Verse of the Day 4/26

Through the Bible - Ecclesiasties 10-12, Revelation 13

 

Good morning,

You've probably seen commercials for products that help deal with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).  A person who suffers from this has a stomach that gets set off by certain foods.  If ingested, they set off a chain reaction of things in the stomach that take control of the body, they take first precedence - find a bathroom.

 

For today's verse we'll go to 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter to a few verses that I needed to read this morning.

 

1 Cor 13:4  Love is patient and  kind; love  does not envy or boast; it  is not arrogant 5 or rude. It  does not insist on its own way; it  is not irritable or resentful;   ESV

At times, especially lately, I suffer from a similar thing, "irritable man syndrome".  Little things irritate and set me off, seemingly taking control of my thoughts and actions.  It might be leaky pipes, something breaking on Jeff's wheelchair, or any number of things that in and of themselves are not a big deal but coupled together with other perceived problems, are enough to set me off.

 

R. C. Sproul's "Tabletalk" devotional had some good advice.  "Those who control their emotions instead of letting their emotions control them will not be irritable.  This entails striving not to get angry over petty things or at situations over which we have little control.  A love that is not irritable refuses to make everything a big deal.  It encourages us to know our weaknesses so that we can rightly assess our situation, maintain self control, and respond appropriately to the circumstances we face.  Love does not blow up in anger whenever things go awry."

 

Boy if that does not suit me to a T at times.  I needed that reminder this morning.  I thank the Lord for His Word.

 

Gal 5:22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
 

I need more of that fruit and less of the fruit that comes from irritability today.  How about you?  When our temper is short and we are quick to exaggerate things and make the worst of a situation, think of these words of wisdom from God's Word as God's cure to the "syndrome".

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

1 Cor 13:1-14:1

 

The Way of Love

 

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have  prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith,  so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3  If I give away all I have, and  if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

 

4  Love is patient and  kind; love  does not envy or boast; it  is not arrogant 5 or rude. It  does not insist on its own way; it  is not irritable or resentful; 6 it  does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but  rejoices with the truth. 7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,  endures all things.

 

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For  we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but  when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For  now we see in a mirror dimly, but  then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as  I have been fully known.

 

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.   ESV