Discrimination

"My brothers as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favouritism  Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" 

James 1:1-4

This message really opened my eyes to my personality and my attitude towards people. I've always thought discrimination was horrible but it never occurred to me that favouritism was a type of discrimination. Discrimination was a huge part of human history and we're glad to get most of the discrimination to go away in most countries. Everyone agrees that this is wrong yet they don't realize favouritism is discrimination. 

As a result, from reading this verse, I've begun to reflect my attitude towards others and I begin to see the people I treat more poorly due to the past or their reputation around a group of people. Therefore, my goal is to begin to treat everyone more equally no matter the favouritism and hopefully, will be able to show God's grace through these actions. 

Who You Are

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." 

James 1:22-24

Quick and Simple. God loves us so he wrote this bible for us to learn more about him and what we should be like to reflect a life of Christ. Thus, we need to fully understand and have complete faith that the bible IS the word of God. If we know this short and simple fact, shouldn't we listen to it? 

If God has written and clearly given us instructions or ideas of what we should do or act to make him happy, should we not listen to that? This verse shows that if we aren't able to comprehend this simple idea, we're just stupid people who, like the verse says, forgets their own identity. They won't realize who they are and won't be able to do what is best for them. 

3 stones on your road: Forgiveness, Wisdom, Patience

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." 

James 1:19-20

As I read this, I find this verse very funny because, ironically, these three things are the things that people nowadays are the least likely to do. Everyone's family has many conflicts and dramas because they don't tend to listen to each other causing miscommunication. As we get into the moment, we begin to become more impulsive and no one really thinks about what they are saying any more  Thus, this leads to insults, swearing, and bullying. Lastly, as our world becomes more convenient and changes everyday, we find ourselves being less patient with others and more frustrated which causes anger to build within us. 

Almost simultaneously, we humans have almost done the complete opposite of what God has said in this verse. This shows how corrupted and sinful our society can be and how we need to be able to overcome these things and live a life of Christ. 

Basically, this verse is teaching you patience, wisdom, and forgiveness. You learn patience by stopping yourself from talking and just listening to others and their problems. Sometimes the best solution to someone's problems is a listener and not a "solver". Wisdom is being "slow to speak". In our world, communication is key for almost everything and it is hard to imagine a life without speaking so usually, we spend the entire time talking. When God asks us to be "slow to speak" this means we should take the time and think of what we're going to say before we're going to say it because it may be harmful or painful to people around you. Lastly, you need to be able to forgive others because you can't let anger control your life. Anger leads to impulsive decisions based on emotion but if you are able to control this, you would be able to do the logical thing and think before you do. 

Walk Away

"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, not does he tempt anyone but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." James 1:13-14

No one said Living Life would be simple. As everyone has realized, it is actually really difficult to live our lives the way we want it to be because what we want never really happens. 

We find ourselves always in tight situations that cause us pain, stress, and many difficulties. It is during these trials that we complain and our patience is shorten because we don't understand what we have done to deserve such pain or stress. It is at times like these where we look to God and question his ways. It is simple for us to complain about our difficulties and boost our good deeds but blaming someone else really wouldn't benefit us or even solve the problem at hand. 

In this verse, The bible explains that when we face trials in our life, it is not God who caused this for us but our own desires that lead to these events. As humans, it is hard to think of the idea that we are imperfect and that something could be our fault. However, if we are all able to reflect and think about the reasons for the conflict, we may all be able to avoid it in the future. By understanding our evil desires, we can walk away from them and focus on God. 

TC13

"Then he called to the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels" Mark 8:34-38

I got this verse from TC training because TC13 is solely themed on this verse. We were asked to reflect on it so I decided to place it on here. 

We were asked to look previously and after for some context.

Before: We see that Jesus is asking his disciples of who people say he is. Then after, he explains "who do you say I am". Then, he yells at Peter for rebuking his statement on the messiah getting beat and killed. The reason for this is because this is man's vision of a God and of a "hero" we want a person who can never get hurt, killed but is almighty, strong, and can defeat anything that gets in our way. This allows us to be more satisfied and comfortable about the "hero"'s presence. 

He explains how he needs to stop looking in man's way but in God's way. The full reason for Jesus's sufferings is to save us and he also wants to show his humility and how he has made this decision to get to know you from the highest class of people to the lowest possible. This shows us that he is all knowing, and understands all the pain we are going through. Who do you think he is?

