James | Kristi's Morning Devotional

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017

Getting a Bumper Crop

Yesterday morning I told you about my garden from years ago. The hard ground and briny water made it difficult to produce a good crop. Any gardener knows that you have to prepare the soil if you want a good harvest. The rocks need to be removed and most of the time the soil needs to be fertilized to restore the nutrients.

Our hearts are the same.

“If you plant goodness, you will harvest faithful love. Plow your ground, and you will harvest with the Lord. He will come, and he will make goodness fall on you like rain.

13 But you planted evil, and you harvested trouble. You ate the fruit of your lies, because you had trusted in your power and your soldiers.” Hosea 10:12-13 ERV

The last few weeks I have been reading through the books of I & II Kings in the Old Testament. Some valuable lessons to be learned from those books…good rulers were replaced by selfish, power hungry, godless rulers who divided the nation and led the Israelites to their defeat and captivity. We can learn from their history.

They planted evil and harvested strife – it brought confusion, trouble and cruelty. Kings no longer sought God but did whatever seemed right at the time. One king even said he didn’t want to consult with the Lord’s prophet because he knew that the prophet would disagree with the king’s plan and tell him he was wrong.

We need to learn from their example and plant good seeds so that we have a harvest that honors the Lord.

“13 Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. 14 But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. 15 That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. 16 Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.” James 3:10-18 CEV

Take time today to evaluate what’s growing in your heart’s garden. If need be, plow it under and replant. There’s still plenty of time to bring in a good crop!

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017

A Gift Called Wisdom

We have a real need in our world today for wisdom – God inspired, God given wisdom! We don’t need intellect or education – that’s knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is futile.

Good old common sense, isn’t so common anymore.

I was doing a search on wisdom and what I found was really cool. Really it was! Wisdom, the word, is first used in Exodus chapters 28 – 36 when the Lord showed Moses how to make the Tabernacle. It talks about all the workers who were assigned the tasks …of building. It says that they were all filled with a spirit of wisdom.

“I have chosen Bezalel from the Judah tribe to make the sacred tent and its furnishings. 3-5 Not only have I filled him with my Spirit, but I have given him wisdom and made him a skilled craftsman who can create objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.” Exodus 31:2-4

Then it goes on to show that Joshua was filled with wisdom and Solomon had wisdom. Solomon said wisdom was of more value than gold and we should “pursue” it!

Wisdom brings understanding; understanding of God’s ways and the blessings He has given to us as His own children.

“So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.” Ephesians 1:16-18

God has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks – so as you are looking at your day, your occupation, your marriage, your kids… Let God fill you with His wisdom and it will definitely make a much more favorable outcome.

“If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.” James 1:5-6

If you need wisdom today – ask and you will receive it.

August 2, 2017August 16, 2017

Impatience

Impatience is a destroyer of faith. When we become impatient we begin to try to work things out on our own – we wonder if God is ever going to come through – what’s taking sooooooooooo long? Those kind of thoughts come from doubt and bring fear – fear that it is never going to work out right. Doubt and fear will choke out the promises of God’s word – they can out weigh faith, if we let them. We must stand with confidence in God’s word if we expect to see God’s promised fulfilled.

” But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8

Abram followed God from his home out into the middle of nowhere because God made him a promise. A promise that he would possess great land and be the father of many nations. But Abraham never really took possession of the land he had been promised – he lived the life of a nomad – moving from place to place but all the time he held fast to God’s promise.

What is it that God has promised you? What have you left to follow God? No looking back – keep your eyes on the prize of the high calling of God. Don’t give up – don’t fall back. Move forward – continue to follow in obedience to what God has put in your heart.

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him…By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she[f] considered that the One who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.” Hebrews 11:6, 8-12

Keep going – A friend of ours told us once “If God says go north He will provide, if you go south you’ll think you died”. Follow God and He’ll lead you to your promised land.

July 27, 2017February 27, 2018

Forgiveness is Important

For over a week now the Lord has really been impressing me with how important forgiveness is. This truth brings me to focus on how much I have been forgiven.

To the Lord, sin is sin. We sometimes refer to the “little white lie” or “one of the big sins” but that’s not how God sees is at all. In fact in James we’re told if we break one we are guilty of all.

“But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.

10 If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all.” James 2:9-10 CEV

This isn’t an indictment to show us how bad we are but it is a revelation that not one of us can earn our own salvation, we all need Jesus!

Bringing us back to forgiveness we must understand that as the Lord forgives everyone of our sins and shortcomings we must also forgive.

This morning I was reading a devotional by Max Lucado and it hit home. I’d like to share it with you.

“A Grace Giver

Forgiveness is not foolishness. Forgiveness, at its core, is choosing to see your offender with different eyes. By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? This is a huge issue in Scripture! Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners.
Remember his story in Matthew 18, about the servant freshly forgiven a debt of millions who refused to forgive a debt equal to a few dollars? He stirred the wrath of God. “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt. Shouldn’t you have mercy just as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:32). In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace. And we’ve been given grace so we can freely give it. See your enemies as God’s child and revenge as God’s job.
From Facing Your Giants”

Each of us will have opportunities today to forgive, I pray we are grace-filled in each situation.