Tag: James

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QTVOTD: Want Wisdom? Ask for it…

Today was a great day where I prayed about half my way to work. Praying about my own needs of the Lord in my life and the strength to persevere and asking for a louder voice from the Holy Spirit. Multiple times today, stopping and praying, even for the simplest things.

I have a deep desire to constantly be in the presence of the Lord and Bella’s (my oldest) life passage has washed over me.

One thing I ask from the Lord. THIS only do I seek; that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek Him in His temple. For in my day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling, He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

Psalms 27:4&5

Today my Quiet Time passage was James 1:5-8. God is so faithful to give us wisdom when we ask for it but it must come with faith and action on what He delivers in that wisdom…

5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

This is all the time for me. When I attempt to use my own wisdom, I run the risk of self-sufficiency and the belief that it was my own work that attained a result or reward. Even when I have confidence that I know how to approach something, I still request wisdom from God before acting. It is a personal culture of resting in the will and purposes of a God Who knows all things.


6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.

I have found that there are several ways to look at this verse and I should do the word study to get a more contextual understanding of what James was getting at. Most times I see this a believing that God will indeed give me the wisdom and then to act on the wisdom given. If I question the wisdom I have asked for then I am susceptible to choosing another path contrary to that Godly wisdom that has been granted.


7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,

The consequences of doubting that wisdom and questioning the insight the Lord has given, likely means that the faith that begets prayer is weak and not in God in at all…it is a faith in oneself and own thinking that leads them astray. This verse is one of the verses that supports the verse that says, “but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33


8 [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]. James 1:5-8

This verse is pretty self-explanatory. I know people like this -> flighty, indecisive, and in a lot of cases, not trustworthy.

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QTVOTD: A study of James…

Today I am starting a study of James with a dear friend and accountability partner. I will be posting a daily consumption/takeaway from my reading of the day. I had taken ‘another’ break from posting here on the site but when I came here to do a search for a post I made several years ago, I was taken aback by the volume of what I had written…so I am going to get back in the swing of things.

If nothing else, this is a legacy for my wife and kiddos that they can come back to and consume as devotionals or just what God was revealing to their dad on his walk through this life and aspirations to be more like Jesus and Glorify God above all else.

Today’s post — James 1:1-4 [Amplified]

​​1 JAMES, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings (rejoice)!

The 12 tribes are the dispersed Christ believing Jews scattered throughout the nations.

2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

When we trust that our obedience to God enables the direction and hand of God to go before us; all trials and temptations should be viewed as opportunities to use that circumstance as a coveted classroom and education on how to more fully serve and bless God. Whether hit with a trial or in the midst of one.

Some versions [AMP] have “falling into temptation” also mentioned. I for one, feel guilt and shame with the pang of thought and enticement regarding temptation. I think what James may be meaning here is that we absolutely should be remorseful and confess our sins, but to be joyful that the Lord allows for opportunity to learn from and grow a strength from God to overcome. THAT -> is exciting and something to be joyful about.

3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

The more we see God’s grace through His Son played out, the greater our appreciation and trust becomes. We also receive patience with others because we learn our own tendencies to sin and the pain that comes with it.

4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

Do not downplay the endurance, steadfastness, and patience or we may quench the work God intends to do through these attributes. When we embrace endurance, steadfastness, and patience, we will be transformed into perfectly developed people (as much as we can be in our flesh here on earth), lacking in nothing needed to navigate this sin broken world before our death or Christ’s coming.