SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2019 9:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “From
Natural Vices to Supernatural Virtues”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 4:31-32
Message of the verses: “31 Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you,
along with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving
each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
As
promised I want to begin with a short story from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s
commentary on this section, and then move to the meanings of different words in
this section.
“A handsome elderly man
stopped by my study one day and asked me if I would perform a wedding for
him. I suggested that he bring the bride
in so that we might chat together and get better acquainted, since I hesitate
to marry strangers. ‘Before she comes
in,’ he said, ‘let me explain this wedding to you. Both of us have been married before—to each
other! Over thirty years ago, we
separated. Then we did a stupid thing
and got a divorce. I guess we were both
too proud to apologize. Well, all these years
we’ve lived alone, and now we see how foolish we’ve been. Our bitterness has robbed us of the joys of
life, and now we want to remarry and see if the Lord won’t give us a few years
of happiness before we die.’ Bitterness
and anger, usually over trivial things, make havoc of homes, churches, and
friendships.”
John
MacArthur writes:
“Bitterness (pikria) reflects a smoldering
resentment, a brooking grudge-filled attitude.
(See Acts 8:23; Heb. 12:15). It
is the spirit of irritability that keeps a person in perpetual animosity,
making him sour and venemous. Wrath (thumos) has to do with wild rage, the
passion of the moment. Anger (orge) is a more internal smoldering, a
subtle and deep feeling. Clamor (kraduge), is the shout or outcry of
strife, and reflects the public outburst that reveals loss of control. Slander (blasphemia,
from which we get blasphemy) is the ongoing defamation of someone that rises
from a bitter heart. Paul then adds
malice (kakia), the general term for
evil that is the root of all vices. All
of these, he says must ‘be put away from you.’”
I
have mentioned from time to time that one of my prayer requests is that our
church, especially church leadership will be in unity and as one looks at these
different words that Paul writes in verse 31 it can be seen that if these kind
of things happen between believers then disunity could happen. These kind of things weaken relationships
between unbelievers with unbelievers, and worst of all between believer and
believer, so the words that Paul writes at the end of verse thirty-one must be
followed as we must be put away from you, in other words if and when this
happens believers must swallow their pride, and confess their sins to the Lord
and to the offended person so that things can then move forward for the glory
of the Lord.
Now
in our next SD we will begin to look at the other side of these sins, and see
what we are to do as seen in verse “32 And be kind to one another,
tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven
you.” This is a very important verse for
it tells us that Jesus Christ has forgiven you, so you are to forgive others.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I must depend on the Lord in order to
accomplish the things that He desires me to accomplish including having my
heart searched each day in order to keep a short list with the Lord, especially
concerning these types of conflict sins that we have been looking at.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I believe
that humility, and learning humility is a key way for me to stay away from any
of these conflict sins.
Verse to go along with yesterday’s
quote: “He guards the paths of justice,
and preserves the way of His saints” (Proverbs 2:8).
5/16/2019 10:33 AM
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