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Get Help

03 Mar

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

I have never been a “go to the doctor” guy, only to the ER for emergencies, and I have had my share of them through the years. I am against the societal problem we have of prescription drugs on so many levels, from the corruption of big-pharma in the power struggle of societal control, to the intimacy of individuals struggling on every level as their pawns. I have not had a physical for well over 10 years for those reasons, and even a few others, but something has changed the last couple of years. At 55 I decided to improve what I could control, my diet, and made steps doing so. I went a year with no soft drinks, eating a little better and definitely less, and dropped over 20 lbs and I feel much better. I am continuing the pursuit of my physical improvement in more ways this year, that is a journey that requires determination and will power to do so. God wired me that way, once I put my mind to it, Lord willing, I will accomplish it. There is also a big pride struggle wrapped up into that, but God is also keeping me humble in the realization that I cannot beat father time, my body ain’t what it used to be. I have worked hard and played hard all my life, and I am feeling those pains much more since hitting 50. I have said the thirties and forties did not get me, but fifty kicked me in the teeth.

The real struggle is that I can’t seem to fix my mental health, the struggles with anxiety and depression. I have always been open with them, I have nothing to hide and am not ashamed of it. I love how God has placed those in my path for great conversations. They have both gotten much worse the last couple of years, and I could write a book on that roller-coaster of emotions that come with them, they both make life hard to do when they get as bad as they have been. The red flag for me was when I began to not like doing the things I relax doing, the ways I escaped life’s struggles became struggles. I love working on bikes, shop time, riding, racing, everything with my boys. They became struggles, frustrations at the simplest things, outbursts, withdrawals, there became no way of escaping, and that became scary once I realized it. There are many dark roads Satan will take you down when depressions cloud becomes darker, and the evil thoughts go deeper. It scared me when I traveled those roads and I knew I had to swallow my pride and go seek help.

In a God orchestrated conversation, a great friend recommended his doctor, a man of faith that God gave me to talk to. We spent more time talking about our faith, than we did about me. I share all of the above with him, and told him how I had fought it with my faith, and time in prayer and God’s Word. He applauded that type of faith, and encouraged me that God used his gifts and today’s medicine to help me. Did you know Luke was a doctor, (Colossians 4:14 Luke the beloved physician, …) and he wrote two books in the Bible, the Gospel of Luke, and the account of the church’s growth in the book of Acts. He completely understood my stance, and we agreed on a low dose to take the edge off. I have since went back and we upped it for six months for me to evaluate. I can honestly say I feel better, and I already see God placing friends in my path to encourage them do likewise, to swallow their pride and seek help too.

God does not look down on you for seeking help in any way, period. God works in so many ways to draw us closer to him, so many ways that we don’t understand, Isaiah 55:8-9. Satan may come to God and desire permission for some evil to us, and God may permit it because he sees the good in the outcome, many times drawing us closer to him as a result of our enemies troubles upon us. Romans 8:28. God does not like our pride, and I am a prideful man that he must continue to work on keeping me humble in so many ways. My physical testimony and my mental testimony are both works of a loving God on a guy who desires him to not give up on me, and to hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant.” I want to finish strong, to be focused on sharing my faith to all God places in my path that he has prepared to hear. I do not want my personal struggles to keep me withdrawn, and all alone to not good. I thank God for dealing me another pride blow of his hammer on this hard headed guy, not moldable like clay, but hard as stone. If God is working on your pride too, trying to make you realize you need help, pray first, and then seek a doctors help also. I did, and I thank God for it.

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2024 in Daily Devotions

 

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Hole in the Bucket

26 Feb

Hole in the Bucket
Mark​ ​5:​8-20

And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon- possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

There is a small group of my friends that God uses to constantly encourage me with living out their faith; true disciples of Christ battling the world just like all of us, but living with an eternal view. We talk about all the same worldly things in our lives, but at some point in our conversations it always turns to our faith and what God has been showing us since our last talk. That is our true desire, to share what God has been showing us in his Word, through experiences with day to day encounters, through what we see of Him in our day to day lives. There is honestly nothing else I would rather discuss that what you have been experiencing in Him; my attention span and boredom kick in without a measure of faith mixed in our discussion.

