Angry God?
A day is coming when people will sing,
"I praise you, Lord! You were angry with me,
but now you comfort me and are angry no longer." ~ Isaiah 12:1 (GNT)
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
We don't relate to the Lord as an angry God who needs to be made happy, but as the loving and generous God who sets us up to receive the gift of his salvation.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you, for you are loving and kind. I don't know how it is that I'm so afraid of you.
Somehow I've gotten the idea that you are in a constant state of anger -- except when I do something good --
and you stop being angry with me for a few minutes. That is not only bad theology but it is insulting to you.
Thank you for your understanding and your willingness to work with dense people like me. With your help I'm hoping to learn to live in your love. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
