Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): We welcome you to this broadcast of Power Walk Ministries with Dr. Paul Cannings, senior pastor of Living Word Fellowship Church in Houston, Texas. Pastor Cannings also serves as founder of Power Walk Ministries. To address the hate in speech and the violence we see all too often these days, Pastor Cannings brings us this series called Character Builders to challenge us to consider that hate is not of God. Through scripture, he urges us to deal with any anger that has taken root in our lives in his message, Overcoming Hate.

Dr. Paul Cannings: It is easy to hate when you have a reason to. For example, if a person has a spouse that goes out and commits adultery, and it has been secretly taking place while they've been living with that spouse, there could be a lot of anger and bitterness that comes out of that. There is a reason to hate. When there has been racism for years, many times the church has not spoken up enough or said enough, and so it has just proliferated. Now people feel that they should be angry, that they have a right to be angry, and they have a right to hate.

None of these things, even though they are ugly and difficult to deal with emotionally, should lead us to hate. Hate is not of God; hate is of Satan. The Bible describes for us how important it is to not let that anger move to hate because hate is destructive. It is first destructive to the person who hates because of what it does to their relationship with God. When that happens, the power of God that needs to operate in that person's life for productive results is now hampered.

Let's examine today why that is the case. Let's walk our way through a time when people had a reason to be upset. There was so much false doctrine trying to penetrate the church that it was easy for people to become resistant toward it, especially John, who was known to be the Son of Thunder. How do we function, and why is it important for us to love? Is it just because it's the nice Christian thing to do? Is it just because it pleases the Lord? Why is love one of the fruit of the Spirit?

John tells us in 1 John 2:9, and I want us to work our way through this so that we grow in this process, or the anger we feel will alienate us from God when we need Him most to overcome the pain. How do we live in the midst of this and display something that takes work, energy, determination, and focus? He tells us in verse 9, "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now." He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.

He says in verse 11, "But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." Sometimes it is not anger toward people or situations; sometimes it is feeling a sense of anger toward God. How do we deal with that inner pain? He is saying that to not deal with it is to choose to live in darkness and to choose to stumble all over ourselves, making bad decisions from that point forward.

What is he saying when you compare light and darkness? What is this light? The word light here literally is a light. That's why Jesus is the light. When the new heavens and the new earth come, He is the light. There is no sun or moon because He just keeps shining. When we come to verse 5 of chapter 1, he explains to us what the light is. He says, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

God, by His very nature, is light. Yes, it's something that doesn't stop shining, but it also means righteousness in the Bible. Light is when something makes more sense based on God's word. Light is when the Holy Spirit brings to light God's word so that we now understand what it means; it is illuminated. Light in the Bible is also referred to in James 1:17 as the Father of Lights, meaning the revelation of God's word becomes clearer and more explicit when we continue to walk in His word.

He says in verse 6, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness," we are violating the word of God. We don't care to do what the word of God says because we're angry. We have a reason to be angry. We are feeling hate on the inside. There is bitterness, resentment, and even malice against someone. We feel it is justified because of what has happened for centuries, what has happened in a marriage, or what has happened when you couldn't even say goodbye to a loved one because a virus took both your father and mother at the same time.

There are a whole lot of things that can happen where you are left with the pain of losing two people all at once, and you are now frustrated with God. When we come to those things in our lives and we choose to walk in them, we choose to let them control how we operate, how we think, how we function, and how we are going to live toward that person or toward that situation. It leads us into darkness when we don't choose to make it a lifestyle pattern or a habit to live in a path that leads to obeying God's word and submitting to His will.

I am choosing to make a decision to understand how God wants me to operate in a situation. Let me give you an example. Joseph's brothers are before him. They did him wrong. These were his own brothers. He didn't decide for his father to love him and make him a coat of many colors. Joseph is there because his dad sends him to them. His brothers chose to put him in a dry well and leave him there to die. That is an ugly way to die: dehydration and bugs all over you.

They literally said later on in Genesis that they heard him screaming for help and didn't do anything. They heard him beg them not to let this happen, and they still did it. Could you imagine hearing your own brother screaming and begging you not to let this happen, and you still turn your back and walk away knowing what you're doing? That is the kind of hatred they had toward him. Joseph now has these brothers in front of him. Joseph is powerful now. He could just say "kill them" and they're dead.

