NEW FRESH START!

Like Jacob and I mentioned, devos are mandatory for the praise team. For those of you who did do ANY of the Thessalonians.... atleast read them...

hahah when i got home yesterday i slept for like. 5 hrs
and then got up and watched like.. 8 episodes of lost
what a life i have.

JAMES1:
'When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurace has a change to grow.'
This verse is like. haha the epidemy of optimism. haha
i dont know how many of us think 'ohh man i cant believe this happened. SWEET MY ENDURANCE IS GROWING' haha but i think its great way to think and approach the things that happen in our lives.. When we're faced with troubles, we automatically respond with sadness, bitterness, anger, and so on.. And sometimes it can be so bad to make us question or doubt the will of God, and puts a strain on our relationship with him. But when we preservere and we stay strong in God through this turmoil, it only makes us stronger. I remmeber Martin saying in his apologetics seminar at the winter retreat that Christianity is the only religion that asks us to question scriptures, and to ask questions about our faith, and thats becuase when we search for the truth like this, we attain it. God never asks us to believe with b lind faith - but through the struggles, through the questioning and the tests that come our way, we are able to be strong grow from it even more than we would if we never experienced it at all.

"You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."
I personally really need to learn from this verse. You know how I'm always talking? Yeah well sometimes that comes back and bites me in the arse becuase I don't really think about what I'm saying and that just leads to people taking things the wrong way, me insulting people, etc. etc. And well they say that people will know we are CHristians by our actions and our words - and so I definetly need to make sure that the things I say are reflective of my faith in Jesus.

JAMES 1

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I think I can testify to what James is saying here. Oftentimes, when trials come our way, we cry out to God in complaints, asking why it had to happen when it hurt, asking why He wasn't looking out for us. But God works in mysterious ways, and while He doesn't always immediately reveal His master plans to us, I think with time, they always end up revealing their true purposes. Every "bad" thing that's ever happened to me has become a critical addition to my growth and maturation as a person. God gives us trials to persevere through, so that we might chip away the bad, and discover new tools that will make us into the best person we can be.

25 The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.

This reminded me of what Sam said at the retreat about Dynamic Faith. This is one area where I really need to work on. I write all these things on a daily basis on our forum, but it becomes much more difficult to consciously apply what I've learned from my devotions one day to the next. Anyways, this is my encouragement for all of us, to really pay attention to what we're learning and give it a chance to have an effect on our daily lives, and to perhaps hold each other accountable for what we've learned.

FUNDAY THIS FRIDAY!!!

- H

James 1

Like always, I learned a lot from today's passage. Perseverance was one of them in the beginning of this passage, and it reminded me of the retreat and how Sam talked about perseverance and dynamic faith. I personally think that this retreat really emphasized the "dynamic faith" that we should all be striving for.

James also writes about doubt and how doubtful people will never receive anything from the Lord because they will always be double-minded and not believe. I realized that it's useless for me to doubt and question God's answers to my prayers to see if the answer truly came from God or merely was a coincidence.

In verse 13, I learned that God is not to blame when we sin or are tempted since God does not tempt anyone. When we choose to fulfill our worldly wants, that is when we are tempted and sin. We should not point our finger at God but ourselves.

v.19 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." I'm having some major issues with listening, speaking, and being angry these days; I don't listen to other people these days, don't think before I speak, and become angry really really easily. By reading the Word, and taking James' advice into action, I hope that I can improve in this area.

v.27 "...look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James believes that loving the not loved and staying true to God's will and the Word are aspects that God looks for in us. Reading this verse, I thought about the people at school and church with whom I am not close. I think it's safe to say that we have people in our lives that we just can't seem to like because of differences in personality, morals, etc etc. When I think about God and His love for everyone in this world, I see what unconditional love is like, and I can accept those people and the faults that I see in them (even though I shouldn't be the one judging). I wonder, though, if accepting them is enough. What I mean is, as a believer, would God expect more of us to go beyond acceptance to love and become closer to those people?

