Confusion
Week 8, Thursday
Charlotte Akin
For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. James 3:16 (nkjv)
Our self-seeking ambition comes from earthly wisdom. This is a false wisdom that is not from God. James mades a pretty strong statement when he said that wherever there is envy and self-seeking there will be every evil thing. “Every evil thing” is an all-encompassing statement that includes bitterness, anger, envy, lying, and lawlessness. When we live like this we are unstable and in rebellion against God.
James 1:5-8 says,
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (nkjv)
Confusion and disorder are not from God. Every evil thing comes from our earthly wisdom. When God’s wisdom is missing from our lives every evil thing will be there in its place.
Nothing good comes from earthly wisdom. Our world is so troubled because we refuse to accept and live by God’s wisdom. Confusion opens us up for all kinds of evil things to run wild in our lives and in our churches. If we live by God’s heavenly wisdom, we live by righteousness and by what is good. If we live by earthly wisdom we live by sinful, selfish deeds.
I want to live a life where Jesus Christ the Lord is at the center, and to do that I have to trust completely in Him. His will for my life has to reign over my own will. I cannot trust my sinful, selfish heart. It will deceive me. It will lie to me. It should be our desire to be completely dependent on God and not to be driven by earthly wisdom that comes from Satan the deceiver. When earthly wisdom is taught and lived out then hearts will be filled with all sorts of sin. I want to be a woman who lives by God’s wisdom and walks in His will through the Holy Spirit’s work in me.
Dear heavenly Father, I pray this Scripture for my life: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7, nkjv). I love You, dear Jesus. In Your mighty name I pray, amen.
