Seek First – Kingdom Focused Devotionals

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 (NIV)

Here’s an overview of what we have learned from the first three chapters of James.

• Respond properly to trials from without.

• Respond properly to temptations from within.

• Apply God’s Word consistently in daily living.

• Value others as God does.

• Demonstrate a faith that works.

• Control your speech.

• Employ God’s wisdom in daily decisions.

• Do life God’s way by revering, obeying, and portraying Christ.

The good life is marked by full surrender to God’s agenda. Allow God to work in you so that He can work through you to bring others to Christ. Your conversation and your conduct have eternal implications. The way you treat others is a direct reflection of your love relationship with Christ.

Don’t hesitate to ask God for wisdom each day. God is generous and wants to shower you with heavenly wisdom for doing life His way. Trust God to be your sufficiency! 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NIV)

As you revere God and obey Him, you will be obtaining and employing heavenly wisdom. Another essential to doing life God’s way is portraying the life of Christ. God pursued you with His love and rescued you so that you would portray the life of Christ on earth. You are to bloom where God has planted you so that others will be drawn to Christ through your witness. Think of the people God has placed in your sphere of influence. Why do you think God brings such people into your life? God wants you to live in such a way as to model Christ before them.

• “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Tim 4:12 (NIV)

• “Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Eph 5:15-16 (NIV)

One day you will stand before God to give an account for your life. Seize the opportunities that God gives you to make Jesus known. Do life God’s way so that you will bring honor to God and populate the kingdom of Heaven.

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV)

Another essential to doing life God’s way is obedience. Revering God is demonstrated through obeying God. Solomon recognized the priority of doing life God’s way. After experiencing life in the fast lane and having access to the wealth of the world, Solomon embraced the value of making God his top priority. Keeping God’s commandments became the central focus of Solomon’s life.

• “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” Matt 7:24-25 (NIV)

• “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.” 1 John 2:3 (NIV)

Let me encourage you to obey what you know. As you grow in your knowledge of God’s Word and as you grow in your love relationship with God, seek to obey what God has already revealed to you. Seek to love God and to love others the way God has loved you.

How would you define success in this life? Consider the bumper sticker I have seen recently: He who dies with the most toys wins! Is that true success? Success is obedience! Let’s do life God’s way. 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV)

Imagine enjoying a cup of coffee at Starbuck’s with one of the wisest men to ever live, Solomon. That’s right! You are sitting across from Solomon and you ask him to share with you what he has learned after experiencing life in a way that few would ever experience in a lifetime. Solomon pursued wealth, wisdom, and women. At the end of his life, he looks into the rear view mirror and captures what matters most.

Let me share the first essential to doing life God’s way: Revere God.

Solomon says to “fear God.” In the language of the Old Testament, to fear God means to revere God. It means to hold God in high esteem. We are to place the worth and value on God that He deserves. We are to reverence God for who He is and for what He has done.

Revering God involves giving Him first place in your life. Your ambition is to honor God with your life. His agenda becomes the focus of your life. You revere God by aligning your heart with His heart. Revering God is demonstrated by loving what God loves and by hating what God hates.

In his book, Walking with God, John Eldredge writes, “I assume that an intimate, conversational walk with God is available, and is meant to be normal.” As you walk with God and revere Him, your love relationship with God will become intimate. Doing life God’s way always produces intimacy with God and brings Him pleasure. 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 (NIV)

What does the good life look like? The good life is doing life God’s way. God has created you for His glory. You are here to fulfill God’s will. God has included you in His master plan. In order to do life God’s way, you will need God’s wisdom. Moses felt overwhelmed by God’s assignment to deliver the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Notice what Moses requested of God.

• “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” Ex 33:13 (NIV)

• “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Prov 4:7 (NIV)

Wisdom is something that is given by God and is also something that you seek. What you will discover in your love relationship with God through the saving work of Jesus on the cross is that God invites you to participate with Him in doing life His way. Would others consider you wise and understanding? Have you demonstrated the good life by doing life God’s way? 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“If you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!” Proverbs 6:2-3 (NIV)

Has your tongue ever gotten you in trouble? Examine the following verses to get a glimpse of how God views the words you speak.

