• Week Four
• Day Three
• Please pray and ask the Lord to open your heart to His truth

Scripture

Matthew 5:37
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

James 5:12
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Hebrews 12:1-3
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

2 Corinthians 1:15-22
And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;
And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.
When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?
But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Devotional

LIVING OUT COMMITMENT TO CHRIST

God wants His Word to be lived out from the inside, first in our hearts, then from our lips, and then in our lives. When we come to know Christ and choose to follow Him, we make a commitment to love and obey Him and to live out the Gospel, no matter what the cost. Are you keeping your commitment? Do you believe His promises? Do you live like you do and put your trust in them? Are your eyes on Him?

What does Paul say in 2 Corinthians?

How would you describe your yes and your no?

To live out our “yes” and “no” will cost something. When we take on a project or when we say to our employer that we will work hard or when we say we will love and honor our husband, we need to be prepared to pay the cost and do what it takes to honor the Lord with our word. Before you make a promise to your husband, a friend, your boss, or your child, what do you need to do? What do you need to consider first? When you tell your husband or your children or a friend that you are going to do something, can they trust you will follow through, because they know you say what you mean and mean what you say?

Jesus, James, and Paul instruct us to make sure our “yes” is “yes” and our “no” is “no”. Although challenging, simply holding to your word is a beautiful, practical, and wonderful teaching tool for training your children up in the way they should go. Do you uphold righteousness in your home with your children gently, justly, humbly and consistently? How many times are you repeating yourself? How many warnings do you give?

Are you upholding God’s Word and Jesus’ name above all things? Does He come first in you day and in your heart? If you have children, do you train them to do the same?

What little reminder can you put on the refrigerator to help you be kind, clear, concise, and consistent with your word? What is your prayer?

My Own Thoughts

Well, then there is that… So I have some things to work on. How often do we put other things in front of Jesus. Saying things like; I just have to finish up the house and then do Bible study. What if I agreed to meet my husband for dinner in town and then never showed? How horribly hurt he would be and devastated and worried for me! I can’t even imagine how he would feel if I were to do that all the time! I would never even think about it! How horrible of me to make the Lord wait or worse never show up at all. I just can’t with myself sometimes.

I pray that this lesson was not as hard hitting for you all as it was for me. I know that life happens to all of us and we will mess up and not be able to keep our word but we must try very hard to… even if it hurts! Until next time, stay peculiar!

As always feel free to like, share, and comment if the Lord leads you to do so. I love you all, have a blessed rest of your day!