[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (JAC) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]
[06:06,
4/27/2021] S.R:
JAMES
1:2
"Consider
it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials."
As
I grow older year by year, as I have faced more trials than when I was much
younger, I am appreciating this verse like never before. I affirm this truth
now by experience. And I love Christian Life because of this truth!
"A
life without trial is like an umbrella without rain!" Hahaha. You never
know what an umbrella is without rain! 😀
Eh!
I get a better one: "A life without trial is like a professional
footballer who never plays, and is always in substitute!" Huh! He should
change his profession! 😎
𝕁𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝟚:𝟙-𝟟
𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑! 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚝𝚢.
𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙸 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑!
𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑. 𝚂𝚘, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚠𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.
𝓗𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓶𝓮 𝓛𝓸𝓻𝓭, 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓫𝓮𝔂 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭! 𝓐𝓶𝓮𝓷!
𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 𝟛:𝟠-𝟙𝟘
"But
no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been
made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My
brothers, these things ought not to be so."
𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚋 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝.
𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝙶𝚘𝚍'𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚎!
Last
night, I was having dinner with Guang and Kedu. Guang had an "interesting
" opinion regarding the author of Ecclesiastes. With humor and sarcasm, I
suggested that he write a book on it, and commented that nobody will ever buy
it. We had a hearty laugh, but when I get back to my room, I realized that I
should have been more considerate instead of trying to be humorous and
"witty." And I had to WhatsApp him saying, "Sorry!"
𝕁𝔸𝕄𝔼𝕊 𝟜
Why
are we having problems with one another? And why do we create a problem for one
another intentionally or unintentionally? We are angry with many things in this
world, upset with this and that, discouraged with this and that, unmotivated to
do this and that . . . Well James 4 has an answer, I will quote only
v2.
" . . . You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel . . .
"
How
do we overcome this deep, deep jealousy? How do we get rid of envy from our
eyes, minds, thoughts, actions? Well, it's by practicing and striving for
humility as it is written in
v10.
"Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt
you."
In
reality, to enjoy life, to have a prosperous life, to have a good relationship,
to have a godly life, to live an influential life, to live a meaningful life
and whatever noble . . ., only God can let them happen in our life. And James
says that the key is 🄷🅄🄼🄸🄻🄸🅃🅈
Lord,
cause me to confess all the days of my life like David that I do not look for
great things, but just to delight in Your lovingkindness. Amen!
JAMES
5:19-20
“Brethren, if anyone among you
wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him
know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from
death and cover a multitude of sins.”
As
I read James 5 today, particularly v.19-20, I remember this quote from the
great evangelistic pastor, Charles Spurgeon. Have a great day, friends! “One
soul won to Christ is better than a thousand merely moralized and still
sleeping in their sins.”