James 1:19-21

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

CRA (Canada Revenue Agency)

It’s Tax Season! Have you filed your Income Tax Returns? Did you receive rebates from the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency)? Canadians who filed their Income Tax Returns may have been very expectant to receive a letter from the CRA about their rebate.

Preachers say that the Scripture is love letter of God to us. Many Christians read the Bible to discover godly instructions on how they can receive blessing from the Lord.

Can you strongly believe that when the Lord gives instructions, he had included blessing for obedience in his commands? Really? Yet, there are still hesitations to obey him. Why? They may have sensed danger that scares them. God knows if we hesitate; but, why does the Lord still commands us to do things that we hesitate to do, then?

Barak

Let’s learn from biblical examples. The Canaanites oppressed Israel for twenty years. So, the Israelites cried to the Lord for help. And, the Lord sent Prophet Deborah to inform Barak to lead Israel. It says in Judges 4:6-9, ⁶“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. ⁷I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’” ⁸ Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” ⁹ “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.”

Jabin king of the Canaanites and Sisera, the commander of his army had brutally harassed the Israelites for twenty years. The Lord chose Barak to lead Israel into battle against the cruel Canaanites but, he hesitated; so, he asked Deborah to go with him to go to war. Why? Did Barak ask Deborah to go with him so that he can blame her for any failure; and if ever they will be defeated, he won’t take the blame all alone? Was he afraid because the Canaanites had advance military armaments?

Anyway, after the war, the Canaanites were defeated eventually; but, Barak did not get any credit for himself. A woman named Jael got the credit; she didn’t think twice when she had a chance; she killed the oppressive commander of the Canaanites army.

Friends: When you hear godly instruction and you sense hesitation to obey, don’t just ignore it; if you are scared or bothered of possible failure, hardship or humiliation, don’t just disregard what you feel. Instead, pray earnestly: “Lord, I hesitate to obey, I’m scared; so please, fill and empower me so that I will carefully follow your instructions!”

How can obeying God fit in when there are urgencies we need to accomplish? Employees have deadlines, students have school requirements, and there are bills to pay!

And, we also want to realize our expectation for ourselves or accomplish what others expect of us. Right! We are pressured to do our best. Why? We crave for others appreciation. Oops! Many people would deny that they yearn for applause or approval. Well, you will perform better when your boss appreciate your work, right? Will you study harder when your parents appreciate that you exerted much efforts in school?

When you exerted much effort but you’re ignored, are you frustrated or angry?

Here’ a godly instruction for all of us; and, we need to take it very seriously.

1.  Anger

¹⁹My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

If you worked hard, if you studied seriously, if you exerted much effort just to accomplish your duties and obligations but it seems like nobody paid attention to your accomplishment, was your effort wasted? Do you feel bad? If someone hits us, attacks us, says bad words against us, we’re angered; it’s called human anger. We can be angry when our expectations are not met, nor happened. What can trigger human anger? When ego is touched or the pride is pricked, the human instinct is to retaliate, right?

An eye for an eye! What you did to me, you will get much worst.

Human anger cannot produce lifestyles acceptable to God. The Lord accepts our lifestyle only when we let Christ guides us; and, his Holy Spirit produces fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Why should the Lord decide about our attitude? First of all, when we placed our faith in Christ, we become children of God; children of God have godly attitudes. Right?

The Bible mentioned that our Lord Jesus Christ was also angry when he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money in the temple courts. Theologians suggest that such anger of Jesus was holy anger.

The holy anger of Christ was triggered by his zeal for holiness and godliness, not ego or pride. Yet, when the Lord Jesus Christ was insulted, humiliated and tortured, he never retaliated. He didn’t appeal for mercy; he never asked his tormentors to stop. He had endured the pain for our sake. It was graphically described in Isaiah 53:7, ⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Oppression can trigger anger. Humans fight for their rights; they organize and rally against anything they oppose, any situation or even opinion that they cannot accept or agree with. Human anger does not produce righteousness that God desires.

