Weekly Words of Instruction

A Houston dentist, Clara Harris, was convicted in court last Friday of the murder of her husband. And just in case you haven't been watching the news, she killed her husband in the presence of his mistress, by running him over five times with her Mercedes Benz. The price tag for her anger is a lengthy prison sentence that she will spend among hardened criminals. This is a high and dangerous price to pay for a person whose only downfall was her wrath. In just a few minutes of being out of control, she messed up her whole life (Proverbs 19:19). Often we hear how dangerous stress, high blood pressure, and cholesterol can be, and these things can kill the body, but they can't affect the soul. However wrath is nothing to play around with because it will damn the soul (Proverbs 27:4, Proverbs 5:19-21).

Just look at what wrath has done in the past. At a traffic light, an unknowing person will simply blow his horn at another who is a powder keg, and that hot head will get out of his car and shoot the person to death. A jerk with a short fuse becomes enraged at an infant crying and batters the child to death, etc. etc. We have heard these kinds of stories before, so wrath needs to be controlled or somebody gets hurt (Genesis 4:5-8, Daniel 3:13-20).

Moses was a great man of God, but because he became enraged at the Israelites and disobeyed God; it cost his entrance into the land of promise (Numbers 20:1-12). In other information about wrath, we read that it dwells in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Wrath is an evil that never accomplishes anything that is pleasing to God (James 1:19-20). But if one can control wrath, he will be liked to one that captured a city (Proverbs 16:32, 14:29, 29:8, Ephesians 4:26-27).

Hope to hear from you or to see you at the services.