Happy Saturday again! Wow, these weeks are going fast. I believe someone said it was just 24 Fridays until Christmas this week. How can it be? Didn't we just have Christmas?
I am super excited because today is LIHEAP sisters day! I have been looking forward to this day ever since we planned it a couple of months ago. These three people are on my short list of people I would do absolutely anything for and I know they would do the same and just getting to spend the day together and relax and visit helps heal so many things, there has been a lot going on in our Energy Assistance world and these girls understand it first hand, so we can vent and they get it. Even though Nancy retired and Jen is working in Energy in a different capacity, we still get each other very well. It is going to be a great day!
I wanted to get my day started right though so up super early so I can get a run in as I know us, we will be doing a lot of riding and a lot of sitting so I want to get my body up for the day. I got a little over 2 miles in, and of course I wanted to get my Bible Study in. We are nearing the end of James chapter 1, but the verses here are very important. As I have said, I feel James does a really good job of just telling us how to live and these two verses are big ones.
So, here we go--
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Using my normal HEAR method, James 1: 26-27
Highlight= do not keep a tight rein on their tongues. Explain= Oh, we all know this too well. Words can do more detriment than any other weapon. And the Bible says if you aren't keeping a tight grip on your tongue, your religion is worthless. I think this can apply to not only the things you say about other people, the way you talk to other people but also your language in general. I will tell you a time, years ago, I worked with a woman that every time she was around, she had to tell dirty jokes. When I first got to know her, I was caught off guard by this, and then I learned to keep my distance because I didn't want to hear it. Then another co-worker tells me this same joke-telling person had told this other co-worker that she had too much sin going on in her life to go to church. I was flabbergasted, and said, "Why would your going to church even have any effect on her?" And then I was told, the dirty joke telling co-worker was a faithful member of a church congregation. I am going to say something really judgy here, but you get it. This is a perfect example of not keeping a tight rein on your tongue and I definitely had no inkling the person was supposed to be a Christian. And THEN a Christian telling another person NOT to go to church? Yeah, lots of issues here. You get the picture. I will tell you of another friend of mine, this one from way back. Her name was Jody. We were in High School together and Jody was one of the sweetest people I knew, everyone liked her and she was definitely not one to hide her light and her love for Jesus. She had told me one time that she wouldn't go out with anyone that wouldn't come to church with her first. 40 years later and I remember that like it was yesterday. I didn't ask Andrew to go to church with me before we went out, but I made sure he was a Christian and was willing to come to church before I agreed to a date. Jody taught me that I wanted to value that. Yes, I am talking about Jody in the past tense, she was killed in a car wreck in December after we graduated in May. I have no doubts where she is today. Apply= The next time you think about saying something about someone, sharing an off-colored joke, saying words that are less than beautiful, I want to ask, is my speech being pleasing to God? Am I drawing someone towards my love of Jesus, or pushing them away? Respond= Lord, help me always keep a tight rein on my tongue so others may know my love for you is real and genuine.
And on to the final verse in James 1
Highlight= keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Explain= God tells us right here, one of the greatest outpouring of our faith is to take care of others. I love my job and it is in a big part because I get to be paid to do what God put me on earth to do. As Christians, we are to tell others about Christ dying on the cross for our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him and God in Heaven, but in order to open those doors, we have to do the old, "actions speak louder than words" thing, and take care of others. And the result is, the more we take care of others, the more we speak kindly, the less likely we are to be polluted by the world. Apply= This is why it is so important to start your day with a little bit of Jesus. Get Him in your head before the bad stuff gets there, before the bad things happen. It is funny, I am a big music aficionado and I will admit to loving some good Yacht Rock 80's music. When I was younger, I used to listen to all of it and pretty much think it was okay, yet today, there are some songs that I realize, I really don't want to year, and I love the technology that lets you just change to something else and not live through it because it is on the radio. I also find when I am exercising, seriously, I workout harder and better to contemporary Christian music than anything else, it is truly energizing from the inside out. Respond= Lord, help me to always focus on what I can do for others that will reflect on how good you are. Let me always give you the glory for everything I get to do.
So, I am about out the door, hope you all have a wonderful day! Do something good for the temple God gave you, and do something good for others!
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