Thanks for Giving

We are once again upon the holiday season and more specifically, that time of year where we focus on being thankful, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time of reflection, a time where we reflect over the year that is coming to an end (the good, the bad, and the ugly). It is a time when we are thankful for our family, dear friends (old and new), the progress and successes in our careers, the healing of our bodies and that of those whom we love. We're grateful for the roof over our heads, the provision of food in our pantries, and all that we have. We're grateful for how we made it through the difficult times and experiences during the course of the year. One of my nephews, when he was a little boy, was so excited about the smell of holiday food in the house one Thanksgiving that he asked, "is it Thanks for giving.". He could not say Thanksgiving, but we all understood what he meant as we chuckled. And as we are entering this season of Thanksgiving, I find myself thinking about this profound question asked by my nephew although he was not trying to be profound when he asked it many years ago. The truth of the matter is that this holiday of Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for giving. It is a time to give God thanks for giving unto us all year long. While we should not limit our giving thanks to just this one time of year, it is good to have a concentrated time that calls our attention into focus on truly giving thanks to the one who watches over and takes care of us every day of our lives all year long, God. There are numerous scriptures on being thankful, but one that stands out the most to me is I Thessalonians 5:18 that says, "Be thankful in all circumstances! For this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.". What does this mean? It is God's will that we be a people of gratitude who give thanks to God in every circumstance that we go through in life. Some wander how they can do this because there are some circumstances that are troublesome, burdensome, trying, and almost unbearable. The key to being able to be grateful or thankful to God in these circumstances is knowing that God is the one who gives the authority to these circumstances in our lives. Everything that comes against us and every circumstance that we experience has to get authority from God to enter our lives (remember Job; Job 1:12 & 2:6). The truth of the matter is that even when we experience difficult situations we can see God's hand of mercy upon us and His strength stand up in us when we are too weak to stand for ourselves. That's enough to give God thanks. If we all would take a moment to intentionally have a flashback to these difficult situations & circumstances in our lives we can all see where God extended to us grace, mercy, and strength and we can see where we owe God a sincere thanks. Ingratitude is one of the most understated sins there is and it leads to idolatry as we see in Romans 1:21. When the people of God took God for granted failing to give Him thanks they became vain and foolish and began to erect false, ungodly images to replace the image and glory of God and further launched out into a cesspool of sin & unrighteousness sets. Many subtly fall into the trap of ingratitude taking God for granted forsaking to give Him thanks. Let me caution you against this, but if you don't believe me, look at the testimony of them who fell into that trap in Rom. 1:21-32. So, as we enjoy this time of Thanksgiving and all that it represents to us let us truly embody the true spirit of Thanksgiving by giving God Thanks For Giving today and everyday. Give Him Thanks For Giving salvation, deliverance, healing, joy, peace, strength, wisdom, Power, love, confidence, faith, patience, self control, and the many, many blessings along the way. May you and your families be blessed with the presence of God this holiday season and may your heart be overflowing with thanksgiving towards God. - Dr. DeShonda Bailey

The Danger of Anger

Anger, what is it and why is it so dangerous?  Anger is one of many emotions that we have.  When we look at scriptures such as Ephesians 4:26 we can see that anger is a natural emotion, but a very serious one that we must master because if allowed to go unchecked it can lead to sin.  Ephesians 4:26 tells us that it is okay to be angry (be angry), but don’t allow the anger to give way to sin (but sin not or don’t sin because of your anger) and not to harbor anger (don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry).  This is a very important and crucial principle for us to live by because when we allow anger to fester it will manifest in a sinful act on our part.  Anger that is harbored can plant a bitter root in us and give birth to thoughts such as murder, revenge or retaliation, unforgiveness, physical assault and the more we let these angry thoughts fester in our mind the more tempted we will be to give in to them and sin.  When you hold on to your anger you nurse it and give birth to grudges.  If you don’t get rid of your anger and deal with it right away you open a door for Satan in your life.  Verse 27 of Ephesians 4 says, “Neither give place to the devil.”  In other words, when you leave anger unchecked you give a mighty foothold to the devil in your life.  If you’ve ever been angry and failed to deal with it immediately you can testify how your allowing anger to fester caused all sorts of unhealthy, negative, and poisonous thoughts to run rampant in your mind and almost caused you or did cause you to do something that you would regret.  If you are angry with someone you must do all that you can to settle the issue with them immediately.  Go to your brother or your sister, your love one, co-worker, or neighbor immediately and communicate your feelings and why you feel the way that you do.  Talk it out and put an end to your anger.  When you delay putting out the fire of anger that is burning within your bosom you give the enemy a foothold in your life.

