Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. —Matthew 23:12

A fisherman who caught crabs would keep them in a bucket without a lid. Someone noticed this and asked him, “Don’t you have to keep a lid on that bucket?”

He said, “No, they never get out.”

“Why? Because they can’t get out?”

“No,” he said. “When one crab tries to go over the side, the others reach up and pull him back down again.”

That is just like human beings as well. As one person begins to climb, others are thinking, How dare you succeed? How dare you do better than me? How dare you get that promotion? How dare you get that attention? How dare you do well when I’m not doing just as well? You get back down here with me!

It has been said that envy shoots at another and wounds itself. This is so true. Envy can eat us up inside. We need to recognize it as sin and repent of it. We may try and rationalize our jealousy, but we need to realize it is wrong and ask God to forgive us. God wants us to put the needs of others above our own, love one another, and care for one another. This is so very important.

Instead of worrying about what other people have, let’s be thankful we are even drawing breath in our lungs. It is a gift from God. And if God lifts you to an exalted position, then that is His grace. If He lifts up someone else, that also is His grace. None of us deserve it; it is all the grace of God. Just be faithful to what God has called you to do.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. —Genesis 4:7

Years ago, my son Christopher was lying out in the sun at our house when he woke up to find a huge gopher snake, coiled up and hissing at him, poised to strike. It must have been six or seven feet long. Terrified, he ran into the house and shut the door behind him.

That is a picture of how sin can be: ready to strike. It is at the door — for all of us. It is potentially there at all times, and for some of us, it has already slithered across the threshold.

When Cain saw that the Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but not his, he was angry. So God gave him a warning. He essentially told Cain what was going to happen to him if he didn’t get himself under control: “Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Another way to translate it would be, “Sin is crouching at the door like a beast.” What a vivid picture that is of sin crouching, ready to pounce like a wild animal.

So the next time sin comes knocking at your door, you might say, “Lord, would You mind getting that? I’m going to stand in Your strength. I’m going to trust in You. You are the only one who can give me the strength to overpower sin.” If we will master sin, then we must first be mastered by Him who mastered it.

Tragically, Cain did not allow himself to be mastered by God but instead became enslaved by the Devil.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. —Proverbs 11:24

A mother who wanted to teach her daughter the joy of giving gave her both a quarter and a dollar to take to church one Sunday morning. She told her daughter that she could put in either one; the choice was hers. As they were leaving church, the mother asked her daughter what she ended up giving to the Lord.

The little girl replied, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the offering, the man in the pulpit said we should be cheerful givers. I knew I would be a lot more cheerful if I just gave the quarter.”

That is how a lot of us are. We think, I am not cheerful about giving, so I suppose I had better keep it for myself. But we need to understand that God wants to change our hearts. We need to discover the joy of giving. And if we haven’t yet discovered it, then we need to ask God to change our hearts because giving is a blessing. We can experience joy in it.

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is hard for children to wrap their minds around that truth. But as we get older, and especially if we become parents, we discover the joy of giving. We actually find more pleasure in giving than in receiving. The word Jesus used for blessed is a word that could be translated “happy”. In other words, the Bible is saying that if you want to be a happy person, then be a generous person. If you want to be a happy person, then be a giving person.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. —Hebrews 11:25

A Christian father who was terminally ill called his three sons to his bedside. To his two sons who were believers, he said, “Good-bye, my sons. I will see you in the morning.” Turning to his third son, he simply and sadly said, “Good-bye, my son.”

The young man was deeply disturbed. He said, “Father, why is it you said to my brothers,

‘I will see you in the morning,’ and you only said to me, ‘Good-bye, my son’? Why didn’t you say you would see me in the morning, too?”

His father replied, “Son, you have never asked Jesus Christ into your heart to be your Savior and Lord. And that is what breaks my heart the most. I will never see you again.” That son began to ask his father how he could be saved, how he could see his father again. His father told him how. And so he prayed and received Christ into his life. Then his father said, “Now our family will be together in eternity.”

That can happen for everyone who has put their faith in Christ. It will be a great reunion one day in the future. But what does the unbeliever have to look forward to? Judgment after death and a miserable, empty life on earth. There might be some fun in sin — for a while. But payday comes. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

If you do not commit your life to Christ, ultimately you will look back on your life and realize that you wasted it. But don’t wait until the end of your life to figure that out. Figure it out now.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

—Matthew 6:3–4

Maybe you were a great achiever academically. As a young boy or girl, you were winning the spelling bees. You always got As on your report cards. Maybe you were given some special honor, such as a scholarship to attend a great college, because of your incredible abilities. Or perhaps you were a big sports star. You always excelled in sports, and you have plenty of trophies and ribbons to prove it.

Me? I always had those honorable mention ribbons. Do you know what those are? They are the ribbons they give you when you really do poorly, but they don’t want you to feel too bad for yourself. You know, after first, second, third, fourth, and fifth have crossed the finish line, and an hour later, someone comes across, they say, “Give him an honorable mention ribbon.” They were usually purple, although I don’t know why that was. I had a room filled with purple ribbons.

But in heaven, there will be many rewards for those who have been faithful to God over the years. Even the smallest and most insignificant gesture on behalf of God’s kingdom will not be overlooked by our Heavenly Father. Jesus spoke of our service to God, pointing out that even though it may not be seen by people, it is indeed seen by Him: “Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”

One day in our future, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will reward us openly.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. —James 5:14

I believe that God heals today. We know He has miraculously built into the human body a natural process in which it heals over time. But I believe God can quicken the healing process.

I also believe that He can do a miracle when we have been told there is no hope. I have seen so many of these miracles myself. God promises His healing touch and tells us that by His stripes we are healed. So we should ask God to heal us when we are facing sickness.

In James 5, we are given the scriptural pattern for healing: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”

It is interesting that the Bible does not say, “Is anyone among you sick? Then go find a faith healer.” I’m not suggesting that miracles didn’t take place in the early church because they certainly did. I’m not saying that healing wasn’t done by faith because it was. My point is that it never was the focus of the apostles. The early church didn’t follow signs and wonders; signs and wonders followed them. This is an important distinction.

We can go to God and ask Him to heal. I thank God that healing is available to us today. But we make a mistake when we focus on phenomena. Instead, we should focus on the proclamation of God’s Word and leave the miracles, healings, and the rest up to God to do as He sovereignly chooses.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013