DATE WRITTEN: Saturday, 2020-10-24
WRITTEN AT: Lillian, AL
BIBLE REFERENCE: James 3:16-18
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)
BIBLE TEXT: 16 Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.
OBSERVATION: Like me, you may have heard it said multiple times over, in your lifetime, when your parent may have run out of the right words to say, or the correct action to take, and they said something like ‘If I only had the wisdom of Solomon’! But today in our Scripture we can find where God taught us through His servant James what true godly wisdom looks like. This is well worth your time to ponder my friend, as it teaches us how to exemplify Christ in us to a sinful world. Join me as we look deeper and learn about true wisdom.
APPLICATION: I love it when we not only hear about what we are doing wrong, but when we are also educated, or shown the correct way of doing something. God used James to point out to us that in and of our own selfish ways, we are apt to allow our jealousy and selfish desires to react wrongly and do immense harm to someone when we try to get back at them for not appeasing us. I’m sure that the court docket could reveal case after case on this problem, for we tend to get caught by the authorities for living out our troubled minds. For example, lying, stealing, cursing, fighting, and even murder. The Word of God says that these sorts of things are often caused by jealousy, selfishness and envy. Unfortunately these things still happen today – even to those of us that have asked God to rule and reign in our lives. But here’s another plug for daily communication with God – prayer and Bible Study, for then we are reminded of those things that might cause us to destroy our witness and our love for others. Today we are told to draw close to God, plead with Him for His kind of wisdom in all aspects of our life, and then watch as He showers upon us His gracious blessings/gifts, such that leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. Friends, do you suppose that we would see a better world, if God’s people would humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face for more of His qualities in our ways? I believe that the Word confirms in various places that this would result. I would like to begin by asking God to magnify Himself in and through me, and I pray that each reader might do the same today. The world needs to see more of Jesus and less of us for us to see any change brought about in them. Imagine how we will impact our families, our workplaces, our churches, our social clubs and especially our friends when we surrender full control over to God in our lives. Will you commit to allowing God to begin a new work in you today?
PRAYER: Oh for the wisdom of Almighty God today as we deal with so many aspects of life – so many things that could otherwise trigger strife, hatred, envy, jealousy and revenge. So Lord, we humbly ask that You take away our urge to do our own thing, and instead depend one hundred percent on Your power to overcome the world. May we learn to live lives that are pleasing to You and exemplifies You in every way. Please help us to stand strong in our commitment to You and to allow Your wisdom and Your guidance to direct our lips and our walk today. May the world see Jesus, because we commit to having You rule and reign in every aspect of our lives. AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!