Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Friendships are valuable in our lives as we grow and mature as adults. As soon as we are sent to school, we become people watchers and observers of others’ behaviors.  We begin to learn what is good along with what is bad to think with how to behave from watching the consequences of the actions of others.  For example, we learn quickly that we will be reprimanded if we talk while the teacher is explaining the lesson.  We learn that pushing and shoving will result in being pushed and shoved back.  We learn that calling people bad names on the playground will lead to retribution or time out from play from the teacher.  But we also learn that there are those who seem to know how to stay out of trouble.  Who will we follow and imitate?  Will we be a bully or a bestie?

As we progress in our growth as individuals, we discover that we become like those we spend the most time with each day. We begin to talk the same language.  We call each other by nicknames known only to our gang.  We become so much alike that we dress alike, develop the same body language, and we even begin to finish each other’s sentences!  We think alike.  We know each other so well, that all it takes is a “look” to know what the other person is thinking in any given situation.  

Peter knows human interactions and how they affect our lives.  His advice to think like Jesus is valuable to Life with Jesus.  He not only tells us we should but he tells us how to think like the One who loves us most and wants the best for us.  We have a choice to believe, follow and learn to think like the One who through suffering willingly laid down His life for us so we could be saved for Life eternal—or not.  Who will we follow and imitate? 

1 Peter 4, The Message

Learn to Think Like Him

^1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

^3-5 You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.

⁶ Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.

^7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Glory Just Around the Corner

^12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

^14-16 If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

^17-19 It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!

If good people barely make it,
What’s in store for the bad?

So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn to think and act like people we spend the most time with—who is that? 

So, who impresses us the most as one to imitate?

Who do we think about most?

Who or what do we spend most of our energy trying to please to satisfy our own desires? 

These are questions we must ask daily as a beginning to learning to think like Jesus the One who loves us best!  “This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner,” Peter tells us.  We cannot do by ourselves; we need Him every hour of every day in the process to become like Him.  To God be the glory!

We learn from God’s Word, as told by those who gave up everything to follow Him, that Jesus spent a great deal of time alone with God in conversation and communion.  Jesus did what the Father told him to do because of their relationship.  Jesus said what God wanted Him to say.  Jesus observed what God did and did the same.  Jesus put aside what He wanted for what God wanted—to save us from our sins so that we, too could be in a relationship with Him!  Jesus gave us the example of how to imitate His relationship with God!  Jesus saved us so we can have this relationship!  He did what we could not—remove our sins forever making the way clear to God’s throne!  (See Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)

Later, Paul, dramatically changed by Jesus from an arrogant religious law keeper who aggressively bullied new believers to a committed relationship with Jesus himself writes;

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”  (Read the whole story in Philippians 2!)

The point is, to think like Jesus we must spend time with Jesus in relationship to become more like Him.  We will then begin to walk and talk like Him.  How? 

• Call to God in Jesus Name and He will bend down to listen.  Tell Him everything and wait for God to speak to us.  Take all the time needed to be still, let go, and listen.  Commune with God in every day conversations.
• Go to the Word because Jesus is the Word, the walking around, talking Word made flesh who move into the neighborhood of humanity to teach us how to think with Kingdom of God thinking that leads to Kingdom of God behaving. 

Jesus is our supreme example of the characteristics of God.  Jesus demonstrates with the love of God with His life and portrays wisdom—skills for living—throughout His life.  God also gave us the gift of His Holy Spirit’s power to help us imitate Jesus!

Paul gives us a general list of these developing character traits in Galatians 5;

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23, NIV 

In other words, we don’t need a law to be kind and loving!  Think more like Jesus in every way!  In thinking and becoming more like Christ, we find these Godly traits begin to bear “fruit” in our behaviors!  It is these very traits that draw people to us so that we can then point to the Way to God so others can know Him, too!  To God be the glory!

As we yield and surrender ourselves to God, and have the same attitude toward sin that Jesus had, we can overcome the old life, by His power living in us, to now live the new life as fully committed believers and imitators of Jesus!

