We have seen many patients who suffer the symptoms to physical and
mental (including emotional) illnesses with the root traced back to
uncontrollable anger (and other emotions) and prolonged inability in
coping with the related stress. Today this blogger is led to share this
teaching by Andrew Wommack. I take the liberty to share the the links
for audio download. We all need this teaching. Let’s listen together
and be rid of the lies and deceptions that have hurt many of us for so
long. By now many are aware that substance (alcohol, drugs, many forms
of addictions including excessive food, other forms of excessive and
immoral sensual gratifications, anything that hurt and harm your own
conscience, that some have resorted and to which are bound in bondage)
abuses can only bring further damages in your bodies and your souls.
Please listen and be healed from uncontrollable anger (rage) and
unharnessed emotions. One very good related teaching is Andrew Wommack’s
teaching on Spirit, Soul and Body too.
Anger Management by Andrew Wommack
Every person deals with anger. There is no escaping it. But are
we dealing with our anger the way God’s Word instructs us to? There is a
type of anger that is godly, but even the more common, ungodly anger is
very misunderstood. It’s not people and circumstances that make us
angry. In this teaching, Andrew shares truths from God’s Word on the
subject of anger that are as rare as gold. An ungodly anger is the
social norm today. Psychology’s diagnosis of the cause and treatment for
anger is totally off-base. God’s Word tells us all we need to know to
manage our anger in a godly way.
Harnessing Your Emotions by Andrew Wommack
We all have emotions, but do they rule us or do we rule them?
Psychologists and Christians alike agree that actions are the result of
inner thoughts and feelings, emotions. But that is where the agreement
ends. The Word says that sin is conceived in our emotions. If that is
true, then the Word must also give us a way to harness our emotions.
Andrew’s teaching will present you with a new perspective on emotions.
Links:
http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1044
http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1005
Anger Management (original article by By Andrew Wommack)Have
you ever been mad at God? Certainly, everyone has had anger rise up
against a person. And there are a lot of people who are angry with
themselves. Anger is a problem all of us have to deal with.
Many people come from backgrounds where strife was just normal. Our
culture is so full of envy and strife that it’s become part of life. We
don’t realize how deadly it is. But realize it or not, strife will kill
you. Listen to what James had to say about envy and strife:
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” (James 3:16)
Think about what this verse is saying for a moment. Envy and strife
bring EVERY evil work. That is quite a revelation! You could be giving
tithes and offerings and trusting God in the area of your finances, but
if you’re living in strife, you are opening the door to poverty. You
could be trying to take care of your body and meditating on healing
scriptures, yet envy and strife will negate all of that and bring
sickness and disease.
No one who is trusting God for victory in any
area of their life can ignore dealing with anger and expect to succeed.
It’s that important.
This doesn’t mean we are supposed to be emotionless or totally
passive people. There is a proper use of anger. If we don’t understand
this and try to completely do away with anger, we will not succeed, and
we will become passive in a way that allows Satan to run over us. There
is a godly purpose for anger.
GODLY ANGER
Think of this: Every person on the planet has a temper. Why do you
think that is? Do you think the devil created anger? No way! Satan never
created anything. He doesn’t have the power to create. All he does is
pervert the godly things God created.
It’s God who gave us the capacity to get angry. Anger has a godly
function. But with most of us, it’s been perverted. We don’t need to get
delivered of a temper; we need to learn how to manage that anger and
direct it the way God intended — not toward people, but toward the devil
and evil.
There is a well-known passage of Scripture that talks about a
positive use of anger. Yet this passage is most often interpreted in a
way that loses the true intent of what Paul was saying. Ephesians
4:26-27 says,
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil”.
This is usually interpreted as, “God knows you are only human, and
you will sometimes get angry. That just happens. But it doesn’t become
sin unless you let it persist. So make sure you confess and forsake your
anger every night before you go to bed.”
There is no doubt that getting over anger quickly has great benefit.
Confessing and forsaking anger before you go to bed every night is a
good thing to do. But that is not what this verse is teaching. It’s
nearly the opposite.
