Hi all – So what should our lives look like? This passage is really neat – some new things hit me, as I read it today….
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”. James 1:19-27
vs19-20 Are we really taking the time to really listen to others??? Are we being patient?
vs 21 We are to remove all evil (sin) from our lives, and receive the Word. Jesus did it all – He paid the price for our disobedience – He died on the cross for OUR sins – so that we can live in HIM! He SAVED our souls!!!
vs 22 We need to be doing – God’s will. How do you know what HE wants us to do – we need to read HIS Word – daily. We need to live a life that is pleasing to HIM
vs 23-24 WOW! Something in these verses just struck me…. the last phrase “goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was”. Does this refer to our sinful nature? It is not that he forgets what he looks like – but is this a mirror to our soul? We can take the time to look at what our life really is like…. but then we get busy with life and forget about what we just learned….
vs 25 We need to surround ourselves with God’s Word – read it daily – listen to it – in song – have it written on the walls of our houses. We NEED to remember!!! HIS law is perfect – it gives us freedom!!! How will we be blessed? In what we do. What are we doing? What God has commanded us to do?
vs 26-27 These verses show us a bit about our everyday life. 1st if our words don’t match what we are trying to do – then it is useless. I have heard that it takes so much more to correct 1 word said in haste…. We need to be careful what we say and how we say it…. We can hurt people so bad by what we say….. It all goes back to verse 19….
In the Bible times – the orphans and widows were often neglected, they were the ones ignored. We need to pay attention to those around us – if we are truly listening to others – we will “see” their hurting – we also need to respond…..
The last phrase – reminds us to be pure….
This passage is so refreshing and a great reminder on how our lives should look. I pray that my life might reflect Christ in all that I do. Thank you God for working in me to make me a better reflection….
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
So I missed a lot of days last week – Wednesday I awoke with a migraine that just would not go away…. In fact, the effects have lasted a lot longer. I am having a hard time concentrating on one thing – or should I say – I am having such a hard time concentrating on one thing – that I cannot multi-task….. LOL hard for a Mom with 9 blessings at home…. So it is taking me a lot longer to get things done…. LOL
So I will do Monday’s Motivation (of course Bible Time is my 1st activity of the day)
* Make Quiet Activity Book for my youngest – for church & small group (I have 3 of the 8 “games” finished)
* Homeschool
* Make cards / holders for File Folder Games
* Do at least 3 LOs
So how about a Tuesday Twists???
You will never know what I will have you do…. How about your favorite scrapbook blog / website? Post in the comments section – with your favorite link and I will give you a $1 gift certificate to my store. Post a comment with any of my challenges – and I will do the same. (If you go back thru my posts – please contact me privately – so that I know that you posted a comment in previous posts). This will be applied to my KJOI store.
