Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
September 9, 2022
Read: James 4:7-10, 13-17
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
13 Pay attention, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a town. We will stay there a year, buying and selling, and making a profit.” 14 You don’t really know about tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for only a short while before it vanishes. 15 Here’s what you ought to say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. 17 It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.
Good morning! Today is a great day! Thanks be to God!
James writes to the early Christians and once again, we are reminded that God is in charge, not us. We are called to submit ourselves to God so that we may be lifted up and given new life.
Sometimes we become so involved in planning our lives that we forget that we do not know what the future holds for us. When our plans are blocked by unforeseen challenges, we are sometimes devastated because we forgot to listen and share our lives with God along the way. Perhaps within our planning, evil has seeped in and tainted our hearts and we become more concerned about serving our own needs than serving God.
God does not cause our life-changing challenges. These often are born out of our own choices which grow from the free-will which we are graciously given by God. The Good News is that God is always with us and will be by our side no matter what adversities we face when we call upon his Holy name.
This does not mean that we should sit and wait for God to act. Accepting Christ is not a passive decision. We are to make plans for our lives, but our plans should start with our strong foundation so that we can weather the storms which will come.
Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. Thank you for my blessings. Help us to listen and live our lives centered around Christ. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: I will put my plans in God’s hands.
Christ is the Sure Foundation! Pastor Liz
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