STOP THE ENVY.
HYMN 25: ROCK OF AGES. CLEFT FOR ME.
1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
2. Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
3. Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
4. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
MEMORISE:
A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones. Proverbs 14:30
READ: 1 Peter 2:1-2
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
MESSAGE:
I always wonder at those who envy others. Why are you envying someone else? That fellow’s success does not hinder yours. What God wants to do for you does not hinder what He is doing for the someone else. My blessings cannot hinder yours and yours cannot hinder mine. In fact, the only way my blessings can hinder your is if you are envious of me. If instead of concentrating and praying for your own blessings, you put your attention on envying someone else’s, how will you be blessed? Job 5:2 says that envy slays a silly fellow.
Instead of envying someone who has been blessed by God, why don’t you seek to lean from him/her? Note however, that you cannot learn from someone you resent. Students usually find it difficult to learn from teachers they don’t like. If someone else is making more sales than you for example, you have two choices; either to envy the person- gossip about them and end up making yourself sad or you rejoice with him/her- get close to them and learn their success strategies. You lose from the former and again tremendously from the latter.
“Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Romans 12:15
God’s standard is that you rejoice with those rejoicing. If you find yourself unhappy when you see a particular person rejoicing then you need to check yourself. whenever you feel envious of someone, make sure you pray for the fellow. When the devil sees that whenever he suggests envy to you, you respond by praying for the fellow, he will stop. You also cannot resent someone you pray for. Bringing yourself to pray for that person will help you get over the envy. Then, you can begin to love the person genuinely.
ACTION POINT:
Be truthful to yourself; if there is any fellow you envy, pray for that person now.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Jeremiah 14-17.
