Love Others

We do things that hurt others, and we don't do things that help people all the time and if we'd ONLY take a few moments of consideration for others before we act maybe, just maybe we'd stop hurting others.  A lot of times the way we react has to do with HOW WE ARE FEELING at the moment.  Are we feeling nice? Are we feeling angry? Are we feeling loving? Are we feeling sad? Are we feeling relaxed? Are we feeling tired? A lot of how we react to others really has to do with US and not so much them. We make the choice to allow our own emotional, mental state interfere with HOW we SHOULD behave towards others.

I want to share with you now part of a chapter in the book Mere Christianity- read it please- study it- it holds a lot of truth.

Excerpt from Mere Christianity-

 Charity means 'Love, in the Christian sense'.

But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion.

It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

I pointed out in the chapter on Forgiveness that our love for ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves.

It means that we wish our own good.

 In the same way Christian Love (or Charity) for our neighbours is quite a different thing from liking or affection. We 'like' or are 'fond of some people, and not of others. It is important to understand that this natural 'liking' is neither a sin nor a virtue, any more than your likes and dislikes in food are a sin or a virtue. It is just a fact. But, of course, what we do about it is either sinful or virtuous.

Natural liking or affection for people makes it easier to be 'charitable' towards them. It is, therefore, normally a duty to encourage our affections - to 'like' people as much as-we can (just as it is often our duty to encourage our liking for exercise or wholesome food) - not because this liking is itself the virtue of charity, but because it is a help to it.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to keep a very sharp lookout for fear our liking for some one person makes us uncharitable, or even unfair, to someone else. There are even cases where our liking conflicts with our charity towards the person we like. For example, a doting mother may -be tempted by natural affection to 'spoil' her child; that is, to gratify her own affectionate impulses at the expense of the child's real happiness later on.

But though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings.

 Some people are 'cold' by temperament; that may be a misfortune for them, but it is no more a sin than having a bad digestion is a sin; and it does not cut them out from the chance, or excuse them from the duty, of learning charity.

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple.

 Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did.

As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. There is, indeed, one exception. If you do him a good turn, not to please God and obey the law of charity, but to show him what a fine forgiving chap you are, and to put him in your debt, and then sit down to wait for his 'gratitude,' you will probably, be disappointed. (People are not fools: they have a very quick eye for anything like. showing off, or patronage.)

But whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less.

Consequently, though Christian charity sounds a very cold thing to people whose heads are full of sentimentality, and though it is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection. The difference between a Christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only affections or 'likings' and the Christian has only `charity'.

The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he 'likes' them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on -- including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.

This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them: afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become-and so on in a vicious circle for ever.

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.

The smallest good act to-day is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or, anger to-day is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.

Some writers use the word charity to describe not only Christian love between human beings, but also God's love for man and man's love for God. About the second of these two, people are often worried. They are told they ought to love God. They cannot find any such feeling in themselves. What are they to do? The answer is the same as before. Act as if you did. Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, 'If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?' When you have found the answer, go and do it.

On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.

Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about.

Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.

If we are trying to do His will we are obeying the commandment, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.' He will give us feelings of love if He pleases.

We cannot create them for ourselves, and we must not demand them as a right.

But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.

It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.


-  Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis Chapter CHARITY

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May God bless and keep us in HIM and obeying His commandments always! 

Help us to LOVE as You would have us LOVE, GOD. Please help us by being with us, use us, let the Holy Spirit work in us all through YOUR GRACE and MERCY!

That which I see not teach thou me

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Not be condemned with the world.
Why is the world condemned?

Joh_14:30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

The prince of this world has NOTHING in JESUS.
The prince of this world is Satan.

Joh_18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

This world is NOT Jesus' kingdom.
It belongs to another.

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
He could offer them to Jesus because they belonged to him.

This world is condemned because it belongs to Satan, he took if from Adam and Eve when he enticed Eve to sin and Eve, rather than follow God's command chose to follow Satan's deception.

The world is condemned.  All who are a part of the world are condemned as well.

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Those who would be Christ's must NOT be a part of this world!

It can't get any clearer than that, can it?   'They are NOT of the world even as I AM NOT of the world.'

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
 
We are CHASTENED of the LORD that we should NOT BE CONDEMNED WITH THE WORLD!

This is the REASON for OUR CHASTENING!
God does NOT want us CONDEMNED!
He wants us to be HIS, truly HIS!

