Yes and No

But above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth

or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no,

so that you may not fall under condemnation.

  James 5:12

Have you ever asked your angelic little child a question such as, "Did you take that cookie out of the cookie jar?"  Have you ever gotten a reply (with a look of pure innocence) such as, "No, Mommy, I didn't.  I promise.  I really promise.  Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye!"  Why did he say that?  Because the Bible says that we are all liars at heart.  It is a part of the sin nature that we all inherited.  

How often have we tried to cover up a lie with an oath of assurance that we were telling the truth?  The apostle, using the words, "above all, my brothers," once again warns us about the use of the tongue.  How many times does he have  to approach this subject before we get the message:  The tongue is a dangerous thing!  

How difficult is it to just tell the truth?  If I am going to be honest, I must say that it is hard!  I don't like to get into trouble for things.  (Yes, grownups can get in trouble for things, too!)  I hate to admit when I've done something wrong, when I have overlooked the doing of something that I should have done or have been asked to do.  And yes, when confronted with an issue, it is very tempting to cover it with something other than just "yes" or "no."  Somehow just saying "yes" or "no" makes a lie seem all the more a lie.  Adding a little something like, "I swear on the Bible" makes it more believable, right?  Wrong!  It just gets us into more trouble.  In fact, God says that it brings judgment on us.

Let's commit to making our "yes" real, and our "no" truthful.  Then we don't have to make oaths that cannot be kept or were falsely made in the first place.   Then we do not have to fear the condemnation of God.

How about this for an interesting oath? I wonder if anyone has ever kept it once he failed the test...

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my left breast torn open, my heart plucked out and given as a prey to the wild beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body severed in twain, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes, the ashes scattered to the four winds of heaven so that no more trace or remembrance may be had of so vile and perjured a wretch as I, should I ever knowingly or willingly violate this my solemn obligation as a Master Mason, so help me, God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same."

 Something to think about,
Gloria

The Long Road of Perseverance

The long road between the street and the church

 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering,

take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.

You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen 

what the Lord finally brought about. 

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 

James 5:10-11

Perseverance.  Unfortunately I can name all too many situations or projects in which I have failed to persevere.  But that's another post (actually, I hope not.)  Here the writer of the Lord's words is speaking of patience and perseverance in light of suffering.  The believers were going through harsh criticism from without and within.  They were being cheated by the wealthy, suffering want at the hands of their employers.  They were suffering.   Evidently, in light of the verses to follow some were also suffering physically. 

God's Word is replete with examples of those who suffered.  Hebrews 11:35-40  tells of many who suffered, not seeing the results of their faith but believing the God of accomplishment.  God devotes the book of Job to one of the early men of Scripture who by faith believed Him in the midst of indescribable suffering.

Everyday we see living examples of those who persevere through great trial.  My friend Angie lives daily with a debilitating disease that prevents her from walking, from talking, and even from being able to breathe on her own for long periods of time.  Yet her smile is contagious, and if one reads her blog, blessings will be poured out; if you could sit and read her lips as she speaks, you would be blessed beyond measure.  What an example she is to me!

And then there's Mister Jim, a sweet man at our church.  He has lost most of the toes on his left foot to neuropathy, walks almost doubled over with arthritis, and yet he mows the 6 acres at the church faithfully and does anything else he can to contribute.  He, as well, is a great example of those who suffer patiently.

Do you know any wonderful examples of those who persevere in the midst of great trials? I'd love to hear about it, because you are blessed as I am if you do.

Thankful to travel the long road with my great examples,

Gloria

Waiting Patiently

Two of the Greatest Qualities in Life--Patience and Wisdom!

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer 
waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is
for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, 
because the Lord’s coming

is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers,
or you will be judged. 

The Judge is standing at the door!

Today is a day of consolation.  There is an end to all of the sin that we encounter in this life, both those sins that we so ungodly commit and those which are committed against us.  Praise God, there is an end!  And it is coming.  Only we must be patient.  We must stand firm.

And in the meantime, if we do not want to be judged by the Judge of the Universe, we must not stand as our brother's judge.   The Judge is already at the door waiting to judge what He sees day by day.  We will be avenged by the God of Heaven.  No need to grumble or take vengeance ourselves.  Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!  He will do a much better job!

I can't predict how long the Lord will tarry; neither could the apostle James.  Therefore, we must be patient.  But that doesn't keep us from looking forward to His return with great expectation.

Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Gloria

P.S.  Happy Reformation Day! (click here )

How Deep Are Your Pockets?

Do You Have Deep Pockets?

"Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence.  You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.  You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person.  He does not resist you."

James 5:4-6

The book of James is not an easy book to journal, for several reasons.  

1.  To many verses hit too close to home.

2.  It is not a book that can be peppered with humor for the most part, so it's not easy to read and enjoy it after I write.

3.  There are some passages that I look at and think, "This doesn't apply to me!"

But then God shows me my heart.

