Wednesday... It is such a good rule.

Over in James 2:8 (MSG) he says, "You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: 'Love others as you love yourself.'" Now we look at this rule many times and we highlight the last part, "as you love yourselves." and not the first part, "Love others." Yes we highlight our need to love ourself but that can also get us into trouble. But the key here is to "Love others."

Later James says in verses 12-13, "Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgement every time."

Now we are good at the harsh judgement, aren't we? There is a whole lot of judgement going on, isn't there? But what about kind mercy."

The New Living Translation puts verses 12-13 this way. It says, "So whatever you say or whatever you do, you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have shown no mercy to others. But if you have been merciful. God will be merciful when he judges you."

Back to verse 8 and also verse 9 (NLT), "Yes indeed, it is good to obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law." It seems that God is really serious about this law.

Now here is the key. It is really a good law. It means we are taking care of each other not just ourselves. If I love you and you love me then where would all of this hostility, prejudice and hatred come from?

Now look at verses 14-17. They say, "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well' - but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless."

And then verses 19-20, "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?"

So you see, it is such a good rule and we are to live by it and it will make such a difference in our world. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is!

Tuesday... It is so worth it. It really is! Look at this, Proverbs 5:21-23 (CEV) says, "The Lord sees everything, and he watches us closely. Sinners are trapped and caught by their own evil deeds. They get lost and die because of their foolishness and lack of self-control." That is true of so many. Now look at this, Luke 15:1-7 says, "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, 'This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this story: If any of you has 100 sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the 99 in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it? And when you find it, you will put it on your shoulder and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, 'Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep.' Jesus said, 'In the same way there is mo...

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Todays Beginning

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