Job 33:18  He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:19  He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
Job 33:20  So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
Job 33:21  His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Job 33:22  Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
Job 33:23  If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
Job 33:24  Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
Job 33:25  His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:
Job 33:26  He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.

Job 33:27  He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
Job 33:28  He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.

Job 33:29  Lo, all these things worketh God OFTENTIMES WITH MAN,
Job 33:30  To BRING BACK HIS SOUL FROM THE PIT TO BE ENLIGHTENED WITH THE LIGHT OF THE LIVING.
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As Job suffered horrifically- the loss of all his children, the loss of all his goods, the loss of his good health - his suffering was far from just emotional and mental, but also very, very physical-  he had NO clue that Satan and God were discussing Him and His relationship with God. He was clueless as to why everything bad was happening to him.  Along come Elihu, after three older, supposedly wiser men came to talk to Job, and Elihu explains in part here that God works this way OFTENTIMES to save the man.

OFTENTIMES! OFTEN! God allows this sort of thing to happen for our own good. Can we comprehend it? Not while it's happening usually. All we know is the pain and suffering going on. We don't want to hear about God doing this for our own good, it makes us angry, furious to think that we are allowed this suffering- even for our own good. 

We have to examine our lives and yes, we need to see if there is any evil in us and then repent, seek forgiveness and go and sin no more through GOD'S GRACE. God doesn't want us accepting any sin in ourselves, not one sin.

Was Job being chastised? Not so much as it was Satan instigating a situation to test his integrity towards God.  But Job didn't know that. And truthfully we are often chastised in horrific ways.

Today many children around the world have suffered and died tragically, some were murdered, others knifed, and yes, many are being abused all over the world, and many are going hungry and are suffering, dying, sick and left with little hope. Some children have had their lives taken unexpectedly while some have wasted away slowly only to end today. The loved ones of these children can rightly believe they are being chastised, I say rightly because whenever we suffer the unspeakable we HAVE to believe that somehow, some way it will work out for good because we LOVE GOD. I'm not saying it because I believe all those suffering brought these things on themselves- not for one single moment! I'm saying that we need to use these horrific tragedies to bring us CLOSER to our LOVING GOD not let Satan steal us away from the only source of true love.  And if we are called to suffer we can allow ourselves by God's grace use it as a time to examine ourselves as God would have us do. Maybe there is something that has kept us from a real relationship with our Savior, or maybe our profession of Christ is only lip service, or maybe we are walking the broad path in some way and we NEED to seek forgiveness, repenting and seeking the grace of God- growing ever closer to Him- to be known by and to know HIM.  I have to emphasize here though, that I truly do not believe every single suffering loved one has done something to warrant chastisement. Job, himself suffered the worst and he wasn't suffering through his own wrong doing, but rather his right doing.  There could be many loved ones who are faced with this inexplicable loss and like Job are faced with it undeservingly, yet they must (by God's GRACE) grow ever stronger in their love for God, not let this turn them from God in any way.

Chastisement is painful and that pain comes in many, many forms.

Job 34:31  Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
Job 34:32  THAT WHICH I SEE NOT TEACH THOU ME: IF I HAVE DONE INIQUITY, I WILL DO NO MORE.

Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Psa 94:13  That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

Teach us LORD, teach us to love YOU more than anything else, more than our own lives.

Bless those who are enduring the anguish of tragedy today, please LORD help them all grow closer to YOU through this adversity. Bless all those little ones who have fallen into death's sleep today please forgive them any sins that were not unpardonable, please LORD, mercy on them all. Heal those who have been wounded today, LORD. Be with them LORD, help them to come to know YOU and YOUR ETERNAL LOVE.

Come quickly, Lord, please come quickly.

Thank you.
Thank you.

In Jesus Christ's holy name, through His love, His righteousness.

Satan would have us NOT believe

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

We are REBUKED and CHASTENED.

We feel the rebuke and the chastening of the LORD for a reason and that reason is for our own good.  It's painful, it's horrible, it tries us to the bitter end. We feel the pain and agony of our own chastening and we LOVE to blame God for it as if He weren't doing it for our ultimate good. 

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

How do we envision the chastening and correction of the LORD? A slap on our wrists? Do we EVER believe it can be something devastating in our lives? Can we accept the corrections when they break our hearts in a million pieces and tries us to the point of almost despairing?

