Good morning and welcome to today's But God weekday morning devotional. We open the word to James 4 verses 5 through 7. Or do you think that the scripture says, for no purpose, he jealously desires the spirit whom he has made to dwell in us? But he gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Chad McBeam:Submit therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he, God, will not flee from you. All too often, we rely on ourselves instead of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. The holy scriptures regarding God's jealousy that James is referring to are many. They include Exodus 20 verse 5 and Exodus 34 verse 14, Deuteronomy 32 verse 16, and Zechariah 8 verses 1 through 3. I really love the Zechariah 8 passage.
Chad McBeam:It reads, then the word of the Lord of armies came saying, the Lord of armies says this, I am exceedingly jealous for Zion. Yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her. The Lord says this, I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth and the mountain of the Lord of Armies will be called the Holy Mountain. James makes it abundantly clear that our Lord God will not share our allegiances with anybody or anything.
Chad McBeam:As James mentioned earlier, the difficulties of living holy for God in a horrific and fallen world are many. However, if we can rely on the Holy Spirit instead of our own sinful nature, we can please the Lord and be his witnesses for his holy kingdom which he has called us to be. Therefore, we must humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. For it is in our humility that his amazing light will shine through us. And if we don't humble ourselves, the creator of the universe will be obliged to humble us, as he did with King Zedekiah, whom we can read about in 2nd Chronicles 36 verses 11 through 13.
Chad McBeam:That passage reads, Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 11 years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel.
Chad McBeam:All too often, I find myself behaving like Zedekiah, falling into the ways of the world and its sinful nature. Or other times just focusing on the good things but not the godly things. I must be humble and seek the Lord God, my king and my savior, first and always. So let us do our best to not be like Zedekiah, but like our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who humbled himself even to the cross to save the world from sin. Heavenly Father, thank you for these words from James today.
Chad McBeam:Thank you also for showing us what it means to have humility. Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to save us from sin. Help us to humble ourselves and be more like you, so that your perfect and pleasing name will be lifted up. And so others will know you by the power of your Holy Spirit. We pray all these things in Jesus' name.
Chad McBeam:Amen. Shalom. Shalom blessings. Press in and press on.