Definitions – Page 29 – Three Minute Bible

March 15, 2020March 15, 2020

James 4: 4 — Enemy of God

Toy soldiers marching in formation with guns drawn.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

James is rather blunt here. Sometimes when people are blunt, they stray into generalizations that are hurtful because they are not true. Is James’ statement entirely true?

Unfortunately, yes.

Jesus, James’ half-brother, makes the same point over and over again. In one example he says:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.”
(Matthew 5: 21-22a)

That is a very black and white statement. I have to confess I have been angry with a brother once or twice. (That may be a bit of an understatement.) Technically that means I am subject to judgment.

We are faced with the same choice every minute of every day: God or not God. If we choose God, we choose to put him above all else. We love him with all our heart, our soul and our mind. If we are not doing that, then we are choosing what James refers to as “the world.”

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020

James 3: 9-12 — Gob and Nob

Twin boys with blond hair. One is smiling the other looks afraid.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Purity of speech is a beautiful thing. To speak only what the Father wants us to say is to speak light into the world. Sadly, our world is hopelessly corrupt. No one is righteous… (Romans 3: 10)

Imagine for a moment, two children that happen to be identical twins. Both are boys. Both look alike. But inside they are different. One is very good, and the other is very bad. Let’s call the good twin, Gob and the bad twin, Nob. How are their worlds different?

March 7, 2020March 7, 2020

James 3: 3-4 – Leverage

Picture of man using a lever to lift a large block.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

Archimedes is often quoted as saying, “Give me the place to stand, and I shall move the earth.” His bases his confidence on his knowledge of levers and the ability of a lever to amplify force. Archimedes lived about two hundred years before Jesus walked the earth.

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020

Anger’s Summary – James 1: 19-20

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Thank you for bearing with me as I wandered through this topical detour about anger. I have learned a lot. I hope you have picked up something valuable as well.

To review, we began with “Anger’s Cause” asking the question: Is it right to be angry? We answered that question with an, “It depends.” It depends on why a person is angry. Then we defined anger as a secondary emotion and described its origin this way:

“Anger is the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020

The Other Anger – Psalm 2:12

Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

In yesterday’s post, “Three Angry Men,” we looked at three men in scripture who were angry for the same basic reason. They all expect life to happen the way that they wanted it to happen. They wanted to get their way.

The prodigal’s older brother figured his little brother was out of the way. Being the only son he “owned” his dad and everything else would be his. When the prodigal comes home, big brother is put out. This isn’t the way it was supposed to work.

March 1, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s End – Psalm 85: 1-3

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people
    and covered all their sins.

You set aside all your wrath
    and turned from your fierce anger.

This passage from Psalm 85 gives us some clues to resolving anger. In this short series of essays on anger, we defined anger as, “the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”*

God expects that his Creation will recognize Him and honor Him. When this doesn’t happen God becomes angry. God says:

“Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

— Jeremiah 25:6

Because of God’s great love for us, he provided a means for us to be redeemed from his anger. In the Old Testament, that meant dumping all the foreign gods in the Kidron Valley and submitting to God’s will. Unfortunately over the centuries, the Israelites turned their back on God so often that they made a mockery of his willingness to forgive. Instead, when the old covenant was in tatters, God formed a new covenant in his son, Jesus Christ.

February 29, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Judgement – 1 Corinthians 6:1-3

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

So far we have talked about what causes anger, and about the power of anger. The main thesis has been that anger by itself is neither good or bad, but is a sign of a deeper pain. In “Anger’s Power” we discussed the good or bad part. Anger based on a violation of God’s values is more righteous than anger based on a bruise to our ego. Today I would like to look at ways we can evaluate the anger we are confronted with in ourselves or someone else.

There is a touching story in 1 Samuel about the friendship between David and the son of King Saul, Jonathan. Saul has been stricken by a wild jealousy of David. The jealousy has roused a fit of powerful anger in Saul and he tries several times to skewer David on a spear. David escapes only to be reconciled to Saul by the efforts of his friend Jonathan.

February 28, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Power – Zechariah 1:14-15

Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’”

Yesterday in “Anger’s Cause” we talked a little about where anger comes from. But anger is not like a light switch. We do not simply become angry. There are many degrees of anger, just as there are many degrees of happiness.

When things in our life do not match our expectations (here I should add that we are talking about those things that are worse than what we expect) we start to become irritated. Irritation leads to frustration, and frustration can lead to anger. As we see in today’s verse, anger can range from a little angry to very angry.

Sometimes the change from happy to angry happens so fast that we miss all the warning signs along the way. And that is what irritations and frustrations are; warning signs. They tell us that there is danger ahead. If we heed the warnings, sometimes we can avoid the anger. The main point today though is that there are degrees of anger.

Where does this power for being very angry come from?

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020

James 3: 2 – A Show of Hands

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

How many of you (dear readers) are never at fault in what you say? I am taking James at his word when he writes “never.” So when we say, “… never at fault…” we mean someone who is not at fault and has never been at fault.

Hmmm… I’m not seeing a show of hands.

Let’s try the other side of the coin: How many of you have been at fault in what you say at least once in your lives?

Ahhh! Now I see everyone’s hand!

February 25, 2020February 25, 2020

James 3: 1 – Understanding

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

I don’t think of myself as a teacher, even when I am teaching. This verse is why. I don’t want to be “judged more strictly.” Yet to the extent that I do teach, I am sure James’ words will apply.

So let me tell you what I teach:

I teach that God is real and that Jesus is his Son.

I teach that the Bible is written by God and exists exactly the way He wants it to be.

Everything else comes from the Bible and God Himself.