My struggles with memory comes from a mix of extended drug abuse, genetics, and stress. I can read something, comprehend it, be genuinely moved by it, and an hour later can’t retain it. With the genetic side, that is terrifying. I have a hole in my bucket I am constantly trying to fill. God showed me recently how sin removes my finger and increases the flow rate. You can’t live with one foot in the world and one foot stretching for heaven; the gravity of sin will keep you here. What do you struggle with? What is your focus in life? What do you want to discuss more than anything? Do you see how the demon-possessed man in Mark wanted to talk about nothing but his healing? Jesus commanded him to go share his testimony of faith to all that would hear. If you are truly saved, that same commandment and desire should be welling up inside of you. If you claim Christianity and desire to discuss money, possessions, sex, success, sports, partying, anything that this world desires, are you truly saved? Do you rest in the false religion of Sunday Christianity that condemns? “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (​Matthew​7​:​21-23​ NKJV)

My testimony to you is one on incredible mercy and grace; I felt like Paul a chief of sinners, I felt like David who committed great sins, I now feel indescribable forgiveness that I so desire for you to have also. My heart lies not only reaching the lost, but in the incredible difficult ministry of Matthew 7; those that think they are saved, those who sit beside you on Sunday, those who profess Christianity but are not disciples, those who are truly lost…… Jesus spoke in parables all throughout the New Testament for so many could not understand. Their hearts were hardened to God’s Word, many rested in religion and the rituals of it. Jesus had come to fulfill the Law that they could not, and they rejected him because of their hardened, prideful, religious hearts.

I promise you, you will know when you are saved. If you are doubting it, that may be your warning from God to change your focus in life. This life is preparing you for the eternal life; how you spend this life directly correlates to your eternal life’s reward or condemnation. My hole in my bucket is no different from yours, it is sin, and it is plugged by the heart that desires to live their life for Jesus. My testimony is one simply of a repent hearts plea for forgiveness and the desire to read my Bible every day. There is nothing anyone can say that will change you like the Word of God. You cannot spend daily time in Gods Word and remain the same person as the day before. The assurance of salvation you so desire is found through a humble heart that seeks Him there each and every day. Plug the hole in your bucket with Jesus

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Rise & Shine

13 Sep

Rise & Shine

Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

I awoke this morning as usual, with no alarm. I laid there thinking my phone battery was dead, for it never went off; almost comical on Friday the 13th. Yet there is this inner tug inside of me that is my alarm, my wake up call. There is a desire in me that outweighs all reasons to stay in bed, a desire to meet God every day at this time. My life truly changed when I changed my mornings to begin reading my Bible and praying daily. That change has grown into this ministry, and that change has bred a heart for encouraging others to do the same. There is nothing special about me, I am only a ol’ country boy with a heart for God.

What drives you; what is that tug inside of you that gets you up every day? Is it the demands of work, the pursuit of success by worldly standards? Is it the pursuit of all that this life will bring? How many times have we seen those who pour themselves into their careers all their lives, only to die shortly after retirement; only to die in the middle of the stress of it all in that pursuit? Their is nothing that you can gain that will carry into eternity, except the kingdom work that you invest in those around you. The evidence of the depth of your relationship with your Savior, is proof of the kingdom work in those you encounter daily. All throughout the apostle Paul’s epistles we find the evidence of his heart for those in, and out of the faith. His heart burned for sharing the hope that lied within him. It drove him to face each day and all that the day brought. As he shared of all the trials that Christ told him he must suffer for His name’s sake, he closed with this. 2 Corinthians 11:28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. His deep concern was was for all those souls that God put before him; his deep concern was sharing the hope that he had found in Christ. He had been extended the Grace offering by the hand of God, as he walked down that Damascus road in a murderous pursuit of Christians.

