Day 12 - 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
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Day 12 - James 3:13-18
SCRIPTURE:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
LESSON:
I have a neighbor who cannot stand me! I truly don’t know why. I have tried to be friendly, I have tried to acquiesce to his unreasonable demands and bent over backwards to appease him. All to no avail. Just this past week he called the police and animal control on me. In fact he has called the police multiple times. He complained about my lights being on, then turned around and complained when I removed a street light! He has called the power company, called code enforcement, and even taken me to court. The judge so clearly saw his bitter envy and self centeredness that he threw the case out on its face. He even told my neighbor that I was trying to be a good neighbor and that he should work it out. That just made him even more angry!
Recently he didn’t like my Christmas lights, at least that's what I am surmising. So he trained high powered flood lights directly at my house. And he keeps them on all night long! I can literally do finger puppets on the side of my house at two am! What he doesn’t know is that all of my bedrooms have blackout blinds so it isn’t causing us a problem. But all the other neighbors on our side of the street are surely getting upset! The other neighbors have even gone over and asked him to remove the lights, but his anger at me has blinded him so much that he refuses to grant their request. It’s incredible! And insane! I just don’t understand why he is causing so much trouble!
Today’s scripture really got me thinking. The direct results of bitter envy and self-centeredness are confusion and every evil thing. I am literally watching what happens when a person allows those things to control their life. This neighbor is not the only person I have encountered in my life like this, although this is an extreme case. But the bottom line is that these deranged attacks are earthly, sensual and yes, even demonic. You see, anytime we allow ourselves to be controlled by this way of thinking, we are in danger of producing evil things in our life as well. When you sense bitterness or envy creeping up in your heart, your first prayer should be for heavenly wisdom! Self seeking will destroy your life and everyone around you as well. Don’t allow these things to control you!
What we should be seeking is the wisdom that comes from above. And that is what I have been focusing on during this experience with my neighbor. I am doing my best to be peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, the more that I do these things the angrier he seems to get! My prayer is that he would be moved by God’s Spirit over time. That he would come to know the peace of God and experience Jesus through me.
“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
I have a neighbor who cannot stand me! I truly don’t know why. I have tried to be friendly, I have tried to acquiesce to his unreasonable demands and bent over backwards to appease him. All to no avail. Just this past week he called the police and animal control on me. In fact he has called the police multiple times. He complained about my lights being on, then turned around and complained when I removed a street light! He has called the power company, called code enforcement, and even taken me to court. The judge so clearly saw his bitter envy and self centeredness that he threw the case out on its face. He even told my neighbor that I was trying to be a good neighbor and that he should work it out. That just made him even more angry!
Recently he didn’t like my Christmas lights, at least that's what I am surmising. So he trained high powered flood lights directly at my house. And he keeps them on all night long! I can literally do finger puppets on the side of my house at two am! What he doesn’t know is that all of my bedrooms have blackout blinds so it isn’t causing us a problem. But all the other neighbors on our side of the street are surely getting upset! The other neighbors have even gone over and asked him to remove the lights, but his anger at me has blinded him so much that he refuses to grant their request. It’s incredible! And insane! I just don’t understand why he is causing so much trouble!
Today’s scripture really got me thinking. The direct results of bitter envy and self-centeredness are confusion and every evil thing. I am literally watching what happens when a person allows those things to control their life. This neighbor is not the only person I have encountered in my life like this, although this is an extreme case. But the bottom line is that these deranged attacks are earthly, sensual and yes, even demonic. You see, anytime we allow ourselves to be controlled by this way of thinking, we are in danger of producing evil things in our life as well. When you sense bitterness or envy creeping up in your heart, your first prayer should be for heavenly wisdom! Self seeking will destroy your life and everyone around you as well. Don’t allow these things to control you!
What we should be seeking is the wisdom that comes from above. And that is what I have been focusing on during this experience with my neighbor. I am doing my best to be peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, the more that I do these things the angrier he seems to get! My prayer is that he would be moved by God’s Spirit over time. That he would come to know the peace of God and experience Jesus through me.
“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
PRAYER:
Father, please help me to be filled with your heavenly wisdom. Help me to sow peace with my neighbor. And with all those around me. May those seeds yield a fruit of righteousness in due season. I pray this in Jesus' name! Amen!
Father, please help me to be filled with your heavenly wisdom. Help me to sow peace with my neighbor. And with all those around me. May those seeds yield a fruit of righteousness in due season. I pray this in Jesus' name! Amen!
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2025
Posted in peace, fruit of the spirit, wisdom, envy, purity, righteousness
Posted in peace, fruit of the spirit, wisdom, envy, purity, righteousness
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2 Comments
Hearing the story of your neighbor continuing to get more upset as you show him peace, gentleness, a willingness to yield, mercy, and more makes me think that Satan must feel that way when all of his attempts to thwart God’s plans fail. Thank you for sharing your experience of what it is like to live Scripture in our daily lives and show the glory of our merciful God to those who need Him most.
That's going to be tough to live with a neighbor like that and as far as removeing a street light I didn't know that it was even legally possible. I don't know how I will handle a neighbor like that. I have a good friend who had a next door neighbor that was like that for many years. Until he passed away. Although his son was very similar as he lived there too but I think he has moved.But she has a strong faith in the Lord and just did her best to keep her peace.