“James”
by, Pastor Sunil Balasundaram
Scripture
(Please read the passage before, or after, reading the devotion.)
Reminder: There will be NO daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully most of you will join us through our Live stream Worship and listen to God yourselves. Come with open hearts!
We mustn’t think of God as someone who keeps preventing us from the things we like – something like a “party-pooper!” On the contrary, God wants to give His best to His children. And He does so generously; that’s His very nature, which doesn’t change. While “sin gives birth to death (v.15),” God, on the other hand, does something extraordinary. He plants His Word in our hearts which, in turn, brings about a new (spiritual) birth in our lives (cf. John 3:3). He gives us absolutely new lives which, like the first-fruits in the Old Testament, can then be offered back to Him as a love offering. Do we?
Prayer
Thank you gracious God, for every good gift. You’ve kept nothing good away from me! You gave me new life, and with it, yourself – your Holy Spirit. But that’s not all; you have given me every other blessing besides, of loving relationships, of every necessity. I have discovered that I lack nothing Lord, when I have you. Thank you. But now I must learn what it means to give myself to you as “first-fruits:” the best of who I am, the best of what I have is all I can give you in response. So take Lord, receive. Amen.