Verse: This verse is solely based on "picking up your cross" Yes YOUR cross. This means it is different for each individual. The cross was Jesus's death bed and all the sins of others. Thus, the cross should symbolise our burdens and stop ourselves from doing the wrong we think is correct. Someone pointed out that in order to drop something in the first place, you would need to have your hands filled. This means that if you haven't picked up your cross, you are carrying items or thoughts that are blocking the way or distracting you from fully committing to Christ. We need to be able to understand this entire verse before we can finally say "I am willing to follow you God and take up the cross along side of you" 

After: As I continued reading until the end of chapter 8, It explains how we should drop everything and follow him but God knows and understands the difficulties of it. No one said living as a Christian is the easiest thing in the world. It actually is one of the hardest things in the world. Satan will continue to tempt you and create ways for you to fall. God shows his understanding by explaining "sinful and adulterous generation" A generation is a group of people of the same age or group. This can be 1 year or even 100 years apart. No matter the difference  he is explaining that no matter the century you're living in, it is sinful and adulterous and there are peer pressures that will cause you to sin. But you need to remember to trust in him, ask for forgiveness and never be ashamed of him. He explains this when he says "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power" Mark 9:1. This showed me that even though he is saying this a long time ago, it reflects us and the way we act today. I think the way to approach this is asking yourself "will you be ready and will he be ashamed if he came down Today? Tomorrow? A week from now?" This specific verse tells us to continue living a life of Christ because we will never know when he will come again and we definitely do not want to disappoint and be ashamed of him. 

BEL-I-EVE

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:6

One of the unique differences in Christianity is that we consider this to be a "relationship" with God. This means treating him like a friend, a parent, or just a regular person in our daily lives. I believe that you need to treat him like any friend of yours. If he tells you to do something, you shouldn't just ignore it and continue on but have faith in him and do what he suggests. 

Through this verse, I believe that this kind of concept applies. If you are going to ask God for anything, you should do it as you would to your closest friend. You have to believe that your friend is there and you are truly telling someone something. Doubting God is like you doubting that your friend is alive. Would it not just be crazy or insane for one person to ask for something to nothing? 

It makes no sense to ask nothing for something because they are nothing to begin with. You ask God because he can provide you with advice, strength, encouragement and more! With God, he is willing to give as long as you continue to grow and live out your faith.

Endless Perseverance

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:4-5

According to "Dictionary.com" the definition of Perseverance is a "steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement"

Basically, in simpler terms, Perseverance means to continue on even through the trials thrown at you. Therefore, this verse really shows me how in order to be "mature and complete" you have to be finished persevering. This could mean persevering through daily or difficult struggles in your life or even your spiritual journey with Jesus Christ. This past fall, I went to my church's retreat and learned about how our journey is like a sport. In order to be good at it, you need to train and effective training consists of constant practices no matter the difficulties. 

As we train, we strive to be the best that we can be but at times we do lack elements that would help us become the best. For example, endurance in sports have been recognized to have a mentality factor. If your mind is all negative, your chances of continuing on decrease due to your lack of support, trust, and confidence in yourself. The second part of this verse explains how we should rely on God and continue to ask him for help because we aren't perfect and he is generous. 

Yes, sometimes our prayer requests are selfish and sometimes we do only pray to him when we are in need for his help and tend to forget him when our life is going good. But the most important thing to remember is that he is the one who has provided you with everything in your life. Look into your blessings and give thanks for what you have even though the road ahead of you may seem endless, he will light your path and lead you in the right direction. 

Joy in pain

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

Last week, I went to the hospital for my usual check up on my retina. This was when I realized that my retina has once again detached and I would once again go through the difficult trials of being a patient without the capability of being able to do anything.

Through this verse, It really makes me feel that God has spoken to me and how he has shown me his strength within my own trials and that I need to continue my faith and be joyful of anything that is happening to me because he continues to use and shape me through these tribulations in order for me to be more useful to him as I continue to serve him through worship, leadership, and many more.

This journey with my eye for the past week has really taught me a few things.

1) the amazing friends and family I have that are looking out and praying for me
2) a reminder of my testimony and why I believe in Jesus Christ
3) how weak I really am and being accepting of others on their help because I cannot do it on my own.

These 3 main ideas were really shown to me and I really thank God for giving me these opportunities to reflect and learn more about myself, develop my character, and to learn more and experience him more in my daily life.