Monday 15 Nov 2010

Monday Reading: James 4:5
 
Key Verse: James 4:5
5  Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us yearns to envy?
 
Devotion:
There is no entry in our bibles in the Old Testament that says these words directly but rather the thought is brought forward that this is what many things in our bibles intimate toward. We have a spirit within us when we are alive. That spirit continues to grow and learn through everything that we do. If that spirit is not fed a good diet then it is going to become quite unhealthy as well as start to yearn for those unhealthy things. Just as our physical bodies may become accustomed to a diet of junk food, so our spirits become accustomed to a diet of junk too.

Our spirits are not the strong reliable rock that we think they are; if we believe that then we are fooling ourselves. If we take a long look at our spirits we will see that they are weak and tend toward the easy ways in life. That is why we look upon ourselves as being inherently weak – because our inner spirit is weak. The less exercise it gets the weaker it will become; just as our bodies will become weak and weary if they lack exercise. Just as our bodies yearn for the sweets, dainties and other extravagances, so too do our spirits yearn for the things we do not have. If truth be told we do yearn for the rotten things in life until we get ourselves focused back on God.

If we aim to God, aim to please Him instead of ourselves then we will find that He is willing to guide and strengthen us in our spiritual walk. We no longer have to fear that we will not find what our souls seek when we have God within us. We no longer have to despair at the thought of never finding peace or contentment. God is our Goal that we need to focus on and one that we should never lose sight of. Our spirits are weak and they will wander off into all manner of temptations as soon as we turn aside from Him. That is why Christ promised us the Holy Spirit when we accept Him as our Saviour; so that we may be strengthened from the inside – the place where we are weak...

Points to Ponder:
What do you yearn for?

Are you accepting His guidance daily?