What Glenn Writes

Have you ever read a verse in Scripture and just have something pop out at you? I’m talking about a true light bulb moment when you read something you read several times before, probably had someone read it to you from the pulpit, and for some silly reason you never saw or understood the Word in the way that all of a sudden it lights up for you. I believe this is the Holy Spirit working in our lives to help us understand, and I believe He did just that with me.

You see, I’ve read Romans 12:18-21 several times and heard countless teachings on how we are to respond to our enemies. You know the tune, “Don’t take revenge”, “Live at peace”, “Love your enemy”, and blah, blah, blah from so many sermons going in one ear and out the other, because really these verses just can’t be directed at me.

Let’s take a look at Romans 12:18-21:

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Seriously? I mean, really? This can’t be directed at me, right? I mean, come on… feed my enemy? Give him something to drink when he is thirsty? Ok, I like the idea of heaping the burning coals on his head, but even I can see that is not a literal aspect of this verse. What about all the other “be nice” stuff, though?

You want to know the light bulb moment here for me? I read this and it all of a sudden hit me as to what it is really saying here:

Get a life.

I know you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Glenn. I just reread that passage and I’m not seeing those three words. How about jumping out of that looney bin and giving us the 411 on where you’re pulling all that together…”

(Well, you might be thinking that…)

First of all, when you are totally ticked at somebody, your anger towards them consumes your thoughts and much of your time. You start having those false conversations with them in your mind, all the things you wish you said or all the things you wish you had the nerve to say next time you see them. Am I right? Yeah, I tend to be the same way…

And you know, when we get that way we completely miss everything else going on around us. We walk right by others who are smiling, because dang it… how can they be so cheerful when we are mad? We miss their friendship. We miss that nice muffin or cinnamon roll they were going to offer us, but since we were so mad we walked right by them with an angry stride.

We miss our children telling us a joke they just made up.

We miss the sunrise waking up the day.

We miss the full moon ushering in the night.

We miss the joy and laughter of life because we allow anger to control our thoughts and actions. We become prisoners to the thoughts of revenge and settling the score, while life all around us continues to pass by with moments gone forever and never to be seen again.

Yeah, I’m seeing the three words all over again: Get a life!

I learned if I allow my thoughts of revenge to take root and become an action, I will become guiltier than the person who hurt me or ticked me off. I will fall into disobedience and give my enemy reason to further torment me. I actually give them power over me when I allow the thoughts of revenge to linger, and I hand them the key to my prison when I take action in revenge.

No words of revenge will ever give you as much peace as forgiving those who hurt you or made you mad. No action of vengeance will ever bring you joy like being nice to someone trying to hurt you (and the fact that it confuses them is a nice plus, too).
 
Jesus commands us to love those that have made themselves our enemies by doing three things: 

• We are to bless them.
• We are to do good to them.
• We are to pray for them.

No, it is not easy. No, it is not natural. However, it is so liberating! Think about all the time and energy you have wasted in your angry thoughts about your enemy… isn’t it time to get a life?

I’m praying about this in my own life, and especially in the lives of my family. Let me know if you are struggling with this issue in your life and I will include you in my prayers. Or, contact me if you want to pray together – over the phone or over coffee (for you locals).

Glenn Sasscer

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www.glennsasscer.com

I did not post an article for the last three days due to a funeral in the family. My Aunt Adeline passed over the weekend. I was in Tennessee to pay my respects to the family, visit with their friends, and share in their memories of one of my favorite aunts.

While there were many somber moments, there were a few blessings in the journey. I enjoyed meeting many of my younger cousins I had never met, catching up with older cousins, and thoroughly enjoying the southern hospitality of the community. I also enjoyed listening to my aunt’s pastor share prayers for the family each night at her showing and at her service.

I found a southern pastor who knows the definition of brevity in prayer.

Now, I don’t mean to dog on any southern pastors or long-winded prayer sayers… this is not my focus or point today. I know there are pastors everywhere who can pray up a storm for hours without really saying too much, and there are pastors who say more in ten seconds than I can say all day long. The point is not so much the length of the prayer as it is the focus and intent of the prayer.

› Continue reading

If you read yesterday’s article, then you know I am dealing with a bad case of poison oak. The itching is enough to drive me out of my mind. I know I am not supposed to scratch it and I can resist for a matter of time… but then the incredible urge for relief hits me and I find myself clawing at my skin.

This is a true battle of self-control against my flesh. I know what I should do and I am fighting, literally, what my flesh craves… to be itched. › Continue reading

I never considered itching to be worse than pain… until now.

I have poison oak on my arms and the itching is at an all time high, setting records for my endurance abilities. I even said the words this morning, “I would rather have pain over this itching.  I can ignore pain, the itching is driving me batty!”

Forget water-boarding, fear, intimidation, or pain… interrogators should use itching to get people to talk. Man, I would have been singing like a canary about the second day into this ordeal. › Continue reading

We picked up my daughters from a week of camp on this past Saturday. My youngest daughter received a “Top Camper” award while my oldest daughter served her first year on staff at the camp. Both are awesome accomplishments in this Dad’s book.

This camp is unique in the staff assignments and volunteers. Many of the volunteers on staff were campers when they were younger. Some of the volunteers still take a week of vacation and travel from as far as Colorado to Ohio to serve on staff. I was able to recognize the staff member who helped coax my oldest daughter from leaving my side six years ago and joining in with the rest of the campers when it was her first year. › Continue reading

Yesterday, I gave some encouragement about using your imagination when reading Scripture to gain more depth and understanding, although with the caution of not embellishing the truth. The real point here is getting into the Word of God and learning more about Him and our relationship with Him.

When I first started dating my beautiful wife, Karen, I wanted to know everything I possibly could know about her. I wanted to see the pictures of her when she was growing up. I wanted to hear about her falling asleep while playing hide-and-go-seek and the police having to be called to find her. I wanted to hear about her learning to drive a stick shift. I wanted to hear about her happiest moments and her sad moments. As we were beginning our relationship together, there was something inside me that wanted to know everything I possibly could know about this woman. › Continue reading

God blessed me with an active imagination. I believe our imaginations are a gift from God, for we have the ability to see, hear, and feel things that are not there, or place ourselves in the midst of stories and parables as Jesus taught His disciples. Jesus was using the imaginations of those He taught with parables to help them understand the principles He was teaching.

When I consider Scripture, I gain a far greater understanding by using my imagination to see what Scripture is portraying about our historic truths. When I think about Adam and Eve in the Garden, I picture plants and trees in perfect bloom, vibrant colors, fresh air, and the sounds of birds or other wildlife. When I think about Noah and his family in the ark with all the animals, I picture the crowded boat, the smell of the wood and the animals, the sounds of the waves outside, and I try to experience the moment… the feeding of the animals, the cleaning of the stalls, the daily shores… and I try to understand the experience. This gives me an appreciation for the faith of Noah and his family. › Continue reading

I learned to take even the simplest of phrases back to the source of the phrase for better understanding, especially quotes from Scripture. A good example is the phrase, “money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

This is your basic, word for word quote, straight from Scripture, but it is also taken out of context. Let’s look at what comes just before this quote in 1 Timothy 6:10:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil… › Continue reading