Tag: Emotion

Morning Musing: Exodus 32:19-20

20 Comments

“As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. He took the calf they had made, burned it up, and ground it to powder. He scattered the powder over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink the water.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What makes you angry? Are they mostly righteous things or selfish ones? We all have our list. The items on that list are the result of all kinds of different experiences. Ultimately, the things that make us angry say a lot about us. If we get angry about the wrong things, that’s a sign that we believe the wrong things. If we get angry about the right things, we are much more likely to be on the right track…even angry. When Moses discovered what the Israelites were doing, he got angry. Let’s talk about what happened here and what should make us angry.

Read the rest…

All Fired Up

1 Comment

This week we kick off a brand-new teaching series called, A Heavy Load. So often, as we go through this life, we seek to do it on our own. We try and solve our own problems. We overcome our own challenges. We bear our own burdens. And at least in this culture, we’re taught to do just that. If you can’t manage your own stuff, what good are you anyway? But doing life on our own gets heavy after all. The weight of it all can begin to drag on our lives in all kinds of ways that add up and have an impact over time. The better approach is to quit trying to do life on our own and start doing it with Jesus. Over the next five weeks we are going to look at four specific loads we try and bear on our own, why that doesn’t work, and why doing life with Jesus is better. Then, in the final part, we’ll explore just why exactly life is so much better with Jesus. You won’t want to miss a single part of this conversation. Thanks for reading and sharing.

All Fired Up

I want you to do some remembering with me for just a minute this morning. I want you to think back to the last time you were genuinely angry about something that did not impact you directly and over which you had no control. If that seems oddly specific, there’s a reason for it which we’ll get to in a little bit. I’m not thinking about that time you saw something that was mildly irritating on one social media platform or another. I’m talking about the time you were angry – really and truly angry – but the object of your ire was not something that was having any sort of a direct impact on your life, and you weren’t really able to meaningfully do anything about it anyway. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Micah 7:1

Leave a comment

“How sad for me! For I am like one who — when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

If there’s any one word that is most often used to describe the Old Testament prophets, what do you think it would be? For me some words like judgmental and mean come to mind. That’s the kind of characterizations I often see them given in the culture at large. If there was a single word that was most used, though, it would be the word angry. That word is common. But is it right? Maybe not. Let’s talk about it.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Hosea 2:5

Leave a comment

“Yes, their mother is promiscuous; she conceived them and acted shamefully. For she thought, ‘I will follow my lovers, the men who give me my food and water, my wool and flax, my oil and drink.’”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever used graphic language when you were upset? It’s easy to do. When we get sufficiently upset, we begin working to find the words to adequately express our rage. When we’re angry enough, that can be a bit of a tall order. When we fumble enough, eventually we just use extreme words because we can’t find any others that will work. That’s a little like what’s going on here. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Psalm 30:5

Leave a comment

“For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had something done to you that made you mad and you stayed mad for a good long while? It was bad enough that you just stewed over it…for days…weeks even? Or maybe flip that situation around: Have you ever done something that made someone else mad and they stayed mad at you for a long time? Have you ever felt like this other person was God? It’s awful living with someone who’s made at you. Fortunately, anger has a shelf life. Let me explain what I mean. 

Read the rest…