Are you overcome with anger and rage?  Do people irritate you?  Does your spouse drive you nuts and do your kids make you mad?  Do you scream and swear at your family?  Do you kick the dog and slap the kids?  Does your head hurt?  Do you feel like you need a drink?

That sounds pretty miserable, doesn’t it?  Did you see the movie ‘Anger Management?”  It didn’t matter what that guy did, nothing seemed to go right.  That is how we feel too when we are angry.  It seems like everybody is out to get us.  Why won’t they just leave us alone and mind their own business anyway?

When things get real bad we sometimes will go to a class to try and manage our anger.  But I have a question for you.  Wouldn’t it be better to get to the root of that anger and actually get rid of it, instead of just trying to manage it?

Managing anger is like trying to contain smoke.  We get a new container and try to make it manageable.  But smoke is a symptom of fire.  The more we try to contain it the more we have to contain.  Where there is fire there is going to be smoke.  What is the root of it?  Where is it coming from?

“Well, my wife makes me mad.”

Maybe she does, but I bet you were mad before you met your wife.  Usually deep rooted anger goes far beyond the circumstances we have before us right now.  Often it goes way into our past.

“Should I go for counseling?”

Well, there is a lot of good counseling out there.  We would highly recommend some Christian counseling in your area.  If you contact us we may be even able to suggest someone for you.

“I have already been to counseling.  I am sick of it!  Why would Christian counseling be any different?”

Well most counseling techniques offered in a city near you will help you explore the root of the problem.  Many of them would identify some past experience that is possibly the source of your fire.  Talking about that with a counselor is often helpful, however just talking about it isn’t enough.  Most secular counselors can’t actually help you get rid of your anger because they are not approaching this from the right angle.  This is a spiritual problem and they are trying to fix it in a medical manner. They will expose the root of your anger, but most usually don’t know how to heal it.  Some of them will just prescribe medication to dull your pain, or to make you more amiable to those around you.    Go ahead, ask your secular counselor, “How many people have you healed?”  Most of them will just become indignant that you dared to ask.  It will be a rare one that will pull out a chart of success.  If you want a bandage then don’t look any further, but if you want healing from the pain you need to look for “The Healer.”

You see, God made you.  So He is the only one who can fix you.  You have been running from Him and blaming Him for everything that is going wrong, but you don’t want to give in to Him.  You don’t want to give up your control to Him.  You think you can do everything yourself.  You have really become a god in your own eyes.  You da man!  (Or da woman!)  So everything goes wrong, and you get ugly.  Well, how has that worked for you so far?  You are getting mad at me right now for saying this, aren’t you?

You are probably thinking, “How dare this person talk to me like this!  Don’t you know who I am?”

I don’t know who you are, but I do care who you are, and I know someone else who cares a lot more even than I do.  I could sugar coat this for you, but candy isn’t what you need right now.  Help is what you need, and help is real.

Help is simple for you today, but it isn’t easy.  It would be easy to turn your back one more time on God and walk away.  Click the button and you are gone.  But you have done that before, and the anger never went away.  The anger is still with you.  Your relationships are in shambles and your pain is increasing.  What do you have to lose?  Your pride?  What has that done for you lately anyway?  You may as well give that up to God while you are at it.  Jesus wants to take all of that heaviness right now.  Why not let him have it?  What do you have to lose?

Say a simple prayer with me.  Begin the healing.  This prayer is going to take a huge burden off of you.  It is the first step to really overcoming this anger.  Once you say it, you will belong to Jesus.  Then your problems are His problems, and He is going to help you overcome them.  You need someone in your corner.  You need someone who understands you.  You can do this.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Dear Heavenly Father,
OK.  I admit it.  I have been trying to do everything all by myself and I have acted like I didn’t need You.  I am sorry.  I have done a lot of things wrong in my life.  Please forgive me all of my sins.  I ask You Jesus, come into my life and make me whole.  I give You that empty spot in me.  I give You every void.  I give You my anger.  I give You my pride.  I give You my whole life.  Jesus help me to overcome this and be my friend forever.  Holy Spirit fill me up to overflowing and baptize me.  I ask You to give me your fruit of peace and joy and love as evidence of Your presence in my life.  Be my guide, my teacher, and my counselor.  Help me to grow in You so that I will be strong and mighty and have that fulfillment in my own life.  In the name of Jesus I command anger to leave me!  I thank God right now that I am healed and set free in Jesus’ Name I pray.  Amen”

So now what just happened?

