Every Day Light

[Judy Harder]

October 23

Looking around with anger
Mark 3:1-6
"He looked round at them in anger ..." (v.5)

Did Jesus ever lose His temper? Some, looking at the passage before us today, might think so. In fact, I once heard a Christian defending his temper by saying: "If Jesus could not control His temper when faced with the scorn of the Pharisees in Mark 3, why should I be condemned for my inability to control mine?"Did the behavior of Jesus on this occasion result from a loss of temper? Of course not. One luminous phrase lights up the story and puts the matter in its proper perspective: "being grieved by the hardness of their hearts" (v.5, NKJV). The reason why Jesus "looked around at them with anger" was because He was "grieved by the hardness of their hearts." The cause of His anger was grief, not loss of temper -- grief at their insensibility to human need. It was grief at what was happening to someone else, not personal pique at what was happening to Him.
Whenever we get angry, it is usually because our ego has been wounded and hits back, not in redemption but in retaliation. There is a temper that is redemptive and there is a temper that is retaliatory. The redemptive temper burns with the steady fire of redemptive intention; the retaliatory temper simply burns you up. It was intended to burn the other person up, but all it serves to do is to burn you. Patience, the fruit of the Spirit, works in us -- if we let it -- to temper our purposes to the Kingdom, and to Kingdom purposes alone.

Prayer:

My Father and my God, dwell so deeply in me by Your Spirit that my temper shall be tempered and produce no tempests -- either in myself or in others. For Jesus' sake I ask it. Amen.

For Further Study
Eph. 4:1-27; Prov. 19:11; Eccl. 7:9
1. How can we be angry without committing sin?
2. Why is it important "not to let the sun go down on our wrath"?

[Judy Harder]

October 24

How Jesus handled tension
Luke 12:35-53
"But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" (v.50)

Jesus' behavior when He looked around at the Pharisees "with anger" was not the result of a bad temper but the fulfilling of a redemptive purpose. The cutting was not to hurt, but to heal. When we display anger, it is usually for purposes of destruction rather than construction.
Although Jesus was free from bad temper, however, He was not free from tension, that is: "a state of moderate stress." Moffatt, in fact, translates our text for today in this way: "What tension I suffer, till it is all over!" A certain amount of tension is a necessary part of life. Jesus experienced it, and so will we. And it is not necessarily a bad thing. The violin string that is free from tension is incapable of music, but when tightened gives forth a sound that delights the ear. The tension that Jesus felt was a tension that was harnessed to the interest of others. He was on His way to a cross and the tension was not to be loosed until He pronounced the words: "It is finished."The tension, however, did not leave Him frustrated and bad-tempered; it left Him calm and composed, with a prayer for the forgiveness of His enemies upon His lips. It drove Him, not to pieces, but to peace -- the peace of achievement and victory. This was so because the tension was harnessed to God's perfect will -- hence it was a constructive urge. Unfortunately, many of our tensions drive us, not toward God's will but toward our own will. We are more concerned for ourselves than for the divine interests. This kind of driving will succeed only in driving us "nuts."

Prayer:

Dear Lord and Master, teach me how to harness my tensions to Your purposes, so that they are transformed into rhythm and song. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.

For Further Study
1 Cor. 9:1-16;John 9:4; 2 Cor. 5:14
1. What tension did Paul feel?
2. What does the word "compel" convey?

[Judy Harder]

October 25



"Two ways to honk a horn"
James 1:19-27
"... man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (v.20)

