plethra

When James is referring to the church as adulteresses I am reminded of an old song that speaks of being "torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool. Loving both of you is breaking all the rules" You can't have two masters, you will love one and despise the other. As Christians we are the Bride of Christ. Married to God. You can't stay married to God and go out with the devil. Anything that comes between you and God or causes a gap between you and God is what the adultery consists of. Its different for different people. God is the aggreived husband because He is the one we are married to and the one we are betraying by our lifestyle. To be friends of the world is to be an enemy of God because the world will steal us away from Him given Half a chance. It is so much easier not to be drawn away at all. However we are drawn away by our own lusts. Therefore we must pray and ask God to make our desires line up with His desires. Obedience is better that sacrifice!

I do not think that God is against pleasure, providing that the pleasure is not sin based. The problem comes when pleasure is the most imprtant thing in our lives. God wants us to have an "abundant" life. But if our abundance is not shared with others then we have a problem. Its alot like tithing and giving. We get to give, monetarily, in our love and compassion, in reaching out to help others. God wants us to be blessed but He also wants us to BE a blessing.

Peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit. So I believe the #1 tool, after salvation of course, is the Holy Spirit of God. This will work hand in hand with love and joy which are more fruits of the Spirit. Our reward for being a peace maker is to enjoy that peace. Dwell with all men in peace as much as is possible. We must put forth every effort to bring about peace which again goes to humilty - putting others needs ahead of our own.

Envy and selfish ambition are all about self. Humility is about others. Preferring others over our selves. In todays society the going thing is me me me. God's Word says others should be more important than me. I remember as a young child being taught the way to joy. Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, Yourself Last! To deny that you have a problem with these (if indeed you do) is the same as lying. You will not try to change what you try to justify or deny the existance of.

In order to tame the tongue one must have a clean heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. I think this is hard, however it is truth. If we fill our hearts with God's word, then His word will come out of our mouths. It is not automatic. It takes alot of work!

If there is a real need in the church then the church should rally around and do all that they can to help that brother or sister, working together to supply the need. I really hate to say this but the truth is that some people are parasites and will suck you dry if you do not use some wisdom and discerning of the spirit. There are people who prey on the goodness of christians and churches. Use wisdom. If you know the need is real, then I believe that sometimes we must give beyond what is comfortable but give as a sacrifice for yourself. The community at large we need to reach out to and help as well. Again using wisdom. If you know that the reason a person cant provide for their family because of alcoholism or ather addiction, then you buy groceries and take to that family or pay the light bill for them yourself but in no wise give cash money or it will be used for evil and the family in need will never benefit from your gift. USE WISDOM. Be a good steward of what God has given you.

Demons KNOW that God is real and that He is alive. They deal with Him on a daily basis. Satan himself must go to God to accuse the brethren which the word says he does. They believe, but they do not accept Him as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The practicing christian believes in God, in His word, in His Son, and in His Power. He is Lord the their lives and He is the King in their hearts. They are dedicated to Him and want to do all they can to spread the gospel and to do His will. The non practicing christian? I don't know that they have ever made Him Lord of their lives. He is apparantly not the number one priority in their lives. They may have been introduced, but are lacking a real relationship with HIM.

I think that James has said it completely. Faith without works is dead. What good is it to tell people to be blessed when you hold the very thing they need and do not give it to them. As a child of the Lord I have always felt that we need to do all that we can to build the kingdom of God and to reach the lost by any means necessary. Jesus asked the question "Lovest thou me?" Peter answered "yes lord you know that I love you". Jesus answered back "Feed my sheep". This is a call to action. A call to DO something. Faith without works is dead. void. lacking and empty. Kinda like the salt that has lost its savor. It is good for nothing. That is not to put faith down because we need faith in order to please God but real faith will be willing to DO whatever it takes.