This is one such passage.  When I first began a cursory reading of it, I wondered how in the world to apply it to my life.  I am a homemaker, a wife and mom and grandmom.  I don't have laborers or run any kind of business.  How can this possibly apply to me?

Everything we do in life generally points to one of two things--how we relate to our God and how we relate to our fellow man. I am reminded of a passage in Malachi chapter 3.  God has been asking the Israelites a series of questions (and giving them the answers.)  He says in verses 8-10:  “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.  But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings.You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

Jesus said in Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

We have a missionary from Ivory Coast coming to speak to the grandchildren--girls and boys!--at a tea party on Monday.  She is leaving on Tuesday, and I have challenged the children; we are giving a donation to Lesley at the tea party.  I told them to pray about what God would like for them to give.  They can either use money that they already have or work to earn some money.  Even with children, I think the adage stands that how a person spends his money is a determiner in his relationship with God. I'm excited to see what God does in the lives of these precious children as they share what they have with Miss Lesley.

A theologian might pick this apart, but this is the message I received for myself in this.  I do not want to rob God or my fellow man, and the depth of my pockets is one of the determiners of my devotion to both.

How deep are your pockets?

Gloria

But I'm Not Rich!

Come now, you rich, weep and howl 

for the miseries that are coming upon you. 

Your riches are rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 

Your gold and silver have corroded,

and their corrosion will be evidence against you 

and will eat your flesh like fire. 

You have laid up treasures in the last days. 

James 5:1-3

My first thought as I read this passage is, "But I'm not rich! What does this have to do with me?  How can I apply it to my life?"  And then I remember two things.  First, I am an American.  Compared to most of the rest of the world, I am rich.  Secondly, I am responsible for what I have, not for what someone who has more than I has.

How do I use my resources?  Do I place a pittance in the offering plate on Sundays, a token to God?  Do I pay fairly those who might do some work for me  or do I try to get away with paying as little as possible, leaving them without?  What about the waiter who serves me a meal when I go out?  Do I tip generously, leaving myself the opportunity to see her read the gospel tract that I may leave with her; or do I put a pitiful few coins on the table?

What do I do with the little treasure that God has granted me?  Do I "lay it up for the last days?"  Or do I use it generously to advance the kingdom of God?

As I read these verses I am soundly reminded of what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 6: " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." (verses 19-21, 24)

Searching my heart,

Gloria

A Mist That Vanishes

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow 

we will go into such and such a town and spend a year 

there and trade and make a profit"--

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  

What is your life?  For you are a mist 

that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 

James 4:13-14

When I took this picture there was an early morning mist, beautiful and haunting as it hung over the mountains in anticipation of the day.  Within a few moments it began to vanish, leaving only its memory behind , a slight  bit of moisture on its surroundings.  As the day progressed, it became sunny and dry, without even a hint that the day had begun with tiny drops of water clinging to the atmosphere.

God says that we, too are but a mist in the grand scheme of things. What if we live to 100?  What a short time we have on this earth!  Can we make a difference, or will we leave  like the mist, without a hint that we have been here?  How do we plan our day, our lives?  Do we assume that we are the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls?  Or do we recognize daily the One who is the Blessed Controller of All Things?

As we begin our day, today and for the rest of our lives, let's give to Him the time that we have remaining.  Let's finish strong, knowing that what we do is pleasing to Him and directed by Him.

Only a mist,

Gloria

Keep a Lid on It!

 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.  

The one who speaks against a brother

or judges his brother speaks evil against the law 

and judges the law.  But if you judge the law,

you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 

There is only one lawgiver and judge, 

He who is able to save and to destroy.

  But who are you to judge your neighbor?  

James 4:11-12

 Groucho Marx once said, 

"I was married to a judge; I should have asked for a jury!"

Unfortunately, we sometimes try to be judge and jury.  We are warned through the apostle James that  when we judge, we are also judging the law.  The law says,"'Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord." ( Leviticus 19:16 )  Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." (Matthew. 7:1)  

In other words, the pot has no room to call the kettle black!  We have no license to sit in judgment of another.  That's God's job.

We must distinguish, for the sake of teaching our little ones, the difference between judging another and being discerning.  We want them to be discerning in order to know good from evil.

Discernment:  The power or faculty of the mind, by which it distinguishes one thing from another, as truth from falsehood, virtue from vice; acuteness of judgment; power of perceiving differences of things or ideas, and their relations and tendencies.

Judgment:  In light of James 4:11-12, the word means the act of censuring rashly; passing severe sentence on another. 

We must teach our children to perceive right from wrong.  But we must also teach them not to judge or speak evil of others.  And we must do that by example.  Ouch!

Is it possible to keep the lid to our pot on, to look at the kettle and allow the heat of judgment to come from the Source?  It must be, because we are warned to do just that--keep a lid on and allow God to be the Lawgiver and Judge.

Duly warned,

Gloria