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James 1:9-12 Devotional – Day 2

By October 18, 2022Daily Devotional

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

SOLITARINESS OF GOD There was a time when creation, even heaven, didn’t exist, but God’s glory did because He is from everlasting. There was a time when neither angels, nor humans were praising Him and He was still altogether wonderful. He is self-contained, self-sufficient, and  self-satisfied. He was under no compulsion to create out of necessity or deficiency. He created all things simply to display His glory. God could have chosen not to create and He still would be The Perfect One.   

Psalm 50:2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God appears in radiance.

Praise God for His Solitariness
Praise Him because He is perfect. If you could go back and visit the time before creation, God would still exist in all His goodness and glory. His perfection and wonder is complete even without all that He has made. Praise Him for what He has made and done even though He did not need to do any of it to prove His wonder and glory.

CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100

SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.

  • Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
  • Pray for Youth Horizons. Ask God to use their ministry to help children and their families lead responsible healthy lives. Ask God to use their ministry to introduce children and their families to Christ.

SCRIPTURE READING:
James 1:9-12 -English Standard Version
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
When Jesus went to the cross for the “joy set before him” what exactly was that joy? The writer of James has two surprising “plot” twists in this passage. The first is that he reverses the common idea that being poor is the low position and being rich is the high position. The other twist is that he encourages both the rich and the poor to take pride in their respective positions. These plot twists ought to capture our full attention. These help us see what he is trying to communicate. He is not merely playing word games, he is giving life wisdom. The one in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their knowledge of God. They are rich in Christ forever, so never mind what the world says about their status. The rich ought to take pride in their low position for the same reason. As they look at their worldly wealth, they must realize that it will mean nothing in the end. It will all fade away. The rich can take pride in their lowliness as they realize, like the poor, their only true boast is in Christ.

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