Daily Devotion 11/6/26
Stepping Into Who God Made You to Be
Reading: James 2:1-9 - My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Devotional: James confronts a subtle but serious sin -- valuing people based on outward appearance. The way we treat the person in worn-out clothes reveals what we actually believe about the gospel. A church for everyone is not a slogan. It is a daily practice of seeing people the way God sees them -- as those for whom Christ died and in whom God desires to do a good work. Pastor Green's closing prayer captures the posture this requires: God, give me what you want me to have so that I can be who you want me to be. Make that prayer your own today, and mean it.
Reading: James 2:1-9 - My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Devotional: James confronts a subtle but serious sin -- valuing people based on outward appearance. The way we treat the person in worn-out clothes reveals what we actually believe about the gospel. A church for everyone is not a slogan. It is a daily practice of seeing people the way God sees them -- as those for whom Christ died and in whom God desires to do a good work. Pastor Green's closing prayer captures the posture this requires: God, give me what you want me to have so that I can be who you want me to be. Make that prayer your own today, and mean it.
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