We continue meditating on the fourth fruit of the Spirit -- patience or good temper. "Temper," someone has said, "turns to bad or good according to what is behind it." Remember that the word "temper" simply means "a disposition of mind" and really requires the words "good" or "bad" to be prefixed to it if it is to be clearly identified. Dr. Stanley Jones says that there are two ways to honk a horn -- the Christian way and the non-Christian way. The Christian way calls attention to a situation; the non-Christian way not only calls attention to the situation but it also calls attention to what the honker feels about it. In the USA I once saw a sign on a car that said: "Honk away -- it's your ulcer." Ulcers are usually visible signs of an ulcerated spirit -- ulcerated by irritation and bad temper.
Whenever we lose our temper and take it out on people around us, we do the utmost harm, not to them, but to ourselves. The one who is out of sorts with someone else is usually out of sorts with himself. He projects his inner problems on to others and fails to see that the cause and remedy are in himself. I once witnessed a Sunday School superintendent lose his temper in a committee meeting, and when reprimanded by another for his bad spirit said: "I have to lose my temper in order to get anything done around here." Our text for today contradicts that view. Listen to it again, this time in the Phillips translation: "For man's temper is never the means of achieving God's true goodness." Wrong means lead to wrong ends -- inevitably.

Prayer:

O Father, help me to meet all impatience with patience, all hate with love, all grumpiness with joy and all bad temper with good temper. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

For Further Study
Matt. 5:1-26; Psa. 37:8; Prov. 14:17
1. What did Jesus teach about anger?
2. Are you angry with anyone?

[Judy Harder]

October 26

"I got saved last night"
Ephesians 5:8-21
"... be filled with the Spirit ... always giving thanks to God the Father for everything ..." (vv.18 & 20)

The greatest single influence in turning a bad temper to a good temper is to be indwelt by the Spirit of God. Our text makes that abundantly plain. When the Spirit is allowed to dwell in us, He influences our reactions so that we respond to life's situations with praise rather than with pique.
A miner was notorious for his bad temper. His job was to look after the pit ponies, and whenever they did anything wrong, he would swear and hit out at them with a stick. When he got like this, strong men would keep out of his way, for they knew that he could as easily turn on them as he did on the horses.

One night he went to a Welsh revival meeting, got gloriously converted and experienced a mighty encounter with the Holy Spirit. Next day, at work, one of the horses stepped on his foot. The men with him waited for the explosion -- but nothing happened. One man asked: "Are you sick?" "No," replied the miner, "why do you ask?" "Well," said the man, "I know how quickly you get upset about things, and when the horse stepped on your foot and you didn't lose your temper, I thought you must be unwell." "I'm not unwell," said the miner, "I got saved and filled with the Holy Spirit last night."There is an interesting moment recorded in the life of Saul in 1 Samuel 10:27: "But some rebels said, 'How can this man save us?' So they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace" (NKJV). Had Saul maintained that same spirit, he would have been a great man!

Prayer:

Dear Father, let Your Spirit invade and take up His abode deep within me, so that in the hour of pressure and crisis, I shall react to everything in a truly Christian way. In Christ's Name I pray. Amen.

For Further Study
John 14:1-17; Ezek. 36:27; 1 Cor. 3:16
1. What did Jesus say concerning the Holy Spirit?
2. What have we become?

[Judy Harder]

October 27

"I would have been -- B.C."
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
"... encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone." (v.14)

Mary writes of the change that the Holy Spirit wrought in her after conversion: "I went out to shut the chickens up for the night and found that the boys had closed the door and turned out the light, and all the chickens were outside. Chickens can't see in the dark, and if you shine a light on them, it blinds them. Three years ago I would have given the boys a good spanking, and made them get the chickens in. Tonight, I didn't even stop singing! I went to turn the light on and found that the bulb was burned out. Instead of being disgusted, as I would have been B.
C. (before Christ), I just got a new one and then I got those chickens in with such tenderness that I even surprised myself. When the last chicken was in, I thanked my Father for helping me get them all in so easily by controlling, not the chickens, but me." What the Spirit did for Mary, He can do for you.

Another woman, after finding Christ, went through a time of great persecution from her family. She said: "I used to have a violent temper and my family used to be careful how they talked to me. It was a goal of mine always to have the last word. Following my conversion, my family used to test me by saying all the things they knew used to annoy me. If it had not been for the presence of the Spirit in my life, I know I would not have had the patience to handle their remarks. I still have the last word -- but the last word is silence."

Prayer:

Father, at those times when the last word needs to be silence, help me to have that last word. Drive this thought deep into my heart -- that I always lose when I lose my temper. Amen.

