file:  /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940821.txt
--------------------------------------------------------




OUR DAILY BREAD                     Sunday, August 21, 1994
---------------

READ:  Ephesians 4:17-32

                 "NEEDED:  A TENDER HEART"

       "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and
         evil speaking be put away from you."

                      Ephesians 4:31

On December 12, 1938, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin signed
30 lists of  death sentences.  Yet on that very night the
callous tyrant went to his personal theater and watched
two comedies.  Stalin's biographer, Dmitri Volkogonov,
wonders how any human being could have a heart so hardened
that he could smile and laugh after commanding the killing
of some 5,000 victims, many of whom he knew personally.

Down through the centuries, calculated cruelty, murderous
revenge, and even ghastly torture have made history a long
tale of tragedy.  Even if you and I could not see ourselves
signing the death warrants of innocent victims, we must
still guard against hardheartedness and pray for a spirit
that is the very opposite of Stalin's depraved sadism.  We
must plead for divine enablement to fulfill Paul's imperative:
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking
be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God
in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:31-32).

Ask Jesus to help you replace any lingering hardheartedness
in your life with His tenderheartedness.  And show Christlike
compassion to someone today.

     - Vernon C. Grounds

 Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
       Fill  my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
       Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
    I know surrender, Lord -- in me abide.

     - Orr

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
-------------------
As long as vengeance seems sweet, there's bitterness
in the heart.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Lamentations 1-5

-----------------------------------------------------------
Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of
Radio Bible Class, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555, USA.
Written permission must be obtained from RBC for any
further posting or distribution.  RBC provides a variety
of Bible resources, which are free of charge.  RBC is not
funded by any group or denomination, and support comes
voluntarily from its Members and Friends.  Write for more
information, or call 1-800-598-7221.
------------------------------------------------------------