Walking the Walk

  Happy Saturday everyone!

Hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th of July. My guys don't care for fireworks so last year, my mom decided to go with me even though she doesn't like the loud noise from it. When we go to Olney though, we sit in the Walmart parking lot and the booms aren't as bad. She really enjoyed it last year, so I was tickled she felt up to going again this year. I make us each a big sugar-free decaf iced coffee and we put the top down and just sit in my car. This year was just as great and I love spending time with her that isn't just going to a doctor. 

I am getting a really late start this morning and still very pulled in what I am doing today. My original plan was to work in the attic again but I honestly got the sections I planned on getting done this weekend done yesterday. I slept through my alarm and so I am not getting the start I had hoped. Andrew is going to be at my mom's today working on a project with Robert and so I am thinking very strongly about doing a good housecleaning and menu planning and some things like that. That is probably going to win out as I have everyday scheduled for the rest of the month and it might be good just to get everything really organized around here. Plus I have about 6 boxes of books and cookbooks here in my office that really need to find home on the shelves in here, so I could do that and still call it working on the attic project, lol. 

Anyway, on with our Bible Study for today.  We have two more weeks in James 1. This is going to take a while but I have already decided we are going to move to Proverbs after this, and that will take a LONG while,

So, today we are looking at James 1: 22-25

Let's tear this apart with our HEAR method.

Verse 22

Highlight= Do what it says. Explain= our Sunday School teacher, Kim Buettemeyer, gives you a really hard time if you go to explain your verse and you say, "It really is self-explanatory" but this one truly is. James doesn't beat around the bush here at all. You can read and listen to God's word all day long, but if you don't let it change who you are, what good does it do? Apply= At times in my life, I hate to admit, but I have truly been a Sunday Christian. I am going to say, that is pretty easy to do if you don't get in your Bible daily. Being a Christian is hard and without daily communication with God, it is harder. Apply= I want to always treat my morning alone time with God as important as brushing my teeth. I have finally, thankfully gotten to the point where I know my day isn't going to go right if I don't start it with Him. Respond= Lord, help me continue to come to you each morning for guidance and direction. Help me get my heart right with you very first so you can help me keep my heart right with others throughout the rest of the day.

Verse 23-24

Highlight= immediately forget what he looks like. Explain= This is exactly what I was talking about when I said I was a Sunday Christian. It is so easy to go sit in church on Sunday morning and let the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you and feed you. As you sing one of the worship songs, you might realized it is talking about you. The message hits deep and you go away thinking, "I am going to do better this week". You have just been fed, and you might even leave with a fire. But then, Sunday afternoon, you get busy and by Monday, just like a fire, if you don't feed it, it goes out. You don't carry through on Monday and the first thing you know, you are yelling at the car in front of you because they accidently did something stupid, you are wondering why a coworker gets by with the things they do and you feel like you are called on the carpet for a crazy small thing and boom, just like that. You are back in your own little world and not worrying a thing about living for Christ. You have totally forgotten what you looked like on Sunday after church. Apply= Starting your day out with God doesn't have to be a long drawn out thing. I have gotten to the point where I spend about a half hour but if you are trying to fit things into an already busy schedule, I suggest just acknowledging He is there and that you are His. And pray. You do not have to get down on your knees and bow your head and close your eyes to pray. You can pray while you are in the shower, or driving to work, or even before you even get out of bed. And then, get in the Word. Whether it  is a short devotional, a daily scripture ( I try to leave one on my fb page everyday) or just a few verses from your Bible. Let this be like brushing your teeth but you are washing your soul for the day. Respond= Dear Lord, help me realize that getting close to You every morning changes not only my day, but the day of people that come into contact with me. I know the more I talk to you each day, the easier it is to share You with others. 

And then we come to verse 25:

Highlight=They will be blessed in what they do. Explain= Doing good works is very personal, in my opinion. I want to do everything I can to honor God, not myself, and not for others to see, but for God to see.  Apply= Before I go to bed, I usually run through what I have done that day and if it honored God. I also examine if I had opportunities that I missed and often, I know I did. I will tell you, I had thought it was the fact that I was getting older, that I seem to be quicker to share my faith but I really think it is just that daily routine of starting out with God. If you talk to someone daily, say your spouse, do you not hear yourself sharing with your co-workers some of your conversations? That's the relationship. If you have a true relationship with God, you are going to share it out of default of it just being part of who you are. Speaking of spouses, one thing I notice Andrew does, if he encounters anyone, normally holding the door open or something like that for us, he will say thank you but he also says, "Have a blessed day". Do you realize those 4 little words honor God? I always hope my kindness is a reflection of Christ, but this really puts it out there. Respond= Lord, help me do good for you every day, every chance I get. We know faith without works is dead and we also know that You tell us if we know to do good and we don't do it, it is sin. Help us have that daily relationship with You so that we might not miss opportunities to do our work for You.

I hope you have an amazing Saturday! I am going to leave you with a song today, as I haven't for a while. As many people know, I am a huge Matthew West fan and this is one of those songs that could have been written for me. I was honored to see him at a meet and greet and he asked me what my favorite song was and I said, "Do Something" because in my job, I get to help people and change lives. He sang it to me. That was pretty cool. Again, Happy Saturday!