40 Days of Peace - Day 7

Tuesday, August 25

40 Days of Peace

Week 2 - Peace with God

Focus of the Week: Repenting from our sins brings God’s peace

Please read: James 4:1-10

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10

I’ve never been in the military, but when someone shouts, “ABOUT FACE”, I know what that means…..a turn of 180° from the position of attention. There’s a call for a sudden change in direction. I think we may need to consider some “ABOUT FACE” time in our lives. Is it time to reverse the course of your action; turn from any wrong doing and the direction you are going and turn towards God?

Today we reflect on the words of James 4:1-10 where we are given a very direct challenge for each of us to humble ourselves before God. When you do that, you put yourself in a position to experience His grace and peace that comes from turning to God and being right with him. The Scriptures consistently tell us that a healthy, God-honoring way to walk with God is to humble ourselves. Instead of walking in pride, we can intentionally humble ourselves before him.

Repentance is related to self-humbling. When we repent, we do not justify our wrongs, but admit them and commit to turn from them. Admission of wrongdoing is never easy, and sometimes we may even prefer denial or excuses instead. We should notice that James is not talking about being humbled by other people or unfortunate events. He advises us to humble ourselves, to lose our pride and arrogance. Turn from the enemy and worldly approvals. Come to God with a purified heart- wail to him and let him know your admissions and sorrowfulness. His Word promises us that when we draw near to him, he will draw near to us.

He will lift you up (vs. 8-9).

Let’s continue on our path of repentance this week. Today, like yesterday, make a firm decision to turn away from something that you know isn’t pleasing to the Lord, and then turn towards him. “ABOUT-FACE”. Cleanse and purify; if you need to lament and mourn and weep over your messy stuff, do so. Sincerely cry out to the Lord to help you change directions. Walk in the direction of his peace.

For further reading: Psalm 19:13-14; Psalm 40:4; Psalm 73:27-28

Dear Heavenly Father,

Help us as we grow in our relationship with you and learn more about your grace, mercy and peace. Today, I come to you down on my knees in full humility, repenting and turning to you for the goodness ahead. I boldly ask for your forgiveness and restoration of joy; for I know that when I turn away from evil and back to you, I’ll find your PEACE. I pray this with sincere love for you and in the name of the one who humbled himself on the cross. Amen