Whose Side Are You On? | Daily Devotional 1622

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1622. Today's devo is called Whose Side Are You On? Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy, the to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why every weekday we share a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Welcome back to the My Morning Devotional Podcast. This is Gabby, your host for the entire week, and we just thank you guys for always tuning in and listening to our devotional. I'm just going to tell you right now, today's going to be a heavy hitter. And today is going to question where our loyalty is as believers. Now, I want to speak this and I want to say this because the book of James, especially chapter four, he is very strong in his language. And so I hope you know that we are reading the word of God. We are reading from this. This is not my opinion. This is not words that I'm adding. It's none of that. We are reading from the word of God. But remember, the word of God is meant to challenge us. And it is meant to, uh, Hebrews talks about how the word of God is to pierce us and divide different things. And really what it's saying is it's supposed to separate in our hearts the good and the evil, the God things of our hearts, the spiritual parts of our hearts versus hearts versus the flesh parts of our heart. And so I think that's what this verse is going to do today. And it might challenge us, it might show us some things in our hearts that we didn't know were there, but ultimately it's going to shape us and help refine us to be more like Christ, which is what we all want. So James chapter four, verses four through six. He starts strong. You ready? He says this, you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is no purpose that Scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us? But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. You see, James is using strong language here when he's talking about and warning us against friendship with the world. And this does not mean we cannot love the world or we cannot pray with the world or not live in the world. Of course not. But it does mean that we can't allow the way of the world, the language of the world, or the values of the world to become our values when they contradict to God's. You see, there can be no blurred lines. There can be no cherry-picking when it comes to following Christ. It is either I follow the values of God and what God put in place and what God calls good and what God calls evil. Or I f follow the values of the world, what the world calls good, or what the world calls evil. This is very hard in our day and age because, and you know what? I say that all the time. I think it's been hard forever. Every generation just has new challenges, but at the same time, they're all very similar. They just look different. But this is difficult for us because there is a connection to the world today, and there can be a fear and persecution that comes to us when we don't follow the values of the world. It's literally us going upstream while everybody's going downstream, and we feel like we're having to work harder and take the harder road up. Meanwhile, everybody just gets to float down. That's what it feels like being a Christian and being a believer in the way of the world today. And if I speak up and if I if I challenge the values, then I'm gonna get the short end of the stick and I'm gonna get persecuted, and I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that. But that's what believers have been challenged with for history. Back when Jesus came around and then Jesus went back into heaven, that's what the early church struggled with. They were persecuted for what they believed in. They were made fun of. They disagreed with the world's values. And so what we do because of comfort is we tend to go, well, hold on, let me just be friendly with these worldly things and show them that I love and show them that I accept and show them I appreciate and I see them. But deep down inside inside, in my heart and in my house, we'll never agree with those values. And this is where, as believers, we have to be really sensitive. And I like that he used the word friend because we have to be careful with who we come into agreement with, the values we come into agreement with, and the things that we are friendly to. I'm not saying that we're judgmental. James is not saying that we judge or we throw stones against the world, but James is also saying, hey, you gotta draw some lines with the world. And the world is not something that you are friendly with. We are to be friends with God, not friends with the world. We can't say at the same time, God, you are the Lord of my life, while allowing popularity or status, our relationship or money, success, comfort, all the things to become our ultimate source of identity. At the end of the day, we have to pick side. We can't say, God, you are gonna rule my life, but then the world is gonna influence it. No, no, no. It's one or the other. And God doesn't want part of our hearts, He wants our loyalty. He doesn't just want part of us, He wants all of us. So I called this episode Whose side are you on? And I know it immediately puts us on the defensive, but truthfully, today we have to make a decision. Which side am I on? And no, we're not talking about political sides. We're not talking about which side of the family are you gonna agree with? No, we're talking about are you on the side of godly values and what God says is good and what God says is true, and what God says is life-giving, what God says is evil, what God says is righteous, or are we on the other side? Because there's a question we all have to answer, and it's this are there any areas, is there an area of my life where I'm trying to please the world more than I'm trying to please God? And I also want to add this the world might look different for everybody. The world to some people might be social media. You don't post certain things about your values on social media because you're afraid of what happens and what would be said. The world could be your office, right? We say the world and it's so vague, it's so broad, but it could be your office. I can't speak up at my office. It could be your school, I can't speak up in my classroom. It could be your family. And the world really looks like I can't speak up to my family because you're trying to please your family and please God. And at the end of the day, with the purest heart possible, while you honor and you pray and you respect them, we still have to remember where our loyalties lie. And that's to our Heavenly Father. So let me pray for you today because this is a hard one. And maybe you're struggling with this. Maybe there's a family that you're dealing with, maybe in the holidays you're even preparing for that. But can I pray for you that the Lord would have your back and that he would protect you as we constantly choose him. Father, I just thank you for today. Lord, I thank you for your values. I thank you that they are true and they are dependable, they are trustworthy, God. But Lord, we live in a very hostile world where values are challenged daily, God. We're challenged when we take our kids to school. We're challenged when we open social media, we're challenged when we watch our televisions, we're challenged. God, when we watch a football game, there are commercials that show up that challenge our values. And Lord, so I pray that you would help us. I pray that you would protect us. Lord, I know you've gone before us. I know we're not the first people that have challenged or been challenged with this, Lord. But I also ask that you would help us and that you would give us the strength that we need. And ultimately, Lord, we know that there is blessing attached to persecution. There is blessings attached when we are ostracized for what we believe in. Why? Because that is what Jesus went through. We see it in the Sermon of the Mount that you blessed those who were persecuted. So, Father, I just ask that you would bless us, that you would help us, that you would lead us, and that you would convict us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So there you have it, your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you've found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.