Mans Anger?

For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
So yesterday I got a chance to see this first hand , someone at work offended me 3 times , every time I kinda knew I should just let it go , but the third time I confronted ... not good.
I did not accomplish my goal , his goal , and certainly not the fathers .
I think that most of Gods goal was to bring me to the freedom of humility , that wonderful place where you have enough peace and security in him that you think less of yourself .
I mean honestly , when I am reading the bible regularly and praying , I am seeing my own faults,
and not trying to protect my reputation (whatever that means anyway!).
once again the trial was leading to maturity ... I failed this time , but maybe not next time .
I thank him for his mercy to try again , and to not give up on me .
SEE YOU NEXT ROUND PRIDE!!!!

Have I "forgotten what I look like"?

Hello everyone,

In addition to my very long reply to the last post, I thought I'd add a few more thoughts here.

Verse 22-25: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But a man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this [look intently], not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -- he will be blessed in what he does. "

I have to say that this is one of the things I often neglect to do, to "look intently." During the past year, I have been reading to read....but not often reading to "seek" or to "find". I think of what God said to Daniel, "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." (Daniel 10:12). Have I "set my mind to gain understanding?" Or am I just reading because it's the "Christian thing to do"? Am I asking the Holy Spirit to teach me to obey and follow all His decrees? It's when we seek with all our heart, and in humility, that God will hear our words and prayers and "come in response to them."

I find the phrase "forgets what he looks like" so interesting. James is comparing the law (Torah) of God to a mirror. If I look into the mirror in my bathroom, who do I see? Myself, clearly. If we look into the law (mirror), what should we see?? A reflection of ourselves! Because Jesus was the Word made flesh, when we look intently into the Torah (which, for James and his contemporaries meant the law and the prophets -- the "OT" by our terms) we should see Jesus -- but moreover, we should also see a picture of ourselves, as His Word has now been written on our hearts and we are hidden in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And so more and more, as we endure and mature, and as we seek to find Him and know Him, the "perfect law that gives freedom" should become a reflection of our own life, walk and faith. The Word should be "what we look like," "our reflection" so to speak. We should recognize ourselves in it, rather than it seeming foreign, like a strange face staring at us from the mirror. But if we look into the mirror, and go away and continue in the deeds of the flesh, THAT is when we have forgotten what we look like in Messiah.

What does this mean though? How do we do this? In Philippians 3:15, the writer makes a telling statement:"Only let us live up to what we have already attained." Messiah has already attained for us the righteousness of the law, by the shedding of His blood. We are now called to walk in this righteousness...but HOW? Trying in our own strength so often results in failure and discouragement. I think one of the keys is just that: realizing our identity, remembering "what I look like" when I gaze into that mirror. Moreover, if we are seeking to find Jesus, we will know what HE looks like, what HE says about us, and who HE is. We won't be confused about His identity, which will make us less confused about our own. If we know that He is the King, He is the Messiah, He is the righteousness of God....and that I am a child of the King, I have been saved by His blood alone, and that I am now hidden in Him....will this not transform our thinking and our entire man (mind, will, emotions)? I once heard some kind of a story that detailed a bratty little kid that was actually a prince (he did not know it), but didn't start acting like a prince until he realized who he was. He already had the identity, he just now had to live it out. I think this is very appropriate.

Obviously, no amount of human striving or determination can cause us to obey the law perfectly, for the letter of the law kills. So I think, practically, that one of the ways we can look "intently" into the law is to read it humbly, realizing our frailty, with the intention of discovering Messiah and His righteousness in it, continually asking the Holy Spirit to write His laws upon our hearts and to conform us into His image. We know we cannot do it on our own, therefore we must trust in His work in us. Another verse that comes to mind is from Proverbs 29:18: "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law." In other words, if there is no revelation of the righteousness and perfection of Messiah in the law, we will cast it off as a restraint and go our own fleshly way. But if we seek "intently" to discover the shadows of Messiah and his righteousness permeating every word of the law, we will delight in it and it will transform us...and we will be blessed. We become like that who we behold (just like we tend to mimic the people we spend the most time with). It's really that whole "be transformed by the renewing of your mind" thing. The more we gaze at Him in that mirror, the more we extol His virtues, the more we lean on His Word of truth concerning our condition before the Father....the more our actions and lives will be transformed, no longer conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12).

