Debra

James makes taming the tongue and caring for the poor the prime tests of pure religion because it's what is in our hearts that counts. Taming our tongue is of prime importance because deception starts in a person's heart and then leaks out through his vocabulary. If your mouth starts to get you into trouble, then it's time to take a serious look at what's rotten on the inside. As Jesus said, ''The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart'' [Mat. 12:34] James commands us to ''look after orphans and widows'' [Jas 1.27] it is important that our hearts be not closed. There are many passages in scripture where we see God caring for the poor, therefore it is important that we are concerned and caring for any one who needs our help!

The ''perfect law'' which James mentions is to love your neighbour as yourself. It relates to the ''royal law'' because it sums up all Jesus taught. The great commandment proclaimed by Jesus '' to love one another as I have loved you'' from John 15:12 is the whole bases of christian ethics. This is what brings liberty and freedom we are no longer captives of the mosaic law. Just imagine if we stopped being so self obsessed, and transfered all this obsession we have for ourselves into love for one another then God could use us to make a real difference in the world!

The Bible musn't just become another book to read, it is important to remember that it is GOD'S HOLY WORD. It is the authority of God, which inspires and animates us. It is the truth revealed to us in words that we can understand. By just reading the Bible or listening to it's teaching and thinking we are living out righteous lives is a great self deception. Thus by being self-deceived we become two people, our spiritual side believes things our physical side doesn't want to live out and we become like the man in 1:8 '' unstable in all his ways''. As I write this I feel very guilty knowing that Iam not practising what I preach. So for all who call themselves christians let us make 2007 the year of being a hearer and a doer. We must not see God's word as a law of restriction, but a law of freedom; then we will be truly blessed.

Jesus is the Word, the gospel of our salvation. We are given spiritual birth by the word of truth by believing, trusting and having faith in the word. When we believe in the word, this begets faith. We hear the message or the word of Christ and by having faith in it we are spiritually re-born.

This follows on from Question 3, the promise of verse 5, is that God will act if you ask for wisdom, but you must believe and not doubt. If you doubt you are'' like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.'' Trials help us to seek God's love more. When they come we must put all our trust in God and He will give us an unfading crown of eternal life, or according to 2 Timothy 4:8 ''the crown of righteousness.'' [Holman Christian Standard Bible.]

Trials help cure us of ''doublemindedness'' and grow in faith because when ''push comes to shove'', we must put all our trust in God, pray for wisdom if we lack it and believe, because if we doubt we will be according to James ''Like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind, thus unable to receive anything from the Lord; being doubleminded and unstable in all we do''. We must face our sins, if we are double-minded we are doubting and hesitating. Therefore we must become single-minded and our love for God must win through. So we should view our trials with joy, although it my sound illogical, but that joy is the joy of knowing that this trial is good for us and that God is using it to develop something in us that we could never have accomplished without facing some kind of tight spot or resistance. It's ultimately the joy of knowing that God is in control, actively working with us to increase our faith.

People blame God for evil, because ultimately God is in control, therefore when troubles, trials and disasters come, people immediately say where is God in all this; why is God doing this to me? God allows evil in the world, because he gave us free will. We can either follow Him or not the choice is ours. He certainly doesn't tempt us. Temptation is all part of the fall and our own evil desires. Trials are tests of our love for Him, verse 12 of chapter 1 says'' Those who stand tall in the trials are not only those who have faith in God but also those who love Him.'' [ Holman Christian Standard Bible. ] If we face our trials without dissolving into bitterness, whining or despair, we will gradually become stronger in our faith and have a deeper love for Him too.

