Category: 260 Devotional

James Chapter 2 (ESV)

 

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! ²⁰ Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? ²¹ Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

 

Reflection

1. Faith is something that we cannot see but is made real and visible in our works and actions. James tells us that faith and works go hand-in-hand; our faith in the person and gospel of Jesus Christ changes the way we see the world, ourselves, and God’s As we grow in our relationship with Christ, our changed perspective and value system will cause us to behave closer to God’s way. Thus, our actions reveal our faith in God.
2. In what ways can you bring your actions more in line with your beliefs? What has God been asking you to do that you have been ignoring?
3. Talk to Him about it. And ask God to help you follow through with the works that will reveal your true faith.

Prayer & Journaling:

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

James Chapter 1 (ESV)

 

Greeting

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹ Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰ and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

 

Reflection

1. Life involves many kinds of testing. It is in God that the testing of our faith produces endurance and because of Him, we are able to grow mature. When we experience difficult times—financial or relationship—those are the times when we are most able to focus and be dependent on God. These times can also be filled with joy when we realise that He is strong when we are
2. Recalling a trial you have experienced, what pressures did it bring on your faith? What “wisdom” did you gain through it?
3. In this wealth-chasing modern society, what do vv9-11 mean to you? What might James say you should “boast in”? Will you heed his teaching? Why?

 

Prayer & Journaling:

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 13 (ESV)

 

Final Warnings

¹ This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ² I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— ³ since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. ⁴ For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! ⁶ I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. ⁷ But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. ⁸ For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹ For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Final Greetings

¹¹ Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. ¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss. ¹³ All the saints greet you.

¹⁴ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

 

REFLECTION

1. The church at Corinth was a pastor’s nightmare, but their new life was ablaze in them. Their problems are many and serious. But, they knew that their lives were being shaped for some grand and eternal purpose. In spite of some hard words exchanged between Paul and them, he called them “friends” and encouraged them to aim “for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another,live in peace” (v11). And he wished them the best by blessing them (v14). This demonstrates that even though we can have strong disagreements within the body of Christ, we can still be friends, still encourage one another, and still hope the best for each other.
2. What about your church? Can you still keep friendship with someone at church even though you hold different opinions? Pray for your church that it will be filled with people who are true reflections of God’s love and power.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 12 (ESV)

 

Paul’s Visions and His Thorn

¹ I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—⁶ though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 

REFLECTION

1. Paul prayed with earnest (v8), only to learn that the answer was no. He learned in time that the weakness which devastated him was truly a gift from God. A gift that enabled him to experience God’s grace, presence, and power, in ways he would never have experienced them otherwise. So, when tragedy strikes and disaster comes, God will give his own unique gifts as we grow in our dependence on him. As we seek His strength, we’ll discover a depth to our relationship with the Lord that we would otherwise never have known. And a strength that makes weakness a triumph and a joy.
2. God’s best gifts are often wrapped in tragedy and suffering. Do you agree? Have you experienced God’s gift in v9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”? What is your weakness? Have you received God’s gift? How does this gift help you experience God’s power and grace?

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 11 (ESV)

 

Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. ¹⁸ Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!²⁰ For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,^[b] in cold and exposure.²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

REFLECTION

1. Read this passage slowly as if you were with Paul: storms, imprisonment, beating, robbery, hunger, shipwreck, drift at sea…… What do you think of such a “resume” of Paul, a great spiritual giant in contrast to the impressive resume the world seeks after? How do you think such a leader?
2. Why does Paul say, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness”? God is still looking for “weak” people in whom to display His strength. Are you interested in the job?

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 10 (ESV)

 

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹ I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away! — ² I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

⁷ Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 

 

REFLECTION

1. From Paul’s example here, what is supposed to be the “normal” way Christians exercise leadership over one another? On a scale from 1 – 10, how well do you demonstrate Christ’s gentleness and meekness in leading others?
2. Pray and ask God to help you decide on one area that you will work on this week to demonstrate your interest in building people up and not pulling them down.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 9 (ESV)

 

The Cheerful Giver

⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
    his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴ while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

 

REFLECTION

1. God gave His Son because he “so loved the world”. There is no higher motive for Christian giving than the example God set for us than this. God gave freely and sacrificially, even delightfully. Paul wrote of the highest motive for giving is love. “If I give away all I have, andif I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (see 1 Cor 13:3). We are to give joyfully. The only way we’re going to give delightfully is to give out of LOVE. Any other motive leaves one joyless. In the long run, joyless giving does little good for Christ’s kingdom – and nothing for us.
2. Paul reminded the Corinthians and us of the blessings that make Christians giving such a joy. (1) Giving benefits us materially and spiritually. (vv8, 10)   (2) Giving permits us to bless others.(vv11,12) (3) Giving stimulates others to pray for us.(vv13, 14)
3. Do you give compulsively or with careful planning? Are you a joyful giver, or a reluctant one? Have you received the blessings Paul talked about? In all the causes that you donate, is there a need for adjustment?

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 8 (ESV)

 

Encouragement to Give Generously

¹ We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.⁶ Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. ⁷ But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

⁸ I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

 

REFLECTION

1. Living in a materialistic society, we can easily become dominated by a spirit of acquisition – of getting and storing and then guarding what we’ve gotten and stored. The biblical practice of giving is an offering of a portion of the fruits of our labor to God. The offering is based upon the conviction that we would have gotten nothing from all our sweat and exertion if God hadn’t first given us the ground to use, the muscles to work, a brain to think, and a community to live and be employed in. Everything comes to us as a gift from God. Sunshine and rain. Fruitfulness and fertility. Strength and health. They are all from God. Our offering is an acknowledgment of that. It’s a way of honoring him and giving thanks to him.
2. How is your giving? Do you always give with a thankful heart?

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 7 (ESV)

 

Paul’s Joy

² Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸ For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹ As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. ¹¹ For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³ Therefore we are comforted.

 

REFLECTION

1. The world’s sorrow usually is an “I’m sorry I got caught” kind of sorrow. The individual is sorry for himself, and the consequences he now has to pay. Godly sorrow is grief about the original act, and repentance – a commitment to turn from wrongdoing and to turn back toward God (v10). We grieve, like Isaiah does in Isaiah 6, not only for ourselves, but also because we belong to a people who are sinful. With this comes spiritual insight and maturity.
2. Have you ever experienced this deep godly grief, for yourself, or for others? Talk to God about it and listen to God’s response.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 6 (ESV)

 

The Temple of the Living God

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

 

REFLECTION

1. Christians are to be completely separated unto the Lord, with that separation as sharp as the dividing line between light and darkness, between Christ and Satan, and between the temple of God and a shrine where idols are worshiped. In short, we are to “purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit.” (7:1) God is our Father, but when we sin, sin’s contamination separates us from God. Similarly, when sin comes into a relationship between two people, it’ll be felt like a grain of sand entering into the eye, the relationship will be affected. So, the issue isn’t whether we could have intimate relationship with non-Christians, rather, if we want to maintain this close relationship with God the Father. Our loving father is calling us: “I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters.” How do you respond?
2. Imagine you are taking a walk with the Lord in the garden. Listen to God telling you, “I will be your father, and you shall be my son/daughter.” What would you say to him right now? The Lord is listening. Speak to him and listen to his fatherly talking, too.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.

If you have a prayer journal, as you listen to God, write down a few thoughts, questions, words, names, drawings, or anything that has come to your mind during this time.