No matter the source of our anger, we must learn to manage it properly so our emotions don’t control us. James shares three key points we should remember. 1) Be quick to listen. Don’t react immediately and take time to ask yourself why you’re angry. 2) Be slow to speak. Think carefully before you say anything and make sure your words honor God. 3) Be slow to get angry. Most everyday situations don’t require your anger so be sure it’s actually worth it. 


Questions for further thought:
1. Which of the three points above is most difficult for you?

2. What other emotions do you experience that may be masking themselves as anger?  


Challenge: Check out Chip Ingram’s study titled “Emotions that Destroy” on Right Now Media. He explores this topic of anger in depth and shares biblical truth along with insights from his own experiences. 

​Sometimes anger is a God-given emotion that calls us to action. Jesus was furious that part of the house of the Lord was being used to take advantage of the people. When a worshiper wanted to buy a sacrificial animal, they had to exchange their currency first, which came with a hefty fee. The priests gained a great profit, while the temple was desecrated. 


Questions for further thought:
1. How can you tell if you’re feeling righteous indignation (like Christ) or worldly rage?

2. What types of actions do you think God wants our anger to fuel?  


Challenge: Look back at your answers to the questions from Tuesday. Make a plan and get started. For inspiration, look up the story of how the organization M.A.D.D got started – a grieving mother channeled her anger toward drunk driving into positive action.

Wow…this passage makes it very clear that Jesus was ANGRY! It’s important for us to know what angers God so we can make corrections in our own lives and seek change in our churches and communities. Notice that most of what Jesus lists can be summarized as hypocrisy: making everything look perfect on the outside while allowing the inside self to be filthy with sin. Let’s get mad and motivated to clean up our lives!


Questions for further thought:
1. When do you most easily fall into worry about outward appearances?

2. How can we avoid getting caught up in the self-indulgence our culture offers daily?  


Challenge: Choose one of the following to focus on pursuing further during the next few weeks: justice, mercy, or faith.

Imagine our Lord’s anger toward the Pharisees’ obsession with rules and disregard for hurting people. Jesus used this opportunity to provide healing for a man’s hand. If we are to imitate His example, our anger should cause us to combat evil by doing good. Jesus saw a need and filled it, despite the reactions of the authorities of His day.


Questions for further thought:
1. What wrongs in this world really make you angry?

2. How can you channel this anger into doing something good and helpful? 


Challenge: Verse 5 tells us that although Jesus was angry, He was also “deeply saddened by their hard hearts.” Remember when you get angry about an injustice that God still loves those in the wrong. Pity those who fall victim to the devil’s influence and pray for them.

Anger is powerful. This emotion is usually considered negative, but as we will explore this week, anger can also be a catalyst for good. Paul reminds us, though, not to allow anger to control us since the devil can use our feelings as a temptation to sin. Jesus taught that sin is not only an act; our thoughts can also be sinful. This doesn’t mean that feeling angry is sinful; it’s what we choose to think or do next that make the difference.


Questions for further thought:
1. What is your initial response when you find yourself feeling angry?

2. How can you take captive hateful thoughts about others? 


Challenge: If you find yourself consistently controlled by your anger and falling prey to sin, resolve now to begin making a change. Start with asking for God’s guidance, then seek resources to assist in your plan of attack, and finally, set up some accountability. 

​We all long for peace.  We were created to have it with our Father who created us for Himself.  The wonderful thing is: His peace is greater than any momentary peace that we think is the best we’ve ever experienced.  Only He can give us that peace.  And, this peace will conquer all fears and anxieties that we have, if we would allow Him to work in us.


Questions for further thought:
1. Do we remember His peace is a goal for us to have in this life?

2. Do we realize that His peace is stronger than any momentary fears we might have?  


​Challenge: Lord, help us to be thankful that you created us in the first place, and that your will is for us to have YOUR peace, which is the greatest peace in the universe.  It is bound up in your love for us, and it is truly stronger than any fears and anxieties we might have.  Help us, please, to remember that, and to thank you daily FOR your great and enduring peace.  Thank you, Father!  Amen.

Jesus told us that worrying could not add one single hour to our lives.  He said so Himself.  He Himself had worries, too, which we’ve read about.  So, how do we make sure that worry doesn’t envelope us and actually take time from our lives, with time being one of our most precious commodities in this life?

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Questions for further thought:
1. When worry hits us, do we pray to our Lord right away about it?

2. Are we worried about real things, or small things, and do we remember the many blessings we already have from Him?


Challenge:  Lord, please help us to remember the things Pastor Doug has mentioned often: “God didn’t change, and God didn’t move.”  Help us to remember that.  You’re always with us, you never left us, and you’re the same today as you have always been, and that includes with us!  Lord, we thank you that we can go to you to calm our fears and anxieties, and celebrate the blessings you give us daily.  Thank you, Father!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Jesus was born to die on the cross for us.  We know this.  He knew it even before any of us were created!  Still, He also was anxious about going through it, and at one point wished that He did not have to.  But He knew, in the end, that He had to confront His anxiety and His sacrifice in order for all of us to be saved.  He was anxious, but He faced it and worked through it to the end.  

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Questions for further thought:
1. How hard do you find it to face whatever is causing your anxiety? 

2. Do you pray to avoid it or, as Jesus did, ask for strength from God to push through it?


​Challenge: Lord, help us to push through our troubles and anxieties just as you did, and to do so with help from you.  You had to go through the worst experience imaginable; please help us to realize that you’re with us in our darkest moments, not to help us avoid life’s troubles, but to give us strength to solve and go through them, as you did for us.  In your name, Amen.

The popular song “I get by with a little help from my friends” really is good advice.  From time immemorial, people have relied upon their friends to help them in life’s travails.  Many people in life whom we look up to have said that their good friends helped them through their biggest troubles.  And, of course, we always have our Lord with us as our biggest friend who never has and never will leave us.


Questions for further thought:
1. Do we rely upon a friend or group of friends when we’re anxious, or do we try to “tough it out” alone?

2. Do we realize that our friends are there for us when we need them, JUST as Jesus requested His apostles to be with Him in His time of anxiety?


​Challenge: Folks, we don’t have to do this life alone!  Our friends (and family) are there for us.  And that includes our church family!  Please reach out to those who will be there with you, walk alongside you, and pray and support you.  Jesus asked His disciples to be with Him; we should do no less.

All of us, at times, have had anxiety.  This even included our Lord Himself.  Jesus, though God, was also human, and His humanity allowed Him to experience the same anxiousness that we do.  He knew He had to not let it rule Him, as we often let it control us. 


Questions for further thought:
1. Do we often isolate ourselves in the midst of anxiety?  

2. Are we hesitant to even acknowledge that anxiety has the best of us?


Challenge: Let’s remember that we all have times of anxiety in life, even Jesus Himself did, but we don’t have to bear it alone.  God is with us, as the Father was with Jesus when He felt anxiety. Let’s challenge ourselves to go to the same strength source in our anxiety as our Lord did when He had it in Gethsemane.