Devotional Time with God

Hot tempers start fights; a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.

Proverbs 15:18

I often struggle with this verse.  I’m hot tempered, by nature. I was brought up in a family that yells and screams. Consequently, I yell and scream when I fight with my wife – and, unfortunately, I do tend to yell at my child, too.  A hot temper is not a good character trait. It’s not a Christian thing to do. It’s definitely not a good mark of leadership.

I need the spirit to cool me down.  I need God’s grace to bring peace to my heart. I can only pray that Jesus fills my spirit, to control my mind, and keep my body in check.

I need to calm down.

Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.  Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:14-16

From Crosswalk.com website, I came across this acronym RISE that pretty much described what I need to do to grow up in Christ:

1. Reduce: There are just some stuff I don’t need in abundance, such as chocolates, sugar, beef steaks, baked goods, television, etc.
2. Increase: I need to exercise more. I got to move my muscles, get in shape. I need to wake up early enough to read my bible and talk to God more often.
3. Substitute: Instead of spending too much time in front of the computer or TV, I can go visit a friend, or volunteer at church.  Instead of going out to eat all the time, I cook at home most of the time.
4. Eliminate: Going to the movie theaters just sucked a lot of money and time. Need to stop going there and just enjoy a nice DVD at home with the family – and pause/stop the movie whenever I want.

The point is to get my into my devotional with God, more often.  I need to be less concern of this world’s issues and politics.  God has everything under control.  He’s got what I need.  I will grow when I depend on His power and focus on Him.