Paul is saying there is a godly anger that is not sin. God gives us a
command to get angry with a righteous anger. Then he says, “Let not the
sun go down on your wrath”. What happens when the sun goes down?
Typically we stop working. The day winds down, and we rest and go to
sleep. Paul is saying, “Don’t let this godly anger ever stop working.
Keep it awake. Stir it up and keep it active!” Then verse 27 continues,
“Neither give place to the devil”. If we don’t keep a godly anger active
within us, we are giving place to the devil. What a revelation!
There is a righteous use of anger. Not understanding this has
rendered many Christians so passive, they don’t get mad at the evil in
this world. Therefore, Satan is having a free shot at everything we hold
dear and holy. Our society is under attack, and our righteous anger
that God has given us as a weapon is kept in its sheath and not used.
This needs to change.
Look at what the Word of God has to say about a right use of anger:
“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil”. (Psalm 97:10)
“The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate”. (Prov. 8:13)
“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom”. (Psalm 111:10)
“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge”. (Prov. 1:7)
“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good”. (Rom. 12:9)
These are just a few of the scriptures that speak of a righteous use
of hate and anger. Look again at Proverbs 8:13: “Pride and arrogancy,
and the evil way, and the froward [literally, perverse] mouth, do I
hate”. Do we really hate those things? We should, but Christians as a
whole do not hate evil. We don’t like evil, but few would argue that we
literally hate these things. Some Christians don’t believe that we are
supposed to hate anything, but that’s not what God’s Word says.
Jesus was sinless, but He had hate and anger. In John 2:14-17,
which took place at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, and then
in Mark 11:15-17, which took place the last week of Jesus’ earthly
ministry, Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple. He didn’t
approach them meekly and say, “Guys, I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt any
of you, but I have to do this to obey my Father.” NO! He made a whip
and beat the people and animals and turned over their tables. He was
mad.
Where were the temple guards? I’m sure they were there, but Jesus was
in a holy rage that paralyzed them from action. It’s certain that Jesus
never sinned, but it’s also certain that He got very angry to the point
of action. Therefore, there is a righteous anger. We need to discover
the righteous use of anger and channel all of our aggression in the
proper way. So, there is a right place for anger. But what about the
wrong use of anger? All of us have to deal with getting mad at people.
How do we overcome our unforgiveness and anger toward people?
UNGODLY ANGER
Have you ever prayed that the Lord would remove someone from your
life who makes you angry? Have you ever prayed that your circumstances
would change so that you would be delivered from those things that make
you mad? If you have, you are not alone. But it’s not what others do to
you that makes you angry. You will never be able to remove all
aggravating things and people from your path. That’s unrealistic. Satan
has more than enough people under his control to keep an endless parade
of annoying people coming across your path.
You can’t always change circumstances, and you don’t have the
authority to change others. But you can change what’s on the inside of
you that makes you angry. That’s right.
Our anger comes from the inside, not the outside.
I know most people don’t like that. At first, it’s comforting to think
that it’s what someone else did that made you angry, but that’s not
true. If what other people do makes you angry, then you will always be
angry because there will always be someone that treats you wrong. That
makes you a victim and not a victor.
Accepting responsibility for your ungodly anger puts you in the
driver’s seat. You only have total authority over yourself. You are the
only one that you can really change. If you are trying to remove all the
people and things that make you mad from your path, you will never win.
But if you deal with the things inside you that cause your anger, you
will never lose, regardless of what others do. That’s the example that
Jesus gave us. He was able to look at the very ones who crucified and
mocked Him and say,
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”. (Luke 23:34)
Jesus not only suffered more than any of us ever have, He suffered
more unjustly than we have. As God, He could have come off the cross at
any time and wiped all of His accusers out. Yet He humbled Himself and
even forgave His enemies. Some people think, “Well that was Jesus. I’m
certainly not Jesus.” But Jesus wasn’t the only one who forgave those
who wronged him. Stephen acted just like Jesus in Acts 7:60. As he was
being stoned to death, he knelt down and cried with a loud voice,
“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep”.
