Category Archives: scripture

The Romans Challenge- We Need Each Other

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“that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today we read Romans 1

The things going on in our world are CRAZY! Things in our personal life can be crazy too. But truth be known “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Crazy has always has been… This is why God puts us in relationship with each other.

“God sets the lonely in families…”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Sin brought death, darkness, and destruction to our world. It also caused separation, not only from God, but from each other. We all feel its effects. Broken families and broken friendships, are the norm of our society, but God is the restoring God. When we feel we have been left alone, He opens up opportunity for us to live connected to our brothers and sisters in Jesus.

This is what Paul is referring to when he says he is “mutually encouraged” by the Christians in Rome. He has much to offer to them as a spiritual leader, but they have much to offer to him as well. He is thankful for them. He is praying for them. He longs to spend time with them.

Who do you have in your corner encouraging you? Our world may be going crazy around us, but we have each other, our family that God has given to us!

James: Turn Back the Wanderer

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This week is James 5.

“My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Speak the truth of the Word of God! We do not know who it will be that we are in contact with that needs to hear it.

This verse is of great significance to me. Five years ago, I was living as one who had wandered from the truth. There was someone who was bold enough to tell me the truth about the lies I was believing. She turned “a sinner from the error of their way.” And she saved me “from death” and covered “over a multitude of sins” in my life. I am so grateful!

When we walk in error/ sin, we need someone who will stand firm on the Word of God and tell us the Truth in the Word. It is the only way for us to live free!

Don’t be afraid to be thought of as different, radical, or extreme! God wants to use you to bring back His children to Him!

James: Prayer

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“…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is James 5.

“I guess all I can do now is pray…” I don’t know how many times I have heard that statement. Sadly, I don’t know how many times I have made that statement…

“All I can do now?!?!” How sad it is that we undervalue prayer!

James 5:13-18 speaks of how important prayer is. If we are in trouble, we need to pray. If we are happy, our prayer should be praise. If we are sick, have the elders of the church pray and anoint us with oil for healing. If we sin, pray for each other so we may be healed.

I would venture to say that prayer IS the most important thing we can do. Prayer is connection to our Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit will help us pray. Jesus paid the price for us to be able to come boldly before God in prayer. Yet we relegate prayer to quoting the Lord’s Prayer, praying a short blessing over our meals, and possibly a quick, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” prayer at night.

Of all the great works we an do, prayer is the greatest. It is in prayer that we come to God: We acknowledge our total dependence on Him; We surrender our will and our ways; We listen for Him to speak; We are given the power to obey.

As we pray God’s Word over our situations and circumstances, we will know God and will experience Him. We will be assured that He is working all things out for our good!

Prayer isn’t a small part of the work God has called us to. Prayer is the work. May our hearts be attentive to prayer continuously throughout our days!

James: Rotting Wealth…

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(This week we read James 5)

“Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days… You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” (attributed to Malcom Forbes.) Is this true?

James warns against living in “luxury and self indulgence.” There is danger in pursuing “stuff” over pursuing Jesus! When we believe what we possess materially is of more importance than what we possess spiritually, we are in deep trouble. The love of money will produce evil in our lives.

It is not wrong to possess wealth, but we must keep it in the correct position in our lives. What we own is not ours. All that we have and all that we are belongs to God. If we are blessed with possessions, we are to use those possessions to bless others.

The pursuit of wealth over the pursuit of God will lead to emptiness. In the end, what we have owned here will not follow us into eternity. Wealth will rot… Only one thing is eternal and will matter when we die — Jesus! When it is all done our goal should be to hear Him say, “Well done.”

Whatever our financial status may be, abundantly rich or just scraping by, a life lived after “self- indulgence” will end in death. Once again, life is not about me and what I possess. It is all about Jesus.

Not my will but His be done!

James: Do Not Slander

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(Today is James 4)

“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Speak life!

Slander- . A false tale or report maliciously uttered. and tending to injure the reputation of another. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

We are to be careful of how we talk about others. If we slander, or speak evil, of others, we judge them. We also judge “the LAW” —The one law that Jesus stated that completed and fulfilled all the others: 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭12‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When we speak evil of our neighbor, or our spiritual family — brother or sister in Christ, we are not loving them as we would love ourselves. So we have judged the second of the greatest commandments, that Jesus stated, as irrelevant to us. We are not keeping it or obeying it!!

Loving our brother and sister is to desire to benefit them and prosper them and to act accordingly to that desire. It is action. When we love we “do.” We display that love by what we do and say.

Our words must be used to build up and encourage, NOT defame and destroy.

“Who am I to judge my neighbor?” Jesus didn’t instruct us to judge (condemn/ punish – Greek) our neighbor…

He told us to love!

