Devotionals for May 10, 2022
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READ
JAMES 4:1-3
"What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
"What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”
REFLECT
Culture’s gospel would say if you have a desire that God says ‘no’ to, then outside influences want to deny you. But scripture tells us that the source of our desires has been broken, that evil desires are within us. Coming into agreement with this truth is fundamental to understanding the grace of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and why the gospel message is so powerful. Once we begin to realize that the problem is not ‘out there’ but within ourselves, we finally are in a place where God can work in us.
APPLY
Q: According to this passage, are all of our desires good?
Q: What desires or motives do you have that don’t align with God’s way of living?
Q: How do evil desires (such as the examples given in the above passage) impact the people around us?
Q: What desires or motives do you have that don’t align with God’s way of living?
Q: How do evil desires (such as the examples given in the above passage) impact the people around us?
SING
PRAY
"May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Lord, would you come and change me from the inside out. Would you purify my heart, redeem my motives, and transform my desires- so that what brings my heart its the greatest joy is that which glorifies You. I pray for your Kingdom to come soon. Create in me a longing for the things of heaven, that I would know the transience of this world, and long for the perfect one to come. But in the waiting for your return, have your way in my life God- I am yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Lord, would you come and change me from the inside out. Would you purify my heart, redeem my motives, and transform my desires- so that what brings my heart its the greatest joy is that which glorifies You. I pray for your Kingdom to come soon. Create in me a longing for the things of heaven, that I would know the transience of this world, and long for the perfect one to come. But in the waiting for your return, have your way in my life God- I am yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.