Happy New Year!!!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I still dont have pictures up here for you to look at, but they are on my facebook account. Hope everyone is going to be having a face and Godly New Year. This whole "resolution" thing I am not so sure about. How many of us have actually ever kept a resolution? For the WHOLE year? I always believe that you should try to better yourself in many ways, but putting an actual label on it and only doing it one time a year feels very superficial to me. Thats no different than only being thankful for the blessing the Lord provides at Thanksgiving time.
There are certain things in my life that I am going to try to improve about myself. As a Christian, wife, and as a person in whole. I am going to try to not be angry at those who treat me bad, and I am going to try not to gossip about them if I DO get angry. I am going to be a better daughter to our Heavenly Father and trust in Him to supply my every need. To cry on His lap when I need to. To ask Him for a hug when I need one (thank you Katie). I am going to be the best wife I can to my husband and put my trust in him. And I am going to REALLY work on my health.
The fact that this is happening right at the beginning of the year doesnt really matter. These things have been heavy on my heart for quite some time now. Wednesday nights message was kind of the topper on the cake and I just decided to do what I know I should have been doing all along.
If you are into the whole New Years resolution thing, thats fine. Take that opportunity to examine yourself and see how you can better yourself for the Lord. In doing so, you will not just have a better spiritual life, but you will find that it will spill over into other aspects of your life, such as your marriage, your friendships, and even those pesky people that just seem to annoy you so...lol. Happy New Years everyone!!!! May God bless you and your family!

Anger Management

Have you ever been in a situation where you got so angry that something just came flying out of your mouth before you even realized it? I think we all have. This subject of anger is something that I have personally be struggling with for quite some time now and recently listened to a message by Bro. Anthony Fusco on anger. It talks about the source, the results, and dealing with anger.
Just like any other problem we have, whether it is drugs and alcohol, promiscuity, idolatry, etc., it is hard to admit the problem in the first place. This was not in his sermon but I really do believe that you can't solve a problem if you don't admit that there is one. Pride can be a horrible thing. It is actually one of the sources of anger and if we are not careful, it will eat us alive.
Ephesians 4:26
" Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

Now I know after I get angry, I feel like I am the worst person on Earth. And I ask my self what's wrong with me? Why do I keep doing this? Well the answer is something that you always need to remember. Anger is something that happens to everyone. It is absolutely normal to get angry. In fact, if you don't get angry, there is probably something wrong with you! LOL The key to it is CONTROLLING the anger. There are many sources that can be the start of anger:
1. Pride...we already talked a little bit about that
2. Contempt... someone disrespecting you
3. Abuse...there are many forms of abuse...in my opinion they are all just as bad...they all leave scars whether inside or out.
4. Frustration...this could mean finances or bills among other things
5. Feeling Hurt...it stats with being hurt and sad and can quickly turn into anger
6. Rejection... same as hurt...first you are hurt and sad...then angry

There are many examples of this in the Bible. I am not going to go over all of them, but I would suggest getting ahold of this cd from Bro. Fusco. If you do not know him, and you know me, I can let you borrow it. The results from anger can be horrible. No one likes an angry person. You rub people the wrong way and eventually you will lose your friends. They might put up with it for a short time because they love you and care about you, but eventually they will get tired of it and leave.
Proverbs 15:18
" A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife."
Ecclesiates 7:9
" Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools."

If you are not careful, anger will settle into your heart and it will stay there. In the sermon, he says that the best thing to do is, that when you feel yourself about to get angry, do something to keep yourself from reacting. The more time in between the time something happened and the time you actually react, the less likely you are to be angry and say or do something that you shouldnt. Not only will we lose our friends, but anger will lead to other sins. We are already sinning by letting anger get the best of us, why add more to the pile?
The best way to deal with anger is to find a Biblical way around it. The WRONG attitude to have is that old horrible saying...." Dont get mad, get even". When you try to get even with someone, they eventually are going to try to get even with you. Then something that stated out as just a small little arguement, is now a huge giant thing that can really hurt someone. Since I have been studying this, I have tried to make Proverbs 15:1 a life verse for myself.
Proverbs 15:1
" A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grevious words stir up anger."
Ephesians 4: 26, 31-32
" Be ye angry and sin ot; let not the sun go down upon your wrath... Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.... And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Anger is not something that we can let fester inside of us for too long. Don't wait to get it taken care of. Settle the matter right away! And be something through a great relationship with Christ. When you show kindness to others, the Lord will begin a great work in your heart and you will have not just a great relationship with your family and friends, but an even greater relationship with Christ.

LET IT GO AND FORGIVE!!!