Tuesday, October 11, 2011
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. James 3:14-15
James goes on to suggest that the person who displays “bitter envy and strife” is not living out the wisdom of God. “Bitter envying and strife” speaks of an agenda driven person who goes after their own interests at the cost of others. The “wisdom” that this person operates from is described here as “earthly”, “sensual” and “devilish.” Demonic wisdom results in what we find in verse 16 which we will look at tomorrow. Let’s talk about what these other words mean…
“Earthly”- without an eternal perspective. Only considering what is temporary and material.
“Sensual”- seeing and speaking to only what can be seen.
“Devilish”- finding its source in the thought processes of spirit beings that have an agenda which goes against God.
Application:
When it comes to God’s work, Satan seeks to divide, distract and destroy. One of the easiest ways for Satan to do this is for us to be focused only on ourselves and our own needs and desires. A “me first” attitude will erode at a church, family, or individual on mission and will eventually get that church, family, or individual off of God’s mission for their lives.
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
Wow this was a good message!!!! What i leanrned fro this passage is that if we are christians we need to show through our actions, not just saying we are. Like i said yesterday this world needs god! Without nothing is possible because it his and our faith that leads us through things that we do.
***Without God nothing is possible because it is his and our faith that leads us through things that we do. (forgot the most important word)
Great comment Andrew… You rock bro. We’re all able to be a part of what He is doing in the world!
this was a very great message!! this message is saying that we should follow GOD’S wisdom and not EARTHLY wisdom. if we are “earthly” “sensual” and “devilish” and we follow our own wisdom things can go seriously wrong.we should ALL listen 2 GOD’S wisdom and go down the right path w/ him now and ur whole life!! like andrew said,”without God nothing is possible because it is his and our faith that leads us through the things that we do.” everything will be possible if u follow God’s wisdom and nothing will be possible if we don’t follow his wisdom! So.. in all what im trying 2 say is,FOLLOW GODS WISDOM NOT YOUR OWN!!!!!!
With God all things are possible……………………
have a great tuesday everyone!!!! see u guys tmrw!!!! love u all!! 🙂 <333
I totally agree with Andrew!! 🙂 this was a good message. I think it’s saying tht Satan wants u to become selfish. Like to only think about ur self and only ur self. he wants ur desires and needs. I loved how pastor ben put a “me first” attitude. I really represents how we can act sometimes. And Andrew also said tht without god nothing is possible. With god he makes it real he just makes it possible not impossible. hen we strengthen our faith we can lead our selves to a greater good or cause. 🙂 this was a really Gretchen message today.!!! 🙂 I’m gonna continue to make sure tht I apply these to my life!!! 🙂 love u guys!! ❤ c u on Wednesday!! :b
That’s exactly right Tristian…you’ve got the main idea of this verse…
The wisdom that isn’t from God makes us focus on ourselves…
I’m with you guys too!! 🙂 if we do get selfish and and like me first then Satan wins and we can’t let that happen as Andrew said this world needs god and that’s true so if we follow in god and obey him then Satan can’t do anything to hurt us or even trick us and I love what Allie said follow gods wisdom not your own!! 🙂 GOOD JOB GUYS!!! 🙂 that devos are getting better and better!! 🙂 keep up the good work! 😀
thanks mafalda!!! 🙂 your doing sooo great too!! 🙂 its like ur growing online!!!!! 🙂 <33
Lol everyone says that I’m growing online!!! 🙂
lol its true!!! 🙂
This is saying that some people are worldly we sometimes just think of are selves we do things with out thinking and it hurts people but we don’t even think about it we just do it for are human needs. And like Andrew said we need to show threw the things we do that we are followers of God so show it!:)
This is so true! It’s really easy to have a “me first” attitude, but that’s not right, and very selfish. I admit sometimes I feel that way, & that’s exactly what satan wants. But putting others in front of yourself is what God wants. Us, as Christians, should be a good example of this Godly action. But sometimes that’s not always the case. A good thing to think about when you have a me first attitude is to ask yourself “what would God want me to do?!” He would want you to put others in front of yourself, and be a good Christian example(: good job on the comments today guys!
thanks alexis!!! U too!!! 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Wow! Isn’t this just a little scary?! Our selfishness of loving ourselves before loving God, can potentially ruin our lives! We can love ourselves to the point that we love us more then anyone else, and most importantly God! We need to stop being so selfish and think that the world is ending cause it’s not revolving around us. God created us for a purpose, and we can either love Him with everything we have and take on the life God has made for us, or we can stick to loving ourselves, and miss the greatest life possible. Earth isn’t our home, heaven is, but while we’re living here on earth it’s up to us to do what God created us for! I don’t know about you guys, but the thought of missing out on the life God made for me terrifies me! I don’t want to live life with a bitter attitude and heart, I want to live my life with a loving attitude and heart and one wanting to serve God with all of my being!
I don’t want Satan to have ahold of me, I want God to! Great stuff today! Great takeaways everyone! I love reading your comments everyday! You’re growing so much, and it’s really the coolest thing! Keep it up! 🙂 see ya’ll tomorrow night 😀
Theses verses are a good reminder to the kind of wisdom we should all have. I strive for God’s wisdom, and sometimes because of my selfishness, i come out with “Lindsey-wisdom,” which isnt very good. Like “earthly”, “sensual”, and “devillish”, most of my decisions are me-based. Satan’s goal is to get us off track from God. We’re saved, & theres nothing he can do to change that. But he sure trys to make us go against what God has for us! Satan definitley has his influences on me.. I get off track a lot & im always thinking about myself & what i want, not what God wants. But what’s cool is that God is the all powerful and almighty God and He is bigger than anyone*! 🙂 your guys’ comments are awesome & all the advice each of you have is great! I get lost sometimes & reading all the comments helps me out! So thanks for helping everyone out including me, you all rock!
Man I think of we are all honest we will admit that we can be selfish. It can be easy to fall into this me me me mentality. When we start to only think about ourselves and not others that can be a sign that we are taking our eyes off God and depending on ourselves not God.
Not being selfish is pretty hard. We all are… Especially me
aha. My mom always says “it’s not all about Grace, the world doesn’t revolve around you” When we put ourselves first a lot of times we can get really off track of God’s plan. If we’re being selfish and thinking about ourselves then we are gonna rely on ourselves for the answers. We need to ask God for the answers though. Our own wisdom isn’t good enough, we need God’s. He knows whats best for us better than anyone else. We need to trust in HIS wisdom and not our OWN.
That’s funny because my parents had to tell me that too… 🙂