Paul commanded us to do the same thing in Ephesians 4:32:
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”.
Not only are we supposed to resist anger, but we are commanded to
forgive those who trespass against us. We can’t control others, but we
can control what’s inside of us that makes us angry. The key is found in
Proverbs 13:10:
“Only by pride cometh contention”.
It’s not what others do to us that makes us angry; it’s the pride inside of us that causes us to get mad. I know that’s not what most people believe, but that’s what God’s Word says. This verse doesn’t say that pride is
one of the major reasons for anger —
it’s the only reason. What a statement!
I ministered this in Pueblo, Colorado, many years ago, and a man came
up to me after the meeting and said, “I’ve got a lot of problems, but
pride isn’t one of them. If anything, I have such low self-esteem that I
hate myself. Yet I have a lot of anger. I just don’t understand how my
pride is the source of my anger.” What this man was missing was a proper
definition of pride.
Many people think of pride only as arrogance. But that’s only one
manifestation of pride. Timidity and shyness are extreme manifestations
of pride.
Pride, at it’s core, is simply self-centeredness or selfishness.Timid and shy people are extremely self-centered people.
I know this to be true because I was an introvert. I couldn’t look at
people in the face and talk to them. I was so consumed with me that I
was always thinking, “What are they going to think of me? Am I going to
make a mistake and look foolish?” That self-centeredness made me shy.
If you have a testimony about what the Lord has done for you that
could help someone, yet you would be timid about getting on radio or
television and sharing it because everyone would be looking at you, then
you have some pride issues that haven’t been settled. You may not be
called to broadcast on radio or television the way I am, but we are all
called to, “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1 Pet.
3:15)
So, pride is not only thinking we are better than others; pride can
be thinking we are worse than others or just being self-conscious. It
doesn’t matter if self is always exalting itself or if it’s debasing
itself. It’s all self-centeredness, which is pride. Like it or not,
understand it or not, pride is the source of all of our anger. As we
deal with our own self-love, anger toward others will be defused. The
only reason we are so easily offended is because we love ourselves so
much. As we die to ourselves, we will be able to love others the way
that Jesus did.
I have a lot more to share on this than what I was able to put into this article. I have a teaching entitled
Anger Management.
This is a three-part album that deals with truths I’ve never heard
anyone else teach. I’m sure others teach this, but it’s certainly not
common. The first teaching, entitled “Godly Anger,” will show you the
proper use of anger. This is necessary in resisting Satan and his evil.
The second teaching, entitled “Ungodly Anger’s Source,” will explain how
self-love is the root of all of our ungodly anger. This is a must for
anyone who struggles with a temper (all of us). The third teaching is
entitled “Anger Toward God, Others, and Self.”
http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/anger_management
Harnessing Your Emotions (original article by By Andrew Wommack)
The Bible teaches us that our thoughts are the determining factor
which controls our actions. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in
his heart, so is he.” Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally minded is
death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Notice that
carnal mindedness doesn’t just tend toward death — it is death!
No one can consistently perform differently than the way they think;
therefore, we cannot change our actions without changing our thinking.
It’s not just what we think about that needs changing, but we must
change our thinking process. Our emotions are linked directly to how we
think.
All people have a perception, or image, on the inside of them of what
they are like. This image is not necessarily based on facts but on
feelings. One negative experience can distort a person’s perception of
themself for a lifetime.
For instance, some people who are beautiful may think of themselves
as ugly or undesirable because of unkind words spoken to them as a
child. Some who achieve great success still see themselves as failures,
which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
To a degree, psychology has correctly diagnosed this problem.
Psychologists use terminology such as “self-esteem” or “identity” in
relating these truths; however, today’s secular wisdom is totally
inadequate to help a person change the inner self image.