Are you angered by the pandemic, war news, economic crisis, gas price increase?

Gas prices have increased unprecedentedly; and, the economy is threatened.

Bragging

Believers can be bothered by expensive expenditures. A pastor you know may have social media account update and implied that gas price bothered him: “I don’t usually brag about going to expensive stores. Well, I just came from the gas station.”

Many motorists, even believers, cannot hide their concern. How about you? Are you angry about soaring gas price? The economy has not recovered yet from pandemic effect; and, soaring price of gas can certainly affect prices of other commodities. Are you bothered? When the pandemic scared many believers, many churches were significantly affected financially. How should believers respond during economic crises?

According to Bible scholars, first century Christians suffered a similar economic crisis caused by natural calamities and also wars. And because of the sensitivity of the economic crisis situation, Apostle Paul explained proper giving that the Lord accepts.

In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, ⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

God loves a cheerful giver; he is able to bless a cheerful giver abundantly. Listen: The term “loves” is in present tense, not past tense, not future tense, which implies that God blesses a cheerful giver in the present time and no need to wait for eternity.

It’s a practice of faith to trust that God abundantly blesses cheerful givers now.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, he produces joyful giving in us; and, we can cheerfully give our service and finances to the Lord. But still, many would argue whether Christian giving should be 10%, more than 10% or less than 10%.

Pray to be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He will help you realize an amount of giving that God will bless. If you sow generously, you reap generously.

When we share the gospel of Christ to non-religious people, there will always be someone who argue with us or even insult us. And most often, they may argue about giving to the church. Listen: Even self-confessed Christians argue about Christian giving, what more the non-religious people? They would say: “I am living by the grace of God not by law; so, why should I give the 10% mentioned in the laws of God? It’s legalism!”

Friends: Here’s how you may explain. Giving to the Lord is a practice of faith. Our Christian lifestyle is a result of living by God’s grace. The law of God is the standard or the passing mark of Christian lifestyle; and, as result of living by God grace, we gladly obey the law of God, instead of forcing ourselves or trying our best to obey the law of God. This is why Christian giving is not under compulsion, reluctance or hesitation.

Interpretation and personal application of the Scripture practically exhibit faith in God.

^“Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” It is helpful to learn what the Scripture says; but avoid getting into angry argument, if possible. Why?

We cannot attain godly lifestyle of righteousness with angry argument.

2.  Attain

²⁰Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 

Manners, attitudes and lifestyles should produce righteousness that God desires.

We cannot attain a godly lifestyle of righteousness acceptable to God when we are controlled by human anger. We’ve got to pray and be filled by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

King Solomon the wisest king of Israel had observed, compared and concluded the reaction of a wise person and foolish person in Proverbs 14:29, ²⁹Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick–tempered displays folly.

Road Rage

Driving a vehicle in a busy highway can certainly reveal if the driver has patience.

Many accidents in the highways happen because of road rage and impatient motorists. Motorists are angry when they cannot overtake slow moving vehicles.

A video posted online, two cars moving side by side with maximum speed in a two-lane highway. A white truck tried to overtake them but cannot. When they reached a portion with unpaved road shoulder, the white truck took the unpaved road shoulder to overtake; but, the white truck turned upside down when it hit the highway railings.

You may conclude that instead of getting to its destination faster, the white truck passengers missed their appointment with disastrous delay; and, they have proven that it is very foolish decision to take rough road shoulder when overtaking on a highway.

To be delayed and safe is far better than to be delayed by unfortunate accident.

There are many unguarded moments while driving, especially, when motorists are pressured to reach their destination at a certain time. There’s a good number of road rage videos posted online that should remind believers to be always on the alert while driving. We may not be angry but, another motorist could cause traffic delays.

Road rage reality practically proves that “Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” And, we also do not desire the result of road rage. Ey? This is another reason Jesus Christ came and offered eternal life with abundance.

King David had described abundant life with Lord poetically in Psalm 36:5-10,  ⁵Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. ⁶ Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. ⁷How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. ⁹For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. ¹⁰Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.

