{"id":6676,"date":"2019-12-20T20:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T03:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6676"},"modified":"2019-12-07T00:14:28","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T07:14:28","slug":"james1_19-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/james1_19-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirror, Mirror"},"content":{"rendered":"

James 1:19-27\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 1:19-27.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 1:19-20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 19-20:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus came to give us life to the full (John\u00a010:10), especially in our relationships.\u00a0\u00a0If we want to experience the full and \u201crighteous life that God desires\u201d for us, we need to follow God\u2019s way of handling relationships.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0That includes being \u201cquick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry\u201d (v19).<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Often it is our failure to manage our anger in appropriate and healthy ways that causes destruction in our relationships.<\/p>\n

James 1:21-22 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore, 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.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 21-22:\u00a0\u00a0From verse 21 we learn that\u00a0God\u2019s Word is our life saver.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It has the power to save us from our sins and also to save us from the unnecessary destruction that our sins (or as verse 21 puts it, \u201cmoral filth and evil\u201d) cause in our relationships.\u00a0\u00a0To experience the saving power of God\u2019s Word, we need to \u201chumbly accept the word planted in you\u201d (v21).\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to \u201chumbly accept the word planted in you\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0It means not just listening to the word, or reading it, but doing what God\u2019s Word says.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Are you someone who humbly accepts God\u2019s Word planted in you?\u00a0\u00a0Are you a doer of God\u2019s Word or a hearer only?\u00a0\u00a0If you want to experience the saving power of God\u2019s word at work in your life, be a doer of God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n

James 1:23-25 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-25:\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word is not just my life saver.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s Word is also my mirror.\u00a0\u00a0It shows me who I really am in a world that tries to define me in all sorts of other ways.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Only by looking at God\u2019s Word do you see who you really are: that you are loved by God, chosen by Him, priceless and precious in His eyes, made in His image, a masterpiece, gifted, born with a destiny, cherished by the Father, forgiven in Christ, empowered by His Holy Spirit, just to name a few.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why at Thrive we like to say, \u201cThis is my Bible.\u00a0\u00a0It is God\u2019s Word. I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have and I can do what it says I can do.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When you read God\u2019s Word and don\u2019t do what it says, it\u2019s like forgetting who you really are and being someone who you are not.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0when you read God\u2019s Word\u00a0intently<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0persistently\u00a0<\/em>(\u201ccontinue to do this\u201d) and live it out, you will be blessed because you are living out your God-given identity as the person God called you to be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed\u00a0how\u00a0<\/em>I read and hear God\u2019s Word.\u00a0\u00a0Do I do so intently and persistently (v25)?\u00a0\u00a0Or do I do so passively, lazily and sporadically?\u00a0\u00a0How much blessing is in my life will be directly related to how well I hear, read and apply God\u2019s Word.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James 1:26-27 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Religion 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-27:\u00a0\u00a0The biggest theme of the book of James is that\u00a0true faith is shown in the way you live your life \u2013 how you speak, how you act, how you serve<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Do you keep a good rein on your tongue?\u00a0\u00a0Do you take care of those in distress?\u00a0\u00a0Do you seek to please God with the areas of your life that maybe others don\u2019t see?\u00a0\u00a0What you really believe about Jesus and the Bible is ultimately shown in how you behave.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word which is my life saver and my mirror.\u00a0\u00a0I pray that I would be a doer of Your Word and not a hearer only.\u00a0\u00a0I pray that like You, I would have a heart for orphans and widows in distress, and a desire to pursue holiness in areas that matter to You.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that the more I love and obey Your Word, the more blessed I will be and the more of a blessing I will be to others.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 1:19-27.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

James 1:19-20 (NIV)\u00a0
\n19\u00a0\u00a0My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,\u00a0
\n20\u00a0\u00a0for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.<\/p>\n

On verses 19-20:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus came to give us life to the full (John\u00a010:10), especially in our relationships.\u00a0\u00a0If we want to experience the full and \u201crighteous life that God desires\u201d for us, we need to follow God\u2019s way of handling relationships.\u00a0\u00a0That includes being \u201cquick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry\u201d (v19).\u00a0\u00a0Often it is our failure to manage our anger in appropriate and healthy ways that causes destruction in our relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6679,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions\/6679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}