James 5:12 "... let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No' be 'No'..."

Do you remember when you used to say things, as a kid, like "cross my heart and hope to die or stick a needle in my eye"? Anytime I was ever trying to convince someone of the truth, I would 'swear' to them that they can believe me. But what James is telling us here is that we don't need to be crossing our hearts or anything like that... he simply encourages us to stick with a straight-forward & honest 'Yes' or 'No'.

I've found that the best way for my 'Yes' to be 'Yes' and my 'No' be 'No', is to allow my actions to speak louder than my words. What we say needs to always line up with what we do. That is a foundational principle with establishing character in one's life.

We are representatives of our King. We serve the Most High God. And we have the best example when it comes to 'character', and that is Jesus Himself.

In Christ <><

A.E. Sexton

James 4:14 "... you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

Life is so short.

We've heard that time and time again. That's probably because its so true. In the spectrum of eternity, it seems even shorter. Whether the Lord comes back, or He brings me home; when that day arrives I want to know that I was ready and accomplished His will for my life here on earth.

So we must take one day at a time. The Lord's will for our lives consists of one moment after the next, building upon the foundations of His love, and abiding in that love with the conscious decision to follow Christ.

We can't accurately predict the future 100% of the time, but God already knows our future. (Whoa! What a thought...) That is why James encourages us, that instead of taking tomorrow for granted, we ought to rather say 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'.

Does that mean that I think we should all throw away our annual planners or clear our calendars in our iPhone? No, not at all! Scripture has so much to say about being a good steward & being prepared.

When it really comes down to it, the question is...

Are we focused on continually seeking the Lord's will for our life on a day to day basis & trusting in Him to set our schedule?

In Christ <><

A.E. Sexton

James 1:14 "... each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed."

Have you ever heard someone tell you, "You need to do what's best for yourself"? When we start thinking what's best for us is when our focus is shifted from God's perspective to our perspective. The world is pretty convincing that we need to watch out for numero uno, but the Lord provides us with the great acronym JOY. Our priorities should be (1) Jesus, (2) Others, and finally (3) Yourself... JOY.

When we get entangled in our 'own desires', James goes on to tell us that it gives birth to sin, and sin brings forth death.

But we, as Christians, don't need to worry about our own desires; because the psalmist reminds us the God gives us the desires of our heart. (Psalm 37:4) So we don't have to be concerned with doing what's 'best for ourselves'. God knows!

In Christ <><

A.E. Sexton

Hebrews 12:29 "For our God is a consuming fire."

Paul has just concluded with saying that there will yet once be a day that approaches when God will shake the heavens and the earth and all things shaken shall be removed. What remains is that which cannot be shaken, which is the kingdom of God.

Since we, as Christians, are heirs to that kingdom, Paul encourages us to that we are to have grace to serve God with reverence and godly fear... 'For our God is a consuming fire.'

Isn't that something to think about... we ask the Lord to burn away our desires of anything that is not of Him, but is of us. We petition to the Lord to light the fire again. We state that the Refiner's fire is our heart's one desire. These are songs we sing to the One who has saved us from the lake of fire.

God's fire consumes us in a way that nothing else can. Tim Hughes has a song in regards to this called 'Consuming Fire' (go figure!), and at the end of the song he sings "stir it up in our heart, Lord, a passion for Your name". The objective is that the Holy Spirit would light the fire and be the bellows that fans the flame.

Let's run with that, because one day all will be shaken and the only thing that will remain is His kingdom. Let's make sure that the actions we take, the words we speak, and seeds we sow are geared to that which will always remain... furthering the kingdom of God.

God bless <><

A.E. Sexton