Thursdays Child --John 2:18-25 WHAT!!

The reason we read the Bible is naturally to get some inspiration from God. As we read, thoughts come to mind, and some people say "God spoke to me." I prefer to say "God showed me." I have been known to say God spoke to me, but only because that is such a common phrase some times it just slips out. In reality I have never heard an audible voice from the heavens, and although I have heard of it happening, I believe it is very, very rare. I believe everyone gets inspiration and God touches our hearts when we read the Bible. I only say this because, I've noticed that as we go through the book of John, God has been showing me the human side of Jesus, and John 2 18-25 is no exception.
Imagine the looks on the people's faces after Jesus went ballistic on them. They asked Him(vs 18) "What right do you have to do these things? If you have this authority from God show us a miraculous sign to prove it." "Alright." Jesus replied. "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
Now imagine the new look on their faces. "WHAT!!" looking at each other. What the heck is He talking about. "It took forty years to build this temple." I just imagine them thinking- we're not going to tear down our temple to let you prove a point. So they just walked away shaking their heads, mumbling derogatory things about Jesus. He did however do some miraculous things at the Passover celebration, and many people were convinced that He was the Messiah, but since He was refering to His body as the temple, they didn't understand that statement until He was raised from the dead.
Verses 24 and 25 says, He knew human nature so He didn't trust them. I also think, He knew human nature, and because of His own human qualities He decided to mess with their heads. He knew they wouldn't understand it so He decided to have a little fun with them. It was a joke only He understood, but I'm sure He got a kick out of watching them walk away confused. Since He had the advantage of divine and human qualities it must have been fun to mess with them. As we search we have the benefit of knowing that Jesus is God and human, so it's fun to see both sides of Him. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child - True Anger Management

I was glad when I saw the scripture for todays Thursdays Child is an angry Jesus. John 2:13-17. I have always liked this scripture, because once again it shows a very human side of Jesus.

To summarize this passage, Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Passover, when He goes into the temple He finds merchants selling their merchandise. He becomes very angry, pushes their stuff onto the ground, turns over their tables, yells at them and drives them out of the temple.

I have always liked this because Jesus shows us it's okay to be angry, and to show anger. one thing that has always bothered me is that a lot of times people are taught that it is okay to feel anger but, don't hit, don't stomp your feet, don't scream, don't slam the door. Well, how are we suppose to express our anger? It seems we're not. So we suppress it. So we have a bunch of angry people walking around not able to vent their anger because they are told it's wrong. I say WWJD? I think What Would Jesus Do should apply to everything. Not just the warm and fuzzy things. I have mentioned Neil Anderson of Freedom In Christ Ministries before. He is a biblical counselor. He really stresses taking every thought captive from 2Corinthians 10:5. Lets not forget Ephesians 4:26. Be angry but do not sin. So where do you draw the line? Who determines what sin is? Would some people consider what Jesus did sin, because it was somewhat violent? But, Jesus never sinned. So again where is that line? At what point do we cross it? Violating a law maybe? Assault, murder. I believe we should be able to go to the gym and take our frustrations out on a punching bag, or if you can't go, punch your pillow or something. If you are a crier go have a good cry, go somewhere and scream as loud as you can, just get it out. Notice I have not said anything about punching a hard stationary object. Definitely not a good idea. I've thought before I would like to start a place for people -my thought was mainly youth -to have a place to just go vent. To have people there to listen if they want to talk. But also to have punching bags and other methods to just to be able to release that anger. Why do you think that arcade game whac-a-mole is so popular? Okay, maybe that's not the real reason but it could be. Keeping anger in, can turn to bitterness. It has been proven that bitterness that is allowed to grow and fester can lead to various kinds of health problems. The true cure to all anger and bitterness is forgiveness. You cannot be angry after forgiving someone.

Search yourself today is there someone you're angry with? It's okay to vent but don't let that anger build up. As soon as you figure the source of your anger forgive that person. They don't even have to know you have forgiven them, all they will see is the change in you.

This is always a tough one to get a handle on so, thanks for searching with me, Paul.