As followers of Christ, you and I should have a fear of the Lord, that means we choose to place Him in the highest position of honor within our lives and our hearts bow in reverence to Him. It makes sense to you and me because Christ is our wise Counselor, and we seek to be filled and guided by His Truth and wisdom. However, those who do not profess Christ often oppose much of what you and I stand for within Christ. Paul reminds us that we are to discard everything that is not of Christ, in fact we are to count it all as garbage:
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)
James goes on in today’s passage to give us specifics about what it means to live honorable lives led by the Spirit in Christ’s wisdom. He clearly points out how we are to avoid the world’s dark disorder and evil of every kind; and that we are to seek God’s wisdom to grow us in ways of being peacemakers.
Friends, I shared the challenge during yesterday’s time of worship at the end of service. I agreed with what Pastor Mary said during the sermon, that no one can take our salvation away from us, and that we have a choice to stand on the Rock of our Salvation, Jesus, each day and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with Christ’s righteousness, peace, and joy. Standing in this place of wanting more of what Jesus offers us is wisdom and it means we are in alignment with God as a part of His Kingdom of Heaven, and that we want to be peacemakers. It also means that we oppose the dark kingdom of this world that is ruled by Satan. You and I will not allow Satan to come anywhere near our most precious and pure treasure…our Salvation.
James 3:13-18 NLT
True Wisdom Comes from God
13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for Your wisdom. Holy Spirit, please help to guide me with Christ’s wisdom. I choose to have more of His righteousness, peace, and joy operating in a through me, today. I am so grateful to be a resident of the Kingdom of Heaven. Help me, Lord, to remain focused on what you need me to do for Your Kingdom and please keep all of the darkness of this world away from me. I ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.