Daily Devotional for Thursday January 19, 2017
Sin, As We Know, is a Manifestation of What is in Our Hearts
(James Chapter 3)
**DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Father, I pray, today, for each person who is reading these words. You know exactly where they are at today financially. I pray that whatever they have today is multiplied many times over in the coming weeks and months. Bless them in the area of their finances, Father, so that they may not only care for their day-to-day needs of those they are responsible for, but so that they may feed the poor around the world, those who are materially poor as well as those who are spiritually poor. I pray, today, a prayer of BLESSING on the finances of the person reading these words. Whatever we have in this life comes from you and is yours Father. May we be faithful in managing what you have given to us. Multiply many times over what you have currently given to the person reading this word today and allow them to be a great blessing to the work of God throughout the world. I pray BLESSINGS over the finances of the person reading these words today for the glory of Almighty God. In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Here is one that I could probably do a month's worth of Devotionals around. You can read the entire 3rd Chapter of the Book of James in less than 5 minutes. Please, take that 5 minutes today and do it. It is amazing how living a successful Christian life really boils down to a few things. The foundation, of course, is our daily relationship with Christ. It ALL starts there.
Sin, as we know, is a manifestation of what is in our hearts. You don't commit the act of adultery until it starts in your heart, moves to your head, and finally is performed by your body. Hatred is a condition of the heart. Having your heart right is the key to how you live your life and the actions you perform day in and day out.
Even though we are talking, today, about our tongue, that organ that we use to speak with, the things we say start in our heart, move to our head, and are manifested in our conversation. We can never talk about taming our tongue until we talk about taming our heart. We can never talk about the things we say until we talk about the genesis of those words.
As long as I have breath and you read these Devotionals, I will implore you to realize that the key to having a pure heart is having a daily relationship with Christ. An intimate, vibrant, real relationship from which our heart and life are guided by.
Understanding that what we say is born in our heart, then in our thoughts, let me encourage you today to understand the power of the things you say to other people. We can accomplish so much with our conversation while we can also destroy so much. I believe it is critical to use our conversation to build people up. There is so much negative in the world today.
We should always take the opportunity when speaking to people to encourage them, lift them up, and be an encouragement to them. I also believe that we have to use our conversation to be honest with people. Most counseling situations I am in are as a result of lack of communication. For whatever reason, we don't say what we should, we aren't clear about our feelings, or we don't express our thoughts enough, and the lack of communication over a period of time festers into major conflicts.
I am a firm believer of being up front and honest. Even if it is uncomfortable and painful, it is better to get it out and deal with it, before it becomes an even larger problem. Of course, our conversation is also the gift the Lord has given us to tell others He is our hope and reason for life. I have talked the last few days about witnessing.
While we witness through how we live our life, we also witness by communicating the hope we have in Jesus Christ. The easiest and most effective way is simply to tell others what Jesus has done in our life. You don't need to be a bible scholar to tell people how He has impacted your life.
I love you, I care for you, and I pray for you daily. My encouragement for you, today, is to take inventory of your conversation. Be aware of the things you say, how you say it, and the impact it has on others. Sometimes you have situations where you just have to sit down and have a serious conversation. You can always use God's gift of communication to build someone up and encourage them. NEVER miss that opportunity.
People need someone to lift them up and encourage them along the way. It can make all the difference in their day. Be aware of how powerful what you say is. Be aware of what you say before you say it. Be aware that if you are not happy with the things that come out of your mouth, then you need to pray for the Lord to show you what is really in your heart. You don't speak by accident. It starts in your heart. Pray that prayer today, "Create in me a clean heart Lord." God will always honor the prayer of His child to be like Him.
In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller