Looking Intently!

The scripture below comes from James 1:22-27.  I am focusing my thoughts and prayer time on the book of James this week.  It is full of exactly what I need to get my spiritual life back on track.  Hopefully, I will be able to share some of the great truths of this book with you so that you also are encouraged.

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 the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

That scripture is pretty plain and simple--very straightforward--my take is this: Read what the Bible says and do it on a regular basis and you will be blessed.

So it is very interesting to note that the very next scriptures say this:

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

So there we have three things that we can start working on right away.

1. The tongue

2. Taking care of widows and orphans

3. Keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.

 Now you know as well as I do that we all have to work out our on salvation with fear and trembling. We are not puppets masterminded and controlled by some puppeteer in place over us.

 I think we all know ways that we can start taking control over our tongues. I had the perfect opportunity not even five minutes ago when my husband and I had opportunity to be disagreeable with one another.

 There are many ways of taking care of widows and orphans but one such way is through Compassion--selecting a child to help support--not all of these children are orphans, but some of their parents make so little money a year that they might as well be, as far as having provisions to sustain them.

Won't you consider sponsoring a child from Compassion or some other well-organized and run non-profit Christian organization?  I say Christian because these usually give the child a chance to come to know the Creator of the Universe, to become a child to the perfect Father.

And keeping oneself unpolluted by the world--I will have numerous choices to make today that have potential to pollute my soul--I must be wise--I must be on guard against the one who seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

Praying that your day is lovely, is filled with endless possibilities to give back to God, and full of spiritual growth.