Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

July 5
Friday


BATTLING EGO

READ:
James 4:6-17
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God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the
humble. __James 4:6
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When a general returned from a victorious battle, ancient Rome would stage a parade to welcome the conqueror home. The parade would include the general's troops, as well as trophy captives who had been brought along as evidence of the victory. As the parade made its way through the city, the crowds would cheer their hero's success.

To prevent the general's ego from becoming unduly swollen, a slave rode along with him in his chariot. Why? So that as the Roman throngs heaped praise on the general, the slave could continually whisper in his ear, "You too are mortal."

When successful, we too may lose sight of our own frailty and allow our hearts to fill with destructive pride. James pointed us away from the danger of pride by pointing us to humility and to God. He wrote, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). The key to that statement is grace. Nothing is more wonderful! The Lord alone deserves thanks and praise__especially for the grace He has lavished on us.

Our achievements, success, or greatness are not rooted in ourselves. They are the product of God's matchless grace, upon which we are eternally dependent. __Bill Crowder

``````````````````New mercies every morning,`````````````````
`````````````````````Grace for every day,`````````````````````
``````````````````New hope for every trial,````````````````````
`````````````And courage all the way. __Mc Veigh```````````````
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God's grace is infinite love
expressing itself through infinite goodness.

*********************Today's Bible Reading __ James 4:6-17**********************

6 but He gives more grace.
Therefore He says: "God
resists the proud, but gives
gract to the humble.


7 Therefore submit to God,.
Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. 8 Draw near
to God and He will draw
near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you
double-minded. 9 Lament
and mourn and weep! Let
your laughter be turned to
mourning and your joy to
gloom. 10 Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord, and
He will lift you up.

11 Do not speak evil of one
another, brethren. He who
speaks evil of a brother and
judges his brother, speaks
evil of the law and judges
the law. But if you judge the
law, you are not a doer of the
law but a judge. 12 There is
one Lawgive, who is able to
save and to destroy. Who ae
you to judge another?

13 Come now, you who say,
"today or tomorrow we will
go to such and such a city,
spend a year there, buy and
sell, and make a profit";

14 whereas you do not know
what will happen tomorrow.
For what is you life: It is
even avapor that appears for
a littlt time and then
vanishes away. 15 Instead you
ought to say, "If the Lord
wills, we sahll live and do
this or that." 16 But now you
boast in your arrogance. all
such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to him who
knows to do god and does
not do it, to him it is sin.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The little book of James arguably reflects the wisdom literature
of the Old Testament more than any other New Testament book.
This text is a great example. It speaks of humility (vv.6-10), judging
one another (vv.11-1), trusting God for the future (vv.13-16), and
commitment to the right (v.17).

waiver----I didn't not proof read tonight because I'm tired and angry about a situation. i did want to type this out for whoever might miss it if I hadn't so I apologize in advance for any mistakes one might encounter. Happy belated independence day!!