You may try and rest in the false security of Salvation found in church pews on Sunday, or you make take up your cross daily and become a disciple for Him (Mark 10:21). You can pray a prayer of moving your life to a servant of His and the pursuit of it; your life will never be the same as a result of it. You can rise and shine the Light that lies within you each day to a dark world that needs Him (John 8:12). You will hear from Him like you never had before, as a result of that daily pursuit. Your heart will begin to burn just as Paul’s for those in and out of the faith. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13), and that strength is a measure of that daily time with Him.

 
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Posted by on September 13, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Hillclimbs

12 Sep

Hillclimbs

2 Timothy 2:3-7    You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer must be first to partake of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.

How many roads can we go down with the scripture of verse 3 alone? How many times have we wondered the “why” of the situations that we find ourselves in? God will take us down the paths we would never travel, he will let us sit with unanswered questions for seeming eternities, he will let us take the hard roads for the lessons learned there. How appropriate are the ways of God that seemingly fit the phrase, “I learned it the hard way”. He does his greatest work in these times, and it is on the other side of the trial that we see his purpose in them, if we continued to seek him through them. If we abandon Him in them, his purposes for our lives are not revealed.

When you look at this passage in it’s context, Paul is trying to encourage Timothy for the hard times that will surely come. The summary of this text could easily be two words: Remain focused. Paul uses the example of soldiers, farmers, and athletes; he shows their focus and their rewards. We are to possess that eternal focus ourselves; we are not to become distracted from the trials or pleasures that this world presents. We are to remain focused on Christ and the Gospel of grace that He has given us. Paul pours out his heart to Timothy; he shows him of the pains he has for those in, and outside of the faith. (The Message) 9 It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now – but God’s Word isn’t in jail! 10 That’s why I stick it out here – so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. 11 This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; 12 If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; 13 If we give up on him, he does not give up – for there’s no way he can be false to himself. Paul is pressing into Timothy the need of a life focused on Christ, and the promises found in Him.

Do you seek Him every day? Do you seek Him only when the going gets rough, or do you seek Him even when it is a path of ease? Those easy days prepare us for the rough ones. The days that we sit in His presence, with praise of the place he has us for the day, strengthen our hearts for the trials to come. Become awestruck in the revelations found in scripture daily; place them in your heart for strength when you need them most. Cultivate a daily prayer time so that it becomes a natural response to the trials that come. You will find yourself resting on the promises that you have found in the Word; you will find yourself focusing on the eternal, and not so much the temporary.  A focused life sees the top of the mountain and it’s beauty; not the climb to get there.

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Humbled

11 Sep

Humbled

Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

As I sit in this chair with you this morn
My body is tired from the day;
For it was filled with emotions
You came calling that way.

I have followed that tug
That you placed on my heart;
From your Word every day
I do not depart.

I seek you early each day
I am humbled by your response;
It all started that day
When I opened my Bible once.

Help me Lord to share
Help me Lord to teach;
To show the the way to you
Help me Lord to preach.

Paul wrote to us in Romans
Of spreading the Good News;
Of sharing the hope that lies within us
There is no way I could refuse.

I have felt the stronger tug
Of hearing your call to preach;
I know my strength lies in you
From your Word I will teach.

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

 
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Posted by on September 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Don’t be bashful

09 Sep

Don’t be bashful

Colossians 1:1-8    Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul was in prison writing this letter to the Colossian church. It is believed that on his third missionary journey to Ephesus, a person named Epaphras was converted and returned home to Colosse to begin evangelizing his hometown. We are told that the church was composed mainly of Gentiles, and just like many early churches it had it’s problems. There were many that were leading others astray, preaching and teaching different ways to heaven; mixing the Jewish beliefs and forms of mysticisms that placed Jesus at a higher plain, but not as Deity, not as God. Paul starts out his letter to the Colossians to refute those false teachings. Paul begins speaking of their faith, hope, and love.