First, most people shift the blame for bad self-esteem, or
self-image, to someone else. It has become popular to blame others for
every negative thing in our lives. People often say, “I came from a
dysfunctional family,” “My problems came because I’m part of a minority
group,” “It’s that woman you gave me” (Gen. 3:12). Other people are not
our problem!
All of us have had negative experiences. The choice is ours whether
we become bitter or better as a result of them. For every person who can
claim some dysfunctional behavior because of a traumatic experience in
their life, there are others who have had similar or worse things happen
to them, yet they overcame their circumstances. Why? Because problems
do not dictate failure; we have a choice.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”
God Almighty gave us a choice. God doesn’t make the choice for us, and
Satan can’t make it for us. We have the privilege and responsibility to
choose blessing or cursing.
Placing the blame on others is denying the real problem, and it will
prevent finding a solution. If other people are my problem, I’m in
trouble because God did not give me the ability to control other people.
The devil will always send someone across my path who knows how to hit
my hot button.
If the problem is within me, then there is hope because through
Christ, I can change. This is freedom. Regardless of what others do, I
can prosper through Christ.
After psychology tries to place the blame for your problems on
someone else, they try to bolster your self-esteem by having you focus
on the positive things in your self and minimize the negative
attributes. That’s not what the Bible teaches. Jesus said, “For without
me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
“Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Paul said, “But God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that
are” (1 Cor. 1:27-28).
The Bible teaches that there must be an end to self-esteem before
true service can begin. Christians should not try and store up the
feeble positive attributes of their personalities. That is like trying
to stop the bleeding from an amputated arm with a Band-Aid; it won’t
work for long.
Regardless of how successful or talented we are in ourselves, we will
eventually fail. If nothing else, we will get older someday and will
not be as productive as before. If our self-esteem is rooted in our
accomplishments, then it will ultimately fail. All the security we have
found in ourselves will then come crashing down around us.
The Christian should have Christ-esteem. Just like the Apostle Paul
said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”
(Gal. 2:20).
The secret to victorious Christian living is not found in
self-improvement but in self-denial so that Christ can live through us.
This does not mean that God wants us to have a bad self-image. It
just depends upon which self we are talking about. You see, every
born-again believer has become a new person in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
(Eph. 4:22-24).
The old man is corrupt and, at his best, is incapable of living the
Christian life. This is the self that most people try to patch up and
feel good about. Give it up! We have to die to this old self life with
all its good and bad, and find a new identity in Christ.
The new man is exactly as Jesus is (1 Cor. 6:17)! That’s right. We
are a totally brand-new person in Christ. We have everything that Jesus
has, in our spirits (1 John 4:17). We have a totally new identity in
Christ. Why then would we want to fix up our old selves instead of just
living in our new selves?
If we let the new man dominate us, we’ll walk in power and victory in every area of our lives.
How can you tell if your thoughts and emotions are coming from the
new, born-again self or the old carnal self? God’s Word is the key.
Jesus says in John 6:63, “The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life.” Any thought or emotion that agrees with what
God’s Word says about you is from your new man. Any thought or emotion
that violates God’s Word is from your old man or the devil.
If you are angry at someone, you’re in the flesh (old man). Just
repent and get back in the spirit (new man) where you have love, joy,
and peace (Gal. 5:22). If you are afraid, you’re in the flesh, “for God
hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). Instead of going to God and asking Him to
remove the fear, just step out of the flesh and into the spirit where
there is no fear (1 John 4:18).
This is so simple you have to have someone help you misunderstand it.
The problem is that we have had a lot of help misunderstanding these
simple, biblical truths, but we have a solution.
http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/harnessing_emotions
watch here:
http://www.awmi.net/tv/2004/week19
Andrew’s Book – Spirit, Soul & Body
This book contains the foundational revelation to everything Andrew teaches. It’s a must-read for every believer.
Book Description
Have you ever asked yourself what changed when you were “born again”?
You look in the mirror and see the same reflection – your body hasn’t
changed. You find yourself acting the same and yielding to those same
old temptations – that didn’t seem to change either. So you wonder,
Has anything really changed?