James: God’s Wisdom vrs. The World’s

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(Today is James 3) 

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wisdom is the correct application of what we know. God is all-wise. He knows everything, because He is all knowing. His knowledge is complete, and He has the correct application for all the knowledge He possesses.

God’s wisdom is described in verse 17. 

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s wisdom will be on display in the our lives when we truly know Him. What we know we will act upon as we listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. We will act humbly with deeds that produce good fruit.

However, if we are focused on our self, ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will be all about our own ways — self focused. We will know, or experience, our desires, our wants, our ways… this is far from experiencing the benefits of God’s Wisdom. What we experience will be the outcome of the world’s wisdom — “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.” “Disorder and every evil practice” will abound.

God’s Wisdom vrs. the worlds. Life vrs. death…What will we choose to pursue?

James: “Screen Door on a Submarine”

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“You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

Faith without works is useless!

God has given each of us “a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) This is the capacity to believe, but we must act on it! Our actions “complete” our faith.

We can say we “believe there is one God.” (verse 19) And James says that is “Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” The question is: “what are we doing with what we believe?”

If we truly believe that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ came and died then resurrected from the dead in order to set us free from sin, do we live like we believe it?

Abraham believed God and the Scripture says, “It was credited to him as righteousness.” (Verse 23) He was put into right standing with God and He was known as “God’s friend.” He had a personal relationship with God. This relationship was reflected by his willingness to obey God no matter what the cost of obedience may be.

If you and I have faith and believe what God says, then we will act accordingly. In short, we will do it!

Coming to God in faith is just the beginning of what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to consume us! He wants us to receive His Word — what He says. He wants us to believe it to be true. He wants us to act upon it in obedience.

There’s a classic song by Rich Mullins that I am going to attach. Listen to its words and consider. Do I act upon what I believe? Or do I have a “screen door” on my spiritual submarine?

James: The Word — God’s Measuring Stick

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(Today is James 2)

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Word is the law that gives freedom. (James 1:22-25) It is the truth!

The Word judges. It is the measuring stick by which we must take every thought, every teaching, every decision and lay it up beside to examine, distinguish, and decide if they are according to God’s perfect will for us. When we “speak and act” according to what we see in the Word we will live in freedom. But if we refuse we will live in error which is a life of captivity.

Through Jesus, God has displayed His mercy towards us. We are placed in right standing with Him. When we receive Christ, His Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit will empower us to “speak and act” as God desires.

We need to know the Word so that we know God’s will for us. As we see what God wants for us in His Word, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us power to obey. Whatever our circumstances may be may we place them against the measuring stick of the Word. So we may judge correctly what we need to say and do. This is how we can live free — filled with God’s joy, love and peace!

James: Cleaning House

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(Today we read James 1)

My daughter in law is a minimalist housekeeper. At first her way of doing things seemed a little extreme to me. If she doesn’t use something, she gets rid of it from her house. She doesn’t hold onto very much stuff “for a rainy day…” Her house is clutter free, easy to keep clean, and refreshing.

I’ve been living at my current home for 17 years. I have not adopted her mindset when it comes to stuff… There have been times when my husband and I contemplate getting a dumpster to get rid of the extras. Life would be a little easier if we did. 

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

James tells us that God has good things in store for us. “Every good and perfect is from above…” God desires that righteousness is produced in us. Which is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

In short, we need to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…” Repentance is the equivalent of cleaning out the spiritual clutter of our spiritual hearts. It is making room for the “Word planted in you, which can save you.” The word “Save” here in the Greek means, “To save, heal, preserve, rescue.”

God wants us to be full of Him — His Word! He wants to save us from our destructive patterns, heal us from our hurtful past, and rescue us from the sin that destroys us.

What is it that we need to “get rid of…?” Holding tightly to our ways, our thoughts, and our desires (i.e. sin) leads only to death, darkness, destruction. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s time to take our “spiritual clutter” (sins) to the dumpster of repentance and get rid of all the moral filth we have been living in!

James — Consider It Pure Joy

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(Join me in reading chapter 1 of James each day this week)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Nothing is wasted in our lives. Trials and testing of our faith helps us to mature. In fact, it is what God uses to make us “complete, not lacking anything.”

Perseverance in the Greek is defined as “Endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for, cheerful endurance, constancy.”

My youngest son has spent quite a bit of time at the gym working on body building. He has told me that building muscle actually requires tearing of muscle fibers that is rebuilt by our bodies in a stronger form. Our spiritual muscles are similar. Testing of our faith through trials can produce a cheerful endurance because we know the end result will be a closer relationship with Jesus.

If you are going through a trial, God is always at work in it! You and I are meant to “consider it pure joy!” In the end our relationship with God will be stronger! Trials build “spiritual muscle” that we all need in order to “not {be} lacking anything.”