• “Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.” Psalm 34:12-13 (NIV)

• “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” Prov 13:3 (NIV)

• “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it

will eat its fruit.” Prov 18:21 (NIV)

• “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” Prov 10:19 (NIV)

• “A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.” Prov 17:27 (NIV)

In light of these verses, let’s open another door. Have you wounded anyone with your words? Words have the power to build up or tear down. Words have the power to encourage or to deflate. Your words can bring healing or your words can bring harm.

In humility, go to the person you have wounded with your words and acknowledge your guilt. Ask for their forgiveness and watch God do a reconciling work in your relationship. Even if the person does not respond like you desire, do the right thing to honor God. God’s way is always the best option! 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:7-8 (NIV)

As a child, my favorite part of the circus was watching the lions do tricks at their master’s command. To see the lions that normally would devour a human being for an afternoon snack, now obeying their master, was breath taking. The lions had been tamed.

James says that no man can tame the tongue. He goes on to say that the tongue is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. That doesn’t sound too good, does it? Is it even possible to control the tongue? The answer is “no.” You cannot control the tongue on your own. That brings us to the final step in aligning your heart with God’s heart.

Step 3: Surrender to the Holy Spirit’s control.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. By refusing to give the Holy Spirit full control of your life, you will grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. You do not have the power in and of yourself to tame your tongue. Only the convicting, convincing, and comforting work of the Holy Spirit in your heart can produce lasting life change. To surrender to the Holy Spirit’s control is a perpetual process of yielding to His prompting.

Jesus modeled this concept of yielding in the garden of Gethsemane when He yielded to the Father’s will by saying, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as you will” (Matt 26:39 NIV). Jesus is our model to follow. 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:3-4 (NIV)

Aligning your heart with God’s heart is vital if your are going to control your tongue. Your speech is a matter of the heart. Your transformed heart will produce transformed speech. After you have asked God to search your heart, you are ready for the next step in aligning your heart with God’s heart.

Step 2: Confess the sin God reveals.

After King David committed adultery and murder, God brought deep conviction to David’s heart in order to position him for confession and repentance. As God revealed the sin in King David’s life, David acknowledged his sin before God.

• “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 (NIV)

• “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

As God reveals the sin in your life, be willing to confess your sin specifically. In the language of the New Testament, to confess means to say that same thing about your sin that God says about it. Don’t try to neutralize your sin or water it down. Name it and say the same thing about your sin that God says about it. Once you have confessed your sin specifically, receive God’s provision of forgiveness. Now embrace a lifestyle of moral purity. As your heart is transformed by the grace of God, your speech will be transformed.

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” James 3:2 (NIV)

One of the marks of spiritual maturity is controlling the tongue. James is saying that if you control your tongue you will be able to control your whole body. The sin nature seeks to be gratified. One of the most susceptible instruments to sin is your tongue. Someone has commented that your tongue is located in an area that is slippery when wet and for that reason God has placed the tongue behind a cage of teeth walled in by the mouth.

We have learned that it’s really not about the tongue but about the heart. Jesus said that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. What does it take to align your heart with God’s heart?

Step 1: Ask God to search your heart.

King David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV). Are you willing to pray such a bold prayer? When you ask God to search your heart, He will unearth sin that has been embedded in your heart. The light of God’s holiness will penetrate and expose any dark areas of your heart that are not in alignment with His heart. You may want to consider having a pen and some paper handy to write down what God brings to your attention. 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:33-34 (NIV)

Do you remember the days when the nurse would ask you to stick out your tongue in order to insert a thermometer? The process was to detect your physical temperature. Your tongue is also an indicator of your spiritual temperature. The words you speak reflect what’s in your heart. Jesus affirmed that the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart.

Biting your tongue is not sufficient. It’s really not about your tongue. It’s about your heart. Whatever is in your heart will be displayed by your speech. The way you speak to others will exhibit what’s in your heart. Just as a good tree will bear good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit, your words will bear fruit based on the spiritual condition of your heart.

Open your mouth and stick out your tongue. What has your tongue revealed about your heart this week? Examine the words you have spoken. Have you been gracious and kind in your conversations? Have your interactions revealed a heart aligned with God’s heart? 

**Current devotions are from Dr. Trammell’s new devotional book available from Auxano Press **