We have studied a great deal of God’s word and the attributes needed to succeed in Christ. Those wonderful verses in the Philippian letter are sweet to our ears. (Phil. 4:4-9) They are hard on our hearts and rough on our feet as we live them out. We must meditate on them and act on them. We must be sure we don’t get to busy “doing” that we forget why we are doing it. God’s grace manifested in Jesus Christ is our motivation. Without our works, our faith is dead. Make sure you are keeping your faith alive by doing what God commands. Go and do! The God of peace will be with you!
The world is provoked for different reasons. Anything from God’s word to good deeds for others to envy can cause wrath to be poured out (Jonah 3:10-4:1; Luke 15:20-28; Genesis 30:1, 2). What should provoke a New Testament Christian is quite different. Things like idol worship, inadequate treatment of others, turning from God, and dishonoring the house of God should cause indignation to swell up inside us (Exodus 32:19-22: 1 Samuel 20:33, 34; Matthew 21:12, 13; Acts 17:16, 17). This type of anger is justified (Mark 3:1-5). However, when this righteous indignation sets in, we will not forget who we are. We must be slow to anger (Nahum 1:3). It should not set in fast (Titus 1:7; Ephesians 4:6). We should be seeking to stir up love and good works no matter what (Hebrews 10:24, 25; 1 Corinthians 9:1, 2). We love the Lord so much it should bother us when He and His are mistreated. We need to handle things right and make sure we are never at fault for mistreat...
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