Day 17 - 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
Day 17 - James 4:11-17
SCRIPTURE:
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
LESSON:
As I was reading this section of scripture I was struggling to decide what to focus on in today’s devotional. Should I focus on judging others? Or should I focus on the arrogance of thinking we know what will happen tomorrow? Or should I just focus on verse seventeen and sins of omission? I was having a hard time deciding so I ended up deciding to focus on what ties all three things together! In this passage James speaks about two things that we don’t know and one thing we do know. Let’s take a look at them.
In verse eleven and twelve we are told not to judge others' intentions. Why? Because we don’t know the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I have sometimes reacted in a poor way to others actions because of what I perceived to be their wrong intentions. I’ve been hurt at times by people's words against me when my actions were taken in the wrong way. While we often think we know why people do what they do, the truth is that we really don’t fully understand the intentions of people's hearts. And we rarely have full knowledge of the circumstances that precipitated their actions. I often reflect on the saying, “Hurt people, hurt people.” If someone has hurt me in some way, it may be that they are reacting out of their own pain. I have learned it is better to give someone grace than to throw stones of judgement. I am sure that I need people to give me the same grace on a regular basis.
In verses thirteen through sixteen we are told not to be boastful about what we will do tomorrow. Why? Because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. James is not saying that we shouldn’t have a plan or make goals for ourselves. What he is saying is that only God sees around the corner of time and we shouldn’t be so full of ourselves as to think that we know exactly what the future holds! It’s a reminder that we must humble ourselves before God and seek his will not our own.
And then in verse seventeen we are told that failing to do what we know to be right is a sin. Why? Because to not do what we know to be right is an act of disobedience. We call this a sin of omission.
What area spoke to you today? Do you need to be more forgiving of others? Speaking and thinking the best about others? Perhaps you need to be more reliant on God for your future. Stop putting your faith and trust in yourself and give him your tomorrows! Or maybe you are being disobedient through your failure to do what you know is right. This is your moment. Do what you know you should do.
As I was reading this section of scripture I was struggling to decide what to focus on in today’s devotional. Should I focus on judging others? Or should I focus on the arrogance of thinking we know what will happen tomorrow? Or should I just focus on verse seventeen and sins of omission? I was having a hard time deciding so I ended up deciding to focus on what ties all three things together! In this passage James speaks about two things that we don’t know and one thing we do know. Let’s take a look at them.
In verse eleven and twelve we are told not to judge others' intentions. Why? Because we don’t know the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I have sometimes reacted in a poor way to others actions because of what I perceived to be their wrong intentions. I’ve been hurt at times by people's words against me when my actions were taken in the wrong way. While we often think we know why people do what they do, the truth is that we really don’t fully understand the intentions of people's hearts. And we rarely have full knowledge of the circumstances that precipitated their actions. I often reflect on the saying, “Hurt people, hurt people.” If someone has hurt me in some way, it may be that they are reacting out of their own pain. I have learned it is better to give someone grace than to throw stones of judgement. I am sure that I need people to give me the same grace on a regular basis.
In verses thirteen through sixteen we are told not to be boastful about what we will do tomorrow. Why? Because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. James is not saying that we shouldn’t have a plan or make goals for ourselves. What he is saying is that only God sees around the corner of time and we shouldn’t be so full of ourselves as to think that we know exactly what the future holds! It’s a reminder that we must humble ourselves before God and seek his will not our own.
And then in verse seventeen we are told that failing to do what we know to be right is a sin. Why? Because to not do what we know to be right is an act of disobedience. We call this a sin of omission.
What area spoke to you today? Do you need to be more forgiving of others? Speaking and thinking the best about others? Perhaps you need to be more reliant on God for your future. Stop putting your faith and trust in yourself and give him your tomorrows! Or maybe you are being disobedient through your failure to do what you know is right. This is your moment. Do what you know you should do.
PRAYER:
Father, thank you for your word. It never fails to speak directly to me. Help me to be a doer of the word. Whatever you ask me to do I will do it. Thank you for your grace that you have given me. Amen!
Father, thank you for your word. It never fails to speak directly to me. Help me to be a doer of the word. Whatever you ask me to do I will do it. Thank you for your grace that you have given me. Amen!
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