Daily Reading for Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Scripture: Ephesians 4:31
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice."
Meditation:
Reference(s):
1 The Indiana Reporter, May 22, 1907.
2 The Review and Herald, June 5, 1888.
"The Spirit can never be poured out while variance and bitterness toward one another are cherished by the members of the church. Envy, jealousy, evil surmising and evil speaking are of Satan, and they effectually bar the way against the Holy Spirit's working. Nothing so offends God as an act that injures the influence of those who are doing His service. He will call to account all who aid Satan in his work of criticizing and discouraging."1
"Every heart has its own sorrows and disappointments, and we should seek to lighten one another's burdens by manifesting the love of Jesus to those around us. If our conversation were upon heaven and heavenly things, evil-speaking would soon cease to have any attraction for us. We would not then be placing our feet on the enemy's dangerous ground. We would not then be entering into temptation, or falling under the power of the evil one.
"Instead of finding fault with others, let us be critical with ourselves. The question with each one of us should be, Is my heart right before God? Will this course of action glorify my Father which is in heaven? If you have cherished a wrong spirit, let it be banished from the soul."2