Happy Saturday from St. Louis! I love quick getaways and was really excited when it worked out that we could go to the Muny and get a little mini vacation in. Things didn't turn out as planned and the rain ran us out of the play but we got Ted Drewes, so the night was saved, lol. I am looking forward to our plans for today and hopefully they all go well.
This weeks Bible Study takes us a little further into James Chapter 1. We are looking at verses 19-21 this week.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 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.
So, using our HEAR method,
Verse 19 Highlight= everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Explain= there is a lot here, but man, is it good stuff. This verse always reminds me of Teddy Marrs. Teddy was one of my Sunday School teachers growing up and when my dad knew the chances of him dying before I was fully grown were great, Teddy was one of the two people my dad told me to look to for advice, and I did, basically up until Teddy could no longer come to church. What is great is my son did the same thing, when he needed Godly advice, he would go find Teddy. But this verse reminds me of Teddy because I have sat through several church meetings in my life where there were pretty good sized debates. I would think, "surely Teddy has some input on this", and he would keep remaining quiet. Then as things would get settled down, someone might ask him his opinion and he would very slowly, say, "Well......" and continue to tell you very calmly and very rationally what he thought and usually would read a selection of scripture and then say, "I believe the Bible is telling us this". I never once seen Teddy get angry, even when we, as a church, felt under attack. To me, he was the epitome of this verse and that is once of the greatest lessons I learned from him. A while back, a coworker got upset with me, to the point of yelling at me. I stayed calm, and as I was being accused of a million different things, I would only say, "I am sorry you feel that way" Granted, I took some soul searching and looked for ways I could do things differently so as not to put myself in this situation again. Apply: Our human instinct is to match tone when someone is speaking to you. God's grace, and some practice, can help you go the opposite direction. The louder someone gets, the softer and more mellow I get. I will never perfect that here on earth, but I will try. Respond: Lord, help me when I fall into a situation where I might be quick to speak up and out when I really need to wait and listen.
Verse 20 Highlight = human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Explain: yes, I know it is basically the whole verse, but wow. Anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. How many times have you been in a heated argument with someone and it finally calms down and everything goes back to the way it was, except in the back of your mind, you bot, or all, said things you didn't really mean, or was just saying because you were hurt and guess what? It is like the tube of toothpaste, once you have squeezed it out, good luck getting it back in the tube. Those words and actions will always be out there. I was snarky to a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. We haven't spoke about it since and I did apologize for upsetting them, but I still know if I would have just kept my mouth shut, things would have been much better. Apply: I try to remember a lot of times my place should be like a good bra. Offer lots of support but stay out of site. Yes, use it, you will think about it, lol. Respond: Lord, help me be that friend who listens and is supportive and not take things personally when someone doesn't see things the same way I do.
And last but not least Verse 21 Highlight = get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent. Explain: Lets go back to last week when we were talking about the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. Isn't all disagreements really about one of these things? In my line of work, we take a lot of time studying anger. We have learned anger is created by fear. Fear of losing control, fear of the unknown, fear of losing everything. And what is creating that? Isn't it truly a lack of faith that God can control everything? That moral filth and evil is the devils way of putting doubt in our heads. And honestly, the more we cling to things that are of the devil, the farther we get from God. There was a saying on a popular Christian radio station a few years back. If you are feeling far away from God, He isn't the one who moved. I remember that often. When my own insecurities get the best of me, it is because I am not looking at the big picture, that I have a reward in Heaven. I am looking at the very self-centered picture that is asking what is in it for me, normally about something very inconsequential in the realm of life. Apply: I need to remember the ONLY reason I am really here is to let others know that God loved them so much, He sent His only son to die for us and that He rose again, conquered death and is in Heaven today, waiting for me. Glory and accolades here on earth for myself are only great if they point to the fact that God let me do what I am doing and I should never stand in the way of someone else that God is also letting do great things. I should go back to being the good bra. Respond: Lord, help me be the girl that straightens my friends crowns without having to tell the world I did it. Help me grow daily closer to You and when I get to do great things, let it glorify You and not me.
Several years ago, in fact it had to be over 20 years now, I was working in the ERBA office in Olney. We worked with ladies from another program and part of their jobs was to evaluate if someone needed to be in the nursing home. One of the questions they asked was for the customer to give them a complete sentence. One of the workers came back to work in awe of this one little old lady who had given her sentence as, "Think twice, speak once". It struck the worker hard, and it spread to us. And obviously, it has stayed with me all of these years. The little old lady died within weeks of that with no idea that she had left a lasting impression on all of us that worked in that office. It is amazing how 4 little words can do so much but those words sum up today's lesson.
Hope you have a beautiful Saturday.
~Mindy
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