verseoftheday

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. James 3:17 NASB The last word in this verse is "anupokritos" The meaning is: not a phony ("put on"), describing sincere behavior free from hidden agendas (selfish motives)  literally, "without hypocrisy" (unfeigned). All of us have know people who are phony, who have selfish hidden agendas. Who are hypocrites. And there's times, there's days, when those words describe me to... James says wisdom from heaven has none of that, and as we drink in that wisdom, soak our minds and hearts in heavens wisdom, there is less and less room for those things. As we keep looking towards and following Jesus, the One who was truly not phony, had no hidden agenda, had no hypocrisy, there was no mask His mission was to seek and save us His heart was love And he lived it out in the everyday, and in the big things....

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV Full of...good fruit! Interesting thing about fruit...most if it is of no value to the tree, but by design, fruit benefits and blesses others. If I'm full of good fruit then most of that has come from somewhere else...someone else... Here James is talking about the wisdom of heaven and that it's chock full of two things: Mercy And Good Fruit Nourishment, healing, energy, flavour, texture, aroma...these are the things that the wisdom of heaven brings into our lives, so that, we too may bear good fruit that brings all those good things into the lives of others... #wisdomofheaven #pure #peaceloving #undivided #gentlyyielding #fullupwithmercy #goodfruit #somethingtochewon

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV Monday! Back to Gods gym! Today we're up to; "full of mercy" This verse is describing the wisdom that we are looking to access, and live out If I look back over the course of my life, I don't think that anyone could use those three words to describe me...yet...that is what James calls me to. A life full of mercy. We tend to follow the pattern of the world around us, our upbringing, our experiences, expectations of others, the noise of the prevailing culture. These things are subtle, and "normal". Until James says; "be full of mercy"!  Full. There's no room for other things when I'm full Mercy is an outward looking, others oriented, attitude of the heart that leads to action... Mercy Compassion How would I live if my heart was truly "full of mercy...

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV "submissive"! If there's a word that sparks us up its this. The word here translated submissive is "eupeithes" and this is the only place this word is used in the Bible. It means I'm "well persuaded", already inclined  towards, ready to yield... When I drive towards traffic lights I know that they're there for good reasons so I'm ready to yield to the red signal. I'm already persuaded that stopping is good and right. So it is with the wisdom from heaven...James is writing to Christians everywhere, people who already know that Jesus is who he said he is, believe in his name, so are ready to yield to His call on our hearts. There's days when the last thing I want to do is yield to anything. The stop light. God's gentle nudge. James reminds us that...

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV "considerate" "epieikese" This word is well...amazing. It's about being equitable and fair, gentle and yielding. It's about what is really at stake when it comes to justice. Not strict adherance to the letter of the law, but a gentle yielding to the spirit of the law. The intent. The heart. It's about purpose. The purpose of the law. So if God is good, His heart is for us, then the purpose and intent of His law is for our good. Our flourishing. Our thriving. And we miss it, we miss God's heart arguing about the letter, and miss the spirit. Yielding is not something I'm good at. I've got to fight myself to let someone in in traffic. Yet if I just gently yield to God's way, I'll find life! #Godsgym #wisdomofheaven #pure #peaceloving #undivided...

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV Peace-loving "eirenikos" what pertains to peace, i.e. God's gift of wholeness which results from knowing (discerning) the Lords will and obeying it. Isn't that interesting that peace is about wholeness. Not being divided in your spirit, not being divided in what we know and what we do...I'm definitely not at peace when I'm doing something that goes against God's instruction for flourishing and thriving. Jesus was undivided Undivided in purpose, in living out God's will for him. In his humanity we saw Him struggle, wrestle with that, especially in the garden at Gethsemane. But what did Jesus do? Submitted himself to the will of the his Heavenly Father...and that is my goal today. #Godsgym #wisdomofheaven #pure #peaceloving #undivided

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-oving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:17NIV Yes I want that! Where can I find it? That package is not found somewhere, but it's a person. James paints a picture of Jesus for us Read it again :) He is the wisdom that came from heaven and entered the story. Here's the meaning of that first word: pure "hagnos" pure (to the core); pure inside and out; holy because uncontaminated (undefiled from sin), i.e. without spoilation even within (even down to the center of ones being); not mixed with guilt or anything condemnable. I just know that this is not me. At the core there is always something that spoils...but Jesus? This is who He is! And when he touches us, this is what we get...His purity becomes ours. How we are seen by the Father because of what Jesus did And one day all that is spoiled and contaminated at our core will be ...

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure...think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV 100% Pure NZ We know it's not true, and when we search for that Pure thing we find it's not. It's always tainted with something. Except God. He is 100% Pure Holy. And He lived that out, represented that Pure, that Holy, in the world in the person of Jesus. He lived the life we can't. And then, the Cross. Where all that is not Pure, all that is not Holy, came crashing down on and in Jesus. The only reason why is Love. His love for us. One day we will see those scars and know what he went through, what he suffered, for us. In the meantime, think on, fix your mind on, what is Pure. There's only One. #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #pure