Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
September 15, 2024
James 1:19-27
19 Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. 20 This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you. 22 You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves. 23 Those who hear but don’t do the word are like those who look at their faces in a mirror. 24 They look at themselves, walk away, and immediately forget what they were like. 25 But there are those who study the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continue to do it. They don’t listen and then forget, but they put it into practice in their lives. They will be blessed in whatever they do. 26 If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves. Their devotion is worthless. 27 True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.
Good Morning! Step out and do unto others as we are commanded!
21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.
This is a morning to speak of words. My sermon this morning considers the power of words. It’s funny that I can sit and type words all day, but if they simply sit and fill my screen, they have no power. Another conundrum is that the number of words is most often insignificant.
For those like me, the gift of gab allows me to speak in most situations, but this gift must be coupled with the gift of awareness that includes knowing when, what, and how much to say.
A single word can begin a horrific war: Charge! or Fire!
A single word can also save a life: Stop!
A single word can cause frustration: Why?
Even short phrases can change our lives: I do! or I love you!
The power of words is stored within us until we release them from our mouths. Sometimes, the release is gentle and loving, like a breeze fluttering the leaves. When we are angry, the release is explosive, like the fireworks on the 4th of July.
God places within us the words of love and kindness so that we may use them to gather all the lost souls together. We must temper our words with our actions, for our actions speak the loudest of all.
Faithful God, Thank you for creating us. Words fill our thoughts! Help us use your words instead of the evil ones lurking in our brains. Thank you! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: When I am slow to anger, I honor God.
Share uplifting words! Pastor Liz
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