Peggy Crans

The person who is sick needs to intiate prayer. It shows that person has the faith to believe he or she will be healed. We must believe that God is always there working in us. He loves us with an unconditional love.

When we grumble and complain, we think everyone has to do things to please us. There are always going to be people that rub us the wrong way, but that's when we should pray for God to change our outlook and have compassoin on others. It may not be the other person, it may be that we need to have God change us. We don't know what others are going through. God made all of us in His image so why do we think we have the right to grumble and complain about other people? That is dishonoring God. It doesn't say too much about our faith when we complain all the time. Faith without action (compassion, caring, helping, praying, serving, etc.)is dead. There"s an old saying , "Actions speak louder than words. If we say we are Christians let's act like it. It's not always our words that hurt others, but sometmes our actions. We must learn to be quiet and seek God's face. Patience is a must. Sometimes not so easy to come by. With our grumbling and complaining, the only thing that shows is out impatience. It is not of God. Look how patient God is with us. Impatience only shows that we can not trust what God has in store for us or that He is in control. We want everything now. The suffering of Job is a good example of pure faith. He trusted God with all his heart.

When we lack patience for Christ's return, we can easily give up and turn away to other desires we had before were saved. We must stand firm for the time when He returns. The Bible tells us He will return and that should settle it. If Jesus said it I believe it, it's good enough for me. If it's written in the Bible for all the world to see I believe it. Psalm 37:7(NKJ) tells us, Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:8b(NKJ) tells us, Do not fret------it only causes harm. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We must be patient and stand firm to be ready for His return. He is coming for His bride and we must be prepared for His return.

When we demand comfort and luxury we become arrogant. We are the only one we care about. It's selfishness and greed that take over our lives. God is put aside. Our spiritual life goes down the drain. Until we get on the right track we are in for a sinful ride. Only God is our strength. Our prayers can open the eyes of anyone we see going in the wrong direction. God doesn't care if we have comfort and luxury, but He does care if they take His place in our lives. We must always remember He is #1. Our demand for low priced goods and services causes employees to be under paid. The employers are not going to take a cut in pay. They are in business to make money and if the prices go down it's the employees that suffer. They may not be just under paid but terminated from their jobs. All people should get a fair wage for a fair days work and they shouldn't be punshed for public demands. We all must be patient and stand firm. These trials make us strong although when we go through them it's not pleasant. Patience is very hard to come by. In James 1:3 it tellls us, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

The danger James is warning us about is doing things our way instead of seeking the will of God. We want things to happen right now. We do not know if we will be here tomorrow. Only God knows what is best for us. We are boasting like we are in control. God is in control. Only He knows the future. We must humble ourselves before the Lord with a sincere heart and seek His will for our lives. He hears our prayers and He is so faithful and just. He wants only the best for us. He knows us better than we know ourselves and He knows the desires of our heart.

We set ourselves up as judge and jury and this is wrong. There is only one true Judge and that is God. He is the perfect Judge. We are no better than those we are bad-mouthing. We bad-mouth others to try and make ourselves look better, like we don't do anything wrong. Probably there is envy in our hearts. There certainly is no love. When we can't go face to face with the person we are talking about it speaks volumns about what kind of person we are. If we can't speak in love we should learn to keep quiet and cleanse our hearts of the evil things that are there.

Our greatest desire should be to please our Lord. If we want to receive all God has for us we must understand that these are not suggestions, they are commands. To receive the joy of the Lord, even in difficult times, we must obey God. This is not easy to do. We let other things get in our way because we are selfish and want to do things our way. The most difficult for me is submitting and resisting.

We are the bride of Christ. He should come first in our life. When we leave church or are at the grocery store or anywhere else, do we still realize we belong to Christ? When pleasures or problems come before Christ, that is adultery. Adultery consists of anything that we put before Christ. He should be first in our lives. We grieve Him when we don't . Christ is coming for His bride, that's those of us who have surrendered our lives to Him. We are in the world but not of the world. When we become comfortable with how the world does things this grieves God. It makes us enemies of God. We cannot serve two masters. We can't straddle the fence that's being double minded. We must choose which one we are going to serve. He must increase I must decrease(John 3:30) I have heard many people say that everyone thinks differently now than they did way back when and everyone should change the way they think or go with the flow. Not so. God doesn't change. His Word is forever.

I bellieve God truly want us to have pleasure in our life, as long as it doesn't go against His will in for us. If we allow it to become selfish pleasure where we are always thinking of ourselves. When we put our pleasures befor God that is displeasing to Him. To live to increase our pleasures is living a very selfish life and could easily take us down the wrong path, that eventually we would live to regret. There are many temptations out there that are just waiting to snare us in.

Peacemakers sow peace(love). Love is a fruit of the Spirit. When we speak in anger it only flames strife and hurt. A gentle word(seed) we plant can raise a harvest of righteousness. The ripening crop of righteousness will grow in us and those that surround us. Search me Lord and see if there be any wicked way in me.

