James 1-5: The last 9 months has been like a powder keg of emotions. Fear, anger, anxiety are but a few of the emotions that take very little to set them off. As a person that rarely gets angry over much I have found myself on edge more than I can remember in a long time. Of late I have had to put myself in time out to simmer my anger down over things that would not normally set me off. As I have sat by myself thinking through my emotions there has been one verse that has been pounded into my spirit by the Father.
James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
I long to be a walking image of my heavenly Father, but when I allow the enemy to shift me I fear my anger reveals I still have a long way to go to walk like Him. I praise the Lord I am more sensitive to the anger before it breaks out and rains the sulfur of my tongue on people most of the time, but the truth is that my humanity is still very much a part of this soul and I run quickly to the Father when I blow it. In the current climate I have just had to turn off negative influences and do some serious deep soul surgery to find the source of my anger and deal with it at the root. Not always an easy exercise but it is definitely needed. In the end the answer is the same. My struggle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers of darkness. (Eph. 6) I know who the real enemy is and as a child of the King I must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. I must take my thoughts captive especially when angry and bring them into submission to the character of God that I want to walk in. I pray that my sisters and brothers that find themselves struggling with identify the true enemy and his tactics and choose to subdue the anger and live in peace. Keep praying for this soul. I am still under construction. lol.