December 4
James 4
While selfishness produces conflict, humility produces submission to God.
INSIGHT
Selfishness is the foundation for all conflict. When two hearts want different things - and neither is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the other - conflict arises. Selfishness is the cause of war, crime, and interpersonal conflict. By looking out for ourselves, we think we can get what we want from life. In contrast, the Lord teaches us that humility, not selfishness, results in satisfaction in life. Promote yourself, and wars and conflict result. Even God is against you (v. 6). But live in humility and wars and conflict cease, assuming all parties participate. And the Lord will lift you up.
PRAYER
Praise the Lord because He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble:
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name (Psalm 100:1-4).
Pause for praise and thanksgiving as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
(1 John 2:1-2)
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."
(John 6:35)
As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:
greater faithfulness with your time,
the president and national affairs,
your activities for the day.
Finally, offer this prayer to the Lord:
May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen
(Hebrews 13:20-2)
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