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daily devotional
Evening ...
Lamentations 3:21
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
Memory is frequently the bondslave of despondency. Despairing minds call to
remembrance every dark foreboding in the past, and dilate upon every gloomy
feature in the present; thus memory, clothed in sackcloth, presents to the mind
a cup of mingled gall and wormwood. There is, however, no necessity for this.
Wisdom can readily transform memory into an angel of comfort. That same
recollection which in its left hand brings so many gloomy omens, may be trained
to bear in its right a wealth of hopeful signs. She need not wear a crown of
iron, she may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all spangled with stars.
Thus it was in Jeremiah's experience: in the previous verse memory had brought
him to deep humiliation of soul: "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and
is humbled in me"; and now this same memory restored him to life and comfort.
"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." Like a two-edged sword, his
memory first killed his pride with one edge, and then slew his despair with the
other. As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more wisely,
we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match which would
instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort. There is no need for God to create
a new thing upon the earth in order to restore believers to joy; if they would
prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present;
and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their
candle would soon shine as aforetime. Be it ours to remember the lovingkindness
of the Lord, and to rehearse His deeds of grace. Let us open the volume of
recollection which is so richly illuminated with memorials of mercy, and we
shall soon be happy. Thus memory may be, as Coleridge calls it, "the
bosom-spring of joy," and when the Divine Comforter bends it to His service, it
may be chief among earthly comforters.
Morning ...
Psalm 45:7
Thou hatest wickedness.
"Be ye angry, and sin not." There can hardly be goodness in a man if he be
not angry at sin; he who loves truth must hate every false way. How our Lord
Jesus hated it when the temptation came! Thrice it assailed Him in different
forms, but ever He met it with, "Get thee behind me, Satan." He hated it in
others; none the less fervently because He showed His hate oftener in tears of
pity than in words of rebuke; yet what language could be more stern, more
Elijah-like, than the words, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer." He hated
wickedness, so much that He bled to wound it to the heart; He died that it
might die; He was buried that He might bury it in His tomb; and He rose that He
might for ever trample it beneath His feet. Christ is in the Gospel, and that
Gospel is opposed to wickedness in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in
fair garments, and imitates the language of holiness; but the precepts of
Jesus, like His famous scourge of small cords, chase it out of the temple, and
will not tolerate it in the Church. So, too, in the heart where Jesus reigns,
what war there is between Christ and Belial! And when our Redeemer shall come
to be our Judge, those thundering words, "Depart, ye cursed" which are, indeed,
but a prolongation of His life-teaching concerning sin, shall manifest His
abhorrence of iniquity. As warm as is His love to sinners, so hot is His hatred
of sin; as perfect as is His righteousness, so complete shall be the
destruction of every form of wickedness. O thou glorious champion of right, and
destroyer of wrong, for this cause hath God, even Thy God, anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
James 1:19-20
(19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath: (20) For the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.
God wants us to be quick and ready to hear Him and His truth. As
disciples of Christ, we should always remember that we are engaged in learning
from God the Father and Jesus Christ, and a good attitude is paramount in
getting the most out of our lessons.
Being "slow to wrath" is learning to restrain our tempers and any wrong
attitudes. Those that allow anger to trouble them have the tendency to break
the law rather than keep it and to contend with ministers and brethren. When
one allows wrath or a poor attitude into his thinking, doubts about God's
instructions creep in, and disobedience often results. The wrath of man will
not produce the right course of life and love of the truth that God requires.
The person who jumps to angry conclusions is often one who hears God's
Word from the Bible but finds that it does not fit with his thinking or
background. For whatever reason, he initially rejects what he hears. This is a
hasty attitude, and it is one God does not like.
u Proverbs 14:29: He who is slow to wrath has great understanding,
but he who is impulsive [hasty of spirit, KJV] exalts folly.
u Proverbs 21:5: The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but
those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
u Proverbs 29:20: Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more
hope of a fool than for him.
u Ecclesiastes 5:2: Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your
heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on the
earth; therefore let your words be few.
God understands the changes demanded of us by our calling. He knows our
backgrounds and that we have much to learn in following His way. He knows some
conflicts will catch us off guard; there will be times when it comes down to
His way versus our way.
John O. Reid
From Having a Right Attitude
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