Draw my heart to You this morning, Father. May I hear Your voice and act on Your direction. May I go into this day determined to live out my life in ways that would be pleasing to You. Amen

I must share before moving on,

O heavenly Father…
Thou hast taught me
     that faith is nothing else than receiving thy kindness;
     that it is an adherence to Christ, a resting on him,
          love clinging to him as a branch to the tree,
               to seek life and vigor from him. – The Valley of Vision

James 5:9 (<<click here)

“Don’t grumble against each other…or you will be judged.”

Lord, as You look out over us, don’t we all do this? We grumble on a regular basis. He’s driving too slowly. My meat is undercooked. She doesn’t do her share of the work. I don’t care for that kind of music in worship. Why don’t they do something about that barking dog? And I’m sure each of us could add to this list without much difficulty.

Our society is full of grumblers. Very few of us are not guilty of being routine grumblers. But the rest of verse 9 should give us pause to think. “… you will be judged. For look – the Judge is standing at the door!”

As a child, there was nothing much worse than saying or doing something mean to a sibling and once it’s said or done realizing your mom or dad had just stepped into the doorway and witnessed the whole thing. No excuse could be made – you were caught red-handed… and punishment was inevitable.

Lord, help me… I know I grumble – I am guilty. Fill me with Your presence, Holy Spirit. Help me to hold my tongue before grumbling spills out. As the first grumbling thought enters my mind, help me to stop it dead in its tracks. Help me to love. Help me forgive. May I see others as You see them and respond as You would. Amen

Oct 4th, Tues, 7:03 am