Daily Devotionals

Pressure Point Week 3: Monday

So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. James 1:21

No book on earth has the power of Scripture. That is because the Bible is so much more than just a book. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The Bible is alive and active. It has the power to transform lives. Therefore, we must take the words found in Scripture seriously.

Knowing that Scripture has a vital role in our lives, James wrote in James 1, "So get rid of all filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls." His call in this verse is to accept God's word humbly. We do this by taking God's word seriously. We read Scripture as much more than wise words to live by. We read Scripture as God's very word. We humbly accept God's word by taking the instruction and commands seriously. We allow God to teach us, even when the teaching is hard. As we humbly do these things, we position ourselves to receive God's teaching through His word.

James gives us a roadmap in this Scripture of how to approach God's word. We have to open Scripture ready to hear what God has to say to us and take it to heart. This requires humility and letting go of our own way of thinking to hear what God is teaching us. Friends, God's word is alive and active. May we approach His word as one of the greatest gifts He has given us with humility and eagerness to hear from Him.

Moving toward action

Before you read from the verses listed in the Going Deeper section below, pray. Thank God for the gift of His word. Ask Him to teach you through reading Scripture today. Then, be ready to hear from Him as you read Scripture. May we never get over the gift of God's word to us.

Going Deeper

Hebrews 4:1-16

"God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. 3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,

“In my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest,’”

even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. 4 We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”

6 So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. 7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts.”

8 Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. 9 So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. 10 For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. 11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testing's we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."