Remember this--

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8  And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9  Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10  Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
2Sa 12:11  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
2Sa 12:12  For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

2Sa 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

2Sa 12:14  Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
2Sa 12:15  And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
2Sa 12:16  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
2Sa 12:17  And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.
2Sa 12:18  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
2Sa 12:19  But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

And this--

Psa 118:18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

David was chastened sore by the Lord. 

The sickness and death of his child.

Doesn't everything inside you want to scream of the unfairness of a child suffering and dying? It's normal for us to feel the pain, the absolute horror and agony of a child being allowed to suffer and die. David knew because Nathan told Him, what was happening with His son. He knew the suffering of his own child was HIS FAULT! He didn't BLAME God! He didn't try to wiggle out of his own guilt! The death of his son was on HIS HEAD!

Now before anyone gets up in arms, I'm not saying the suffering and death of every child is a result of the parents sin, we know that's not how it works.  But we also know that GOD knows exceedingly infinitely more than we do and while we look upon the suffering and death of a child as heinous- His mercy may be keeping that child from a future of horror and pain beyond what we can imagine. We just DO NOT know what HE KNOWS!

We do know that we ARE chastened by the LORD.
We do know that David was chastened by the LORD.
We do know that David's son sickened and died and this was all a part of David's chastisement.

David's own life was spared but he was to suffer and continue to suffer under the chastisement given him.

We sin and we are rebuked and chastened by the Lord.

We MUST be ZEALOUS to REPENT! 

Does this mean that we won't feel the chastisement we deserve? No, it means that we can still be God's if we choose to accept the chastisement no matter what form it comes in. The chastisement is for our own ultimate good.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Our chastening will result in us being PARTAKERS of CHRIST'S HOLINESS, CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. We will get understanding of it all one day-

1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

We will one day understand.

We have to have faith and understand that we will be chastened and maybe the things we suffer are a result of our being chastened so we learn and trust in God more and more, and maybe they aren't, but we have to understand GOD will NOT do anything that isn't for our good if we LOVE HIM.

Rom_8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We have to believe!

Satan would have us not believe.
Satan would have us doubt.
Satan would have us hate God because then He's won us and Christ does not get us.
Satan loves when we blame God and stop trusting that somehow some way even the most horrific happenings are for our own good.

Please LORD help us NOT to despise the chastening you allow us to endure. Please LORD help us to TRUST YOU ALWAYS even if we are brought to death, or near death, longing for death as we watch others suffer as a result of our own chastisement. Please LORD… please… our hearts long for YOU, to be YOURS, always YOURS.

Help us, please.

Feeling the pain of sin

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Pro 15:32  He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

REPENT -  to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins
- to think differently or afterwards that is reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.


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Be zealous and REPENT.
Be zealous and change your mind for the better.
Be zealous and abhor your past sins.
Be zealous and feel compunction- morally feel the sting of your conscience.

We like to appease our conscience NOT  feel its sting.
We don't want to feel any sting at all. We talk away our sins rather than face them. We'd rather not even call them sins, we break them down and call them faults so they don't appear to be too sinful. We label them problems not sins, we call them character defects not sins. We put all sorts of names on them so we don't say we have a SIN PROBLEM. Having a sin problem would mean recognizing that sin for what it really and truly is.  Evil.  And we do NOT want to think of ourselves as evil, we'd much rather HIDE behind false labels so we can appease our conscience. 

The sting of our conscience.

Feeling the PAIN of our sinning.

Comprehending that our sins separate us from God, that our sins unrepentant  will lead to our eternal death is something that we need to do! We can't expect to live our lives any ol' way we want to- filled with problems that are there just because we are who we are- and then expect not to have to face any consequences for the SINS we've covered up.

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By the grace of God more on this tomorrow.

All through HIS LOVE!

May we all face up to our SINs so we can REPENT, so we can feel the pain of those sins and then seek forgiveness from our SAVIOR, our LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Our deeds - good and evil

Our deeds have consequences.

We know this in a very real way through experience, right? 

Some people who seem to have 'all the luck' as we call it, don't seem to reap the just rewards of their actions- they get away with things they really never should. And it isn't lucky at all for people to get away with doing bad things because that doesn't alleviate any of the guilt they've acquired through their deeds. Getting away with bad things is never good, not in any way.

