"38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
This development, this revelation has taken more time to seep in.
For years, for decades I was convinced that I had to be free of anger. I could not have bad or fearful or unpleasant feelings in me, so that God could flow freely through me. It was unbelievable, the amount of pressure, pain, tension which I had put myself through.
I really believed that my relationship with God depended on how I was feeling! This is the deepest perversion that comes out of Alcoholics Anonymous.
That awful program teaches people that they have to be free of anger. Nonsense! You can have those feelings, and it will not prevent you from knowing, feeling, and receiving God's love.
Granted, Paul does give this clear-cut counsel to the church:
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27Neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:26-27)
It's not sin to get angry. In fact, there is something wrong with you if you do not get angry at evil, injustice, wrongdoing in the world.
"Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;" (1 Corinthians 13:6)
and
"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." (Romans 12:9)
You can't really love people if you are celebrating or accommodating evil.
At any rate, this is such a new, profound reality for me.
For the longest time, I was constantly taking responsibility for my thoughts and feelings, as though I had to stop them, suppress them, repress them, put them out of business, so to speak, so that they would not do me any wrong.
This is absolutely crazy, the mind games which I was dragged through.
But God is Love, that is who He is, and who He is not going to change, regardless of what I am thinking or feeling.
Nothing can separate me from the love of God. Not even myself, and certainly not what I am feeling, what I am thinking. Amen to this wonderful discovery. Thank you, Jesus!
Amen. Thank you. Just what I needed to read.
ReplyDeleteI used to be in the AA & NA programs, and though they had done me some good, I see now that all I needed was the unfiltered revelation of love of Christ toward me.
I still struggle with anger. It is probably my hardest foe. But I trust that coming to know Him more and beholding him will rid me of that someday.
Praise our Father and thank you to you!
AMEN! So glad I could share these revelations with you!
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