Do you see this as the prayer that it is? Do you see how Paul was praying for those that had just come to faith in Christ? He was interceding for them, he was going before God and praying for His strength for them. Paul knew that when they came to know Christ, they were going against the world. They needed other believers to pray for them. They needed the strength to endure the trials, the discernment from the Holy Spirit to recognize the false teachings; the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. They must take that which He gives them, and spread the hope that lies within them. When we pray for, and are prayed for, God grants us wisdom through His Word and our prayer.

Do you have that faith? Do you have that hope, and that love? If you do have genuine faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, there will be a natural outpouring of love, spreading that hope that lies within you. The book of James puts it bluntly; 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Is there evidence in your life of that faith? Epaphras had heard the Gospel, and returned home to tell everyone, He had sought to share that hope that lied within him, for others to have what he now possessed. Don’t be bashful, tell someone the difference Christ made in your life today, the same thing He can do for them.

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Unedjumicated

03 Sep

Unedjumicated

1 Corinthians 2:4-5   And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

I have had a lot on my mind the past couple of weeks. I was humbled greatly when I was able to deliver my first sermon; I struggle to explain what that experience is like, but I hope God gives me that opportunity again sometime. I had hoped that I would gain clarity for the direction of my life in it; you know, that billboard from God that we all desire to know what he wants us to do. I wish I could say I got that neon sign, but faith lives in the hope of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). I was able to spend time with the Godliest man I know, and a best friend. He was able to speak to me words of encouragement just as God always uses him to do; I am beyond thankful for him and our relationship. You must surround yourself with Godly influences to hear from God; He will speak to you through the people that spend time with Him; there is that audible voice you desire.

I have openly shared of my struggles with memory, and looking back long ago in life it most likely translated to my problems in school. I can understand complexities, I just cannot retain what I learn. This carried on into my studies the past year at Liberty University Online. The sermon title that God gave me was, “You don’t have to go to seminary to be a disciple.” The title has weighed on me. There ain’t nuthin’ special about me; I only have a heart for God and the things of God, and try to spend time with him daily learning more about him. All that I have has been found by what He has given me; you can have it too. My heart lies in encouraging other Christians to open their Bible every day and to seek Him. It is in that response to your heart for God, and the pursuit of him, that your life will change. Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. You simply cannot spend time daily with God in prayer and His Word, and He not change you. He will begin to conform you to the image of His Son.

I have decided to withdraw from Liberty for many reasons. I have decided to live what I preached. I am blessed with this ministry that God has given me, and I thank all of you for letting Him use me to speak to you. My prayer is that you begin to seek God on your own; for this to be the catalyst to get you in His Word; to see what ministry he has laid out for you. I am thinking of taking that sermon and making it a book. My testimony is one of pride, great sins, and worldly pursuits; then a life forever changed by Christ and the desire to know more about him every day. All you must do is to spend time with Him every day. All you must do is to have a heart for God, and the things of God, and you will find Him. You will not be able to contain what He shows and gives you. You will become a disciple and seek to share what you now possess. You will begin to produce heavenly fruit for your labor of your love for Him. You will gain eternal rewards in heaven for your heart for Him. Your life will never be the same, and neither will those in your circle of influence that respond to His call.

 
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Posted by on September 3, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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No surprise

27 Aug

No surprise

Ephesians 2:1-3   And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Yesterday started out on a real high; a customer and I sharing our faith with each other, building up each other with testimonies, scripture, and encouragement. After I left their house, my day plummeted from there. The details are not necessary, but failures and gut punches seemed to come my way. Truly an afternoon that I was taking a beating, when I was trying to draw closer to God in school study. The social media was full of  the VMA scandal, I looked and it truly sickened me; a product of the pursuit of fame. These children that our children grow up watching go down some of the worst roads imaginable……I struggle deeply with so much trash that we put before our children in the light of entertainment now. What we put in our child’s eyes, Satan worms his way into their hearts.

