got to hear the scroll.
36:6
36:11-19
36:16-18
They did not repent. When the king began burning the scroll I about died, thinking of all that work it must have been for Jeremiah! I loved how God got the last word! He told Jeremiah to get "another scroll and write everything again."
We end with, "I will discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished." As we read God's Word, He draws us closer to Him, and He speaks to us; it is up to us to follow Him and to obey what He tells us to do. Lord, humbly I come before you and seek your will for me as I read your Word today.
Enjoy today dear ladies! Remember,
Pray up
Pause -help me Lord!
Praise
Thank you Wendy!
Is it Saturday yet? {I'm worse than a kid in a candy store!} Can't wait for those pic's. :) :) :)
Lori - AZ
Blessings of the day to you all!
God's perfect timing and God's anointed messengers score again! :)
Your meditation today Wendy speaks to a situation in my life - I've of late been ministering to a friend who is in a great deal of pain and proffering her cup of anger to anyone in her path...like the ripples along the water from one small pebble in a pond, her anger travels and infects.
I pray every day for the Spirit to lead me in showing him to her...my own flesh wails to just disappear...to be too busy to take her calls or to listen anymore...
I am renewed by your God given message and encouraged anew as to how to guide her away from "the flesh of the moment(s)". God Bless you for your obedience and your tuned ear and heart ~ you are a delight-full sister & wonder-full example of a devoted servant.
In my reading today my WOW moment was Jeremiah 46:10b:
The sword will devour until it is satisfied,
yes, until it is drunk with your blood!
When we surrender to our hunger for God and pray each day for our daily bread we forget, I think, that God hungers for us as well! He wants to consume us he loves us so much!
He yearns for our communion with him, our sacrifice to him, our deep and abiding love, and our unending praise for the awesome and powerful Loving God he is.
His word is at work with an insatiable hunger...his hunger for us, and ours for him!
This is clearly and completely evidenced here in this study and with all of you! God's word is being studied and shared - it showers blessing over countless people. I am so humbled to be a part of it all...being fed, feeding others and in turn satisfying the hunger of our Father for US.
Hungry for more of him,
Liz
AK
Good afternoon ladies,
I will admit right now I have been very slack in reading over the past week. I skimmed over the texts I missed to catch up today...and how I feel the consequences of my actions - the distance...the anxiety, the fear, the shame.
Everything around me seems to be chaos in my immediate and extended family. Except for my mom, none of my siblings and their spouses are practicing. And watching the results of that is soooo painful. A brother who may lose his house and his fiance just got fired (unjustly) today. A sister who has been desperately seeking work for a year now can't land a contract despite numerous interviews. Family who are not speaking, severe illness in several family members...my heart feels so anxious for these people I love, and so helpless.
And as we get closer to our little one's arrival (36 weeks today). I want to feel joy and instead, it feels more like a cup of the Lord's anger is upon my family.
Lord - forgive me for straying off the path and not making our time a priority. Give me the grace to accept as You rightfully "... discipline you, but with justice; I cannot let you go unpunished." Please show me mercy and draw me close again...shelter me in your umbrella of protection - my heart can't face this storm alone.
Jodie
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