Recovery Devotional 269 Nowhere Man

JMD Devotional 269 James 1:8, 4:8 Nowhere Man

James 1:8 (AMP) [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

James 4:8 (AMP) Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].

I have a mental list of the top ten verses that I do not like; my flesh hates them because it would rather shift the blame for my bad behavior on anything but myself. The spotlight of truth is exceedingly uncomfortable, it makes me sweat. For years I was angry at God for my own self-destructive ways; it is hard to take ownership of my own sin. I imagined Him as standing over me and pounding me for every mistake, when in fact my own sin was self-correcting.

Numbers 32:23 (NIV) "But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the LORD; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

Jeremiah 2:19 (NIV) Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God

and have no awe of me," declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

Dear God,

I am sorry for not liking the medicine of Your Word sometimes; sin is cancer and I need chemo. Help me to keep those verses that make me the most uncomfortable (in my flesh) the closest to my heart; the source and site of my infection. Renew a right spirit within me, and help me to love Your Law and the righteous way that leads to life in Christ.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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