Surely, God desires us to experience his loving grace more practically. Most often we react negatively when we struggle. Why? The plan of God for our betterment is too wonderful beyond imagination. So, we quickly refute or argue if we cannot figure out.

We need to rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ; he is the wisdom and power of God.

Jesus Christ is the Life. His promised of abundant life can be experienced only when we follow his guidance and leading. Can you agree that when Christ guides us in our decision, action and lifestyle, we experience the fullness of life? Really? How?

Pray to be empowered by the Holy Spirit of Christ; he will help and guide you to decide which step to take, which path to follow. Can you accept that his word can save?

3.  Accept

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

The word of God is godly instruction for easier path of godly lifestyle designed for believers. So, obeying his instructions can actually save our time and effort. Genuine believers belong to God; and, we can only experience the best life that God designs for us if we follow what he says. Our human efforts and initiatives lead to wickedness and not to situations where God had planned for us to experience life in its fullness. Why?

Here’s a simple example: When angry, we exerted human effort. What do you normally do when you are angry? How do you react in anger? Angry individuals can say or shout words that could hurt emotionally. If Christ prevails in us, we’ve love not anger.

Human anger produces disgusting moral filths in us; and, we need to confess and ask God for his forgiveness. Ask to be filled with love, peace and patience and not anger.

It is disgusting to used dirty cups, dishes or vessel to serve food and drinks, right?

Sins and wickedness cause us to be spiritually uncleanness, filthy and disgusting, and not worthy to be used as spiritual vessels of our Holy God.

It is stated very wisely in Proverbs 25:4-5, ⁴Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel; ⁵remove wicked officials from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.

Spiritually, to establish the righteous kingship and lordship of Jesus Christ over our life, we need to rely upon him. We pray for his help to fully submit to him. Instead of relying upon our ability; when we decide or act upon anything, we pray for guidance. God carefully reveals partial portion of his plans that we can understand or figure out.

Truly, the Lord allows us to choose if we want to follow godly righteousness or to follow our sinful instinct. Human sinful desires can cause us to follow human anger. The pandemic had caused confusion and anger; and economic crises fire up human anger.

Mask

When pandemic had erupted, wearing mask had been mandated; and, concerned individuals have rallied against the mandate of wearing mask. They do not want to be dictated by what they cannot agree with. They present scientific reasons for their belief.

Then, when authorities announced that wearing mask will not be required anymore, there are still concerned groups who are rallying against it. They want everyone to wear their mask. So, nobody can please everybody, so to say.

Many believers are confused which idea, advisory, scientific evidence to follow.

Are you distressed, disappointed, dismayed by inconsistencies of humanity? What can we learn from the Bible? It teaches us in Isaiah 41:8-10,  ⁸You descendants of Abraham my friend, ⁹I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. ¹⁰So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Someone may argue: “But Pastor, that passage was promised to the Israelites!” The original recipients were descendants of Abraham. The Israelites were descendants of Abraham; but, nothing is mentioned that such promise of the Lord is exclusive only to the Israelites. It includes all descendants of Abraham; It is biblical! All believers who have faith in God are also descendants of Abraham. Now, do you have faith in God?

If so then, you are descendants of Abraham and, this promise of God is available for you also and all who have faith in Christ, especially if you are an immigrant. God took you from your place of your birth to accomplish his mission purposes where you are.

And if by any chance, you were dismayed, frustrated, disappointed or angered by economic crisis, pandemic or scared about the future, rejoice and be glad, if you have active faith in God. He cares for you; he will certainly sustain you to live righteously.

Faith in God can be practically proven when we sincerely accept and personally follow godly instructions in our life; and, your life distinctively transformed to godliness.

Pray for empowerment of the Holy Spirit of Christ to transform your life wonderfully.

Listen: To make sure that you have faith in God, watch changes in your lifestyle.

The word of God is his instruction that we should follow as standard of godliness.

><((‘> .. ><((‘> … ><(((“> tmec\2022 <“)))>< … <‘))>< .. <‘))><