Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: "Apostle Tom" <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:42:33 -0500
To: pressingon@hotmail.com
Subject: Morning Manna (Aug. 19); BP: Eph. 4:30-32; RBTTY: I Cor. 2; Ps. 103-104
August 19 “Tenderhearted Compassion”
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day
of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil
speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has
forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:30-32
By our actions we can either make the angels rejoice (Lk. 15:10) or the
Savior weep (Jn. 11:35); the choice is ours.
If a stranger in town went to our neighbor’s house or stopped one of
our coworkers on the job and asked, “What kind of a person is he/she?”
(referring to us), what would be their reply? Very considerate?
Thoughtful? Kind? Generous? Or, would their “laundry list” include words
like “hard-to-get-along-with. . .bitter. . .overly-critical. . .
overbearing, etc.”?
Today’s Manna is a hard-hitting one—for it shows how our actions
directly affect the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul had already exhorted his
readers (and us) to strive for unity in the Body (vv.1-6) by properly
utilizing the spiritual gifts we’ve received (vv.7-16). He then reminded us
of the importance of “putting off the old man” (vv.17-22) by “putting on the
new man” (vv.23-29).
Thus, we should not be surprised that our Manna is a continuation of
that theme. When we live with “bitterness, wrath, anger, clamoring (Grk.
‘krauge’—‘tumult, to croak as a raven, shriek, cry aloud, etc.’),
evil-speaking (Grk. ‘blasphemia’—‘vilification, blasphemy, railing, etc.’)
and malice (Grk. ‘kakia’—‘badness, depravity, malignity, naughtiness,
wickedness, etc.’), we grieve (Grk. ‘lupeo’—‘distress, make sad, be in
heaviness, make sorrowful, etc.’) the Holy Spirit of God.” However, when
we’re “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us,” we make his heart glad.
Think of it, Pilgrim:
Who of us wouldn’t love a child who’s always mild-mannered, polite,
generous, loving, etc., over one who’s always hard-headed, stomping his
feet, always insisting on his own way, mean to others, etc.? Why, then,
should we think the Heavenly Father is any different—i.e., that He winks at
our carnal, childish ways and says, “That’s okay; grace, grace” (Rom. 6:2,
15)?
That puts it in a whole new perspective, doesn’t it?
It surely does.
Therefore, we should make it our “Main Mission” in life to please the
One Who died for us (Jn. 8:29; Rom. 8:1-14; I Thess. 4:1; II Tim. 2:4).
Just as it would (or should) have crushed our heart to see one of our
parents weeping over our disobedience, so should it move us to repentance
when we think we may have hurt Jesus’ holy heart.
May the Holy Spirit help us today to cease-and-desist from any words or
deeds that are unkind or harsh in nature. Only then will we truly
understand what it means to “love others as Christ has loved us” (Jn.
13:33-34; 15:12). Only then.
_________________________________________________________________
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