The Bible says that when you confess Jesus with your mouth you become born again.  You were not born again in a natural way.  You were born again in a spiritual way.  Your spirit just came to life!  You are a new creation.  But this is not the end of your journey.  It is just the beginning.  Now you will want to get strong in the Lord.  Why?

Because if you remain a spiritual baby the devil is going to continue kicking you around.  The Bible tells us in John 10:10 that he came to steal, kill and destroy.  Do you want to stay weak and remain his target?  You see, he can’t get your soul, once you have asked Jesus into your life, and he is a bit upset about that.  But the next best thing for him is to keep you spiritually weak, so that you will not influence anyone else to become a follower of Jesus.  He wants you to keep acting like an angry, prideful, mean-mouthed jerk.  He doesn’t want you to be a victorious Christian who is full of joy and peace like the Bible helps you to be.  He wants you to weak, defeated, and miserable so that your life will not bring glory to God and nobody will listen to you talk when you mention Jesus.  And everyone runs from you or barely tolerates you when you talk about anything.  Satan wants you to be a hypocrite.  Don’t let him get away with it!

Don’t be a mediocre Christian who you can barely tell from any other miserable person on the street.  Let God heal all of those broken areas.  It doesn’t take much effort, just a little learning and growing.  Here are a few simple steps to help you get started:

The Next Step
 
1.  Read the Word
 
     Some people think the Bible is a big ugly rule book, but in reality the Bible is God’s love letter to you.  If you were a father who loved his kids you would want them to know how to have the best things in life.  You would want to protect them from the things that would hurt them and you would want to encourage them.  That is what the Bible is all about.
     Start by reading the book of John.  It is a wonderful story of how Jesus walked this earth and it will really bless you.  Then try Luke and Acts.  You will be captivated by the love that the Father has for you.  If you do not have a Bible let us know.  We can help you get one.
 
 
2.  Pray
   
Jesus has been waiting for this day for you to come to Him.  He is excited to hear from you.  Begin to pray.  Just talk to Him like you would talk to anyone else.  Praise Him and thank Him for all that you have and all that you are.  Thank Him for dying for you on  the cross.  Let Him know how you are feeling.  It is alright to tell God that you are tired, angry, or frustrated.  He understands your pain as well as your triumphs.  Don’t be afraid to tell Him what you think.  But then ask Him what He thinks.  Ask Him to show you His way in the situation.  It does not matter if you get answers immediately or if you get goose bumps.  Just ask Him for direction and that direction will show up.  Go ahead and ask for His peace and for the fulfillment of His promises.

Learn to pray out loud.  Yes, God can hear you in your head.  But prayers of faith are always out loud.  Also you need to pray out loud so that the devil, who can not read your mind, know that he has lost all power over your life.  This is a way of resisting his influence, and the Bible tells us in the book of James that if we resist him, he will flee from us!  Sounds good, doesn’t it?
 
3.  Come meet with other believers
 
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  In other words, come together.  The devil is a wolf who loves to devour a lone sheep.  He is just waiting for you to get alone so that he can bug you with doubt, make you angry and steel your joy.  He wants to whisper in your ear, “Nothing really happened,”  “You are still the same,” “You are unworthy,” and other such lies from the pit.  He wants to use fear to keep you away from the body of Christ where you will get strong enough to kick his butt.  He wants to build distrust in you toward other believers so you will not gain relationships that will help you on your walk to victory.  He will tell you, “they are all a bunch of hypocrites at that church,” and “they don’t really accept you for who you are.”  Recognize his tactics and take a stand against him.

It is true that there are sinners in the church.  There should be.  The church is meant to be a spiritual hospital where the spiritually sick come for healing and restoration.  There are no perfect people anywhere but we serve a perfect God.  He is well able to use even us imperfect people, and He may even use you and I in spite of our shortcomings if we will obey Him and do as He asks us to do. 
 
Go to church, learn to be the church wherever you go and be an enemy to the enemy.  There are people out there who are just like you and they need Jesus.  This is how you will become strong enough to tell them what Christ has done in you.  He is beginning such a miracle in you.  Grow strong!
 
We welcome you to attend with us at New Life Valley Ministries.  We have home churches being established all across Canada and beyond.  To attend or host one of our home groups give us a call or an email today.  If we are not yet having a service in your community, we would be happy to recommend a vibrant and life giving church in your area.  So please contact us and let us know about your new commitment to follow Christ.  We want to help you and pray for you. 
 
Our Head Office phone number is 403-933-7804 and our email address is pk “at” newlifevalleyministries.com 

We also have some great blogs for women and men.  Check them out!  
www.destinymen.blogspot.com and www.destinywomen.blogspot.com

Welcome to the kingdom of God!