ANGER

A secondary emotion that we all experience time and time again. Anger wears a wide array of mask, but I feel like the primary cause of anger is some type of hurt. We all struggle with anger and it creeps up so rapidly that you can hardly see it coming. It can happen in a split second, boom, your mad. Anger can be directly tied to many other emotions, un-met needs, un-met expectations, insecurity and they all end up with the same result. When you lose something of great value, or if others conspire against you and succeed, anger is the first and most natural reaction. Satan uses the tongue to divide people and pit them against one another.
Idle and hatred words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. We dare not be careless with what we say, thinking we can apologize later, because even if we do, the scars remain. A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build. But you can control your feelings by recognizing your reaction for what it is, praying for strength, and asking God for help to see the opportunities that even your bad situation may provide.


Aren’t we glad that there is no one recording our words when we lose our temper !!!!!!!

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MONEY

We live in a materialistic world where many people serve money. They spend all of their lives collecting and storing it, only to die and leave it behind. Their desire for money and what it can buy far outweighs their commitment to God and spiritual matters. What ever you store up, you will spend much of your time and energy thinking about. Money seen as an end in itself quickly traps us and cuts us off from both God and the needy. The key to using money wisely is to see how much we can use for God’s purposes, not how much we can accumulate for ourselves.
Money is dangerous because it deceives us into thinking that wealth is the easiest way to get everything we want. The love of money is sinful because we trust money rather than God to solve our problems. Those that pursue its empty promises will one day discover that they have nothing because that are spiritually bankrupt. Money has a strange power to lead people into sin. I’m sure we can all think of a situation to where we have seen this happen. Sooner or later we need to stop buying things with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like. Know anyone like that? Some people think they have it all but they really have nothing. When you think of all the things that money cannot buy and death cannot take away, what do you have left ?
Does God’s love touch your wallet? Does your money free you to help others? If so you are storing up lasting treasures in heaven. Can you honestly say that God and not money is your master? One test is to ask yourself which one occupies more of your thoughts, time and efforts!!!!!!!

If time and money were no object,
What would you do for God?

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G.Z.@

Emotions By Gerald Sr.

EMOTIONS

Concerns, notions, hopes, fears, dreams, love, hate, sadness, gladness, anxiety, revenge, there are so many emotions that we put our self through each and every day, I’m surprised we don’t blow a fuse. When a cry of despair goes up around us we need to consider the larger picture before we join in. We have better things to use our energy on than all of these fruitless emotions. In the heat of emotion or personal turmoil it is easy to make foolish promises to God. We have all probably done this a time or two. Our promises may sound very sincere and spiritual when we make them, but they may only produce guilt and frustration when we are forced to fulfill them. Making spiritual deals only bring disappointment.

God knows all of the emotions that we experience. The next time strong emotions threaten to overwhelm you, express them openly to God in prayer. This will help us deal with the complete roller coaster of emotions we deal with daily. Be honest and don’t try to hide anything from the savior, he knows and he cares……………..


When you are tempted to get impatient with others, think of how patient God has been with you !!!!!

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FAITH By Gerald Sr.

Thank you for having more faith in me than I have had in myself. I’m sure we have all said these words to someone in our life at one time or another. I know that I have and that person besides the Lord has been my wife. There have been many times in my life when my Faith has been deeply tested. Hard as it my be at times we must trust God in every situation. There are eternal reasons for temporary trails, so be thankful that your destiny is in God’s hands, not in human hands. Faith in God does not make all of our troubles simply disappear it makes troubles appear less frightening because it puts them in the right perspective.
God’s ways are not our ways. Ours are limited and his are not. We need to learn not to ask God to respond to our problems our way. When God intervenes, anything can happen, so much more and so much better than we could ever imagine. There will always be sudden storms that will appear over the surrounding mountains with little or no warning, stirring the water into massive waves in our lives. Sometimes we become preoccupied with problems when we should be looking for opportunities. Instead of focusing on the negative, we should develop an attitude of expectancy. There is only one who can calm the storms that pop up in our lives, the sooner we put our total faith in him the better.


When there is a question, examine the evidence
Read the Bible !!!

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Sow and Reap By Gerald Sr.

Sometimes in our giving it seems as if we try and fool God. We get in a bind and the first thing we do is cut back on our giving. When things get better I will give more, soon as I pay that bill off I will give more, soon as I save some money I will give more. We are willing to give up our time and talents but don’t mess with our funds. The list can go on and on with reasons or excuses that are used to not support the church. The thing is, God will not be fooled. Everything that is provided to us belongs to Him, God owns everything. He who sows for the flesh will not get very far in life, but, he who sows for the spirit will reap life everlasting. God knows we can be trusted with what he supplies us with; hold fast to that which is good. If you can only be trusted with a little, you will receive little. Reap what you sow! If everything we have comes from God why do we become so deceitful in our giving?


If your conscious accuses you, stop, look back and ask why.
If the spirit assures you, look within and know why.

GZ@