Kingdom of God thinking produces a different kind of lifestyle. Much of what goes on in the world depends on lies, pride, pleasure, and the desire to get more. Dedicated believers in Jesus with a desire to be like Him build their lives on truth, humility, holiness, and the desire to glorify God. 

“Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.”—Peter

Lord,

Thank you for saving our souls and cleansing our hearts daily.  Thank you for showing us how to be more like you as we seek to please You in all we think, say, and do.  I want to be like you when I grow up!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!

“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”  This idiom is used to express the fact that not all people have the same opinions about what is attractive.  What is beauty?  Well, that’s easy to answer.  Just turn on the TV or browse your computer ads.  Most opinions about what makes a person beautiful is found in all forms of media.

Fact:  People selling the latest and best products in the beauty industry overwhelm us by aggressively telling us how much more beautiful we would be if we bought and applied their products religiously.  “It doesn’t work if you don’t use it and keep using it,” which is genius marketing.  You must keep buying and using it for it to work!  If you do not, it’s not their fault but your’s if you do not become as beautiful as the models!   

The more beauty treatments we apply, the more flattering clothes we wear, the care in eating the right foods, the more exercise we do to move that fat around our bodies, while trying to manage all the hairs on our head is not the way to beauty in the eyes of the Beholder who created us and who loves us so much that He laid down his life for us. 

Lean in as Peter explains…

1 Peter 3, The Message

Cultivate Inner Beauty

^1-4 The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.

^4-6 Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.

⁷ The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.

Suffering for Doing Good

^8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life
    and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
    Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
    run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
    listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
    on those who do evil things.

^13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

^19-22 He went and proclaimed God’s salvation to earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment because they wouldn’t listen. You know, even though God waited patiently all the days that Noah built his ship, only a few were saved then, eight to be exact—saved from the water by the water. The waters of baptism do that for you, not by washing away dirt from your skin but by presenting you through Jesus’ resurrection before God with a clear conscience. Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies. He’s standing right alongside God, and what he says goes.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn that holy beauty begins on the inside.  What’s on the inside is then reflected on the outside.  People are drawn to those who are at peace, love unconditionally, are kind and encouraging to others, without expecting anything in return.  These beauty traits become new ingrained habits for living the abundant Life with Jesus.  They love everyone, no exceptions.  In fact, they have learned to love more and judge less.  They listen with empathy and sympathy.  They take the time to pray with you not just for you.

Peter tells us how to cultivate this inner beauty! 

Be a blessing!  Live at peace with others even when you disagree on certain topics.  Being agreeable reflects God’s love that lives in us.  “Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.”  These traits are developed as God’s Holy Spirit does his beauty work in our hearts.  To become more like Jesus, we must offer our lives wholly to His care as He does His special works of inner beauty in us!  (Romans 12 is helpful in our beauty treatment.) To do what Jesus did, we listen to our Beauty Maker!

Pause to pray and ask—

What’s on the inside of me that affects the outside of me? 

How is what’s on the inside affecting my relationships? 

Who am I allowing to work on the inside of me? Two choices.  Choose wisely.  It matters.

Make a beauty appointment with God, He is ready to help you!  Who’s next?

Lord,

Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for our appointment each morning to talk things over. Thank you for seeing me throughout the day.  My inner beauty begins and ends with you.  You are the first and last Word.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul, and restore the joy of you in me and me in you daily that leads to inner beauty in your eyes.  It is your eyes of beauty that I seek.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All his wonderful passion and purity,
O thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

We just spent the last two days power washing our deck.  Because we live in the woods the deck was covered with a buildup of dark sap, juices of fallen half eaten hickory nuts by the squirrels, along with other residue from being under the shade of these giant trees.  It’s beautiful to be living under the trees’ canopy of green until the deck grows dingy and dangerously slick.  The only way to remove the gunk is to power wash it away.  It is a slow, tedious process to bring the deck back to life, but it is worth it to see the beautiful wood grain appear once more.  Power washing is the only way!  It now looks as if it were installed only yesterday! 

As I was power washing, hanging on tightly to the energy of water coming out of nozzle that cleaned the wood, I did some thinking.  How often do we let the gunk of ignored sins pile up in our hearts?  Only by God’s power flowing through the blood shed of His Son, Jesus Christ can the gunky buildup of our sins be removed.  There’s power in the blood of the Lamb!  There’s power in the very Name of Jesus. 