 There is an anger that is righteous (righteous anger).  Righteous anger is anger that the people of God have towards and against the wicked, evil, and ungodly acts perpetrated by the ungodly.  Such was the case when David cried out to God in Psalm 139:19-22 and Jesus in John 2:15-16 had righteous anger against the money changers in the temple and as a result made a whip, turned over tables and drove them out of the temple.  We should get angry at what makes God angry.  In the world we live in today there are many unrighteous and wicked things going on that justifies righteous anger such as human sex and slave trafficking, child abuse, pornography, injustice, greedy investors stealing the money of their clients, and violation of citizen’s civil rights.  However, even though righteous anger is justified we must be careful not to allow that anger to linger and fester and cause us to respond to it in a sinful way.  There are those out there who become a vigilante because they see an injustice that they hate so, they take it into their own hands to rid the earth of those who perpetuate the injustice.  However, this is not right in the sight of God because it is a sinful response.  If we see an injustice or the wicked harm innocent people then we can be angry about it, but we should channel that anger into a positive, proactive response by getting involved to be a solution and not add to the problem.  Thus the Apostle’s wise counsel in Ephesians 4:26-27.  Be angry about the wrong, but don’t add to the problem by sinning; deal with it immediately in a positive, constructive way.

There is a direct correlation between anger and sin when anger goes unchecked and is not mastered.  We must master it and not let it master us.  God drops this principle at the very beginning of human conflict in Genesis where brother was about to turn on brother.   Cain and Abel had both brought an offering unto the Lord and while Able’s offering was pleasing to God, Cain’s offering was not.  It was Cain’s reaction to this that caused God great concern and pause.  God had to now come in and deal with human conflict.  As a result of God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering and rejection of Cain’s, Cain’s countenance changed in such a way that it revealed not only his displeasure, but anger.  We’re told in verse 5 that Cain was very wroth and in verse 6 God asked him why he was so wroth.  That word wroth as used here means “to be hot, furious, burn, become angry, be kindled to anger; to be angry with, be incensed; or to heat oneself with vexation.” [blueletterbible.org]. So, Cain was furious and kindled to anger over this situation.  Cain's anger was unrighteous anger.  He had no just cause to be angry with God or Abel because his unacceptance was a result of his inadequate and inapproiate sacrifice.  God told Cain to be careful and mindful of how he handled the anger he was feeling because sin was crouching at his door.  God used the example or analogy of a preying animal to describe what can result if we allow anger to master us.  Why do I say that God was alluding to a preying animal when describing sin?  Because animals of prey like wild cats (panthers, jaguars, lions, etc) many times crouch down before they pounce on their prey to devour them.  God also told Cain that the anger sought to rule him, but he had to rule over it.  Cain, however, did not heed God’s advice and as a result malice and rage took root in Cain’s heart and sin was born manifested in the brutal murder of his brother Abel.

        James 1:9 says, be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath (wrath meaning anger).  While anger is an emotion it is not good to be quick to get angry.  Sometimes a person will do something offensive or rude to us and while it may seem like we are justified in getting angry, the word of God lets us know that getting angry is not a right and is not the best first reaction or response to the an offense.  Effective communication begins with being a good listener, we should listen twice as much as we talk.  We should lead out with our ears to hear the person out after which we should speak to express ourselves in a calm, clear manner.  The righteousness of God does not spring forth from the anger or wrath of man.  The righteousness of God is not promoted by our anger.  We should be slow to be offended and get angry.  Proverbs 12:16 tells us that “fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly; the prudent quietly shrug off insults.” (MSG).  Proverbs 14:17 says that “a quick-tempered person does foolish things.”  (NIV).  Proverbs 29:11 says, “Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.”  The key to mastering anger is to not be so quick to get angry and when we do get angry, bear the fruit of the spirit, self control.  

- Dr. DeShonda Bailey