Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Anger”
Our Bible verse for today: “For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands.” 1 John 5:3 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Obeying God is the only choice that makes sense.”
When a person is disappointed with where they’re at in life that often results in a lingering sense of frustration and bitterness. It also often manifests itself in envy of others who are doing better than they are, and it tends to produce a simmering sense of low grade anger. The anger is usually unfocused and poorly defined. By that I mean the person probably can’t point to a particular issue or cause, they’re just unhappy, and that then colors and distorts their entire personality.
One of the primary causes of an unfilled life is living in disobedience to God. In the Bible God has given us clearly defined boundaries within which we must live if we want to experience His full blessings in our lives. The boundaries are actually very wide – God gives us lots of room to live life large and to enjoy it fully, but there are boundaries. As long as we stay within the boundaries, we’re living in the realm within which God can and will bless us. If we intentionally live outside those boundaries, we’re on our own. God will not bless disobedience.
Think about that for a minute. Have you ever regretted an act of obedience to God? Probably not. And have you ever really prospered as a result of disobedience to God? Again, probably not. Not really. Oh, you may have gained some sort of temporary advantage from an act of disobedience but in the long run, have you really been blessed? In the end obedience to God always produces blessings and disobedience always produces pain.
In his book “The Traveler’s Gift” author Andy Andrews helps us to understand that one of the keys to successful living is personal responsibility. We have to understand that when it comes to the conditions and situations in our lives, “The buck stops here”. In other words, you are responsible for your own life. It’s nobody else’s fault. You are responsible for your choices and you are responsible for the consequences of those choices.
So don’t get mad at anyone else for what your life is like. In fact, don’t be mad at all. Just make some changes in your choices and behaviors so that you will get different and better results in the future.
The first and most important change you can make is to obey God. Make the necessary adjustments in your life so you are fully within the boundaries God has established for us in the Bible. Until you do that, your life will be unfulfilled. It will be much less than what God wants for you. Obeying God is the only choice that makes sense.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 