Devotional Day 48

Scripture

James 4:1-10

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Devotional

Not going to lie - this is a heavy passage, it’s giving me flashback to the fear of the Lord week. However, there is so much beauty and wonderful hope filled promise from God in the midst of it. Quite often the Lord gives us the cold hard truth, reminding us where our hearts are far from him and why. The Spirit exposes our sin, bringing it into the light, calling it out. It can be uncomfortable, but so liberating. It’s so good to know that God knows the depths of our sin and brokenness and still loves us, giving us hope for redemption.

There’s this wonderful encouragement in the middle of this passage that ‘God gives us more grace’ - he longs to raise us up in spiritual flourishing, he yearns for us to be close to him and to shower his favour and grace into our lives. The promise is that God pours out his power, strength and might through his Spirit when we humble ourselves before him.

Funnily enough the word translated to ‘grace’ in this passage is also sometimes translated as ‘favour’. We talk a lot about the word ‘favour’ in Christianity, and rightfully all Christians should desire God’s favour. We want God to be working in and through us, we want to feel the powerful wind of the Spirit in our sails. Over the years as I have served God’s people and ministered the gospel I have seen a pattern clearly emerge, as over and over again the most jacked up, addicted, life-falling apart people, who have humility, see the wind of God blow like a mighty rushing wind into their lives as they humble themselves before the Lord. I’ve seen people whose marriages, careers and brains have been obliterated by drugs, alcohol and pornography humble themselves before God and have every single part of their life wonderfully redeemed as they’ve experienced an outpouring of God’s grace and favour. I’ve also seen people who struggle with pride not be able to get an inch of breakthrough in any area no matter how hard they try. Time and time again I witness the humble being raised up by God, receive wonderful encounters with the Lord, powerful revelations in scripture and serious breakthrough from sin and redemption of what was broken.

Sometimes God gives us a hard word, a wake up call, maybe he’s been doing that for you the past couple of months. If you want to experience the powerful wind of God’s grace and favour in your life, humble yourself under his hand and stay there. He will lift up your life and make beauty from ashes.

Prayer

Lord God, I humble myself before you today. I admit that I need you, I admit that I don’t know everything - but I am in need of your help. Please help me God, please give me your grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.