From the Edges – Morning Devotional- An Honest Reflection

From the Edges – Morning Devotions
Pastor Calvin Cook –
An Honest Reflection
James 1: 22-27 (NIV)
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

How are you doing today? Our common response is good or OK or alright or something else. This morning with all honesty – How are you doing today? What areas of your life are lacking? What burdens are you carrying? Are you spending enough time with God? At peace with God is the only place you can find real comfort and completeness. We might think we can find it in other ways, but the only true way to understand completeness is by totally trusting in God.

People will disappoint us. Bad decisions will follow us. But true uninterrupted devotion to Jesus Christ will bring us hope.
Not to sound too preachy here, but do you know what you look like to others by the way you live your life. We tend to spend time putting titles on people by the way they look – titles like homeless, a drunk, a drug addict, a creep, a goody two shoes (whatever that is). But maybe today we could look into our own lives and claim our identity in Christ. What are others seeing in us? Are we prayerful, faithful, trusting, could we take an honest look at us. Might we be seen as the people of God we claim to be. We could look like a Disciple of Jesus Christ, not by the cross we wear but by the way we live our life, especially to the ones who are close to us.

The caution from James for today is this “don’t just read the word of God, live it! If we don’t constantly read the word of God we will soon forget its instruction.

Prayer – Help me Lord to focus on you – Amen