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   Number 1: October 1st - James 4:13-14

   James 4:13-14 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We are constantly encouraged to plan for the future. Whether we are looking at our family, our housing, our holidays or our pensions, we are under continual pressure to make good plans. I don’t think James is telling his readers not to do any planning, but he does want to prick the bubble of their arrogance. They thought that their life was their possession and that they could do what they liked with it. Not so, says James. The first consideration should be to discover God’s will. This means that when we do our planning, we should do it on our knees in prayer. We should reflect that our lives are a gift from God and that our families, education, talents and possessions are all part of His gracious generosity to us. In prayer we need to seek His will for the future, so as we make our plans we need to hold them in humility before Him. Seeking to know God’s will is our primary task in life. The reason for that is quite simply because God’s will is, by definition, the best possible future for us. Question Which of your life plans do you need to commit afresh to God today? Prayer Thank You Lord that You love me so much that You always want the best for me. Help me to seek Your will first in all that I do today. Amen

   October 01, 2026·3min
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   Number 2: September 30th - James 4:7-8

   James 4:7-8 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Life can often feel like a battleground. There is great evil in the world, and any newspaper will illustrate that in agonising detail. But there is also immense kindness and goodness all around if we have the eyes to see it. Daily life can often feel like a pitched battle between good and evil. James is concerned that his readers should make good decisions as they live on this battleground and that they should give undivided loyalty to God. It is true that the Devil is active and that his entire objective is to destroy. He “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for people to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). However, the really good news is that God is stronger, so we don’t need to live in fear of the Devil. If we resist him, he will flee from us. When Jesus died on the cross, He won the ultimate victory over the power of evil, so our task is simply to claim that victory. Through Jesus’ death on the cross and the knowledge that our sins can be forgiven, we can live our daily lives with confidence. In the name of Jesus we can stand up against all the evil that this world chucks at us knowing that as we come close to God, He comes close to us. Question Given that the Devil is so active and destructive, in what specific ways do you need to resist him? Prayer Lord Jesus, I praise You that because of Your death on the cross and Your resurrection, I can live today with complete confidence. Amen

   September 30, 2026·3min
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   Number 3: September 29th - James 4:6-7

   James 4:6-7 Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Did you know that God is capable of hatred? Perhaps you think God is so nice that He couldn’t bring Himself to hate anything. However, the Bible is quite clear that God seethes with hatred at times. In Proverbs 6:16, we learn that God hates seven things, and top of the list is pride. God’s problem with pride is that it is a complete rejection of Him. The proud person doesn’t have any need for God but lives a life in defiance of His will, so we read that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We therefore need to unpack carefully what this word ‘humble’ means, because it is clearly the gateway to true blessing. Humility doesn’t sound too attractive. We have awful images of people putting on an act, claiming to be but a mere worm and totally unworthy. That’s what we can neatly call false humility. True humility is the reverse of pride. The proud person has hands that are so full of their own excellence that they are unable to receive anything from God. The humble person stands in complete contrast and comes to God with empty hands, longing to receive His blessings. Humility is quite simply the key that unlocks the door to the life that God wants us to live. Question Think of somebody in whose life you have seen true humility. What have you learned from their example? Prayer Lord, thank you that You are so eager to bless my life. Help me to come to You today with empty hands, ready to receive whatever You want to give me. Amen

   September 29, 2026·3min
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   Number 4: September 28th - James 4:2-3

   James 4:2-3 You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Dream for a moment. If you could have anything in the world, what would you choose? A beautiful large home; a yacht; a luxurious holiday; perfect health; world peace? Read on its own, James 4:2 suggests that we just need to ask God and we will get it, but verse 3 makes it clear that we need to ask with the right motive. That means God loves us so much that He doesn’t necessarily give us what we say we want. Imagine for a moment that we did get whatever our selfish desires demanded. Everything would happen in exactly the way we wanted, and at precisely the time that we demanded it. For a brief moment, it sounds like the perfect world. We would be in absolute control. However, the Bible has a technical word to describe such a place – it’s called hell. It’s the place where God is not. Our selfish desires have pushed Him out. What James is telling us is that God, our gracious loving Father, has a better plan. The conclusion is that we need to ask, and keep asking, but ensure that we are asking for the right things in the right way. We need to tune our thinking into God’s thinking so that all we ask for will be a blessing. Question What are you asking God for today? Prayer Lord God our Father, I worship You because You love me perfectly and delight to give me the best gifts. Amen

   September 28, 2026·3min
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   Number 5: September 27th - James 3:17-18

   James 3:17-18 The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. Many churches observe that they have very few people in their 20s and 30s. Whenever I’ve asked people in that age group what they are looking for, one theme dominates: authenticity. They are looking for Christians and churches which ring true because they practise what they preach. James was on exactly the same page and was ruthless in addressing those who say the right words but live a phoney life. What he longed for was truly wise people. Living wisely is attractive in every way. The wisdom comes directly from God, but it has very down-to-earth implications. James draws particular attention to the fact that wise people love peace and go out of their way to make it. The word for peace that James uses here is built on the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom means peace, but much more than merely an absence of conflict and tension. It means the presence of God who brings life and renewal to every part of our lives. He wants us to know His peace in our families, our work, our leisure, our churches and our communities – everywhere. And when God fills us with His peace, He commissions us to be peacemakers, which will result in an amazing harvest of righteousness – everything that is best. Who wouldn’t want that? Question In what situation could you be a peacemaker today? Prayer Loving God, You are the source of all true peace. Give me a longing to be a peacemaker today and the wisdom and strength to be nothing less. Amen

   September 27, 2026·3min
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