Monday, September 26, 2005

Today Our Daily Bread Rom 16 & James 1 & 3 ( oops James 1 did not go through yesterday)

Yesterday-
Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
Let’s make a quality decision of our strong wills to obey God enough that others will notice, enough that they’d talk about it, enough that we’d SEE God crush and bruise satan underneath our heals. WHAT does THAT make you think of ?????(Hint: Genesis 3) BE on GOD’s SIDE !!!! Do IT, DECIDE YES LORD!!! TODAY…….
James 1
Greetings from James
1This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written to Jewish Christians scattered among the nations. F1 Greetings!
Faith and Endurance
2Dear brothers and sisters, F2 whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
5If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. 6But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8They can't make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.
9Christians who are F3 poor should be glad, for God has honored them. 10And those who are rich should be glad, for God has humbled them. They will fade away like a flower in the field. 11The hot sun rises and dries up the grass; the flower withers, and its beauty fades away. So also, wealthy people will fade away with all of their achievements.
12God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. 14Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. 15These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. 16So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
17Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven's lights. F4 Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. 18In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.
Listening and Doing
19My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20Your anger can never make things right in God's sight.
21So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.
22And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself. 23For if you just listen and don't obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. 24You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
FOOTNOTES:F1: Greek To the twelve tribes in the dispersion. F2: Greek brothers; also in 1:16, 19. F3: Greek The brother who is. F4: Greek from above, from the Father of lights. Lena’s Journalin’
Have faith and be ready to allow your faith to be tried and tested and proven, realize that if your faith is tested it will be proven genuine and worthy of value to you and to others and to God. Be clear about who your enemy is, what his character is like in contrast to what your Father God’s is like. God and satan are not the same. Don’t blame God for His enemy’s deeds. Everything God gives is good and perfect. Satan is good with masks and acting out things, even religious deeds, But God is looking for a great people, who refuse to just put on a show or nod their heads "yes" all the while not intending to do what they say they will at all. PLEASE, I beg you, think about what you say before you say it, THEN be willing to say yes and amen to all God has and is asking of you. THEN live it no matter how hard it is.
Today -
Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Wisdom is knowledge and understanding applied. Being Wise- or knowing and understanding that which is truly good. God is good, so I must know and understand God to truly know what is good and be wise concerning good.
James 3:1-18
Controlling the Tongue
1Dear brothers and sisters, F11 not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness.
2We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. 3We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong. 5So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
7People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, 8but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. 9Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. 10And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty pool.
True Wisdom Comes from God
13If you are wise and understand God's ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise! 14But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don't brag about being wise. That is the worst kind of lie. 15For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and motivated by the Devil. 16For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every kind of evil.
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. 18And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.
FOOTNOTES:F11: Greek brothers; also in 3:10.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Wisdom must be in demonstration, because it is an accomplishing word. It’s action must be lied and these are how…some good all day work for us to put into conscious practice.The wisdom from above speaks by action and it’s actions are as follows:
Pure, (cleansed by Jesus’ blood)
peace loving, (desiring what God desires-oneness where division could exist, a return to harmony and unity of His spirit with man’s spirit)
always gentle and willing to yield to others, (gentleness replaces harshness or hardness, yielding opposes stubbornness)
full of mercy and of good deeds, (mercy gives to those who are not in anyway deserving, or who could ever be deserving) ( giving as though they are deserving, even when their motive is wrong is an example of a good deed)
shows no partiality, (partiality happens when I give because you deserve it, because you’ve earned it, and I withhold – even love- from one who will never be able to give me anything in return or reward back))
is always sincere, (sincere is real, meaning it from the heart, not a put on act, but a heartfelt gift)
plants seeds of peace, (offensive, rather than defensive moves of love. Col 3:23 because we love God we choose to demonstrate it to people, we love Him so much we have to express and show it to people, by quenching the violence of the fire of anger, bitterness, selfish ambition, impatience. I chose your life over mine, I chose to keep you in peace even if your peace means my discomfort for a time. I chose not to press you even if I feel pressed. I choose to allow you to think me wrong. Jesus did, he did not say a word to prove he was "right" except, "I love You".
reapers of harvests of goodness. (what I have sown in offensive purposeful action of wisdom and love has shown brightly in my life It speaks of Him, for me)
That’s a ton of "homework", and just to let ya know, we cannot do it on our own! It was not meant to be accomplished alone. It was meant to be accomplished, through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)