I love Psalm 119 - the longest Psalm in the entire book, extolling the Lord's perfect law....hundreds and hundreds of years before Messiah was revealed, and before James wrote his letter. "Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes, and seek him with all their heart." (Psalm 119:1-2). Doesn't that mirror James' statement exactly? They who seek him [not their own righteousness by being a "rule/law abider"] with all their heart shall be blessed.... I think of what Jesus said when he said to the Pharisees that they searched the scriptures diligently for they thought that in THEM (the letter) they would find life, but they refused to come to HIM (the spirit) who could give life.

Also, I think that another part of that mirror image is that when we look into the "Old Testament" scriptures, we see how completely unrighteous we are according to His perfect Holy law, UNTIL we come to HIM for life and righteousness. It should more than ever make us run to Him, leaning on His strength, for "the sacrifices of God are a broken heart and a contrite spirit." The goal of the law was to point to righteousness in Messiah.

I pray with David, that God would "Open our eyes to see the wonderful things in [his] law."

Sorry for the dissertation! Hopefully that made some kind of sense. It's been a long day, and now I need to go and do some serious repenting for my attitudes and actions from today. I need to spend some time "gazing into the mirror". Lord, have mercy on me, according to your most holy and life-giving Word.

-Melissa

now thats the truth Bill, learning to listen instead of just flapping the gums is one of my most painful flaws ! I heard an old country preacher say one time " it only takes two years for a child to learn how to talk , and the rest of his life to learn to shut up!"
He followed it up with something even funnier regarding a donkey , but he used the old English word.
I wonder if the start of a solution (about finding the joy in trial ) is found in verse 5 where it says , "if any of you lack wisdom he should ask God , who gives generously to all without finding fault , and it will be given him."
Yesterday I kind of tried this at work , granted it was not exactly a huge trial but there was this thing that always happens there that always makes me bitter , so this time instead of spouting off to my brother , I prayed that God would give me wisdom in the situation and calm my sinful heart. I can't say I wasn't angry but my perspective was sure different ... hey maybe its a start.

A start...

When I read Chapter 1, I recognize that it asks us to react in a way that is not an easy thing, at least for me, to do. I like many, have faced challenges and situations that have caused me great pain and my first thought is most certainly not to give thanks to God. Even thinking about the last year that I have dealt with the pneumonia that I had and its' lingering aftermath, it hasn’t been too often that I have thanked God as I have been in the process of coughing up a lung.

But really, I should be thanking God for my illness. It made me recognize my limitations, helped me realize that I had stretched myself too thin, and caused me to rely more on others and particularly on Him than on my own abilities and strength. Cutting back has given me more time with my family and with others, all of which has truly blessed me.

I appreciate the way the chapter guides us regarding how we react to and interact with others. Verse 19 is one that I need to continually remind myself of as there are times that I do not listen enough, speak too fast and react too harshly. I worry that my girls will observe this in me and demonstrate this as well.

Well, here are some beginning thoughts. I will reflect and post more later...

Bill

Let's get crackalackin'

I agree with Dave and Missy that we jump into the Book of James chapter by chapter and see what we come up with.

One of the main reasons that we wanted to start in James was verse 18 in chapter one
"He chose to give us birth through the word of truth"
It has not really been a great year for me with the Lord if I'm honest , but my conversion happened here , with the word of God .
I became a believer after finishing the entire bible in 22 days , it changed my life completely ,
and the only difference between then and now is time in the word !
I trust that God will move even in the short times in the bible, i have seen it , please pray for us
that he would restore this most important of all disciplines

Ok so here we go trying to blog for the first time ..... thanks Bill . Missy and I were talking and we both kind of thought, we would go chapter by chapter .
Then if questions come to mind we post and comment , Her first question was , what does it look
like practically to " count it all joy when we suffer trials of many kinds" ?