Thursday, July 5, 2018

DAILY READINGS: Joshua 22:1-34; Isaiah 15:1-16:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived….living in malice and envy. Titus 3:3

A newspaper article reported that research by psychologists had found that the most widespread temperament in the general population is envy. It was envy that caused religious leaders to deliver the Lord to be tried and crucified. It was envy, on seeing the multitudes that came to hear God’s word preached through Paul, that caused the Jews to expel him from their country. The Psalmist was envious of the prosperity of the wicked (Ps 73:3). If there is envy in our hearts, it will stifle the work of the Lord and diminish personal blessings we might otherwise receive. —Brian Powlesland

Root them out, get them gone; all unwanted features that to me belong.
Envy, jealousy, malice and pride; they should never in my heart abide. —Author Unknown