Do the Word!

[formula1]

I would add a comment, but there is no need! Let's just say today, I am challenged by this reading!

James 1
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Matthew 7
24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

 

[centerpin fan]

Good advice. I think many people get hung up on prophecies and obscure passages. If everybody just did the simple stuff, the church would be a better place.

 

[Ronnie T]

I would add a comment, but there is no need! Let's just say today, I am challenged by this reading!


James 1
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Matthew 7
24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Hopefully, we're all challenged by those words.
And it's a great calling.

Thanks for posting. You often do that don't you. While the comments are going off the wall sometimes, here you come posting simple verses that can bring Christ's church back to reality.

Thanks.

 

[gordon 2]

I would add a comment, but there is no need! Let's just say today, I am challenged by this reading!

James 1
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Matthew 7
24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Ok...since this tread so far seems an easy challenge to some, I'll ask a challenging question to me. What are these words? as in "everyone who hears these words of mine."

Can we agree on what are these words and what they mean? That is my personal challenge here. To me the words speak about the Kingdom, but somehow when I talk about this I'm either dismissed, or with the answer, "Well yea! It's the Kingdom"...and then silence...like the radio transmitters just blew off the towers...or something like that...??

So what are the "words" here and once we can agree on that what do they mean?...which is a good three weeks' wear and tear on here.

 

[formula1]

Re:

These words are things like Matthew 5 through 8, John 3, John 15, good places to start. That alone will keep you busy for eons. I am still learning from them, and I am practicing the doing (rather imperfectly). If I just read them and don't do them though, I am in fact deceiving myself as James so eloquently and simply points out.

The Kingdom of God is exactly that! It is within you, it's in the doing of the Word, yet if you only allow it to be so. I'll talk about this Kingdom with you anytime, BTW.

 

[jmharris23]

Ok...since this tread so far seems an easy challenge to some, I'll ask a challenging question to me. What are these words? as in "everyone who hears these words of mine."

Can we agree on what are these words and what they mean? That is my personal challenge here. To me the words speak about the Kingdom, but somehow when I talk about this I'm either dismissed, or with the answer, "Well yea! It's the Kingdom"...and then silence...like the radio transmitters just blew off the towers...or something like that...??

So what are the "words" here and once we can agree on that what do they mean?...which is a good three weeks' wear and tear on here.

What exactly do you mean when you say "to me the words speak about the Kingdom"?

 

[gordon 2]

What exactly do you mean when you say "to me the words speak about the Kingdom"?

Exactly is a big word. I don't think I up to it, but in part here goes....

The Kingdom to me is the good news not only of salvation but also that there is a spiritual place in all our lives which we as christians share with one another and from which we can act or work to achieve the will of God.

This Kingdom is not unlike any other Kingdom or political unit(state) in the world we know, although it is not a political unit as sitting at the united nations. It has its own citizenship, its own rules of the road, provinces or states, many cultures, etc... ( It is not one church, nor one denomination.)

The Kingdom is full of resources and they are renewable.

Matthew 13:52 He said to them, therefore every teacher and interpreter of the Sacred Writings who has been instructed about and trained for the kingdom of heaven and has become a disciple is like a householder who brings forth out of his storehouse treasure that is new and old .

What are these resources new and old? Simply that peace is superiour to war, justice is superior to injustice and war, grace is superiour to vengence and conflict, not taking offense is greater than taking offense and harbouring rankor, etc... These resources are in scripture, in the prophets and in Matthew 5,6, and 7, in Paul's letters, in the works of Christ, in the letters of James and Peter, and others. But they are also in the lives and works of saints because they stand on the mountian(s) of the Kingdom and from there do...according to the will of God.

The Kingdom is full of good crops, the darnels were burned off when Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit available to all mankind. He closed off the age. We are the reapers--if we chose to be christian and become citizens of His Kingdom in our hearts yes, but especially in works from this place.

Now this Kingdom is not fixed in caracter, it is a "living" entity and changes...according to chalenges of the generations and the individual lives within these. The people who live there are not perfect--just like people everywhere. All grow however, all can learn, all can learn from study but others from practice, experience and works and examples..etc...

Also, I do not think less of God for giving me all the physical attributes of predetors. That I am. My eyes, my molars, my inclinations, my appetites are in accord with the predator, but where I can by nature pray on the weak and the suffering, I can inversely for the Kingdom turn my Lion to lie with the Lamb and practice grace and justice and seek peace... and truly honor God.

Now these are a little bit of what the Kingdom is, in my view. Again,

Matt 13:52 He said to them, Therefore every teacher and interpreter of the Sacred Writings who has been instructed about and trained fro the kingdom of heaven and has become a disciple is like a householder who brings forth out of his storehouse treasure that is new and old.

49 So it will be at the close and consummation of the age. The angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous...

So there we have no excuse as to what is right and what is wrong and how to act on it...according to the rules of the road of the place we call the Kingdom. But perhaps what is more important now is that we know what to do when we find injustice, yes according to our rules of the road. Our angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous with the discipline of Grace! We are superbly tuned to hear and see the suffering of the weak and the vulnerable in all of creation. The Kingdom provides a way to deal with this, but opposite than what we call the "world's ways" which to us means predation.

Man likes to turn on himself like coyotes and wolfs do from time to time, for....border crossings, resources and sex, basically. The Kingdom can turn all this belly up. Our Lion can indeed lie with the Lamb.

The creative ways that problems could be solved if people would indeed take to the Kingdom seriously is endless in my view.

 

[jmharris23]

Thanks Gordon!

 

[gordon 2]

Thanks Gordon!

Just curious. Why did you feel the need to ask what exactly I believed was meant?