Daily Devotional with Dr. Duane Brooks
December 14, 2017
James 1:19-20
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
New International Version (NIV)
               What makes you angry today?  Disciples of Jesus are not immune to anger.  James and John the sons of thunder asked if they could call down fire on a village in Samaria.  Jesus said, “No!”  Some things in our world make us angry and they should.  Unchecked though, our anger can be corrosive to our souls and explosive to the souls of others.  So what are we to do?
                When we are angry, we do well to wait before we speak.  In contrast with James’s words, we tend to be quick to speak and slow to listen.  Better to be quick to listen and slow to speak.  What if we put this into practice?  Cultivate silence today.  Hear the other person out.  Solomon wrote, “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” (Proverbs 29:11).
                Push the pause button when you feel anger coming on.  It is safe to tell God about our anger, but not immediately to share it with others.  God, too, gets angry at sin.  But we are not God.  Not much of my anger is really righteous.  Our human anger will not produce the righteousness that God desires.  God rarely enacts his good purpose through the explosive anger of his people.  On the other hand, his love working through us accomplishes much.   What is God’s love doing in you today?  Tell someone about it!
Pray with me:
Father, show us the source of our anger.  Calm us down with your spirit of kindness and reconciliation.  When we have been hurt, help us not to hurt others.  Give us anger at the right times at the right things.  Make us like Jesus today, in every way, we pray, in Jesus’ name.  Amen.
I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses.  You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link  http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/.  As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God. 
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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