Jesus is the “Source of Life, the Living Cornerstone”, Peter writes.  Jesus is the One who power washes away the darkness of sin, heals our brokenness, forgives and forgets, and then reveals all that God created in us.  Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin by taking all sin to the cross in this removal process for those who believe. The power continues as His Holy Spirit continues washing away all that is not of God within us.  Wow! 

Our God, Our Father in Heaven, is the One who by His kindness, sent Jesus, His Son as the powerful sacrifice to save our souls because His Love is that unconditionally relentless!  There is no one like our God!

1 Peter 2, The Message

^1-3 So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.

The Stone

^4-8 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:

Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,
    a cornerstone in the place of honor.
Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation
    will never have cause to regret it.

To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,

The stone the workmen threw out
    is now the chief foundation stone.

For the untrusting it’s

. . . a stone to trip over,
    a boulder blocking the way.

They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.

^9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

* * *

^11-12 Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life in your neighborhood so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

^13-17 Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

The Kind of Life He Lived

^18-20 You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason. There’s no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God.

^21-25 This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.

He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.

They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Peter was a “front row” witness to how Jesus responded to people, to dire circumstances, and to accusations against the innocent.  He saw how Jesus responded to the pious religious who follow rules but for centuries knew less and less about God.  Peter saw how Jesus responded to these same religious law keepers when they accused Jesus and manipulated the Roman government to have him beaten, mocked, spit on, stripped of all dignity, and then nailed to a cross for criminals for all to see. 

Peter watched as Jesus suffered in silence as accusations poured over him with sarcasm, beatings, and mockery.  Peter had his own sins to deal with as he denied he even knew Jesus, as predicted, just so he could stay close to what would happen next to his Master and Friend.  In anguish as he watched, Peter must have recalled what Jesus said with warnings of what had to happen so that the world could be saved from sins.  Peter observed The Cornerstone become the very stone of salvation the religious tripped over in their fall from the grace of God. 

Peter also was a witness to the empty tomb where they laid Jesus three days earlier!  What is happening?  Could it be as He said?  What about my sins?  All forms of thought came crashing upon his confused mind like harsh waves on the shore—until he saw Jesus, scars from the wounds, and talked with Him.  Jesus forgave, brought Peter back to Life, removing his sins of darkness, and set him free to do what Jesus assigned him to be and do—”The Rock, upon whom I will build my church.”

As we read Peter’s passionate words; we need to realize the heart from which these words are written.  Peter is a soul set free all because of the power of Jesus who cleansed him of all unrighteousness and set him right with God!

Jesus still does this powerful cleansing in all of us!  Are you washed in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? 

Lord,

I’m praying now… for me and for all who are reading this right now.  I cry out, Be reconciled to God!  Be instruments of His Grace!  These words of Peter restore life to my soul.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within my daily.  Lead me by your Holy Spirit…

In Jesus Name, Amen 

Peter, the aggressive one who cut off the ear of one of Jesus’ accusers in the garden until Jesus stopped him and restored the ear. Peter, the one who said he would never deny Jesus but a few hours later denied him three times!  Peter, the one who walked on water until he didn’t.  Peter, the one who didn’t believe until he did after fishing all night and catching nothing until Jesus said cast your net one more time.  Peter, the one who gave all he had and all he was to Jesus.  Jesus forgave him, transformed him, and sent him to build his church in His Name.  Peter’s first time to preach netted over 3000 who came to know and believe in Jesus! 

Simon, renamed by Jesus to be Peter, the Rock, “upon whom Jesus would build his church” did exactly what Jesus told him to be and do.

“Peter’s concise confession— ‘You are the Messiah, the Christ’—focused the faith of the disciples on Jesus as God among us, in person, carrying out the eternal work of salvation.  Peter seems to have been a natural leader, commanding the respect of his peers by sheer force of personality.  In every listing of Jesus’ disciples, Peter’s name is invariably first.”