I lived that life; I pursued all that I could get my hands on. The one who dies with the most wins, I truly believed in some twisted way. I lived in sin and pursued it with a vigor; I only sought what would bring me pleasure, many times at high costs. Satan will tempt; Satan will entice you in all that feels good. He will put a spin in your mind of the worst things, making them seem pleasurable. The scripture above speaks to what we all want to deny; we are born sinners as a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. We are not inherently good at heart. There is much to say about your understanding of your relationship with Christ in the understanding of the fall of man and sin. The Message puts Ephesians 2 like this:1 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. 2 You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. 3 We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.

Satan is peaking now before us; our world is living headstrong against the commandments that God has given us. We are turning our backs on God and pursuing sin, or watering down the good news in false religions that just tickle the ears; they stay away from the power of the conviction of sin and the greatest work of the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. They preach prosperity and love, but not repentance. Our lives are worldly for 6.5 days per week, but we rest on that assurance given us in the church pew on Sunday. That assurance is a false teaching and a work of Satan in this world today. A heart that does not repent, is a heart that will not come to know Christ. How many of us will stand before Him on judgement day, and hear the scariest words in the Bible; Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ REPENT & BELIEVE!

 
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Posted by on August 27, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Ultimate Design

06 Aug

Ultimate Design

Jeremiah 29:11-13   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

This passage is some of the most comforting words in the Bible in my humble opinion. God spoke to, and through, the prophet Jeremiah when the leaders and people of Judah were being exiled and held captive. They, in truth, were suffering the punishment from God for their idolatry; they had bowed before idols in good times and bad. Jeremiah had told them of this coming 70 years they must suffer. But in the midst of it, was a promise in it; God was with them and would bless them in their exile if they would seek Him. They were told to keep their eyes on God and to make the best of a bad situation; a situation that was designed by God. God’s Sovereignty is shown all throughout Jeremiah’s prophecies in this book.

Can you see and feel the comfort of this passage to all of us? Can you see how much of the power of God’s design and heart for you that is wrapped up in these words of Jeremiah to those that understand He is in control; to those that seek him and his will for their lives in all of it? When you are in the middle of the trial, your eyes may become blurred from the pain and tears of it; but in it is His Will for your life. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Grasping a small bit of the understanding of his sovereignty, allows you to grasp a portion of that peace of which He describes. I can’t help but think of the disciples in the boat during the great storm at sea, the fear they had for their lives, their lack of faith. Mark 4:37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

When you get to the other side of His design, you are able to look back at it, and see where he was in it all along. He will take you down roads you would not dare to travel. He will take you through pains to mold you in ways you would not take at any cost. He will alter your life’s path that you had desired, all to put you on the path he desired. When you come to understand this, peace comes in the fire. Cool waters fill your heart in the midst of the heat of the storm. When you look back and learn, carry that knowledge in your heart for the next trial that He brings your way. You will be stronger, your faith will be greater, and your relationship with your Father will be closer; which is His ultimate design.

 
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Posted by on August 6, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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How far we are

01 Aug

How far we are

James Chapter 4

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”– 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Everything in the Bible should be taken in the context it is written. You can take anything that you want out of context, and make it say anything that you want. When you read James chapter four, what does the Spirit say to you? Most likely, He steps on your toes, just like mine. This chapter speaks into the society that God has placed me in; it speaks to those that live for this world and the pleasures found in it, and will pay for those mistakes eternally. I lived by the motto, “He who dies with the most toys wins” for most of my life. The T-shirt should have printed on the back, “He still dies”. When we live for whatever material gain, for whatever lustful pleasure, for the pursuit of wealth, for the countless ideals that turn into idols, we miss the simple joy of living our lives in the center of God’s Will, for relentless pursuit of them. We miss the pleasures of the day, for we are focused on the worry of tomorrow, or the pursuit of the stuff that takes our eyes off God today. We rest in our pride when we gained the new house, the car, the toy, the trophy, the accolade that feeds pride and temporal pleasure. Then we want more, for it never satisfies the soul. James even speaks to how we are as adulterers to God in our prayers for these selfish gains. As a society we need to repent, and mourn, and weep for hour far we have removed ourselves from God in these worldly pursuits.

 
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Posted by on August 1, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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