For Further Study
Heb. 6:1-15; James 1:2-4; 2 Pet. 1:6
1. How did Abraham obtain the promise?
2. What will perserverance bring about?

[Judy Harder]

October 28

No reason to smile
Proverbs 17:17-28
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." (v.22)

A surprising thing takes place in those whose temper is tempered by the Holy Spirit -- bad temper is replaced by a growing sense of humor. God has given us the power of humor, not only to laugh at things, but to laugh off things. I am not suggesting that we ought to use laughter to deny realities, but humor often reduces things to their proper size.
I once heard a preacher say: "There is no good in a movement or a person where there is no good humor, for goodness has laughter as a corollary." There is something basically wrong with a person who, at appropriate times, cannot break out into hearty laughter. I heard recently of a member of the Irish Republican Army who was wonderfully converted. He spent the first month after his conversion in the home of a minister who said of him: "It was two weeks before I saw him smile, and when I spoke to him about this, he said: 'I have been in a grim business, plotting against people -- and the way I was living, there was just no reason to smile.' " How tragic -- "just no reason to smile." Depend on it, where you cannot smile, you cannot live -- you just exist.

Over the years, I have watched many groups come to the CWR Institutes in Christian Counselling. Many are tied up with fears, guilts and apprehension. We invite them to share their fears and get them up and out. They do. Then the laughter begins. They grow progressively happier as the week goes on. By the end of the week, they are ready to laugh at anything -- themselves included.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, it is said of You that You were anointed "with the oil of gladness more than your companions." Let that same anointing rest and remain upon me today -- and every day. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

For Further Study
Prov. 15:1-15; James 5:13; Psa. 126:2
1. What does a happy heart enjoy?
2. How is this expressed?

[Judy Harder]

October 28

No reason to smile
Proverbs 17:17-28
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." (v.22)

A surprising thing takes place in those whose temper is tempered by the Holy Spirit -- bad temper is replaced by a growing sense of humor. God has given us the power of humor, not only to laugh at things, but to laugh off things. I am not suggesting that we ought to use laughter to deny realities, but humor often reduces things to their proper size.
I once heard a preacher say: "There is no good in a movement or a person where there is no good humor, for goodness has laughter as a corollary." There is something basically wrong with a person who, at appropriate times, cannot break out into hearty laughter. I heard recently of a member of the Irish Republican Army who was wonderfully converted. He spent the first month after his conversion in the home of a minister who said of him: "It was two weeks before I saw him smile, and when I spoke to him about this, he said: 'I have been in a grim business, plotting against people -- and the way I was living, there was just no reason to smile.' " How tragic -- "just no reason to smile." Depend on it, where you cannot smile, you cannot live -- you just exist.

Over the years, I have watched many groups come to the CWR Institutes in Christian Counselling. Many are tied up with fears, guilts and apprehension. We invite them to share their fears and get them up and out. They do. Then the laughter begins. They grow progressively happier as the week goes on. By the end of the week, they are ready to laugh at anything -- themselves included.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, it is said of You that You were anointed "with the oil of gladness more than your companions." Let that same anointing rest and remain upon me today -- and every day. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

For Further Study
Prov. 15:1-15; James 5:13; Psa. 126:2
1. What does a happy heart enjoy?
2. How is this expressed?

[Judy Harder]

October 30

What kindness is not
Ephesians 4:17-32
"Be kind and compassionate to one another ..." (v.32)

We saw yesterday how a group of young people had a wrong concept of kindness, viewing it as just maudlin sentimentality. It is surprising how debased the word "kindness" has become, in both Christian and non-Christian thought.
Some Christians accept the word because it is used in Scripture, but have no real desire to acquire the virtue because, to them, it smacks of sentimentality and weakness. The world uses the word but, separated as it is from any thought of God, "kindness" comes out as a mild compensation for a lack of firmness and clear thinking. People say, rather patronizingly in some cases: "Oh, he's a kind fellow" -- and they leave it there. The word has come to wear thin in the currency of the world (and in some parts of the Church), so there is a great need to see it minted afresh and gleaming bright in the commerce of modern-day Christian life.

