Old Testament Nugget, Toe Stomping, and more

So I am back in the OT in my daily reading. I will be honest…after reading John (one of my favorites!)…it is hard to go to the OT. =)

I started Deuteronomy last night. I read the first three chapters and I have to tell you…Moses made me laugh out loud. I had never noticed the phrase he used before. He is giving a summary of where they started (in Egypt) and where they have come (the edge of the Promised Land). Here is what made me laugh…Deu 1:37 “Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either.” It didn’t make me laugh because the Lord was angry or because Moses was being disciplined…but because Moses is so ME!!! How often have I been disciplined by the Lord and immediately said “because of her and what she did, I am in trouble with the Lord”!? LOL

Yes Moses is being disciplined, but not because the people did anything to him…it is because they provoked him to anger…and it is what he did in his anger that has caused him to miss entering the Promised Land. My little guy, Caleb, asked me just last week “is it against the Bible to be angry?” And I replied with a resounding NO! Jesus got angry in the Bible too…anger is just an emotion…it is what you do in your anger that gets you into trouble with God. The anger is not the sin…it is the reaction! Moses sinned in his anger because he disobeyed the Lord’s instructions. We sin in our anger because we disobey the Lord’s instructions…I love this passage from Luke as to how we should treat our enemies.

Luke 6:27-36
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "

How do you respond when you get angry? This passage speaks to enemies and how to treat them much less how do we treat those we love. When I get angry with my friends or family, how do I respond? Do I pray for them and ask for them to be blessed? Ouch…my toes feel like they did when Pastor Billie was preaching Sunday!

I once read that you can tell more about a person’s walk with Christ with how they respond when angry or stressed than any other interaction. The closer you walk with Christ the easier it is to respond with grace and mercy in all situations. The farther you walk from Christ the easier it is for satan to loosen your tongue when your buttons are pushed. People are watching you. What are you showing them? Personally I want to be so closely abiding in Christ that people have to know Him to even begin to understand how I respond under pressure and scrutiny!

Luke 6:45 ”A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

What is stored in your heart?

Are you doing anything to memorize scripture this year? I have this urge to start back the scripture memory posts because something tells me some of you needed that even if you were not posting each time. That maybe somehow it encouraged you to see me posting even on days I posted all alone. And then reposting ones I didn’t quite get into memory. So I might post in both places (LPM blog and here).

This time I am learning Jer 17:14 “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise”.

Learn it with me if you are not actively learning one. And please pray it daily over my friend Tammy…"Heal TAMMY, O Lord, and SHE will be healed; save TAMMY and SHE will be saved, for you are the one WE praise!” (Emphasis added).

Again…what are you storing in your heart and how are you reacting in your anger/stress???? What do people see in your daily interactions?

Reflect the SON!

In Him,
Kristy =)