I went to James and read the whole chapter. This is my meditation on the chapter. . .
I have been writing lately about being lazy in Christ. I felt kind of hesitant posting it on my main site on Friday, but God keeps bringing the same message back to my mind.
I understand that we should use our gifts for the building up of the Kingdom, this is what I am trying to do through my writing. I was wondering if you guys ever got the feeling from church, that when you hear, "Give it to Jesus," or "Let go and Let God," or "Stop trying to do it yourself" or "Caste your Burdens on the Lord," that is giving the impression that we have permission to sit back and relax? I mean this is what we are taught right? We should let God handle everything?
This is confusing to explain. Yes, we caste the burden on the Lord, but no we do not sit back and let things just happen. We have to take an active role in our responsibilities to the Lord:
"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22
So, it is important to find out what it means to be a doer of the word. Being a doer of the word means to go through the whole process. We can't just stop at the receiving our salvation. That would be like going to Pre-school then saying 'I'm done! We must lead a changed life, by hearing the Holy spirit and follow the directions given to us by the Holy Spirit. You can not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit if you do not know the language. You only learn the language by spending time in the word. Studying, reading, praying, and communicating, with the Lord, teaches you the language. You follow God the father, son, and Holy Spirit (all are one in different forms), through your faith that you have, that this is really happening. Trials come to build your faith up. Believing, even after the storm, that yes this is happening!
I think this was my confusion when I was younger. I thought I could live my life, and try my best to be a good Christian, by not drinking, cursing, or doing drugs. I thought that I was a good Christian because I went to church, taught Sunday School, and participated in Church activities. I thought I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I prayed, I read my bible, and I did my best. . .
But what I learned was that my best was very weak compared to when I allowed the Holy Spirit to guide me. When I let the spirit guide me, I began to read more, I began to study more. I began to want to spend more time with the Lord. With this came many temptations to go back to the "Easy Christian Life." You know that life where you don't do anything you don't want to do. That life where you think you have a choice to tell God no.
Come on, you know what I'm talking about. You were able to tell God no because you were able to convince yourself that this wasn't really happening. "God is not really talking to me!" You made a choice not to listen to the Holy spirit because you wanted to do what you wanted to do. Not realizing that being disobedient leads you away from your blessings but obedience teaches you to gain patience. When you gain patience, you know that your blessing is coming, even if you don't see it yet. You are building up your faith in this way. So you see how things work together for the good?
I count it all Joy!
I thank God for the temptations and trials that I have gone through. They have opened my eyes and taught me many things about myself. I'm changing my mind about a lot of things . . .
I don't deny that God wants to bless me, but who am I to say how he blesses me?
I am no longer motivated by the thought that one day I will be wealthy. If that is the case, then that is fine, but what if that is not my calling. What if I keep thinking that idea and it has nothing to do with my destiny. Hence, my thoughts would be getting in the way of God's plan. For this Lord I have to say that I am sorry.
I have made the decision to live a complete surrendered life. I believe that God has the right plan for me therefore I listen to the Holy Spirit. I will do the work that God has called me to do. I will keep reading and studying as all Christians should. We all should be taking action when it comes to doing work for God.
The word says: "but be a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:25
I do want to be blessed, so I am going to do what the word says to do. I am going to continue to read and study so that I know what the Lord wants me to do. . .
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