A World Changer's Devotion

Challenge 2: Stability part 2

It Keeps Your Head Cool

James 1:19

     My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

     Stability can reach into a number of areas in our lives. We do a number of things that very quickly demonstrate whether we're stable or faihtful or not. James talks about being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Many people are quick to speak and quick to get angry, but they hardly ever listen.

     Having stability in your character will affect the way you listen to people. It will affect how quick you are to speak and to become angry. Let me put it simply. If you're getting angry all the time and getting upset at people, then others won't see you as stable. They will not know whether they can count on you, and they will assume they cannot. They'll never know if they are going to push the wrong button and cause you to explode. That's not exactly the kind of personality that demonstrates stability.

     We all know people who are so hotheaded that they're totally unpredictable. We are always afraid to ourselves around them. We feel that we have to walk softly because we are afraid of getting our heads bitten off. That's not stability. Some people too easily get in a bad mood. We don't know what might cause them to get depressed and so we're always gun-shy around them. That's not stability either.

     Stability is demonstrated in the way you listen, in the way you talk, and in your character. You need to radiate stability in everything you say and do. People should know that its' very hard to set you off or anger you because you've chosen to be stable in all your ways. You've chosen to be quick to listen instead of quick to anger. You would rather sit down and listen to the whole thing before you react.

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Holding Your Tongue

James 1:26

      If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he decieves himself and his religion is worthless. 

     We are talking about stability, being somebody who is faithful, somebody who is the same all the time. Does that mean you are a boring person? No, it's the very opposite. It means that you are taking on the personality and character of Jesus and that people can count on you to be consistent. We talked about being stable in the way you listen, speak and respond. We are going to talk a little bit more about speech.

     James talk about taming your tongue, about being someone who doesn't say everything to think. If you are going to be stable, you have to control your thoughts so that everything you think doesn't automatically come out of your mouth. You need to cast down some thoughts. You need to keep some thoughts to yourself.

     Some people, under the pretense of honesty, share everything that comes to their brains, and as a result they often hurt people's feelings. They say a lot of things that communicate instability. They have no screening equipment. You need to make sure that your screening equipment for what you say is that you will say only what is edifying to somebody else (see Ephesians 4:29).

     Faithfulness is reflected in your commitments and in the way you talk. It's amazing - you can say everything you want about how committed you are to the Lord, but tearing people down even once will immediately communicate instability. No one will believe any of your talk of commitment. People judge you by how your words line up with your actions. You want them to see stability and character in your life.

     Be careful today to control your tongue. Provide a straining mechanism in your brain that strains out all the grabage and casts down the worthless thoughts. Only say things that are fruitful and edifying and worthy of praise. Watch the comments, even the funny ones, that you make about other people. Be careful that you are not cutting others down. Keep your mind on the Word of God, and let that act as a screening mechanism for what you say.

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Stable Faith

James 1:5-8

     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. But when he asks he must believe and not doubt. Because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed in the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

     What makes a man unstable in all his ways is wavering faith. James is talking about praying for wisdom, but applies to anything that you pray for. He says that when you ask, don't you dare doubt.

1 John 5:14-15

     This is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him.

     James says not to doubt or waver because if you do, you'll be tossed around like a ship in a storm, and that's what too many Christians are like. They wonder why they are not stable. But it all starts when their faith isn't stable. When they ask God for something, they ask wwith hope instead of with faith. They think it might happen, but they are not really sure. Some people pray to give their lives to the Lord, but they are not really sure they can live for Him. It's like, "Well, I hope I can live for you. I hope I can be strong." Instead of knowing in Jesus' name they have given their lives to Him and He has come to live inside them, they are afraid to commit to live for Him all of their days. As a result, the Bible says, they are unstable an all their ways.

     You know, maybe you need to quit asking God to just make you stable and instead work on getting the recipe for stability. The recipe for stability is having confidence in what you've asked God for. From the very first time you gave Him your life and asked Him for forgiveness - to everything else that you ask Him for with confidence and cinviction - you know that He has forgiven you and that He lives inside you and that you belong to Him. You're a child of the most high God. His protection all around you. His anointing is on your life. He has a plan for you to use to change the world.

     Knowing that stuff bring stability into your life. You're a Christian who is full of faith and confidence in the Word of God. Having that kind of confidence breeds stability in everything you do. You're not hyped up. You're not whacked up. You're not tossed around like a ship on the ocean. You're stable in all your ways.

     It's absolutely essential that you begin to build stability in your life by keeping your mind on the Word of God and being convinced that it's true. 

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The Rewards of Stability

Numbers 12:7-8

     But this is not true of my servant Moses: He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face. Clearly and not in riddles; He sees the form of the Lord.

     Here you see one of the incredible rewards of stability and faithfulness. The Bible says that Moses was a man who was so faithful to that God trusted him to meet with him face-to-face. Can God say that to you? Do you have such faithfulness? What an incredible thing to happen to Moses. To most people, God spoke through the prophets, and He kept His distance even with them. But Moses was so faithful and so stable that God wanted a personal encounter with him.

      Being faithful and stable is doing what you know is right no matter how you feel. It's doing what the word of God says no matter what. Your life is built on something concrete. It was written down by men and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now you've taken that stability in your heart. You've put your mind to it and decided that no matter how you feel, you're going to do what you know is right. When God sees that kind of seriousness, that kind of stability, in your walk with Him, your intimacy with Him and your ability to hear from Him are going to change. He is going to open up your eyes and show you things you never had a look at before, stuff you never thought a human being could ever know. He did it with Paul. He did it with Moses. And He will do it with you if you prove to have a stable life.