“In the early church, his influence was enormous and acknowledged by all.  By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community.  And his energetic preaching, ardent prayer, bold healing, and wise direction confirmed the trust placed in him.”

“The way Peter handled himself in that position of power is even more impressive than the power itself.  He stayed out of the center, didn’t ‘wield’ power, maintained a scrupulous subordination to Jesus.  Given his charismatic personality and well-deserved position at the head, he could easily have taken over, using the prominence of his association with Jesus to promote himself.  That he didn’t do it, given the frequency with which spiritual leaders do exactly that, is impressive.  Peter is a breath of fresh air.”  —Eugene Peterson, Introduction to Peter, The Message Bible

1 Peter 1, The Message

^1-2 I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!

A New Life

^3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

^6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

^8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

^10-12 The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!

A Future in God

^13-16 So roll up your sleeves, get your head in the game, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

¹⁷ You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

^18-21 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

^22-25 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,
    its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers wilt,
    God’s Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Know the Living Word is Jesus who saved us and set us free.  Live the Word as if our lives depended on it because they do!  God’s Word goes on forever.  God Word lives in us!

“The two letters Peter wrote exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him:  a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige, a wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book, a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination.  From what we know of the early stories of Peter, he had in him all the makings of a bully.  That he didn’t be come a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ that we discern in these letters, is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as ‘a brand new life, with everything to live for.’” –Eugene Peterson, The Message Bible

Lord,

Help me to know You more and more as the Word of Life.  Help me to live daily in readiness, learning your wisdom, with humility as I trust and obey.  You are God.  We are not.  You gave us life at the cost of Your Son.  Oh, dear Jesus, thank you! May your Holy Spirit lead us, mold and shape us, all day long, every day, until we see you face to face. You are my everything to live for and love.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” –Jesus, Matthew 16:18, NLT

Are you hearing me?  Are you really listening?

James final message to us about our prayer life is rich in wisdom as we would expect.  The words are few but the lesson is great and must be internalized so that we will not fall for the voices of our noisy world but fall on our knees.  “Old Camel Knees” teaches us to pray, confess, listen, and respond to the God who saves us with gratitude, praise, and humility while praying for ourselves and praying on the behalf of others! 

James reminds us that God listens.  Our prayers are not just a spiritual, pious exercise of faith but it a direct communication to God on the throne who turns His head to listen!  Sincere prayer, in Jesus Name, brings us in close communion with the God, the Father who loves us more deeply than any human could on earth.  He knows our hearts.  He knows our needs.  He calls us by name!  I reminded of the Psalmist who writes of God’s tender call to us to talk with Him;

“My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalm 27:8

Pray, confess, listen, respond to God as we talks with us. 

James 5, The Message

Destroying Your Life from Within

5 ^1-3 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.

^4-6 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.

* * *

^7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.

⁹ Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.

^10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.

¹² And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.

Prayer to Be Reckoned With

^13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

^16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

^19-20 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Prayer fills us with the knowledge of God’s rich, relentless, love and compassionate care for us.  Prayer is communicating where we are, what we are feeling at the time, with questions for the One who wants to take us farther in our faith.  When we pray, God is already at work in our hearts to transform our feelings of weakness into His strength. 

Paul confesses and teaches;

“I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NLT

James reminds us to heed the advice of the prophets of God.  I’m reminded of the words of Jeremiah to the exiles who were God’s own;

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 29)

ANYONE can pray to God!  Max Lucado writes;

“Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God, and he listens. He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home. He listens to the gruff confession of the death-row inmate. When the alcoholic begs for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the businessman steps off the street into the chapel, God listens.

Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.”—Max Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Respond to God by listening to each other like God listens to us!  Listening is an art form in our noisy, quick fix world.  Someone who truly leans in to hear what we are saying, without judgement, is a rare gift.  Someone who listens without mentally preparing their quick fix response back to us is wise.  Someone who listens without thinking of who they will tell next what you have shared is trustworthy.  Seek advice from trustworthy people know and commune with God.  

“Love each other as I have loved you,” said Jesus.  Listening is loving.  Confess to those who love you, care enough to listen to you and then pray with you in Jesus Name.

