Devotionals by Raul Ries
THURSDAY July 23, 2026
Good Christian Conduct
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
James 3:13
James asked believers a probing question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” If they were indeed wise and understanding, then their good conduct and works would have been evident. How are our good works to be accomplished? Good works are to be done in humility, never by drawing attention to ourselves. This is when you know someone is truly wise. However, if there is evidence of bitter envy and self-seeking, there is a problem, and it needs to be dealt with.
Who was named the wisest king on earth? Solomon! God honored his request for wisdom to lead and govern the people of Israel (1 Kings 3:1-13). What was the condition for Solomon to remain blessed? God told him: “So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days” (1 Kings 3:14). When Solomon wholly followed the Lord, he prospered: So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom (1 Kings 10:23).
Then Solomon chose to disobey the Word of God and to marry foreign wives. They turned his heart away from following the Lord (1 Kings 11:1-6). His sinful conduct affected not only his life, but the lives of God’s people. Although the wisest king, yet what a fool he became! After his reign ended, the kingdom would fall and be divided (1 Kings 11:9-13).
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus gave a parable to teach who is truly a wise person: “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
A person only becomes wise when they apply the knowledge given.
“…blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
~Luke 11:28~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
About Somebody Loves You
About Raul Ries
Raul Ries is the Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Golden Springs and President of Somebody Loves You Ministries. After his miraculous conversion in 1971, Raul began to read and study the Bible extensively even though he had a limited education. In 1974 he began a home Bible study with seven other committed individuals. Soon, he started to preach and counsel youth during the noon hour at his former high school, Baldwin Park High. Calvary Chapel West Covina grew out of Raul's home fellowship, as well as his Kung-Fu studio, and was soon meeting weekly at an old converted Safeway store. In 1993, the congregation moved to Diamond Bar and occupied a 101,000 square-foot corporate building on 28 acres. Calvary Chapel Golden Springs (as it is now called) draws between 10,000 - 12,000 in attendance weekly.
Author of several books, including Fury to Freedom (the story of his early life and dramatic conversion), Raul Ries has also produced three films: Fury to Freedom (feature film dramatization of the book); A Quiet Hope (a riveting and stirring documentary detailing seven soldier's accounts of the Vietnam War and its aftermath); and A Venture in Faith (a documentary of the history of the Calvary Chapel movement).
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(909) 396-1884