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Most people know someone with a hot temper. Such a person easily loses their cool, has a short fuse that, when it burns down, blows their stack. It is unpleasant even being around them since it puts you on edge; you don't want to feel or even see their anger. Many people who struggle with chronic anger aren't even sure what they're angry about. Anger is a secondary emotion caused by the primary emotions of fear, hurt or frustration. Once you identify what you're angry about, you can begin the process of dealing with it. When you become aware of your anger, you have a choice: You can allow your anger to control you, or with the help of the Holy Spirit you can choose to control your anger. Accept the fact that most things in the world are out of your control. Continually trying to control your family, friends or circumstances results in frustration. In truth, no one can "make you angry," even though they can provoke you. You control your response to people and circumstances. Anger has tremendous potential for good. The Bible mentions anger hundreds of times, including 375 references to God's anger in the Old Testament. Since God tells us to be angry but not sin, and since the Bible refers to God's anger, then it must be a valuable emotion. Examining the good side of anger, we find that it is a powerful source of motivation, providing energy for positive action, which, when wisely invested, can provide greater focus and intensity that leads to increased productivity. There is a place for "righteous anger" - when one of God's principles is violated. Scripture does admonish us to "not let the sun go down on our anger" though. In other words, when you feel angry, it is important to deal with it and quickly move past it. Proverbs 16:32 says "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty." Why? Because the power and energy can be focused and directed. Anger is an emotion that God can use to elicit our attention and make us more aware of opportunities to learn, grow, deepen, mature and make significant changes for the good. Anger expressed in Christ-like ways can empower us to declare truth, to right wrongs, and to help us and others "become conformed to the image of His Son." Romans 8:29

Ephesians 1:1-8 Jesus willingly left behind His divinity and for our sake took on the limitations of the human form. Second Corinthians 8:9 tells us that He became poor in order that we might have the riches of grace. As a result, we are: Chosen. God made us part of His plan from the beginning (Ephesians 1:5). He chose us to belong to Him even though we did not deserve it. Redeemed. Jesus paid the price to buy us from the marketplace of sin so that we might no longer be held in its bondage. Our redemption price was His death (1 Peter 1:18-19). Justified. We are all guilty of disobedience against God. However, upon our trusting in Jesus as our personal Savior, God declares that we are justified, and He treats us as not guilty (Romans 3:23, 28). Reconciled. Because of our sin, we were at odds with God. Through Christ, we have been brought back into a right relationship with Him (2 Corinthians 5:18). Forgiven. God has already forgiven all our past, present, and future sins; it's a "done deal." Ongoing confession and repentance keep us in intimate communion with Him (1 John 1:7, 9). Freed from condemnation. The Law was given for us to understand God's standards, our inability to keep them, and our need of a Savior. Jesus fulfilled the law, and His finished work counts on our behalf. We are, then, free to pursue holiness without fear of condemnation when we fail (Romans 8:1-2). True riches are spiritual in nature, and grace has made us wealthy people. For which of these are you most thankful?

Matthew 26:36-38 Transparency is an oft-overlooked element in our growing closer to Jesus Christ. Intimacy with the Lord requires our full, humble, and honest openness before Him. Jesus Himself was a wonderful model of openness as He dealt with His disciples. For instance, we read in today's Bible verse that, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shared with the disciples His anguish over His upcoming crucifixion and brief separation from God the Father. Knowing that the sins of the entire world were about to be cast upon Him, Jesus grieved, even to point of near death. Here was God, clothed in human flesh, being completely honest, open, and forthright about His emotions. This is how Christ would have us react to Him. A proud, arrogant, egotistical, self-sufficient Christianity bristles at the thought of such transparency. Why should I burden God with this when I can handle it myself? I'm just not going to deal with God about this. Such thinking and behavior goes against everything for which God created us. However, God cherishes and honors a humble, contrite spirit from someone trying to be himself or herself before the Lord. Confess sin, worry, doubt, and fear. He already knows all, but your willingness to intimately share with Him all the details speaks volumes about the bent of your heart.

Colossians 1:10-12 Ministry isn't something we do, but rather, it is something God does through us. So much fatigue and failure could be avoided if believers remembered that He is the source of strength. We serve Him using Spirit-provided resources. "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass," promises the Word (1 Thessalonians 5:24). This means that the Lord assumes responsibility for enabling His children to carry out whatever work He calls them to do. The Savior exemplifies this principle — He also did His earthly work through divine power. Upon His return from the wilderness, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, and He came preaching a Gospel of repentance. Here is what He said of Himself: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works" (John 14:10). As co-heirs with Christ, believers are entitled to access that same spiritual strength. What a comfort to know that a divinely ordained ministry is not in our hands alone! Some other person may be able to do the work better or offer wider experience, but God does not look for servants who are gifted. He instead seeks out those willing to live in His strength. If we have done all we can through the power of the Holy Spirit, then we never have to wonder if we have done enough. Are you discouraged? Tired? Ready to give up? God is ready to restore you to joyful service if you will simply ask Him to do His work through you.

