 Andrea Merrell shares with us, "For more years than I can count, I walked around with a huge chip on my shoulder . . . wound up tight, ready to unravel on the first person who crossed me. When my children were growing up, it seemed I was always angry, but never understood why. Unable to control everyone and everything around me, I was like a time bomb, set to explode at the least little inconvenience or problem. Someone once described this state of mind as 'explode mode.' The struggle to overcome this problem took time, effort, and lots of prayer—not to mention buckets full of tears. Questions nagged at me day and night. Why was I so angry all the time? Why did I feel the need to control? Why was it so hard to overcome this explosive behavior? All the tears and prayers seemed to be getting me nowhere, except more frustrated with myself—and with God. 'Why don’t you take this away from me?' I demanded of God one day. 'I don’t want to be this way, and you can fix it!' The long-awaited answer that finally came was not what I expected. The words whispered to my spirit were like a gentle slap in the face. You’re choosing to be angry. 'Excuse me?' I responded. Surely God was mistaken. You’re choosing to be angry and you must make a decision to stop. Take responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming everyone else. In that moment, truth and denial had a head-on collision and truth won. All my excuses fell flat. I realized anger had become a habit—a stronghold—a natural way of dealing with just about everything. But now it was over. No more excuses. No more blame. No more complaining. It was just me and God and I couldn't fool Him like I had been fooling myself. The Bible says, Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be…unsettled. That put the ball squarely in my court. I had to make a decision to work on self-control, walk in God’s peace, and learn to seriously go-with-the-flow. It wasn’t easy and, at times, even years later, I still have to remind myself to choose the right response. But God diffused my bomb that day and I'm thankful I no longer live in explode mode. If you’re struggling to overcome habits and attitudes that are hurting you and holding you back from God’s best, take responsibility. Make a decision to change, then let God do the rest. He won’t let you down. "Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled." John 14:27 AMP Explode Mode - Andrea Merrell (posted 1/9/14)  Andrea Merrell is Associate Editor for www.ChristianDevotions.us Her work has been published in numerous anthologies and online venues. For more information, visit her at www.AndreaMerrell.com or www.TheWriteEditing.com. Author of Murder of a Manuscript, The Gift, and Praying for the Prodigal {I've read this last book, and I highly recommend it!}
Associate Editor Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas (LPC)
Associate Editor www.ChristianDevotions.
Visit me at:
Follow me on Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Read Andrea's devotions. Receive a daily devotion on your Kindle! Used by permission www.christiandevotions.us & Andrea Merrell  Let’s pray: Father, I long to have Your help in the various struggles I face. When someone angers me, may I stop to think of what Your Word tells me, that when I act like them, I will only make things worse. When anger does flare up, remind me that You'll help me stay calm, and look to You to be able to maintain peace in the situation. I know Your Word tells me You want to take care of it, and that You're watching over me each moment to defend me as Your child. May my thoughts be yours, when times come that usually get me riled up. I ask this in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Today’s Bible verses: Matt. 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Ps. 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth."
Today’s quote: Neil T. Anderson - "By appealing to the pride of life, Satan intends to steer us away from the worship of God and destroy our obedience to God. Whenever you feel that you don't need God's help or direction, that you can handle your life without consulting Him, that you don't need to bow the knee to anyone, beware: That's the pride of life.
You may think you are serving yourself, but whenever you stop worshipping and serving God you are in reality worshipping and serving Satan—which is what he wants more than anything else. Instead, the Christian life should be characterized by humble obedience to God in worship (John 15:8-10; Peter 5:5-11) [taken from p.144 of THE BONDAGE BREAKER author of VICTORY OVER THE DARKNESS]
Our thought today: If God is for us, we can have victory over our anger! Ask for His help, and then follow what Andrea tells us today.
I Know What You’re Thinking…NOTBy JillSavage on Nov 08, 2015 09:26 pm
Mark:Last week I was talking with a friend who was reeling from a big argument he and his wife had on Halloween. As we talked through the challenge, it became evident to me that the whole mess happened because expectations weren’t talked through. Been there…done that…learned some lessons!
Jill: So many of our conflicts, particularly in the early years, happened because of uncommunicated expectations..."
[Check out Jill and Mark's blog post, as it may help to make your marriage run a little more smoothly]
17th- Tuesday’s post: #113 The Pitfall of Understanding the Enemy C. Peter Wagner
19th- Thursday's post: #114 The Pitfall of Spiritual Arrogance C. Peter Wagner 21st- Saturday's post: Redeemed for an Eternity Lee Forbes 22nd- Sunday evening's post: The Power of One Single Act James H. Cagle  A popular post: Today, I Will Make a Difference! Max Lucado says "I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts..." 
Kindle $3.29
|
Thoughts for Life
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Explode Mode
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment