happysheep

God is not against pleasure. He is the creator who created us for His own pleasure, after all. The problem is in our definition of pleasure. When pleasure is

The seed of peace is sown in a spirit of humility and wisdom. Actually, when peace is sown love is also sown and when they take root, they produce peace, joy, gentleness, etc. Righteousness in the sense of

Humility always puts the other in front of self. It respects and holds in esteem the other because it doesn

From these verses Jesus makes it clear that the words that come from the tongue are inspired by something much deeper within. In that sense the tongue is only serving something more powerful, but unseen. It therefore seems as though the tongue is untamable. However, if that something within inspires the tongue to be tamed, the tongue will be tamed. So if the heart within changes from evil to good, the tongue too will be tamed. This happens only by knowing Jesus and becoming a child of God and constantly renewing ones mind. The concept is really simple, but the working not so easy. The heart has to be emptied of evil and filled with the truth and goodness on a continuous basis; and as Jesus said out of it will flow springs of living water, which will inspire the tongue to speak as Jesus did.

James discourages people from aspiring to be teachers of the Word because teachers, more than any one else, because of what they know, should walk the talk. This takes discipline and he doesn

The simplicity of salvation is beautiful-no work can get us saved. Just the gift of grace. When there is faith to believe this and humility to accept the gift, there is freedom for faith to find expression in deeds of love towards others. So really, James

A demon definitely believes that God exists, that Jesus is the Son of God. He knows that his place is not where God lives. His love is the opposite of God

In the early church, they all pooled their resources and took care of one another, like in a large family. Likewise, if we do keep the royal law and love each other as Jesus has loved us, we would certainly have mercy and be helpful. To that extent, of keeping our love and faith active, we are responsible to those who are in need, certainly those within our reach- in our church community and the local community. As followers of Jesus, we have to show the compassion he had for the needy and take as much responsibility as possible. The world and followers of other religions, today also give, are charitable. Jesus constantly kept giving of Himself, to all of humanity; as His brothers and sisters, I believe we should aim for nothing less.

It is easy to believe in something, have faith in it as long as it is in the belief realm. It is also easy to

Mercy by its very nature is something that

James refers to the Great Commandment as the

Because of favouritism, we select one person or one group over another. In that sense, choosing the one presupposes a judgment. Favouritism makes one a judge with evil thoughts because one always looks to benefit from it. It is self serving, unkind, certainly not in keeping with Jesus

Usually the one that does not belong to the same class, educational, social, etc. Surely, those with leadership skills, prominent citizens. However unconsciously we do this, it is still a sin.

The true follower of God obeys the law Jesus gave us. We ourselves and others wouldn

The perfect law is the law of love. God is love and when we see Jesus, we see the Father. How do we love as Jesus does? The Word in us that produces springs of living water is love. Jesus in us is love, when we allow Jesus to grow in us, when we are transformed into His likeness, it is His love that is inside us. The royal law, loving the neighbour as oneself, in relation to the perfect law is that the model for loving is the love of Jesus. We have to love ourselves and others as Jesus loves us, unconditionally. When we don

Q2. (1:22) Why are we so easily fooled into thinking that listening to Bible teaching means that we are living out righteous lives? What is the nature of the self-deception? Because when we are listening, we focus on the listening and do not pay attention to the doing. Because it is easier to listen; to do would mean to let the word implant and take root in our hearts. It means tending and nurturing. We listen through one ear and it goes out the other. Tending and nurturing means processing the word, understanding it, thinking about it, meditating on it. This takes more time. What is easier, to listen and forget or to dwell upon it, do something? The nature of self deception that we really don

It is the Word, Jesus, us that makes us anew. The Word/Holy Spirit convicts, brings us to a place of repentance and recognition of our utter emptiness and need for Jesus. The Word, Jesus is our Life. Our spiritual life begins and continues in the Word. Without the Word, there is no spiritual life.

We can claim the promise of wisdom by not doubting-that God won

Decision making in trials help to cure us of doublemindedness. One can go through the trial without making a decision and the trial lengthens and becomes like a toothache that won

People blame God for evil because everything has a source and they think that anything that is out of perceived human control is from God. No, God never tempts us. Neither does He tempt sinful people. He has given us a free will, to choose life or death, life or sin, and He allows us that free will, if He didn

Trials have been very valuable. They have been the changing point or stepping stones for growth. No I have not let satan destroy me with trials. I have allowed God to refine me. When trials have come my way, first I have plodded through them, thought that God was responsible, then resisted Him and had my own way, but eventually I have let God come through. It is at that point of letting go, of submitting myself to Him that the growth has occurred. The best thing about letting go is that at that moment that I gave charge, He worked the trial out and it ceased being a trial. In the bargain I have changed for the better, I have grown mature