TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet, but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:1-17
DEVOTIONAL
by Rev. Dr. Nehemiah Sia
Yikes, we have conflicts everywhere and every day! We have a war of nations and war within the family! We fight and quarrel because we don’t get what we want. We want something so badly that we manipulate situations and people to go our way. Scripture says that many are the plans of people, but it is the Lord who directs our way. His will prevails in the end. Let us seek the Lord with all our hearts and lean on His promises because they are unshakeable. We need to understand the context of things before passing judgment because God’s mercy is more. We are to submit to God and to one another out of respect because vengeance is His and not ours. Justice will be given in God’s time.
Alms, alms, can you spare me a piece of bread? Spare me, your mercy? We can seek mercy when we are guilty of something that we have done. We want to exhibit meekness so that there will be peace. May we be humble and extend love in a cruel world. Let us give some bread to the hungry and meet our needs with the resources the LORD gave to us to manage. We can be blessings helping others using our different giftedness.
Life is short. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Each day is a gift. Therefore, we are to be humble and show God’s grace to others and to ourselves. Because life is not perfect… we are to say if the Lord wills, then we can do this and that, we can go to this city and that city… it is the Lord who we can trust both now and forever. Let us fix our eyes on Christ fulfilling His Commission so that we continue to preach His Gospel as we are making His disciples and obeying His commandments. What is His command? It is to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, as well as to love our neighbors as ourselves. Christ deserves all the glory, honor, and praise! Not to us, not to us, but to Christ our Lord be the praise!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, King of all kings and Lord of all lords, You are the true judge of the world. In our different conflicts, may we find solutions and resolutions to have peace. Please forgive us for the many times we have been proud and prejudicial. Help us to show mercy and receive mercy from You. Help us to walk in Your ways and to maximize what we have for Your glory. In Your name, we pray, Amen.
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