Practice this daily

1 Peter 3:9 ; "9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

Oh but it feels so much better to repay evil with evil. That is because of pride. Humble yourself before the Lord and repay the evil with a blessing.

Purify the Heart

James 3:13-18

The passage talks about wisdom. But the wisdom is what one should have in one's heart. James 3:14 states "But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth" (NIV). We should not be proud of our bitter envy or selfish ambitions. Seems obvious. The second part caught my attention.

"... do not ... deny the truth ..." If we there are bad things in our heart we should not deny it. This does not mean that if we hate our neighbor we should show it by egging his house. It means that we must be honest with ourselves and admit to God that hate. He will then start to heal your heart. I have experienced this. First saying everything was fine, and then admitting my unrighteous anger to Him. Things improved for myself.

Belonging to the Lord

Romans 14:8: “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (NIV)

If my dog runs away he still belongs to me. If I commit sin, do I still belong to the Lord? For most offenses, the dog will be brought back into the home. He will be destroyed for a few offenses.

God will forgive any offense, in that regard we are better off then a dog.

Pride

James 3:1-2 "1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." (NIV)

I have often thought of becoming a teacher. Dispensing my wisdom to those longing for it. I have refrained. I need to be a teacher to serve God and not myself.

The tongue is evil, full of poison!

James 3 starts with a warning about being teachers, for we all use the tongue for evil and will be dealt with more severely. My tongue has irepreable damaged important relationships.

The tongue is a small part of the body, but like the rudder on a boat it can steer us to heaven or to hell.

One must learn discipline, of which I have none. One must practice patience and kindness, humility and submissiveness to learn discipline. Jesus told his disciples to wash each others feet, in part so they could keep true to these characteristics. I would not wash anyone's feet. That is how proud I am, and my biggest flaw.

The chapter ends with the wisdom that we should have. "17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

Question: How can we be peace makers, if we cannot get along with our own neighbors?

Let us be a delight unto the Lord.

Psalm 149:4 “For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.”

My Defender is the Judge

Isaiah 33:22 “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.”

If our saviour is our judge, isn't salvation rigged in our favor? In our favor meaning to the favor of those who believe in him.

Praise God

God is soveriegn. All glory to God. He is faithfull and blesses me. All good in my life is from God.

Amen

God judges the heart

My previous post "Graceful Acceptance" ended with a lesson "God judges the heart." Today's verse from BibleGateway.com says just that.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (NIV)

Act kindly to everyone according to the word

James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (NIV).

I will follow this up with:
2 Timothy 2:24 "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful." (NIV)

1 Thessalonians 5:15 "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else." (NIV)

Proverbs 14:21 "He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy." (NIV)



Self explanatory.