James closes with concern for those who have wandered off God.  We all have family and friends who we love dearly who wander and wonder if God still exists, if Jesus really died and rose again to save them from their sins.  Some have just walked away.  James says to go after them!  This begins with passionate prayer in Jesus Name with a listening heart who has given ourselves completely to Him.  Our renewed minds must think more like Jesus than the world as we “go after them” with His words of compassion.  We remember, Jesus saves.  We do not.  We know that Jesus calls, convicts, with deep love for His own who are wandering sheep without a shepherd.  So we listen to Jesus first who gives us the right words to say at the right time.  Sometimes, we just listen as the lost express themselves out loud to a trusting ear while God works on their heart.

Pray to our God who is ready to listen. 

Confess with a heart’s desire to be made right with God.

Listen to what He says.

Respond to His leading believing Jesus is coming back soon.

Lord,

Thank you for your word that teaches us how to respond to you and others with a love that surpasses human understanding.  Thank you for listening. Thank you for making us strong even we are weak.  Help us to love, listen, care, and respond to each other like you respond to us.

In Jesus Name, Amen

We want peace at all costs—but we want it our way in our time—as quickly as possible.  We don’t like to wait for what we want.  Once we have a desire of getting, selfish pride takes over and we will do everything within our power to get it. 

But once we get it, we are still not fully satisfied because we have built our faith on ourselves.  Feeling empty inside, we wearily worry, “is that all there is?” as we seek more.  We want more food, more clothes, more cars, more homes, more vacations, more days off work, more friends, more money to get what we want…and the more is never enough.

When we can’t have what we want, we throw childish tantrums while warring with others to demand what we think we deserve. After all, we have been told repeatedly by the world: “have it your way,” “you deserve a break today,” “be all you can be.”

In a world of warring competitions of power, comparing ourselves with each other, fueled by envy, greed, jealousy, arrogance and pride, we will never be satisfied.  All these traits are characteristics of our enemy whose goal is to distract, deceive, deconstruct, and eventually destroy our relationship with the One who loves us most and the Only one who satisfies our every need. Ahh, we get it now—but do we?

It’s time to get serious, says James.

James 4, The Message

Get Serious

4 ^1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

^2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

^4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

^7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

^11-12 Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

Nothing but a Wisp of Fog

^13-15 And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”

^16-17 As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

If we rely solely on ourselves, who are only “wisps of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing, we need to get serious with God who is forever faithful, always loving, and has a unique plan for our lives that gives us His extreme best for our good and His glory.  That plan begins with Jesus who satisfies all that we have been seeking in a relationship of acceptance that promises and delivers unfailing faithfulness.  This union is intimately personal and relentless loving, merciful and full of grace—MORE than we ever hoped or dreamed!

It bears repeating…

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”

Lord,

Help us to know you more because you are more than enough and you are all we need.  Relieve the worry from wanting want the world wants and thinking we must have our “fair share.” How utterly hopeless and ridiculous the thought! Guide our hearts to seek you first.  We know you will provide all we really need when we really get serious about our precious, faithful, loving relationship with you. 

You are the Bread of heaven and the Living Water that satisfies my soul forever.  You are all I need.  Forgive me when I fall for the enemy instead of falling on my knees before you, the King of kings and Lord of lords!  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul and restore the peace and joy of your salvation work within me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar” my grandmas used to say when the cousins would gather and disagree over the rules of playing a game.  As the disagreements grew, nasty, hurtful words were said as weapons to get their own way.  It is that action that truly hurts the hearts of grandmas who love us unconditionally.  So, this phrase was used to help us see that sweeter words might be more convincing. It is more effective to be polite and encouraging than to be hostile or demanding.  I also overheard my grandparents say this to our parents when disagreements in church would arise.

“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Says the writer of Proverbs 16:24, known as the book of wisdom.  Wisdom is defined as “skills for living.” We all need skills of wisdom to get along with each other!

James takes time to write to us about the most offensive part of our body—the tongue.  All in one day of living we can use our tongues to encourage and later curse those who bother, oppose us, or get in our way!  Yep, it’s time for a checkup with close inspection of our tongues for a defining diagnosis for better health. 

