“James”
(Please read the passage before, or after, reading the devotion.)
And so we come to the only verse in James that actually uses the word “grace,” which is God’s undeserved, unlimited, unconditional love and favor, shown most completely in the person and work of Jesus Christ. James so desperately wants us to understand that there is really only one thing that we have to do to truly receive and experience the grace that God so generously gives. We need to humble ourselves. Humility is the one thing that God does not give us. Putting ourselves second (or last), considering the “other” better than myself, embracing an attitude of submission to someone more worthy than I – only I can do that; that’s part of God’s love gift of freedom that He has given us humans. It involves surrender, confession, tears, and a turning to God, and a yearning for Him. But the beauty is in the joy that comes after that – when He lifts us into His arms!
I can call it by other names, O Lord, but I know that it is my pride that prevents me from fully experiencing Your gift of grace. You will never force me to see myself as I really am – broken, messed up, sinful, needy. But, I now recognize that only when I give up my hold on myself, that I can actually see myself through Your eyes – a child of Your love. As I draw nearer to You in humility, the devil flees, but so does my pride, my pain, my past (and all the sin it contained). And so, O Lamb of God, I come…Amen.