There is no court hearing. Joseph is in the power of Pharaoh; he could just say "kill them." This was so painful to him that when he sees his younger brother, he has to run out of the room into another room to cry. Then he has to wash himself up to come back in to look right. That is how much pain this caused him. You're not talking about a situation where Joseph loved the Lord so much that everything worked out just fine and he just felt the Spirit of God working in him so happily that he hugged his brothers. That's not what you're seeing; you are seeing pain.

What Joseph says in chapter 45 of Genesis is, "What you meant for evil, God meant for good." Don't forget that whatever somebody intends for evil, the Bible says God can work it for good for those who love Him and for those who keep His word. Joseph kept God's word. That is what God is talking about here. When that hate comes, make a choice to walk in the light. When we make a choice to walk in the light, we make a choice for God to rescue us and for God to redeem us.

The anger that has led to the hate we feel does not consume us. Rather, it empowers us to become stronger in the faith, more committed to the principles of God, and more dependent on God to rescue us. Those emotions aren't going away, as we saw in the case of Joseph. He cried and cried; they didn't go away. That's why forgiveness is not "the pain is gone" forgiveness. Forgiveness is literally working past the pain. Jesus is on the cross. In His obedience to God, He is in pain.

Because of His obedience to God, He says, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." He looks at the thief and says, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." That is making a choice to walk in the light. When we walk in the light as He is in the light, it leads to what we want ultimately: fellowship with one another. Verse 5 of chapter 1 says, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Why is he saying it's not the truth? Because the truth he is talking about—and we'll pick this up more tomorrow as we continue to discuss overcoming hate and anger—ends up letting those things become a great benefit to experiencing God. He says "truth" here. Why does he pick up truth? He's going to tell us in chapter 2 verse 4, "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

Keep not his commandments. What did David say? "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." In other words, I would choose to preserve in God's word than to run with my anger and my hate. I choose to rest in what God's word is saying. Notice he's saying "truth" now, he's not saying "word." "Word" is when somebody tells you your car gets 44 miles to the gallon. "Truth" is when you drive it and you realize that it is true. In the reality, the word now becomes truth.

When a person walks in how the word of God works itself out in day-to-day situations—that's why it's a walk and it's truth—they are working out the word of God in real-life situations every single day. When they walk in this truth, the person has come to experience God. How did they come to experience God? As a result of them walking in this truth, the Holy Spirit guides them into truth, the Holy Spirit convicts them when they are wrong, and the Holy Spirit illuminates the word of God.

The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers them. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. The more a person walks in how the word of God works out in day-to-day living, the more that person experiences the work of the Holy Spirit. As the person experiences the work of the Holy Spirit, they come to know God. They come to experience Him intimately and powerfully, and that helps to deal with the pain of hate, resentment, and anger that can otherwise overcome and overwhelm their life.

We'll pick this up again tomorrow as we continue this process. No matter if it's relationships, no matter what is taking place in our communities today, and no matter if it's sometimes just dealing with a frustration toward God, we can overcome the hatred and anger that we may feel in the power of God. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Amen, Dr. Cannings. Anger is destructive to the person who hates. Now friend, if hate has consumed your life because you don't have a personal relationship with Christ, then why not reach out to us and give us a call? Our phone number is 281-260-7402. Again, that is 281-260-7402. For a copy of today's message, please visit us online at PowerWalkMinistries.org.

Dr. Paul Cannings: We do need you to partner with us, folks. You could do that in several ways. Yes, please pray for us. We travel, we train pastors and their wives, and do much in ministry. Pray for us that God keeps our health and strength and continues to bless this ministry by providing us His wisdom, knowledge, and opportunities to serve Him. You can also become involved in the ministry by participating on our website and buying books.

It's a secure place, so you don't have to worry about anything being stolen from you, and I pray that you would participate that way. Another way is to just become one of our partners and supporters. Join with others who partner with us to see this ministry be what God wants it to be, desires it to be, and has blessed it to be in the few years that God has allowed us to serve you. I pray you would become our partner and be active in what God is doing in Power Walk Ministries.

Guest (Male): That's PowerWalkMinistries.org. We hope you'll take the time to learn more about us. We value your prayers for our ministry as we serve not only in our community, but nationally and internationally as well. And now remember, dealing with our negative emotions such as anger and bitterness and exposing them to the light of Christ will enable us to heal, overcome them, and walk in freedom.