James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. I picked up this phrase, Do the next right thing, in recovery as I learned that my first instinct is usually the wrong one. The first impulse of my flesh usually does not provide…
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James 4:13-15 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”…You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and…
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James 4:11,12 Do not speak evil against one another… Who are you to judge your neighbor? This is the third (and not final) time that James warns me not to speak evil of those around me. Is God trying to tell me something that I am missing? I have not spoken evil about anyone since…
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James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Last night I looked back at yesterday’s entry and I realized that I am not ready to move on from it yet. I wrote yesterday of mourning my destructive behavior but I barely mentioned the eventual outcome of that…
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James 4:8-10 Cleanse your hands, you sinners… Be wretched and mourn and weep… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. If you have never failed in a way that was painful for you and your loved ones, then this is not for you. You can stop reading. If however, like me, you…
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James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. I have over the last two years become desperately interested in how God changes me. In this process of sanctification, what am I to do and what does God do? Where do Heaven and Earth meet and what is my responsibility in…
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James 4:6 God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The opposite of faith is not disbelief. It is pride. Faith keeps its eyes on God and acts accordingly. Pride says, Sure, I believe in God but I keep my eyes on me and I do what I want. I am not that…
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James 4:5 He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us. In my daily efforts at turning from self and focusing on God, I often become focused or consumed with the defects of self. I suppose it is a primary defect that I always make everything about me. I…
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James 4:4 Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Have you every looked at your surroundings and wondered how you got where you are? I am not speaking of geography. I am talking about looking down at the scale of life and gasping in horror. I am…
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James 4:2,3 You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. God does not answer my prayers… God won’t help me… He has abandoned me… In my addiction, I prayed and prayed that God would change me but I…
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