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Christian Devotional – October 12, 2015
Read James chapter 2 VERSE: James 2:6-7–But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? TRUTH: Favoritism doesn’t work well for anyone. Here the believers were favoring the rich, but James reminds them that favoring the rich has really done anything for them. The rich still curse God, still drag the believers into court, and still work to exploit the believer. Their catering to the rich hasn’t done anything for them and as a result, they have…
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Christian Devotional – October 11, 2015
Read James chapter 2 VERSE: James 2:5–Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? TRUTH: We do not see as God sees. When we look at situations and at people, we don’t see the same things that God sees. God, in His wisdom, has chosen those things that are poor, lowly, and seeming not much in the eyes of the world and has often allowed them to be beacons of faith, obedience, and love. Regardless of the material possessions that God has…
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Christian Devotional – October 10, 2015
Read James chapter 2 VERSE: James 2:2-4–Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? TRUTH: James gives an example of the truth of shared in yesterday’s verse. We are not to show favorites or discriminate among people. In this example, a rich looking man and a…
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Christian Devotional – October 9, 2015
Read James chapter 2 VERSE: James 2:1–My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. TRUTH: Do we value one type of person above another? Do we try to appeal to one type of person above another? Where favoritism comes into play is when we do this, but we do it with selfish or self-serving motives. In the verses that follow, the example is given of treating a rich man better than a poor man. The idea is that the rich man would then give more money, etc, so the church treats him better for the selfish purpose of gaining money. We see this…
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Christian Devotional – October 7, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:26–Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves and their religion is worthless. TRUTH: We’ve just been talking about deceiving ourselves by not doing what God’s Word says. This verse goes on to give a very specific example of how we can fail to do what God’s Word says. When it comes to the words that we say, often we can speak very thoughtlessly about people and things. If the words that come out of our mouths are not a reflection of the Words that are found in God’s Word, then we are deceiving…
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Christian Devotional – October 6, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:25–But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it–not forgetting what they have heard, but doing in–they will be blessed in what they do. TRUTH: As we saw yesterday, it’s not just about hearing and learning God’s Word; it’s about doing it. So what are we supposed to do? We are to look intently into the perfect law. We must study it and learn it and know it. Second, we must continue in it. We must be consistent in our study of God’s Word. Third, we must not forget it. Our study must be something that we can…
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Christian Devotional – October 5, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:23-24–Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what is says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, does away and immediately forgets what he looks like. TRUTH: We must apply God’s Word to our lives every day. If we don’t we will be like this person here. We will see what we should look like, see what we really look like in comparison, and choose to do nothing to change. God’s Word is give to us for us to learn and grow and become more like God. If we are not seeking to…
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Christian Devotional – October 4, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:22–Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. TRUTH: We can spend our entire lives learning God’s Word and reading. We can hear great sermons and wonderful preaching. But, if we don’t ever take the truths we hear or read and actually apply them to our lives, we’ve deceived ourselves and the truth is not in us. We have to apply the information to our lives. We have to take the truths and allow God to use them in our lives daily to shape us and change us and make us more like Christ. Don’t deceive yourself…
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Christian Devotional – October 3, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:21–Therefore, get rid of all the moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. TRUTH: We have to make a conscious choice what we are going to accept and what we are going to get rid of in our lives. Each day we are presented with options and we have to make a choice. As the verse says, evil is prevalent all around us and if we are not consciously choosing to get rid of it, it will influence us and cause us to fall. Only the Word of God is…
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Christian Devotional – October 2, 2015
Read James chapter 1 VERSE: James 1:20–because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. TRUTH: In the previous verse, we say that we should be slow to anger. This verse gives us the why. When we get angry, our anger and the results of our anger don’t bring about the righteousness that God desires from us. There are times when God gets angry, about sin, about injustice, and when we get angry about the things that god gets angry about, that will bring about righteousness. However, most of our anger and most of the times that we get angry, it’s because of human, selfish, and prideful reasons.…