Meditate on This!
Being
alone in a crowd is often the case for the child of God. We stand
alone, not because of who we are; but because our image (reflection) is
restored to godliness through the grace of God in Christ. Our conduct,
conversation and character reflect Jesus; thus we may find our self in
conversations like that of; John 6:60-71.
Thoughts about Life
I
thought I would try to get a picture of the Ukraine church on the email
today, so this may take up most of my time. This is something I should
try in the evening when I have more time… so I have changed my mind. I
am however looking over some of the pictures and you know what happens
when you do that, time flies and nothing is accomplished. If you have
ever given it thought, you might be interested in how these folks lived
routinely. Running water was only found in what we would call a mud room
and at the well outside. There was an out house and a larger room
behind the out house where a continual fire burned that heated water. In
this room we would bathe. One half bucket of cold water mixed with a
quarter bucket of hot water. Then you would pour this over your head,
soap down and then do the same water mixture and process to rinse off.
Of course this took a little getting use too, but we did and learned to
enjoy these new ways of getting things done that; here in the U.S. we
sort of take for granted. A little food for thought here! Could we
Americans ever face the day of no running water and poor electricity?
Most of the Ukrainian men were nuclear engineers while Russia controlled
that small nation. When Russia pulled out of Ukraine they took
everything with them. Ukraine went from a stable economy to a very poor
one overnight. Now we do not have a nation controlling us; we have a
nation of which we have very little control of… and this is to OUR SHAME
– we the people and yes it can happen to us too.
James One
The
epistle of James is very practical, he teaches his readers to
understand that God’s plan is for us to pursue faith. Notice what he
says in verse three; God tests faith, now a good question would be; Is
this a faith of ours to begin with or does the faith that God test
belong too or originate from another and are we to take on that
character of faith over our personal faith? Our faith is imperfect but
God does expect us to respond to Him in faith. Acts 3:16 – notice
that there is additional faith, faith that comes to us through Jesus
that provides perfect soundness… physically, spiritually and mentally.
The KJV of Galatians 2:16-20
helps me to see that my faith needs a boast, noting just verse sixteen:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for
by the works of the law shall no flesh be Justified”. I see this as
very important in our process of sanctification. Growing in faith; faith
that is not of our self but in the faith of Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-11
James 1:4
– Endurance or perseverance are two words that do not fit well in our
normal frame of reference. We like to have things happen NOW. Don’t
you know it is lunch time… go to the bathroom after we eat”! “I don’t
have any patience with you; you take too long to change the station on
the TV; etc, etc, etc”! These imperfect conditions, although minor in
the eyes of most children of God are very visible to a casual observer
on any Sunday morning. How can we say that we are maturing as believers,
when our actions shout silently to our brother or sister; “I have not
patience with this moment, I’m leaving”.
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