like what you guys mentioned above, i too, learned a great deal of things today. Preseverance/ENdurance being one of them, and what Sam talked about DYnamic faith. From verse 22 on, it's all on the lines of having Dynamic faith and being able to present it. I remember in discleship class about 4 years ago, Sam said "God will provide" I used to think, i could sit back and wait until something happened. But that's not how it works, we need to put our effort in just as much as God puts his. Of course God is able to do anything you ask him, but he's not going to do it just like that.
I think this chapter in general affects our everyday lives, and how we can improve in such areas.
Let's always ocntinue to smile, continue to be more like CHrist, because he's the reason why we live right? A positive way of life will lead to being more humble, more patient etc. Cause if you are constantly thinking about the "good" part of the outcome, wouldn't your life follow CHrist?
ahaha

ANNNND, GREAT JOB AT THE RETREAT.!!!! i will post on the next forum aahaha

YAHH finished all my assignments today boo yahhh!!!

You won't believe but for my psychology course, I had to do a 1 page report explaining why the chicken crossed the road. (weirdest report of my life)

I remember the first time I talked with Sam he said "God gives us challenges we can overcome". While reading James 1 it reminded me of my own struggles I had and still have. God gives you troubles sometimes for you to grow. I know I had one in regards to humility and patience. When going through this whole ordeal I was hating every moment of it. I was thinking this is so unfair, why does God have to make me suffer, that was how I viewed it, but thinking I learned a lot. I learned something I cherish very much humility. I believe that God is challenging you everyday, and you might not even know about it.

bowling, is going to be sick

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.

Greetings to you too....


5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking

When we say that God really does care, and he doesnt get "sick and tired" of us asking for stuff... well heres a perfect verse to answer it!

6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind
I like this verse.... that is all...

"You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry."
I dont listen. I dont listen at all.. and i can get upset very quickly. So this verse really made me think long and hard about myself.

"26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."
we talked about actually DOING something about our faith in this retreat. Like when sam stopped to help the old lady. We should be practicing our faith and putting it to work. Not just praising on sundays and practicing on Fridays... beyond that.

-Isaac

Hey guys
Learned about revenge from this Chapter...
Since it derives from anger, it cannot be justified, no matter how righteous the path of redemption may seem.
I also learned to be "slow"
My head spins a lot, I start to think really fast and I can barely speak all my thoughts into something that can be neither understood or convincing at all. I just gotta learn to take things slow and not let emotion keep driving me; I know I'm heavily driven by emotion (you could say I'm its beach haha, remember that taxi driver guys?)
that's it for today

well this chapter is all about smart bits and bites of wisdom that God gives us.

v. 4 "perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,not lacking anything".
well the verse right before this it talks about going through tough times a joyful thing, here it justifies james saying that it is a joyful thing, because we get to grow more and develop our character.

v. 6 "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..."
here it is saying that after we ask for things like, wisdom, healings and such we need to BELIEVE. We have to have faith in knowing that God is all powerful and all mighty, like what Pastor Sam williams talked about on sunday.

v. 19 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."
This is just an amazing verse, self explanatory and simple, but it is most definitely true, something that is key in our lives.

Hey guys, sry for not posting my devo on the right time. So this is what i learned on this chapter.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I have the same thought in this chapter with the most of you. It talks about perseverance how we must work are way up and never give up. If people do good things for other people and they think that is the way to go into heaven is wrong. They havnt met God yet. We must show God that we love him, that we are willing to listen what God is telling us to do. Such as pray, read the bible. And we are reading we must no skim through it, we should take some times and ask some question to God, and thats when Prayer comes in. you know, when Jesus sacrificed on the cross, Jesus never gave up, he never complaint or anything. He just said thanks and shoed love. That God Told Jesus that he must do this for a great reason. Jesus brought grace and peace in this world and in our minds. So we should have perseverance as well, dont give up and work your way up.

AMEN....

Take care guys...