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Listen to what the devotional says here: https://bit.ly/3ybykwm
17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. 26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:17-27 NRSV)
A happy and blessed Tuesday be yours, ConCafe Family! And may this day be filled with wonderful, unexplained, awesome, blessings from God and that you, Friend respond in kind. We continue to pray for those for whom we have been asked to pray. I add that prayers have been blessing Jay and Janie; she was able to eat something last night (Sunday), and today, Monday, Jay had some jello. They are also going to be eligible to receive an infusion from a hospital and we pray that blesses them with the healing they need. Please continue to pray for them and others. Pray for one another, and prayers for your needs as well.
This letter is believed to have been written by the brother of Jesus, who also was believed to have been one of the Twelve. Some ancient sources dispute those claims, and even genuine knowledge of who the true author was gets only to the point that it was a Greek-influenced Christian (Hellenistic believer). It is also held that the letter is more of a sermon than a true epistle. There are, in this version of the letter, one hundred and eight verses, with an emphasis on works more than just belief. His approach is to encourage believers to live like believers. His idea, as he states almost immediately, is that if we try hard enough, we could indeed just be the "first fruits of His creatures," meaning we actually believe and live what we have learned from our Savior. The writer outlines some helpful areas and ideas that would work. For example, we could become better listeners, who in turn, reflect and pray before speaking, and as a result take time to ponder how we are to respond to what we hear. James says, honestly enough, that there are already enough hotheads in the world. And hotheaded angry people seldom get anything except black eyes, busted lips, or jail time. I recently saw a video about a self-defense instructor tell his students the true story of a bar fight where they did go outside to settle their dispute and a slug to one of the antagonizers sent the other straight to the pavement, where he hit his head and died, thus the arrest and long jail term of the other person. And instead of teaching moves and blocks and hits, this man spoke of how to respond to antagonistic challenges. "What are you looking at" is a question that some can easily take as a challenge and this man said, "I'm looking at your shirt! I used to have one like that, and it brought back some fond memories of when I wore that shirt." Oh. Or, "Are you staring at my girl?" "Yes, is her name Michelle? I used to go to school with a Michelle in fifth grade and she helped me so much I've wanted to see her again and thank her for the prositive things she shared with me!" Different response.huh? "What's your problem buddy?" "My dad. He just died." Oh. Sorry to hear that. I believe that is a radical way of responding rather than reacting. "Anger does not produce God's righteousness.
From within, as the gospel passage from yesterday said, we should rid ourselves of the root things within us that cause the trouble and squabbles. "Sordidness" should have no space within us to grow. "Wickedness" seems better in a Broadway play about characters from the Wiard of Oz than being the rooted evil within our hearts. Instead of suspiciousness, why not try a welcoming spirit laced with meekness that comes from God's word being a part of us; for after all, it "has the power to save your souls." So, live like a true believer, instead of a bench or pew-warmer on Sundays. Those tend to fool only themselves. James' example is like us when we look in a mirror and almost immediately forget what we look like. I'm guilty of that. Many a Sunday in the past one could ask me what color tie I was wearing and more than likely I had already forgotten! If instead we would spend time looking into the teachings of the law, e.g. The Ten Commandments, the freedom of believers as set free by God that we read about in the Bible, and reading passages like from Paul where he never gave up, we will learn true ways in which to live and interact with others. We will become known as those who truly live like Jesus. It is way better to live as a believer than one who speaks about what a believer might look like; and a good measure of that is the words we use with others. A person who uses his or her tongue to cut down, belittle others, or to scare others; they have fooled only themselves about their fakeness. True religion, says James, is that of caring for orphans and widows while they are in dire need; while keeping yourself undefiled by the world. In other words, our job is to live a life that impacts, or untaints the world, instead of letting the world taint us.
PRAYER: Loving God, let it be that we will be the ones who make the impacts of life on the dreariness of the world with Your brightness and light. Free us truly for joyful obedience; and help us to save the world. In Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Live a life of hope among those who are hopeless!
Receive my blessings of hope and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