I've never really thought about trials as such, although many of the things I've gone through in life have made me angry with God; but I've never questioned my faith although satan did nearly destroy me once. This was during a period of bad depression when I contemplated suicide. Now though I see things very differently, I feel that 2006 has been a very defining year for me. I feel that at the ripe old age of 43 I have finally grown up and I now understand what trials are and why God sends them. This year God took away from me someone I loved very much and I've had to learn to cope with life without him, he really was the love of my life. Then in April my mother had a stroke and has gone from being a very active woman to someone who can just about wash herself. It is heartbreaking to see her now, so old and frail. There have been many problems at work and I've also had a lot of financial problems. All these things have made me a much stronger person and I know that I'm certainly not the same person as I was at the start of 2006. God has sent me these trials to teach me and to teach me well, and although I feel it has been a bitter sweet year I thank God for that. Lots of my colleagues have all gone through tough times this year, and I feel that I now understand suffering more and I have more compassion. I have felt very angry with God and I've spent many hours on my knees crying and asking God Why, Why, Why? Especially over the loss of my beautiful friend Antonio. But deep down God has my best interests at heart, after all Jeremiah 29: 11 says '' For I know the plans I have for you'', declares the Lord, ''plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.''' NIV. I now feel ready to take on board all that God wants to give me and I know with His help and grace I will cope, thanks be to God!!

If we just examine ourselves each day without confessing our sins, it will damage our spiritual health. So each day, especially before the communion service we should examine ourselves, confess and repent of our sins before God. Then we should accept and believe in God's promises of forgiveness. This will keep us in the best of spiritual health!

Galatians 6:4-5, seems to have a healthy balance to show us how we can conduct self-examination and self-judgment so that it has a healthy rather than an unhealthy result in us. St.Paul is saying in Galatians that ''Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.'' This I feel to be true, if we live humbly each day and admit our shortcomings to God. Go to people we have hurt and ask them to forgive us, study God's word, pray and surround ourselves with like minded christians; we should keep in spiritual good health.

The offending parties at Corinth need to realize the seriousness of what they are doing. I don't think sickness and death is harsh when we are talking about sinning against the Lord's body. The people of Corinth needed to understand that judgement is real and to be disciplined. In the light of Hebrews 12:5-7, facing hardship builds you up so you can endure all life throws at you!! Everyone needs discipline, ''For what son is not disciplined by his father''. Hebrews 12:5-7, again. We discipline our children as indeed we were disciplined as children!

Whether to sin against the body and blood of our Lord or the church, I still see it as a grave sin! If we act in a disrespectful way of this holy meal or cause harm against one of our brothers or sisters, we have still sinned against Christ. As St.Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 8:12- ''When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ''. Our Lord also states in Matthew 25:31-46, That if we neglect ''one of the least of these brothers of mine'' was to sin against Jesus Himself. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-34, St.Paul makes it very clear that ''For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself''. We have been warned!!

Absolute pure joy is what I will feel when I see the Lord's face. He will wipe away all my tears and welcome me home with out stretched arms. He will present me with friends and family who have gone before me and we will be elated and jubilant to see each other again. Each time we partake of the Lord's Supper we should keep thoughts of our eternal home in mind, because that is our destination.

Remember The Past. In the Lord's Supper we remember the past by the shedding of Christ's blood. The Lord instituted the Supper on the eve of His impending death in the context of a passover meal. Thus we should never forget that our blessings were purchased through a costly price. Enjoy The Present. In the Lord's Supper we enjoy the present. Jesus has brought us into fellowhip with all our brothers and sisters in the new covenant. This is a joyous celebration and therefore we should come to the Lord's table in a joyful mood. Look Forward To The Future. Each time we proclaim the Lord's death in His Supper, we are also reminded that He is returning and of our promise of eternal life in His presence.

The fulfillment of the Lord's supper is found in the ''Great Banquet'', because this will be when all the redeemed will be gathered together as one. The reason for the incarnation, the cross and the resurrection will be seen in full. Each time we participate in the Lord's Supper our thoughts should be of the end of time when we are gathered around the Lord's Table with our fellow believers. They should be thoughts of joy and anticipation!

So many of Jesus' teachings are oriented toward the future, because He is talking about the end of time when He comes again and when we take our place at table with Him. This is the whole point of our Christian faith. Many guests are invited to this divine feast or ''Great Banquet'', but not many will come. The rich, proud and self-righteous will be rejected and the poor, oppressed and needy will eagerly come. This feast is for all peoples, whether Jew or Gentile for indeed ''Whosoever believes shall be saved''. This is so important for us believers of Christ, that many of Jesus' parables were associated with this. In particular the parable of the ''Ten Virgins'' and the'' Rich Man and Lazarus.''

Every living creature needs food to eat to nourish and sustain it, likewise every christian needs the body and blood of Christ to be nourished and sustained; in order that we may be filled with His holy presence and remember His death and resurrection and ''go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news''. Further more Jesus commanded that ''Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day'' [John 6:53-54] Both John 6:25-69 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 clearly state this!

To eat Jesus's flesh and to drink His blood is a strong expression because to faithfully follow Christ we must give our all, there can be no in between; you're either for Him or against Him. This was clearly shown in His chosen Twelve and the crowd who just ''followed Him''. Many fell away because for them it was too much. Peter and the rest of the Twelve had the right idea, Peter certainly knew that Jesus was the Christ; especially when he exclaims ''Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'' [John 6:68-69] According to John 8:31-32, the mark of being a true disciple is to hold to Jesus's teaching, then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

When Jesus says,'' This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world'' He is referring to His body, but He is speaking in metaphors. The Jews find this repulsive and think of it as cannibalism. It seems that Jesus knew His words would offend and yet His reason for saying these things was probably to drive the message home. To believe in Jesus, to eat His flesh and drink His blood is not only to just believe His word but to be united to Him by faith and participate in His life!

The metaphor of ''Eating the Bread of Life'' means in practical terms that Jesus is sustaining us with His body. According to St.Augustine we are ''sated invisibly'' by eating the living bread. God wants people to make a meal of it, definitely no nibbling. He wants people to be on fire with love for Christ, not people who are lukewarm. By eating the bread of life, we will have eternal life!

''That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and Iam in you.'' John 17:21 This is how I wish it could be and I'm sure Christ would too. If Jesus were to come to earth today, I'm sure He wouldn't care about a person being protestant, catholic or orthodox. His main concern would be that we are loving our brothers and sisters and helping them to the best of our abilities. Denominations and doctrines are all ''man made,'' they are not something that Christ instituted; our love for one another should go beyond that. One loaf, one body, one church, one Lord; this is how it should be!

In theory we should all be one, one church, one faith, one Lord, but because the church is made up of fallen humanity there we always be disunity and bickering. I myself have been a member of a church that consisted of a clique of people and showed lots of disunity. They were very unhappy with the new priest when he took over and caused a lot of bad feeling, the result was that I had to leave. Considering that it was my first church after just becoming a christian, it could have had a detrimental effect on me. But I was able to rise above it and find happiness elsewhere! At the end of the day it is not about doctrinal accuracy, it is about ''LOVE''. In John 13:34 Jesus gives us the command on which the whole of christianity is based, He tells us to love one another, as He has loved us. Regardless of tradition, nationality and denomination we must love as He loved us. His love for us was so immense that He died the most horrendous death known to humanity, as any one who has seen Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ will know. Just as the line from a hymn goes, ''Love is his word, love is his way'' let us make those our words, engrave them on our hearts and spread His love to all our brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us ''LOVE CHRIST and LIVE CHRIST''!

Pauls's teaching in 1 Corinthians 10:17 says ''Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf'', this in relation to Mark 11:25 and Matthew 5:23-24 shows how we all need to forgive and be reconciled with one another. The accounts in both Mark and Matthew teach about forgiveness, we cannot partake of the Lord's supper righteously if we have sinned against our brothers and sisters. First we must examine our own hearts, if we find we bear a grudge, this must be settled before we can gather around the Lord's table and partake of the one loaf. We must be at one with each other, so we can all be in the one body of Christ.

The ''cup of blessing'' teaches us not to be self-focused, but to give praise and glory to God, thus blessing him for all his goodness towards us; especially in forgiveness of our sins. We glorify God, we remember His death, we proclaim His holy name and give thanksgiving towards Him.

The Lord's Table is such a time of intimate fellowship with Jesus because sharing a meal with someone is such a social event. When we gather together with friends and family around a table to share food and companionship it is a time of great joy as we catch up on news and gossip. Food has always been a source of showing someone hospitality, whether we are having a casual lunch break with someone or a meal that is rich in memories; such as a birthday meal we can be sure that intimacy and enjoyment can be found. That is why partaking of the Lord's supper at His table should be for us an intimate and joyful occasion, because this time it is the Lord who is inviting us to join Him not our friends or family. It is a very remarkable thing, that our Lord and saviour should invite us to join Him in sharing this meal; which is probanly going to be the most important meal we will ever eat!