Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Nov 12, 2024, 2:49 PM
Passage Read: James 4-5
Meditation Verses: 5:6-9
Thought
Twice in his letter, James warns believers against complaining against one another or judging each other. But in both cases, he is rebuking wrong behavior! He is judging believers, pointing out their faults and calling them to repent! This second time, he warns against complaining against one another, after just rebuking the rich for taking advantage of the poor, of their workers. Then, he turns to those who are being taken advantage of and tells them to be patient and not speak against their brothers. Where's the justice?
Nov 11, 2024, 2:51 PM
Passage Read: James 2-3
Meditation Verses: 3:16-18
Thought
Earthly, natural, demonic wisdom ignores bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. It denies the existence of such things in the heart and justifies every expression of bitterness and jealousy and selfish ambition. So it produces disorder and every evil thing. God is a God of order, so this wisdom is not from Him. The wisdom that comes from God must produce order, at least in the heart and life of the one who possesses it. So it must be pure, not hypocritical, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruit and unwavering.
Nov 10, 2024, 2:52 PM
Passage Read: Hebrews 13 - James 1
Meditation Verses: James 1:6-8
Thought
There should be no doubt when asking for wisdom, because God does want to give it to everyone. It is not hard to find: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of it, and the Scriptures teach it. But there are other things where my doubts rise, I don't know for sure if they are truly God's will to do. Healing, deliverance from trial or torment....
Oct 25, 2023, 2:56 AM
Passage Read: James 4-5
Meditation Verses: 4:7-10
Thought
Living for my own pleasures is friendship with the world; James links these two things. The only solution is to purify my heart and mind, to stop loving the world and being its friend. Either I love the Lord by humbling myself before Him, weeping and mourning over my sin and the world's sin, or I seek my own pleasures, just as everyone in the world does. I live for this life and the things of this world, or I humble myself before God, resist the devil, wash my hands and purify my heart.
Oct 24, 2023, 2:57 AM
Passage Read: James 2-3
Meditation Verses: 2:1-5
Thought
How easy it is to fall into this trap, seeking the favor of rich men and ignoring or belittling the poor, especially when we are involved in an endeavor that depends on money. A church, a mission agency, a business, everyone wants a rich patron, so everyone curries the favor of rich men, hoping that one might adopt our cause. Who cares about the poor man? He has no money for himself, let alone for our cause! He's going to cost money, not contribute.
Oct 24, 2022, 8:20 AM
Passage Read: James 4-5
Meditation Verses: 4:15-16
Thought
I do not know the details of God's plans for me or anyone else, so to make declarations about events or actions or the future is presumptuous on my part. If the Lord should give me a revelation, then I can speak about the future; otherwise, I must be careful not to say anything definite about anyone or anything. I can speak according to God's Word, but God's Word does not give details about anyone living today.
Oct 23, 2022, 8:21 AM
Passage Read: James 2-3
Meditation Verse: 2:25
Thought
Rahab believed God would overthrow Jericho and so she acted. She didn't just believe and give up, she welcomed the spies and pleaded for her life and the life of her family. Whether her family also believed, Scripture doesn't say. They followed Rahab's instruction, but if they didn't believe, they still died in their sins eventually. So following the rules without faith doesn't save, but neither does having a "faith" that prompts no action.
Oct 22, 2022, 8:22 AM
Passage Read: Hebrews 13 - James 1
Meditation Verse: James 1:27
Thought
This is an interesting statement. James makes it sound like the most important thing we can do to be truly religious is to visit orphans and widows in their distress. And that's where most people stop reading, but he goes on to say that we also need to keep ourselves from being unstained by the world. Of course, visiting orphans and widows is relatively easy, so it's easy to understand why most people would only see that in this verse.