Think with me still further about what kindness, the fruit of the Spirit, is not. Kindness is not being a "do-gooder." In fact, the word in the original Greek does not imply active goodness but a disposition of goodwill, although active goodness may be one expression of it. Many think of kindness as giving money to people who have a financial need, but just giving money to people who appear to need it, without being guided by the Spirit, can result in great harm. Giving to people at the wrong time can take away from them something more precious than is being given. There are few things in which we have more need of the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit than in our giving.

Prayer:

O Father, help me to discern between what is true and what is counterfeit. I want my kindness to be genuine kindness -- the sort of kindness that helps people, not hurts them. Amen.

For Further Study
2 Pet. 1:1-7; 1 Thess. 3:12; 1 Pet. 1:22
1. What are we to add to godliness?
2. In what ways are you currently showing kindness to others?

[Judy Harder]

October 31



A debased word
Romans 2:1-11
"... not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" (v.4)

We continue looking at counterfeit forms of kindness. Kindness is not indulgence. Supernatural kindness can be severe -- severe because it loves so deeply that it can come up with a hard refusal. It is based on God's kindness, which can cut when, just like a surgeon, He insists on cutting out of us moral tumors that threaten our spiritual health. But always God's severity is our security. It is redemptive; He loves us too much to let us go. Kindness, which is the fruit of the Spirit, is like that.
Again, kindness is not a substitute for clear thinking. In being "kind" to one person, people can often be unkind to another. The wrong kindness -- that is, kindness which does not operate on clear guidelines and right thinking -- can deride justice. For example, a businessman remarked to his wife that he was dismissing the chauffeur on the grounds that he was an unsafe driver. "He nearly killed me today," he said. "That is the third time." His "kind" wife answered: "Oh, don't dismiss him, dear -- give him one more chance."Another example of misguided kindness comes out of the law courts. A woman on trial for murdering her husband was acquitted chiefly because of the efforts of one "kind" lady on the jury. Explaining her attitude to someone after the trial, she said: "I felt so sorry for her. After all, she had become a widow." By such examples as these, "kindness" has become a debased word -- a fact that can hardly be denied. People have found it easier to be "kind" than truthful. How desperately the word cries out to be redeemed.

Prayer:

O God, take my hand and lead me through the fog and confusion that surrounds this word. Help me understand that true kindness can be a cutting kindness -- kindness that gives life and not lenience. Amen.

For Further Study
Isa. 63:1-9; Psa. 17:7; 26:3; 63:3
1. What was the psalmist's testimony?
2. Out of what does God's loving kindness flow?

[Judy Harder]

November 1

The kindly rain
Matthew 5:38-48
"... your Father in heaven ... sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (v.45)

The word "kindness" in Scripture is used more of God than of anyone else. William Barclay says: "It is something of a joyous revelation to discover that when the King James Version calls God good, again and again the meaning is not just moral goodness but kindness." The goodness of God is not something we need shrink away from in fear, but something that draws us to Him with cords of love. This does not mean, of course, that God is indifferent concerning our sins and moral violations; it means that He is so warmly disposed toward us that He has provided through the Cross a way whereby our sin can be forgiven and forgotten. In the Old Testament, especially the Psalms, the expression "loving kindness" is often used. A little boy explained the difference between kindness and loving kindness like this: "Kindness is when your mother gives you a piece of bread and butter; loving kindness is when she puts jam on it as well."In the New Testament, however, a content has gone into kindness which has made the adding of the word "loving" unnecessary. The Moffatt translation brings out this thought most beautifully when it says: "Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). Not merely the same actions, but the same spirit in the actions as was in Jesus. This shows kindness to be more than just actions -- but attitudes. I can think of no better definition for kindness than this -- kindness is treating others the way God has treated us.
Prayer:

Father, just as you let Your kindly rain fall on the evil and the good, help me to rain kindliness on everyone I meet today -- regardless of who or what they are. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

For Further Study
Rom. 2:1-4; Psa. 25:6; 33:5
1. What are we not to despise?
2. What leads us to repentance?