God, through the prophet Isaiah, is rebuking His people for constantly planning and making decisions without seeking Him. Let this rebuke to Israel be a rebuke to us as well when we devise plans and seek counsel from others yet do not seek counsel from God’s Word and spend serious time in prayer seeking the will of God.
When we don’t seek God and we move forward in whatever brilliant plan we came up with, odds are, it’s wasn’t God’s plan and that brilliant plan of ours leads down a path that leads to further bad choices. It thereby causes a snowball effect of painful consequences that take us further from God’s will. There is an easy to solution to prevent this… seek counsel from our God first and foremost. That doesn’t mean we can’t consult others, but at the end of the day, we must let God direct us and our plans.
Pastor Jason Witt
From verses 2:14-26, James is saying faith without works is dead. He gives an example of living out our faith in the above verses. If you have a brother or sister around you and you say be filled and be warmed but you do nothing about it, what profit is there? In other words, actions speak louder than words.
I’ve been reading and seeing all over Facebook and Instagram and Twitter the words “They need Jesus!” or “The answer is found in Jesus.” Yes, those statements are true but, my question to you is “So what are you doing about it?” Are you simply praying that someone else could come along and feed them? Or are you putting action to your faith? I know I have the tendency of standing around praying but now its time for the next step — go out and do. Go out and invest in the lives of those who need it the most.
Josh Navarro
Humility is a character trait that our natural selves resist. In this “me-first” world, humility is seen as a weakness, but in the Kingdom of Heaven, it represents the mighty strength of God’s love.
Jesus, the One who created all things and is above all things, chose to suspend His rights and lay down the outward attributes of His deity in order to become an earth-bound servant. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross to gain that which He loves; you and me.
Christian, we understand that true humility has a purpose for greater good, but I think we can all testify that it is impossible to grasp on our own. Today, let’s look to our Lord as more than our example; let’s seek His face with a renewed desire to love Him, and by His love to empty ourselves a bit so that He has more room to work in our lives for the benefit of others.
Jeff Deal
The salvation that gives us the hope of heaven has been given to us by grace alone along with the life we live today. However, too many times we try to maintain our relationship with God by our works. If you’re going to move away from God’s grace to walk in works, know that it’s your doing not God’s will. God’s desire is to tear down the works-oriented attitude in us, so why would we want to build that wall up again now as we seek to live in Him? We were saved by grace, so we should now live by it as well, dead to the law and works-based religion and alive to God through grace.
If you could get to heaven any other way then why would God have sent His only Son to die in vain? Live your life out loud in the grace of God knowing that Jesus has done it all for you!
Pastor Doug Hardin
There is no one that cares and loves every person more than God. My hope and prayer is that you would come to know how thirsty you are for God’s Word, believer or unbeliever. So much so that God uses a baby longing for milk as our example, and I’m sure you have all heard a hungry baby.
Your soul is crying out for true spiritual food. Feed it with God’s Word. That is the only place you will find peace, fulfillment, joy, and, best of all, the salvation of your souls through Jesus Christ. Grow in the Lord, follow Jesus, and you will find completeness to your whole life, no matter who you are.
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
When my son was younger and still in elementary school, he confessed to me he had used a very profane word among his friends at recess time. I asked him how it made him feel and he said, “It felt powerful, but then that feeling went away and I felt horrible.” Which is why he felt the need to confess to me.
My young son had felt the pull and deception of the enemy’s temptations and giving in had broken his little spirit. I encouraged him that the horrible feeling afterward was a good thing because he was experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit to turn him away from the perverseness and fill his mind and his life with the words of God’s truth.
Lessons from the playground,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
This verse is a great promise to those who follow Jesus, but I wonder sometimes if people really believe it. When we have burdens, those difficulties in life that tend to weigh us down, we should give them to the Lord. We do that through prayer and through meditation on God’s word.
Yet you might feel you’re already giving the Lord your burdens and still feel like you can be moved, like your faith can be shaken. We should realize the writer of this Psalm, David, went through many difficulties himself to the point where he must have wondered if God was on his side and yet he kept praying and kept relying on the Lord.
There’s no doubt the enemy wants to shake up your life and shake your faith, so rely on this promise from God and give your troubles to Him. He can handle them better than us.
Standing on the Rock,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
One of the fruits of the Spirit is peace and when we came to know the Lord, His peace began to slowly fill our hearts. With each passing day as we learned more of our Lord, His peace settled deeper into our hearts and outlooks. Worry was subject to His peace, and so was fear and anxiety as our God made Himself known to His people.
Peace is our heritage in the Lord. But the lost have no peace and as Paul wrote to the Romans (Romans 3:17) the “way of peace they have not known.” Today, ask the Lord to bring someone to you that has no peace so you might share with them what God has given you in His Son Jesus Christ.
Sharing His peace,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
David’s insights into the Lord, his dependence upon the Lord, and his passion for the Lord are revealed in the Psalms he wrote during the time he was fleeing from Saul. Saul, who had nothing but anger toward David, was God’s instrument to make him into the man he desired to be.
The same is true with us. “Lord, change me,” I pray. “I’m tired of the smallness of my soul, the hardness of my heart. Make me different than I am.”
“Okay,” the Lord says. “I’ll send you an anointed instrument to help accomplish this change.” “Good!” I say, thinking it will be an anointed teacher, a Christian book, or a close friend. But He sends a Saul or two throwing spears at me.
Who has the Lord allowed to be in your life who throws spears at you and brings grief to you? That person is the anointed instrument of God to work in you the love, kindness, and tenderness you long for. There’s no other way for the Lord to change you but to send a Saul or two your way. The question is, what will you do? Will you cut the fringe of his coat?
What about that person who breaks your heart? Are you going to take them down a peg or two or, like David, will you wisely choose not to touch the Lord’s anointed?
Pastor William Del Casale
Jesus is speaking to the 70 whom He had sent out into the cities where He Himself was about to go (Luke 10:1). He had commanded them to take no provisions for their journey and to heal the sick in the cities that received them in peace. These disciples experienced mind-blowing levels of God’s power as they experienced God providing for their physical needs while being used by Him to heal the sick. Now they have returned with joy to report all that they experienced, including the fact that they held power over demons.
Jesus knew they were blessed to have seen and experienced these things (Luke 10:23). However in our verse today, He wants to remind them of the eternal purpose of His ministry which is the salvation that is made available to all through His blood which He shed for us on the cross. God’s desire is for fellowship with all of mankind and that they spend eternity with Him. He calls all to repentance, not wanting that any should perish (2 Peter 2:9). As the Church, we are ministers of Christ and are part of Jesus’ “long game” to reach the lost in order to change their eternal destiny. Lord, may we be ever mindful of eternity as we share the hope of eternal life in Jesus to those around us.
Jeff Mericle
