Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

For Reading and Meditation:     Philippians 2:1-13

As we conclude our study of the phrase, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy", we ask ourselves: What would happen if we really put into practice this important principle? It would mean that we would look at everyone through Christian eyes. We would see sinners, not merely as the victims of sin...

For Reading and Meditation:     Matthew 15:1-20

Today we come to the Beatitude which is considered by many to be the most sublime of them all: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). First we ask: What is meant by the term "heart"? According to the general use of the word in Scripture, it...

For Reading and Meditation:     Acts 15:1-11

Now that we understand what Scripture means by the term "heart" - the core of our being - we ask ourselves another important question: What does our Lord mean when He uses the word "pure"? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The word "pure" (Greek: katharos) means a heart that is clean or clear....

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 51:1-15

As we continue discussing what it means to be pure in heart, we ask: How do we ensure that our hearts are made pure? Great controversy has raged over this issue in every century of the Church. Those who see sin as having made deep inroads into human nature say that the only thing God can do with sin is to forgive it....

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 7:14-8:4

Yesterday we ended by saying that God can impart purity as well as impute it, and He then helps us apply it in our daily life and experience. Permit me to share my own personal experience in this connection, not as a model for you to follow, but simply to illustrate how God revealed Himself to me. Following my...

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 9:1-7

We continue meditating on the word "pure" as used by Jesus in His sixth Beatitude. I discovered when researching this theme that the word "catharsis" - meaning to cleanse or make pure - is derived from the same Greek root as the word "pure". In psychology, the word "catharsis" is used to describe the feeling of release...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 8:21-36

We saw yesterday that the phenomenon of catharsis comes about not simply through telling someone else our troubles, but when that other person is a warm, accepting and understanding individual. Psychologists believe the explanation for this to be the fact that the warm, accepting manner of the helper is so directly...

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 24:1-10

We spend one more day meditating on the words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The concluding words of this Beatitude are often misunderstood. Many believe them to have reference to the saints' eternal reward in heaven. Tennyson expressed this thought in his famous lines: "I hope to see my Pilot...

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 5:1-11

We have come now to the seventh positive attitude that makes for good spiritual and mental health: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). This Beatitude seems to have a special relevance to the age through which we are passing, for if...

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 139:1-24

We ended yesterday by saying that no one can become a peacemaker - in the biblical sense of the word - until they have found peace within their innermost self. As we are looking at the Beatitudes from the point of view of how effective they are in producing good spiritual and mental health, it is interesting to see...

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 48:12-22

We are seeing that the reason why people get caught up in activist measures to gain the attention of world leaders in relation to the need for securing international peace is due, in part, to the mechanism of projection. If we do not know peace within, then we will tend to focus on finding ways of securing peace in...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 2:11-22

Our meditations over the past few days have shown us that before we can become peacemakers in the true sense of that word, we must first know peace in our own minds and hearts. The Bible is not content to leave the nature of the peace Christ purchased for us in doubt. Our reading today tells us that Christ made...

For Reading and Meditation:     James 3:1-18

We continue making the point that we cannot be peacemakers until we first find peace within ourselves. A psychiatrist was interviewing a man full of conflicts. In the middle of the interview the telephone rang, and because the receptionist had put a call through to him when he had given instructions not to be disturbed,...

For Reading and Meditation:     Titus 2:1-15

Today we go a step further and affirm that no one can be spiritually or mentally healthy until they know what it means to have peace in their inner beings. A psychologist says: "If we could only measure the amount of emotional energy that is dissipated within the human personality by lack of peace, we would be surprised...