Our good actions don't always receive accolades but they shouldn't, right? If we do good in order to get rewards from others it turns those good deeds into selfish deeds and therefore they automatically become evil deeds. So doing good things doesn't necessarily make you good either.

We will get the reward of our deeds so to think that your actions have no eternal consequences would make these verses of the Bible lies and NO verse of the Bible is a lie.

God-

Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile

(Evil doers-Contentious-Disobeying the truth-Obeying unrighteousness)
Their reward- indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish.

(Patient continuance in well doing-seeking for glory and honor and immortality- eternal life-working good)
Their reward- glory, honor, and peace.

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How can we ever imagine the choices we make in our lives do not matter.
The way we live our lives matters!
The choices we make matter eternally.

Evil doers- are contentious.
Evil doers- disobey the truth.
Evil doers- obey Unrighteousness.

con·ten·tious 
    /k?n'tenCH?s/
    Adjective
    1. Causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.
    2. Involving heated argument.

And this ties in with my own personal upset this past week and how bad it is to be contentious, how our tongues are truly evil.

We know that disobeying the truth is bad.
We know that obeying Unrighteousness is bad.
But how many people truly comprehend to be contentious is evil?

We shrug off those who are contentious. We wave it away in ourselves and label it part of who we are and if others don't like it, tough. We say it's us and that's all there is to it. We've allowed being contentious to be acceptable. We expect our spouses to deal with it, and by that we mean just accept it and be quiet. We expect our children to put up with it, we are the parents after all. We want our friends to like us and understand we're allowed to have really bad days and who cares if they are more often than not.  Being contentious has become an art form for some. People have made television shows all around contention, the more contention the better.  In society today a lot of contention is expected if you want to stand up for yourself and be heard. We pat people on the back and reward them for their contention. We say controversy is good, heated arguments necessary to work through things. Often we don't care if others are being contentious as long as it's not us, but even as we don't care we are accepting it in others and not truly understanding that it is a real evil.

Satan has duped so many into accepting sin as being normal, as being fine and all part of who we are. Because so many are sinful and accepting of sin the world has HAD to deem is normal or else they'd be admitting to their own sinfulness and they'd much rather not do that.

We live in a world fill with sin so do we really expect the world to confess, repent, and seek forgiveness?  It won't. The world will ONLY get worse and as it gets worse more and more sins will be labeled normal and acceptable and more and more people who CHOOSE to follow Christ and HIS ways will be labeled strange and abnormal.

Contention-a sin, not acceptable!
Contention-evil, punishable by eternal death.

Our deeds do matter! Our deeds often reveal our sins.

No, being good will NOT save you. Being Christ's WILL save you.

Through Christ we must be-

Patient continuing in well doing-seeking for glory and honor and immortality- eternal life-working good.

If we see in ourselves our evilness we MUST repent, we MUST confess, and we MUST seek forgiveness, and we MUST choose Christ and His ways over and over again, never accept sin as normal no matter how familiar it is to us and acceptable to the world.

HELP US LORD, SAVE US, KEEP US IN YOU, THROUGH YOU, FOR YOU!

ALL IN YOUR LOVE ALWAYS!

If any man offend NOT in word- the same is a PERFECT man.

Jas_3:2  For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

If any man offend NOT in word- the same is a PERFECT man.

Offend not in word.

Have you ever offended anyone? It's safe to say that you are probably lying, or allowing yourself to be deceived if you answer no to that question. We offend others- intentionally or unintentionally it happens. We say the wrong thing, we say something we'd love to take back the moment it slips from between our lips. We hurt people with our words, sometimes irreparably so.

Jas 3:5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Jas 3:6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Jas 3:7  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
Jas 3:8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Our tongues- are like fire. 
Our tongues - are a world of sin.
Our tongues -defiles our whole bodies.
Our tongues- are not able to be tamed.
Out tongues- are unruly.
Our tongues- are FULL of deadly poison.

Is it any wonder no Man is able to tame the tongue.

Why don't we realize how wicked our tongues are? 

Deadly poison.  It doesn't get much clearer than that, does it?

DEADLY POISON.

No, we aren't snakes, we aren't filled with a venom that can be milked from our fangs. The deadly poison is laced in the words we choose to speak.  Words can kill.

That old 'sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me', is a LIE.  The hurt that comes from the very poisonous tongue has broken many a person, causing more anguish than any broken bone ever could.

Deadly poison. 

