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Saturday 10 July 2010

James Says II

Carrying on with my previous Post on the lessons from James 1, i'll just be talking about the other half of the chapter that has to do with acting on the word of God.

Verse 19-20 of James 1 advises that "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, /for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires".

This here, is a key basic message for use in relationships. It's all about communication, anger only complicates things. We have 2 ears to listen and just 1 mouth to use in speaking so we should listen twice as much as we talk. Notice it also says be SLOW to speak and become angry.

Everytime, somebody says something that annoys you, notice how your anger soars to a 100% and you utter some harsh words without even thinking about it; almost like a reflex action. You need to spend time listening and processing your thoughts so you don't say things that will rip someone to pieces. Words tend to be ingrained in our hearts and minds, they cannot be taken back.

James goes on to say that we should " 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". further on in the passage, we can not do this by only listening to the Word of God --> that's just deceit! deceit to ourselves.

The bible says study to show yourself approved of God. By default, we are sinful beings and evil desires that are part of our nature lead to sin. So therefore we need to train our minds how to think and what to think on. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. What you think is what you become!.

The Word of God keeps us from sin, as David rightly said in Psalm 119:11 "your word have I hidden in my heart that I may Not sin Against you". When there is something good stored in our hearts, we can then compare our actions against what's been saved as our standard to determine if it's right or wrong. That way we'll always be on track.

Philippians 4:8 " whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things". The things which meet these criteria are all found in the Word of God so we need to study it, meditate on it... Let it become a part of you! Live and breathe the Word.


Now let's talk a bit about controlling your tongue! the tongue is a sensitive yet strong organ, used to prepare food for chewing and swallowing, it's primary function is taste and more importantly it forms our speech.

The Bible says life and death are in the power of the tongue - Proverbs 18:21

We need to be careful what we say. like i said before, the words you speak can make or break someone. On a more serious note, it can make the difference between you improving your life and you tearing your life down.

With your mouth, you can speak things in to existence as though they already existed. So even when the sky is dark and grey and there seems to be no way ahead of you, still speak positively! Afterall, what you're seeing is NOT what you WANT to see. (i hope. :p)

Anger is another thing that makes us spiral out of control and just say the next thing that pops into our heads. Now check yourself, If you are always so angry that nothing can contain you or you don't just know why you get so mad at times...Know it's not of God, something is definitely not right. God is love and as a christian you should display the fruits of the Spirit which include LOVE and Self Control. So if these two are missing, then you need to go on a self - exploratory journey with Jesus.

If I choose to speak positively but I think differently in my heart, is that OK?
In James 1:7 -8 it says that a double-minded man should not expect to receive anything from God.

David also says in psalm 19:14 "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord" Not only should our words be right before God but our heart has to be int he right condition too. Remember in Genesis when Sarah laughed. she didn't actually laugh out loud, She did so in her heart but God saw it. God sees our heart so it always has to be in check!

A few closing words: Remember that the Bible is our spiritual food. We need to feed on it everyday pretty much in the same way as you would eat regular food daily. Use the Word of God as a mirror , checking your life is in line with it.

'Man shall not live by bread alone' was what Jesus said to Satan when He was tempted. This statement suggests that if we don't live by the Word, we are dying. Of course you're not going all wrinkly and running out of breath; it's not a physical death but a spiritual death.

Rightly divide the Word of God. Get it into manageable chunks that is easy for you to learn. It doesn't have to be a boring read you know, dig deeper and you'll find interesting things that you may have missed even after reading that verse a million times!

The times we are in calls for seriousness with the Bible! We need the WORD a lot more than our own experiences. The Devil knows a lot more than we do, do not be deceived into thinking otherwise!

Stay Blessed!

...The love of God is like the ocean,you can see its beginning, but not the end. :-)

4 heavenly notifications:

Jennifer A. said...

The tongue, that rudder of the ship, such a small fire that lights the whole forest. Great lesson. I liked this, may God help us apply this word in our relationships.

Thanks.

Cioara Andrei said...

Foarte interesant subiectul deybatut de tine.M-am uitat pe blogul tau si imi place ce am vazut, cu siguranta am sa mai revin o zi buna!

Kafo said...

i like the parallel drawn to relationships

and the fusion of what we think and how it affects what we say and how anger is dangerous

thanks

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