Skip to main content

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress...
James 1:27 NIV
Yesterday we thought about the "who".
Today it's the "when"
"In their distress"
In someone's time of need will I step in?
Step towards their distress, their hurt, their need.
Their mess.
The Greek word used for distress is "thlipsis".
It means persecution, affliction, distress, tribulation.
And it has the meaning of being hemmed in, without choices, when there seems no way out.
So, James tells us our religion should take us towards people who are the hurt, the marginalised, the discarded, and in their distress, when they're really feeling  like there's  no way forward, no way out, when they have no choices, to walk with them to find a way out.
To help find options.
Jim is not prescriptive about how that looks, so it's going to look different for you and for me, so how could this apply in 2019?
The expression of our love for God, is found in loving people - in their distress.
#loveGod
#lovepeople
#walkingeachotherhome

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Genesis 15.8-18.ESV But he said O Lord God , how am I to know that I shall possess it? ...When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram... March 15 was the last day we looked at Abram's story...he was questioning God and this is God's response...sacrifices and smoke and fire and a covenant...a promise... Isn't that what we crave for sometimes? God, if only you'd just show me smoke & fire, a burning bush a sign, miracle, healing...then all my questions would disappear...all my doubts would be gone... 2moro we'll see Abram's response but I think God values our faith in spite of our questions and doubts. That we choose Him anyway #faith
Post a Comment
Read more
Psalm 42.1-11.nlt As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God... I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? O God my rock l cry, Why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies? Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, Where is this God of yours? Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Savior and my God! That song "as the deer pants for the water..." seems almost nice, but it's not...it's part of a cry of anguish, of hurt, of despair...of God not giving an answer...yet...through all that...again and again he says I'll put my hope in God! #choose #hope #hopeunshaken
Post a Comment
Read more
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Post a Comment
Read more