Anger Can Cause Us to Miss God's Blessings

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Anger Can Cause Us to Miss God's Blessings

Today's Text: And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 2 Kings 5:13

The Message:      I often think of the case of Naaman. He wished a great blessing, even cleansing from leprosy. Hearing of the power of Elisha the prophet, he went to him, to know what he might do to be healed. And Elisha sent him the message "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.      "But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.      "And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?      "Then went he down, and dipped himself in Jordan seven times, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."      Each soul inherits certain un-Christlike traits of character. It is the grand and noble work of a lifetime to keep under control these tendencies to wrong. It is the little things that cross our path that are likely to cause us to lose our power of self-control.      The Lord will honor those who in this life have been faithful in the little things.... They will not be found wanting when the greater tests come to them. Those who honor God in the smaller duties of the daily life will develop into men and women of sound judgment. Whatever trial may come to them, they will stand firm for the right.      God will understand you as you open your heart to Him. He knows what discipline each one needs. If you ask Him, He will surely give you power to resist evil. Your faith will be increased, and you will give evidence to others of the keeping power of God.-Letter 123, 1904.

Commentary: My friend, like Naaman we are all leapers and in need of cleansing.  Not just a physical cleansing but a cleansing from the defilement of sin.  The offer of cleansing comes at a price; not a price of money or any works on our part, but a price of acknowledgment and surrender to God.  1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Our part is to confess that we are sinners and that we have sinned.  This comes when we confess our sins before God.  This confession comes from the convicting power of the Spirit of God upon our hearts.  As we submit to this conviction we are moved to seek the only One that can remedy our situation and that is Jesus Christ. To confess our sins is more than just to acknowledge our sins, but to surrender our lives to Christ and to turn from our sins.  James 4:7 says "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Repentance of our sins includes a desire to turn from the sins that we have committed.  The power to turn from sin does not come from within but from the Lord, and this only comes as we submit ourselves to God. Victory over sin is the natural result of our submission to God, and is required if we are to enter into the kingdom of God.  Our part in our salvation is not in our efforts, nor in our works, but in our submission to God.  As we are thus surrendered to Jesus day by day and moment by moment, He will come into our lives and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My friend, if you desire to be cleansed from all unrighteousness then surrender your life to Christ today. God bless,

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