Thought for May 4, 2024

•  1521: Martin Luther taken into protective custody by Frederick the Wise.
• 1780: American Academy of Arts and Sciences founded
• 1856: Mount Vernon church reluctantly accepts Dwight L Moody into membership. He had been rejected once because he was completely ignorant of the Christian faith.
• 1878: Edison's phonograph shown for the 1st time
• 1904: Construction of the Panama Canal begins
• 1942: Battle of the Coral Sea begins
• 1953: Hemingway wins Pulitzer for "The Old Man and the Sea"
• 1959: First Grammy awards--Ella Fitzgerald and Perry Como
• 1970: National Guard kills 4 at Kent State
• 1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes first female Prime Minister
• 2007: Greensburg Kansas destroyed by F5 tornado.
• 2020: World leaders pledge $8 billion to research treatment and vaccine for Covid
• Born: Horace Mann [pioneered public schools], Betsy Rawls, Audrey Hepburn, George Will, Randy Travis, Dawn Staley
• Died: W Robertson Nicoll [editor of the 50 volume "Expositor's Bible"], Moe Howard, Dom DeLuise, Ernie Harwell, Don Shula, 

Thought:

Finishing my reading of Proverbs today. There is a verse that I wish I had learned early in life--22:24-25--"Do not associate with a man given to anger or go with a hot-tempered man, lest you learn his ways and find a snare for yourself." When I was a child and into my early teens, I had a hot temper. I would get mad and have what my parents called a temper tantrum--scream, flail about, fall to the ground or the floor. Totally out of control. I accepted Christ at age 12 and He began a training session that has lasted many years, teaching me to deal with things His way and not mine. As Paul would say, I have not yet attained it, but I press on. 

These verses make me think about several things:

• What makes me angry? Do I get angry about the same things that anger God or do I get angry about things that just don't suit me? Do I get angry and blame others or do I get angry with myself---maybe both. Sometimes when I feel anger rising, I have to stop and ask why I am angry; do I have a good reason to be angry. Like God's questions to Jonah in chapter 4 where the plant died. Often I find that I have no real reason to be angry--my feelings got hurt, things didn't go my way, someone else got the award, the job, the praise. 
• How do I deal with anger? The word tells us not to let the sun go down on our anger and let it turn to rage, plans for revenge, evil thoughts and schemes. Maybe if I am angry with someone, I should do as scripture tells me--pray for their good, seek reconciliation, go to them and not to others. 
• Do I associate with or admire angry men/women? Do I applaud when someone steps up to the mic and says all those mean and hateful things I am thinking about a person, a situation, an issue? Do I say, "I'm glad someone said what I'm thinking." When that happens to me, I have to ask myself what was I thinking. Our nation today is angry. Angry with each other, angry with those who enter our country illegally, angry with those that don't agree with us. Anger fights against reason and compassion--anger makes kindness and gentleness and self-control difficult. Maybe the presence of the fruit of the Spirit could ease the national anger. 
• Do I act like angry men/women when I am around them? Ever been to a hotly contested sporting event and the fans start yelling at each other and not for their team. Someone comes up with a taunt and you join in the chant. Soon anger builds and people start challenging each other to step outside or come over here and say that. Rather than make peace, I cheer on my champion. It happens in churches, businesses, families--anger leads to all kinds of problems--strife, disunity, assault, both physical and verbal. 

These two short verses convict and remind me that outbursts of anger is listed as a deed of the flesh in Galatians 5:20--followed by disputes, dissensions, factions. Lord help me live the fruit of the Spirit and follow others who do as well. 

Blessings

Larry