Think about it, really, really think about it. You have a deadly, poisonous tongue and it can cause all manner of pain all the way to point of killing someone.

We all have this weapon, all except those who are mute of course, but I'm not sure I've even ever met a mute person. Obviously being mute isn't commonplace. Having the ability to speak however is very commonplace. And if we have the ability to speak then we have the ability to fill others with our poisoned words.

After yesterday's upset, and today's reading of this verse-

Jas_3:2  For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

- I can't stop thinking about the ability we have to offend in word.

We are given this verse, these words of great wisdom-

1Pe_3:10  For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile

Refrain our tongues from EVIL.
Refrain our lips so they don't speak deception.

Just how incredibly important it is for us to LEARN to refrain our tongues from evil?
If we would LOVE LIFE and SEE GOOD DAYS we have to do this!

Can we tame our tongues? No. But NOTHING is impossible with God.  We must learn to submit ourselves to God, yielding ourselves to HIM, allowing HIM to work in us through the HOLY SPIRIT.

We truly need more awareness of ourselves- more examining  of ourselves with the desire to comprehend how much about us is so far from being that perfect man. When we comprehend our state it is only then we can speak to our God and tell Him that we recognize our weakness and are in need of His strength.  I say it is only then we can speak to God because we can flap our lips all we want giving lip service to God, but it's only when there is real conviction that we are truly able to sincerely repent, seeking forgiveness and God hears us.  God knows the sincerity of every one. God knows the truth about everyone. We can't hide ourselves or ANYTHING about ourselves from God.

The poison filled tongue we all possess must be surrendered to God so that we do not kill with our tongues. We mustn't kill and we mustn't be killed by our own tongues. Very few get prosecuted for the evil they do with their tongues.  But there are people killing the hopes of others daily, hourly, minutely, just by using their tongues- their words ending lives.

You know how poison works? There are many answers to that question. Some poisons work very slowly, others very quickly. It's the same for our words, the poison of our tongues can work slowly or quickly. You can strike out with your tongue and the poison it inflicts on others can be slow acting or very quick acting.  Only by the grace of God may we keep from poisoning others and poisoning ourselves.

Please Lord bless us, help us to be YOURS wholly YOURS.  Tame our tongues LORD, help us to refrain our tongues from evil. The desire is within us LORD to be YOURS and all that means. Help us, keep us, save us!

Please.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbor

Loving.
Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Love is the fulfilling of the law.
We are to LOVE.
It sounds easy enough but it really isn't, not when you truly comprehend what it means to LOVE.
We have to go over it again, I have to go over it again. I've had a really rough night filled with irritation that I allowed to cause me to react far from what I imagine loving is supposed to be.
Co 13:1  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
1Co 13:2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
1Co 13:3  And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
1Co 13:8  Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
1Co 13:9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Suffers long!  It doesn't get upset easily! It isn't mean! It doesn't envy! It doesn't make itself important! It's not unseemly! It doesn't rejoice in sin! It rejoices in TRUTH.
I read this and I make myself sick at how unloving I am.
Mean and nasty that's how I've been described just tonight.  I don't WANT to be mean and nasty! Why is it soooo easy to be this way towards those who are closest to you?!
It was just a card game but my 'I WANT TO WIN' demon rises up in me and I succumb to it.
I just told my hubby that I will try by best not to be nasty next week at our weekly card game with my mother, God help me. 
Maybe that is the first step here, hopefully, prayerfully. Recognizing it not just internally but outwardly.  I don't WANT to react with meanest.  I'm not yelling, it's mostly my attitude. It's just not nice at all when I play games.
The easy solution would be NOT to play cards, but my mother enjoys this time with us, a lot! And I want to spend this time with her. She's not young and having her over for dinner and cards allows us to spend a lot more time with each other than we would otherwise.  Are there other things we could do? Yes, but any game would bring this out in me. Could we just sit around? Yes, but would just sitting around give us the same time, the same interaction. It's not all bad. We've been doing this for a long time now. Some days are better than others, I'm not always nasty, by the GRACE of GOD, thank GOD! We enjoy ourselves and there's a fine line between the fun competitive edge and it slipping over into nastiness. 
This is a confession, this blog today, and anyone reading it I hope and pray you will pray for me! I want to be LOVING, I want to LOVE as my God would have me LOVE.  I want to fulfilled God's LAW and love others as I know He wants me too!
Please LORD, help me!
More tomorrow by the grace of God.