Looking in the Mirror
ICS Daily Devotions
James 1:22-24,26 (NKJV) But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was….If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
As Christians, we are saved by grace through faith. We have been blessed with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus and are seated in the heavenly places with Him. The spiritual life as a believer begins with learning to be seated with Christ as our identity. After that, we need to stand on what we believe and live out the spiritual truth by acknowledging that we are a new creation. To think and behave differently requires plenty of mind renewal.
Like a common person who marries royalty, all believers in Christ have become the children of the King of kings. Therefore, we also need to make adjustments to our lives. The Bible is like a mirror, and the Holy Spirit has been assigned to teach us how to live our lives as royalty in this world. This new identity will affect how we think, carry ourselves, behave, and live.
The Apostle James talks about controlling our tongue and being watchful with what we say because the tongue is small yet a powerful tool (James 3:3-8). We need to submit to authority, especially in the office, because we are being watched constantly by unbelievers and believers alike. If we have been watching pornography and don’t want to break away from it, we are living in deception by asking God to deliver us from lust but refusing to deal with it decisively. Instead, we need to put our lust at the altar of God and decide to give it up completely because we have the authority over our own lives. If Jesus has set us free, we are free indeed.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (NKJV) Grace and r be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
God’s divine power has given us all things that pertain to godliness in this life. The Word has also revealed to us the exceedingly great and precious promises that we have been set free from sin and the bondages of sin. The divine nature is found in the spirit man which is the new creation. Therefore, as believers, we stand on this belief and conviction and begin to live it out actively in our daily living.
Sermon Series: Faith with works
