BBD 03.15.21 Chill Out! (Classic)
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>
Classic from 2002
The Burning Bush Devotional
15 March 2021
Chill Out!
And do
not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:30-32.
To "chill" in
American teen vernacular means to "calm
down." "Chill" has
evolved from the ancient "be cool," to "chill
out," to simply "chill." Apparently,
there are more and more people who need to avail themselves of a good "chill."
In
Lowell, Massachusetts a 38-year-old woman became enraged, and beat up an older
woman (51-years-old), because the older woman had brought one too many items to
the 12-or-less express checkout counter.
In St.
Paul, Minnesota, early one Saturday morning at a bar, John Haider became more
than a little upset with a man he thought was staring at him. So he called a
friend, and had his friend bring him a gun. Haider, then shot Patrick Murray in
the head. St. Paul Police Sgt. Bruce Wynkoop said, "The
best we can get is that the guy was angry because the victim was staring at
him, he apparently doesn't like people staring at him." Apparently!
Then
there is the man in Terrace, British Columbia who was so upset by the violence
in "Lord of the Rings," that he smashed the
theater’s cash register, soda fountain, and a plant in the lobby!
Malice,
is the desire to cause harm, to come to someone else. Wrath goes beyond thought
to action - actions of violent anger and rage. These things the apostle Paul
makes clear grieves the Holy Spirit, and should be "put away from you." Not only
should they be "put away from
you," but those emotions and actions, should
be replaced with something better. Kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness
should be our nature, and the source of our actions.
How do
you "chill?" The apostle tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think about
things that are good, to meditate on these things. Instead of dwelling and
becoming angry, about all the bad things that may happen, immediately
concentrate on the good. God’s Word is a powerful weapon to use when events or
things happen that cause you to experience anger or even rage. As you draw
closer to God (James 4:8), He will draw closer to you, and more and more of the fruit of the
Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) will become evident in your life. As you draw closer to God, you
will find yourself experiencing and demonstrating "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self control."
So, the
next time someone stares at you, or checks out with one too many items in the
express line, just "chill out!"
Copyright © 2002 - 2020. Ed
Wrather. The Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On
June 8, 1998 the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Ed Wrather began writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of
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to prison facilities throughout the United States and Canada.
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