Our tongues can make us or break us while taking others down with us.  So, open wide!  It’s time to take a long hard look—at the tongue!

James 3, The Message

When You Open Your Mouth

3 ^1-2 Don’t be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.

^3-5 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

^5-6 It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

^7-10 This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!

^10-12 My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Live Well, Live Wisely

^13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish plotting. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

^17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Within the Body of Christ, there will always be someone with an agenda of arrogance, wanting their own way, seeking a higher position of importance within the Body. Sometimes that person is us! I am reminded of what Paul had to say about striving instead to be a heathy Body while growing and maturing in the love of God.  Here are some sweet honey wisdom statements from Ephesians 4:

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

“Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

“…speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

 We strive to be more and more like Jesus, by God’s Holy Spirit power helping us in transforming our thinking, saying, and doing in our new life which leads to greater spiritual health and to life eternal!  May the Holy Spirit control our tongues!

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

^“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” 

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  (Or your grandmas!)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

HOW?  THINK before we speak!  This is a great filter, prayed in Jesus Name, to help us use our tongues wisely;

• T- Is what I am about to say the Truth?
• H- Is what I am about to say going to be Helpful?
• I- Is what I am about to say going to be Inspiring?
• N- Is what I am about to say Necessary and Holy Spirit led at this time?
• K- Is what I am about to say going to be Kind and compassionate?

If what we are about to say tics all the boxes of THINK then use those words to build each other up, dripped in honey, “wonderful words of Life” delivered over our lips by our Holy Spirit-controlled tongue!

Avoid sarcasm, arrogance, boasting, deceitfulness and truth twisting and spinning with political maneuvering–at all costs!  For it may cost us our lives!

And Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

Lord,

We need your help!  Cleanse our hearts, for what flows from our hearts comes over our tongues.  Renew our minds to THINK before we speak.  Refresh our souls with your tender mercies.  Restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within us.  May your Holy Spirit lead us and may we respond in ways that help each other and please you!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Love and marriage, love and marriage
They go together like a horse and carriage
This I tell you, brother
You can’t have one without the other

You can’t read this without singing it, right?  (By now the tune is stuck in your head!)  As Randy and I celebrate 53 years of marriage at the end of this month, I am recalling how important our belief in each other has kept our love for each other firmly grounded—through challenging times as well as the good times in our lives together.  Without love, marriage is merely a word used to describe your current living arrangement.  Without marriage, the intimacy of real love between two people is fleeting, a lack of commitment that suddenly fades away like the morning dew.

Love in marriage that is built on the foundation of our royal love of Christ in us; grows and matures into a love that seeks to please the other with acts of love.  When you believe in each other we “act” in distinctive ways toward each other.  For example, we look at each other with a smile when they enter the room.  We pray for each other daily.  We help each other and work as a team to accomplish life tasks.  We look for ways to please each other throughout the day.  When one is discouraged, we know it.  We either speak words of encouragement or don’t speak at all and just listen with a warm embrace.  These are learned behaviors from submitting ourselves to each other as we submit ourselves to Jesus.

James give us a new pairing of words—faith and doing.  Spoiler alert:  They are closely related to trust and obey!  According to James, you can’t have one without the other!

James 2, The Message

The Royal Rule of Love

2 ^1-4 My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

^5-7 Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—“Christian”—used in your baptisms?

^8-11 You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.

^12-13 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

Faith in Action

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

¹⁸ I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”

Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

^19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

^21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that weave of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

^25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

If we were unsure how our faith affects what we do in Jesus Name for His glory and our good; James makes it crystal clear.  Faith in God is tied to our obedience to God.  Our true belief is reflected in our behaviors.  Believing is defined by James as “acts of faith” that please God.  It is that profoundly simple.  You can’t have one without the other! In fact, faith without acts of faith is a dead faith.  Yikes!  Yes, James said that out loud for the church to sit up and take notice!

“To obey is better than sacrifice” Samuel said to God’s people when they were fooling around with idols and practices not of God in their world.  God clearly told his people then and now; what counts before Him is our complete, unrestrained, loving, committed obedience. 