Bitter envy and selfish ambition are self centerness. It's about making yourself look important. These traits say ME ME ME. Humility is self sacrificing. It's about others first. It's not about making yourself look special. Bitter envy and selfish ambition can eat away at us and can distroy us. We have to be able to reconize our weaknesses in order for the Lord to heal us. These are deseases that need to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. As the Psalm 139:23 & 24 says: Search me ,O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the things that are in our hearts that shouldn't be there, those things that we don't want to believe are there. Then let God do what we can't do. He will do it if we let Him. A good prayer to say everyday: Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

It"s a heart condition. We can not do it on our own. What is in the heart comes out the mouth. The Holy Spirit is always with us and He will convict us of our wrong doings. Our words can be so hurtful to others. We need the Lord to forgive us and continue to shape us. We must be pliable clay so the Potter can mold us into what He wants us to become. The hardest thing for us is to practice self control. We will still make mistakes but we must keep pushing forward and let God have his way. I am so glad He doesn't give up on any of us.

Being a teacher is a great responsibility. They should practice what they teach(as we all should). When a teacher has either small children or teens or adults it is very important they should convey what they are teaching in clear and precise facts from the Word. As James states, that those who teach will be judged more strictly. There is greater strictness for teachers because they are molding the lives of those that are still learning. The Word is Truth and the Truth should be taught. It should never be watered down. As we all know everyone stumbles because we are all human. Pastors have the call of God to preach and teach and have a greater influence on those they are speaking to. It is a great privledge and responibility to be callled of God to preach His Word.

The works come as a result of our salvation through grace. Our works won't save us. Only by Grace are we saved.

The demon knows God is real and shudders because they know the power of God. They can see the wonders that exist all around that came into exsistance as God spoke. He has that same power today and forever demons know this. A practicing Christian shows his belief by the way he or she lives. The love of God that He pores into the Christian will pore through and out of the Christian in the form of works. Helping others and building others up. The belief of a non-practicing Christian is just that. There is no fruit in their life. They believe that God exists but there is no fruit. They believe that going to church is all there is to Christianity.

We are to take care of the poor and needy in the church community. We are also to reach out to those that are not part of the church community. This is showing God's love to all that need help. God loves the cheerful giver. God uses His people to touch the lives of those that are in need. His love must flow through us so we can pass that love on to others.

The old saying, "actions speak louder than words", is very true. It's our true faith that gets us in motion for actions. The Bible tells us to help those less fortunate than we are. Everyone needs some kind of help. Maybe not physical but some uplifting words or encouragement of some kind. If we just sit back and think it's not our place we just fool ourselves. We sometimes have good intensions but don't follow through on what God wants us to do. We need to start taking bold steps of faith and do what the Lord wants us to do.

I believe I'm harder on myself than anyone else. I know my faults and I get angry with myself sometimes. I know that God is still working on me and will never stop because He loves me. I do know I have a problem with phony people. I know God knows their heart and can change them. He is a good and merciful God and our life should be pleasing to Him. As for the church I go to, I really don't think anyone is trying to make agood iimpression on anyone. We go to fellowship and to worship God.

When we get angry or hurt sometimes words come out that are not pleasing to God. A harsh word only hurts those we are speaking to. It also leaves scars on us. A harsh tongue does not show the love of God. It is just the opposite of caring for and being concerned for others. God is love, we must show the love of God at all times whether we feel like it or not. There are always going to be people that cross our path that rub us the wrong way, but with the love of God in our hearts we can overcome. Our tongue can get us into a lot of trouble if we don't learn to control it. Love is the answer to taming the tongue. We must get self control. Reaching out to others and caring for those in need shows the love of God in our hearts. What comes out of the mouth is what is in our hearts. It's the eivl of this world that we allow to take over our being. We need cleansing and need to separate ourselves from the worldly things that are all around us. We need the quiet time and worship time with God, but it's our actions that speak the loudest. Our actions speak louder than out words.

The perfect law is to "Love your neighbor as yourself". When we have anomosity toward someone we only hurt ourselves and are bound by chains. With love we are free from the chains that bind us. It is so easy to get upset with someone and hold unrest in our hearts, but it only hinders our walk with the Lord. With the love of Jesus in our hearts we can forgive and forget and break the chains that we are bound by. The "royal law" , I bellieve, is the perfect law. It is the king of laws. It is a commandment not a suggestion. We are to love others as He loves us.

How easily we can be fooled. We need to do more than just listening to the Word. We must sincerely absorb it. We must study and chew on it until it is part of us. Even when we don't feel like it, it is important to study the Word. We not only need to know the Word but to live it. When we have the Holy Spirit to speak to us about our actions and our lack of control of our tongue. It's our choice if we heed the prodding of the Holy Spirit or not. We are deceived by the evil one when we let our guard down. We all make mistakes in our thinking and actions. It is a growing experience. He's still working on us. I ask to make me more like Him and to quicken my heart when I let myself think that I, in myself, am righteous.

The Word of Truth is what God is saying to us. It is our lifeline to pleasing and living for Him. Studying His Word shows us where we all fall so short of what He wants for us. It is what builds our faith so we can willingly accept Him as our Lord. It was God that ordered all of this. Our part is to accept and believe and let Him change us to be more like Him. The Word is spiritual life. It is our lifeline to eternal life. The entire Bible is the Word of Truth. We must study the Word and God will reveal many things to us that we can cling to forever.