Sep 20 2024

Today's Bible Verse

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

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In this verse from James, we get an important reminder that we should not only listen to the Bible, but also do what it says. We could have the entire Bible memorized, but that doesn't mean anything if we have not applied it to our lives. We cannot give our lives to Christ and continue to be the same people. Knowing Him catalyzes radical transformation.

It can be easy to feel like our work as Christians is done for the day after we've read the Bible for fifteen minutes in the morning. The box on our checklist is checked, and we want to move on with the rest of our day. However, if that is the limit of the Bible's influence on our lives, says James, we are deceived. If we read the Bible but never become more like God, we are missing out on the purpose of studying the Word.

There are several ways to avoid the self-deception that can come from studying without application. The first is to cultivate an active prayer life in addition to studying the Word. When you pray, you can ask the Lord for clarity about areas in your life that need to change. He will show you specific sins that He does not want you to live in bondage to. Then, when you open the Bible, you see how people talked to the Lord about sin and how He worked in their hearts and minds to draw them closer to Him.

When we discover that the Word is living and active, it will begin to affect the way we live our lives. We will begin to carry scripture around with us, even if we haven't memorized it, and the Lord will begin to use it in our minds to help us stay away from sin and to draw closer to Him.

Becoming a doer of the Word takes practice and is a journey instead of a destination. As we open the Word not merely to check the box on our to-do list, but to get to know God, He will begin to change our hearts and mold us into the kind of doers that James encourages us to become.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for the transformative power of your Word. Help me to live out the things that I know from it. Use it to change my life and make me more and more like you. I love you, Jesus, and I am so thankful that I get to have a relationship with you. In your name, amen.

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Sep 19 2024

Yesterday's Bible Verse

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

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Yesterday's Bible study

Before this verse, Eliphaz tells Job, his friend, that he must be guilty of some sin, even though Job's innocence is certain. Eliphaz's words to Job were ill-timed because they were used to wrongly imply Job's guilt, but his thoughts after condemning Job, including today's verse, ring true for us today. There is no gain to God if we are righteous or blameless in our lives.

The Lord is fully sufficient without us. There is no way we could ever find the Lord to be indebted to us; He has done so much that we will never fully comprehend His goodness to us. The Lord is not lucky to have us on His team, nor is he pining for our hearts. Nothing about Him will change, even if every person on Earth rejected Him.

The Lord is infinite in His perfection, and He is completely without need. He is fully satisfied in Himself and does not need us. Without Him, however, we are lost and unable to live properly. We are the ones who need Him—not the other way around. We need Him for our very breath, we trace our creation back to Him, and we rely on His mercies for forgiveness and love.

But oh, how the Lord delights when we call to Him! He is pleased with His servants who strive after Him, and He looks on the faithful with gladness. Even though He does not need us, He chooses to come into fellowship with us not for His pleasure, but for our own.

We have a God who invited us to become His children, even though such an invitation came at the cost of His own Son. Think about the love that the Lord must show us to welcome us into His Kingdom, even when He does not need us to be there.

Are there people in your life with whom you have nothing to gain from having a relationship with? Think about showing them the same kind of charity that God has shown you and me.

Yesterday's Prayer

Dear Lord, you are so good to me. Thank you for listening to me and hearing me always. Thank you for making a way for me to have a relationship with you, even when you did not need it to be satisfied. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms, and help me respond to others in the same way. In Jesus' name, amen.


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