“Do you think all God wants are sacrifices—empty rituals just for show?
He wants you to listen to him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.
Not doing what God tells you is far worse than fooling around in the occult.
Getting self-important around God is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors.
Because you said No to God’s command, he says No to your kingship.” 1 Samuel 15:22, MSG

When God invites us to join Him in His work, it is a privilege!  Our response to the God, who we say we believe, must be an eager yes!  Feeling inadequate, humbled by the request, overwhelmed by the immensity of the work or underwhelmed by the smallness of the task, the time it will take, or the people it will affect are not considered by God as excuses.  Where God guides, He provides all we need to fulfill what He has asked us to be and do.  ALL for His glory and for our good because He is God and He is Good.

When Jesus walked the earth, He pointed out the same principle of obedience to the people who wanted to believe in what He said but had all kinds of reasons and excuses for not acting on their believing faith with following Him.

“On the road someone asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.

Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”

Jesus said to another, “Follow me.”

He said, “Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father’s funeral.”

Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God’s kingdom!”

Then another said, “I’m ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home.”

Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”  Luke 9:57-62, MSG

Wow, what’s my excuse?  That’s the question I am pausing to think about this morning as I ponder the royal rule of love of Christ in me. 

Is my love expressed by my commitment to follow in obedience to God’s invitation? 

Is the real love of God realized and expanded in me as I think of how deep Jesus authentic relentless love must be as He demonstrated this act of love on the cross for me?

Does my love, faith and hope cause a great desire in me to please God in all I think, say, and do?  For certain, what I believe in faith will be reflected in my acts of faith behaviors. 

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul and restore the joy of your salvation work that transforms me to be and do all you created me to be and do.  I’m listening and ready to obey.  Help us, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

We gather in a comfortable common place with others and form a community called church.  We sing from our hearts to God, listen to His Word spoken, and say we believe in Jesus who is responsible for our salvation and who called us to imitate His love to others. Because of this love of God in us, we are commanded and joyfully committed to reconcile to God through Jesus.  We are then given the ministry from God of helping others reconcile to Him, too.

What could go wrong?

“When Christian believer gather in churches, everything that can go wrong sooner or later does.  Outsiders, on observing this, conclude that there is nothing to the religion business except, perhaps, business—and dishonest business at that.  Insiders see it differently.  Just as a hospital collects the sick under one roof and labels them as such, the church collects sinners.  Many of the people outside the hospital are every bit as sick as the ones inside, but their illnesses are either undiagnosed or disguised.  It’s similar with sinners outside the church.”

“So Christian churches are not, as a rule, model communities of good behavior.  They are, rather, places where human misbehavior is brought out in the open, faced, and dealt with.”

“The letter of James shows one of the church’s early pastors skillfully going about his work of confronting, diagnosing, and dealing with areas of misbelief and misbehavior that had turned up in congregations committed to his care. Deep and living wisdom is on display here, wisdom both rare and essential.  Wisdom is not primarily knowing the truth, although it certainly includes that; it is skill in living.  For, what good is a truth if we don’t know how to live it? What good is an intention if we can’t sustain it?”

“According to church traditions, James carried the nickname “Old Camel Knees” because of thick calluses built up on his knees from many years of determined prayer. The prayer is foundational to the wisdom.  Prayer is ALWAYS foundation to wisdom.”          –Eugene Peterson, Intro to James, The Message Bible

James 1, The Message

I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello!

Faith Under Pressure

^2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

^5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

^9-11 When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don’t ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that’s a picture of the “prosperous life.” At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

¹² Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

^13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

^16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Act on What You Hear

^19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

^22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

²⁵ But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

^26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Walk the talk!  When God leads, follow his direction.

How?  I have discovered that following God’s Holy Spirit prompting is much simpler than we think.  Living the Truth is not necessarily a grand jester but a whisper from God’s heart to ours.  Who hasn’t had the experience of suddenly having a particular person come to mind?  That’s God!  He will place a person in our minds for reasons we might not know but can help. We must stop to pray for them immediately on their behalf in response to God!  “Act on what we hear,” says James.

