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James 3:13-18 Devotional – Day 4

By January 19, 2023Daily Devotional

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

Jesus is OUR INTERCESSOR Knowing our temptations, God the Son intercedes for us. He opens the doors for us to boldly ask God the Father for mercy. Thus, God is both the initiation and conclusion of true prayer. Hebrews 4:14-16 

Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Praise Jesus for Interceding
Praise Jesus that He knows your temptation. Praise Him for taking on flesh and experiencing human weakness. Praise Him that even though tempted,He did not sin. Praise Him for making a way for being a help in time of need.

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 Christian Challenge as they meet tonight for their first worship meeting of the semester. Pray for new students to connect and for returning students to plug back into the community.

SCRIPTURE READING:
James 3:13-18 – The Message
Live Well, Live Wisely

13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:

Wisdom from heaven is pure. No mixture of two things, just all from God. Of course, we will not experience that kind of pure heart in this life, but we can and we must be continually moving in that direction. This pure, unmixed heart for God will then show up in real and tangible ways. We will love peace, we will consider the needs of others and we will be submissive (open to reason and not hard headed). We will be full of mercy and treat people with equality. We will be sincere and not just play at the faith. Does this sound like hyperbole? Is this flowery speech with no basis in reality? Is this not in line with the truth and promises of God? Is this something that is beyond God if you willingly cooperate with him? Are your sights set too low? Have you adapted to less than full-hearted devotion to Christ? Perhaps you understand that you will not reach sinless perfection in this life, but have you used that fact as an excuse to avoid reaching for perfection? It’s a fine line between knowing you will not be perfect and failing to continually reach for perfection. Jesus said, “Be perfect.” He was no idealistic fool. He knows the full story of our lives. He looks us straight in the eye today and says without irony, “Be perfect.” Our response cannot be, “But no one is perfect.” Our response must be, “Thank you for the challenge, thank you for the power, I will continue to seek to be perfect, and when I fail, I will be forgiven. I will never become a cynic; I will remain forever a seeker after your perfection.” God grant us wisdom that is pure.

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