Hebrews 6:9-12 God rewards His children for every act of service done with selfless motivation. Even a small deed like helping to pick up dropped papers doesn't escape His notice. Throughout the Bible, we find promises that the Lord repays right actions."Whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord," Paul assures us in his letter to the Ephesians (6:8). And in Revelation 22:12, Jesus speaks through John, saying, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done." If rewards were bestowed only after we reached heaven, then believers who live to a ripe old age would have to wait a long time to see these benefits of their service. Thankfully, though, God sprinkles blessings all throughout His children's lives. For instance, we enjoy fellowship not only with those serving alongside us but also with those for whom we labor. Perhaps the greatest gift for faithful service is joy, which can be experienced in so many contexts: joy can come from leading someone to the Savior, from the special knowledge that our works contribute to spiritual growth, or from making eternally valuable choices. God's promise comes with a warning: Only service done for the Lord will endure. The work we do to gain attention for ourselves may earn us the notice and praise of men, but that reward is neither filling nor lasting in value (Matthew 6:1, 5,16). Think about your genuine motivations for being a servant. Let your love for mankind and devotion to God propel you to serve Him.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 Faithful servants will receive their complete reward following Jesus' return and the resurrection of the righteous. Although we might taste heaven before that day, the full impact of our life cannot be measured until Christ's judgment. For instance, consider the example of Oswald Chambers. This preacher is still having a powerful ripple effect on the world almost 80 years after his death: his words in My Utmost for His Highest have affected me, my writings may have impacted you, your witness will reach someone else, and so on. Only God can measure the actual extent of an individual's influence. Christ will not judge believers by their sin — it has been forgotten (Jeremiah 31:34). Instead, He will ask His children for an account "according to what [each] has done, whether good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). We won't be judged on how well our conduct matched our understanding of good and bad; instead, our actions will be assessed on the basis of whether they count for God or for personal gain. We may be quite surprised at the many actions we carried out as a natural extension of our love and desire for a godly life but which Jesus will credit as service to Him. Likewise, the deeds we performed for the applause of men will burn up like hay and stubble in a fire (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). The life we live now determines much about our eternal future. Our capacity to reflect God's glory into eternity is either expanding or diminishing by our works. Therefore, we do well to serve wholeheartedly, anticipating the day we will give our account.

Romans 5:1-11 Grace is God's goodness and kindness to those who do not deserve it and cannot earn it. Its benefits are available to everyone. Each day God causes hearts to beat, bodies to heal, and love to be given and received, regardless of peoples' opinions of Him. He offers forgiveness to the rebellious, freedom to sinners, and intimacy with Himself to all who trust Christ as Savior. Through Jesus, He offers access to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), where the Savior serves as high priest, interceding for His own (Hebrews 7:25). We know we can approach God confidently because there is no condemnation for those who belong to Him (Romans 8:1). What amazing grace! It was not always so. Israel, God's chosen people, lived under the Law, not under grace. They, like us, were a disobedient people; God in His mercy established the sacrificial system to symbolically provide a way for them to be forgiven of their wrongdoing. However, Jesus gives us permanent forgiveness because He died once for all sins (Hebrews 7:27). It was humanly impossible to obey every aspect of all 613 commandments God handed down through Moses, but Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, and grace makes it count on our behalf. Because our Savior sacrificed His life for us, we can approach God's throne directly. As believers, we stand upon the immovable foundation of God's grace. It is over us like a canopy and surrounds like a protective wall. As the truth of it permeates our hearts and minds, we become expressions of the Lord's love, kindness, and goodness to others.

Ephesians 2:1-3 Christ-followers know the importance of being saved, but the world sees no need for rescue. Let's think about some key truths regarding man's need for salvation. Those who don't have a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus are: Spiritually dead. Many people don't realize that there are three kinds of death — physical, eternal, and spiritual. Eternal death comes at the end of the age, when all those who have refused Jesus as Savior are cast away from God permanently (Matthew 25:41). Spiritual death occurred in the Garden of Eden. Disobedience severed Adam and Eve's intimate connection to God and caused all of their descendants to be spiritually detached from Him. (Romans 5:12) We're born as "dead" people in need of new life. Living a life of sin. Our nature is to rebel against God, and that is called sin. Over and over we choose what pleases us, not Him. Our efforts to free ourselves from the power of sin are in vain (John 8:34). Enslaved to sin, we need someone to rescue us. Under divine wrath. Because of our disobedience, we are under God's judgment, awaiting punishment. All efforts to earn His approval and escape our sentence are insufficient. Sinful man has nothing acceptable to offer holy God. Our only hope of escape is for someone else to take our penalty. The good news is that the Lord has provided a way for all to pass from spiritual death to life, from the bondage of sin into freedom, and from condemnation to intimacy with Him. Jesus Christ alone is the way, and He meets every need (John 14:6).

Ephesians 2:4-10 Many people believe that piling up good works makes them right with the Lord. Yet death is the only payment for sin that can satisfy divine justice (Romans 6:23). Since we all transgress, this leaves us in a desperate situation facing an eternity apart from God. Grace, the _expression of divine love and kindness to the utterly undeserving, prompted the solution. God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place. According to Romans 10:9, all we need to do is believe. Jesus' death satisfied God's justice and brought us: New Life. Our spirit is made alive in Christ the moment we acknowledge that we are sinners, turn from our rebelliousness, and believe that His death paid for our sin-debt in full. Freedom. At salvation, sin's power over us is broken, and we are set free from slavery to its hold. Jesus raised us up out of the quagmire of disobedience and gave us the faith to believe. Now we can exercise our newfound freedom and follow Him. Security. When we accept God's judgment that we are sinners by nature and acknowledge our Savior's sacrifice as payment for our sins, we are permanently adopted into the heavenly Father's family. Our status changes instantly: once objects of wrath, we are now children of God. Someday we will be seated in the heavenly realms with Christ to enjoy life everlasting with Him. God, the very one against whom we rebelled, substituted His Son Jesus in our place to receive the punishment that was rightfully ours. How will you show your gratitude to God for His saving grace?

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