In other moments, God’s Holy Spirit will give us simple action idea to do to encourage someone who is facing a challenging circumstance.  Sometimes, God tells us to sit with a family while their loved one is in surgery.  Maybe it is sharing a meal with those in need without waiting on a committee’s sanctioned plan.  Wherever, whenever, and however God calls us, He will provide a way to accomplish His will through us to help others know Him and be reconnected (reconciled) to Him.  Serving is a gift from God to us as a privilege to join Him in His work of reconciliation of relationships. Great are these gifts to us!

God never runs out of gifts to serve and help others. James teaches us that all the gifts God gives to us are used to gift others so they will see the Light of His love in us and be drawn to His Light, too!  “So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.”  All comes from God, our Father, the only wise and good God.

Act on what you hear.  God will give us all we need in the action.

Lord,

Thank you for James who deals with our human temptation of self satisfaction and guides to reach out to others in response too God’s leading.  Cleanse our hearts of thinking only of ourselves, renew our minds and transform our behaviors, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  May we love others like you love us.  May they know we truly believe what you say as they see our love for you and each other.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.” –James, Old Camel Knees

“Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does.” 1 Corinthians 14:1, MSG 

FACT:  We have changed the meaning of the words “as if.”  Today’s idiom is used as a jester of unbelief.  “Are you getting that raise you wanted?”  “As if…”  sarcastically said, meaning that will never happen. Sometimes we use the words humorously to show that what you are about to say is the opposite of what you really think.  But, for the most part, “as if” are words said to show that you do not believe something is possible.

Jesus changes everything. Jesus, sent from heaven to move into the neighborhood of humanity teaches us a new language.  Jesus, who is the unchangeable, reliable Truth who never changes; changes everything about us—from the inside out! 

When we believe, really believe in Jesus as the One who died and rose again to save us from our own sins, knowing He would remove them—new life begins for us!  We begin His transform what we think, say, and do by the power and strength of God’s Holy Spirit who now lives deep within us. 

Jesus says that with God all things are possible.  That’s why with God and His love growing in us, we can now love as if our lives depended on it—because it does! He is Life! We help each other as if we needed the help ourselves—because we do!  We live as if Jesus is always with us—because He is!

The closing words of the writer of Hebrews teaches us how to this “as if” life to the full in the Name of Jesus.  Pay close attention, believe, pray, help, living life in Jesus Name.  These precious words reveal the skills for living—God’s wisdom—transforming us day by day.

Hebrews 13, The Message

Jesus Doesn’t Change

13 ^1-4 Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

^5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,

God is there, ready to help;
I’m fearless no matter what.
Who or what can get to me?

^7-8 Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself.

⁹ Don’t be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don’t seem to do much for those who buy them.

^10-12 The altar from which God gives us the gift of himself is not for exploitation by insiders who grab and loot. In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It’s the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates—that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God’s altar to cleanse his people.

^13-15 So let’s go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This “insider world” is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.

* * *

¹⁶ Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.

¹⁷ Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?

^18-21 Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we’re doing or why, but it’s hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.

May God, who puts all things together,
    makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
    the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
    up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
    with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
    by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
    Oh, yes, yes, yes.

^22-23 Friends, please take what I’ve written most seriously. I’ve kept this as brief as possible; I haven’t piled on a lot of extras. You’ll be glad to know that Timothy has been let out of prison. If he leaves soon, I’ll come with him and get to see you myself.

²⁴ Say hello to your pastoral leaders and all the congregations. Everyone here in Italy wants to be remembered to you.

²⁵ Grace be with you, every one.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Rich young ruler episode) Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:25-26, NIV

It is God who puts our lives back together again and directs us back on the road to His best for His glory and our good.  Believe, repent, and be saved for Life eternal.  Surrender to His transforming work in us.  God is God, we are not.  Jesus saves us, we cannot save ourselves. 

Grow in Truth. Trust and obey what He says.  Help each other as if we were doing all for God in Jesus Name!

Lord,

Thank you for the help and wisdom of Hebrews to make your message clear about who you are with what pleases you.  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind, and soul.  So, continue to daily cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation work of transforming me to be all you created me to be…

In Jesus Name, Amen.  Yes!