“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht   

“Homily Grits Devotional”   http://www.homilygrits.com/

James 3:13… Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by goodconduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.  (NKJV)

I really enjoy the Book of James, because of the practical truth that the Apostle James teaches Christians, to self-evaluate their own spiritual lives.  There are two kinds of wisdom that exist in this sin filled world; heavenly wisdom…and demonic wisdom.   Anyone who is not a Christian in God’s eyes, won’t have access to understanding what heavenly (spiritual) wisdom is all about, until God un-blinds them from Satan’s mask of deception…2 Corinthians 4:4…  The message of the cross (the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ), will be “foolishness to those who are perishing”, unless Jesus Christ becomes their own personal Lord and Savior…

1 Corinthians 1:18-19… For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to uswho are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”  (NKJV)

But when the Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit, at the moment they are graced with salvation…John 14:26…God gives them a choice of which wisdom to follow…  The Apostle James describes some of the evil traits of a person following demonic wisdom, in…James 3:15-16… This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. ¹⁶  For where envy and self-seeking exist,confusion and everyevilthing are there.  (NKJV)

James goes on to list the characteristics of a Christian who has yielded their lives to heavenly wisdom from above, in…James 3:17-18… But the wisdom that is fromabove is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and goodfruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  (NKJV)

If you are a Christian, is your spiritual fruit mature and visible to those around you ??  These 9 “Christ like” attributes are given to each and every Christian, when they are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul lists them, in…Galatians 5:22-23… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  (NKJV)

The Christian, if they are growing in their spiritual wisdom and maturity…will be slowly transformed into the image of Christ…Romans 8:29…  Is your life centered around Jesus Christ ??  Do you hear the constant urging of the Holy Spirit, to confirm that you are indeed a child of God ??  The answer to this one should be YES, if you are a Christian in God’s eyes…

Romans 8:15-16… For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The SpiritHimself bears witness with our spirit that wearechildren of God, (NKJV)

And if you hear the urging of the Holy Spirit…are you doing your absolute best to always follow His lead ??  If you can’t answer yes to all of these questions, then you are less than Spirit filled…Ephesians 5:18-20…  If you can’t answer yes to any of these questions, then you might not be a Christian in God’s eyes.  Go to the link at the end, and find out how God graces the sinner with salvation, after understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are still picking and choosing which urging from the Holy Spirit you will obey, and which ones you decide are not important…then “self-seeking” and personal satisfaction are taking precedence to the perfect will of God for your life. 

God promises to chastise and maybe even scourge the ones He loves (His children), if they are harboring sin in their lives…Hebrews 12:5-11…  Here is the link for this important scripture… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb12:5-11&version=NKJV   

I know people who I truly believe are born again Christians…but they are living in absolute sin, with no signs of coming back to placing Christ first again in their lives.  Some of these backsliding or stagnant Christians are going through what seems to be unending hardships, and more than the normal trials of life.  Others seem to be doing quite well on their own, without God in control.  Our God is a longsuffering and patient God.  But rest assured…chastising will come from the Lord, when His patience runs out.  God wants all of His children to respond to His chastising, and be trained by it.

We see this very clearly at the end of this Hebrews teaching on God’s chastising from scripture above, in…Hebrews 12:11…  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceablefruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  (NKJV)

Look at the same connection in this passage, to what was written by the Apostle James above, in…James 3:18… Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  (NKJV)

Is your life now filled with God’s supernatural peace that goes beyond human understanding (Philippians 4:6-7) ??  If so, praise the Lord for this “peaceablefruit of righteousness” He has given you.  Or are you a child of God whose life is now filled with anxiety, and stress, and confusion that come from the self-seeking ways of the world ??  The answer to again finding “the peaceablefruit of righteousness”…is to turn from, confess, and repent of any sins you are harboring…1 John 1:9…   God will gladly bring you back into sweet fellowship with Him, as you “Walk in the Spirit”…Galatians 5:16…

Heavenly Father, I pray that the truth from Your Word will cut right to the very core of the souls that are not now living their lives for You…Hebrews 4:12-13…  I pray Lord that Your chastising (or the promise of it)…will awaken Your children to the fact that their richest blessings that You promise for Your obedient children, are being held back, until these wayward children conform to Your will and Your ways…  I pray for this fullness of Christ in all of our lives, in Jesus most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

Blessings in Christ,  bruce r mills 

P.S. Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…

https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/gods-group-thoughts-for-7112013-the-truth-about-sin/