BE IN SUNDAY SCHOOL TOMORROW MORNING AT 9:15!
We will have a great time talking about our devo's and doing some other fun things!!
James 5:12-20
12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
What a great passage to end the book of James on: There are three lessons here that I want you to get.
1. First we see in verse 12. An interesting command is given. Dont swear. Dont swear to Heaven, Dont swear to Earth, Dont swear on your grandmothers grave, and definitely Dont swear to God. It is interesting to me that people swore way back when this was written. James tells us in this passage, there is no need to swear, why dont you just be the kind of person that tells the truth. Wouldnt it be nice, if you say yes, everyone always knows that means yes? James says, if you are just honest in the first place, then you wont have to swear later on.
2. Next we see James telling us how we should respond to odifferent circumstances that we face. If we are suffering, or going through a difficult situation, then we should Pray about it! Duh! And if we are Joyful or happy, then we should sing about it. (I do that all the time and drive Katie crazy :) And finally if we know of someone going through a tough time, living in Sin, then we need to go to them, and pray for them, and hold them accountable. Verse 16 is the key, it says we must confess our faults one to another. (That does not mean that we need to go to every person that we have sinned against since we were 3 and apologize, that phrase simply means that if we are struggling with something then we need to tell someone about it and get some help as we face that temptation. NOTICE: All three involve talking to God (or singing to Him)
3. I love this part! I would like to think that verse 19-20, is what I do for a living. It is our responsibility to grab our friends and our family and our acquaintences that may be wandering from the truth and pull them back in line, WITH LOVE! When we draw them back to Christ, then we help save a soul from death, and we help cover a multitude of sins!!! Lets help our friends in that way!!
SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING!
FRIDAY, April 11th, 2008
I just want to brag on what an incredible group of teenagers you all are. Great Job Yesterday. You have to admit, it was very fun and Unifying to read a passage together and all write our own thoughts about it. I could comment on every single on of your comments! You all did so great! I especially liked the spanish devotion with the translation, and I was thrilled to read Jill's testimony about her friends. I would add to what Jill said, It is wonderful and refreshing to hang out with Godly friends and not feel the need to talk bad about others. I believe that there are some girls like that in our youth group. You should unite as great Christian friends, so that Jill doesnt have to drive to Sarasota just to be with "Good Christian Friends" :)
Listen, When the weekend comes, it will be very easy to stop doing the devotions... Trust me! I Know!!!!! But Be Faithful! If you miss a day, then GET BACK ON THE NEXT DAY!!! I am so excited and passionate about seeing what God will do through our youth ministry if we spend time with Him and with each other every day! Love You Guys! Pastor Lee
James 5:1-11
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
I was hesitant to do this chapter today, because It is kind of tough to understand, and at first I did not think that you or I stuggle with being rich :)
However, as I studied it, I saw a few other important lessons we must know. I will start at the top. Verses 1-6 talk about the rich man. This passage makes it clear that money will not bring happiness. I think of many people, especially men like Bill Gates, "The richest man in the World" He has claimed himself that his money has not brought happiness, but it has only showed him that there is something missing in his life. He tried to fill that void by doing charity, but we know the only way to fill that void is to trust Christ. This passage makes it clear that our money is going to fade away, but there is something more important to live for and that is what we see in verses 7-11.
The theme in these verses simply let us know, that while the world may seem appealing and exciting with all of its treasures, and all of it's pleasures, we must follow God patiently! Because the day will come that IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL. I am reminded again of yesterdays passage. Our life is but a vapor. If we live patienlty for God during this vapor of a life, then we will have all eternity to enjoy Gods pleasure for our life.
Listen, When the weekend comes, it will be very easy to stop doing the devotions... Trust me! I Know!!!!! But Be Faithful! If you miss a day, then GET BACK ON THE NEXT DAY!!! I am so excited and passionate about seeing what God will do through our youth ministry if we spend time with Him and with each other every day! Love You Guys! Pastor Lee
James 5:1-11
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.
11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
I was hesitant to do this chapter today, because It is kind of tough to understand, and at first I did not think that you or I stuggle with being rich :)
However, as I studied it, I saw a few other important lessons we must know. I will start at the top. Verses 1-6 talk about the rich man. This passage makes it clear that money will not bring happiness. I think of many people, especially men like Bill Gates, "The richest man in the World" He has claimed himself that his money has not brought happiness, but it has only showed him that there is something missing in his life. He tried to fill that void by doing charity, but we know the only way to fill that void is to trust Christ. This passage makes it clear that our money is going to fade away, but there is something more important to live for and that is what we see in verses 7-11.
The theme in these verses simply let us know, that while the world may seem appealing and exciting with all of its treasures, and all of it's pleasures, we must follow God patiently! Because the day will come that IT WILL BE WORTH IT ALL. I am reminded again of yesterdays passage. Our life is but a vapor. If we live patienlty for God during this vapor of a life, then we will have all eternity to enjoy Gods pleasure for our life.
THURSDAY, April 10th, 2008
James 4:11-17
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Well, todays devos are something we all have had our problems with: saying someothing bad about someone. Have you ever done that before? You may not understand what verse 11 means when it goes on and on talking about the judge and the lawgiver, so let me explain. The idea here is that when you or I talk bad about someone, we are judging them. This passage makes it clear that we have no right to judge, God is the only judge and therefore if we see someone doing something that we do not like, we really have no right in and of ourselves to look down on them. That idea finishes by stating that there is only one law giver, and that is God. He is the only judge.
The second part of these seven verses go on to talk about the rest of your life. It says, who do you think that you are to put off things until tomorrow. It says that you do not know if tomorrow will come, and even if it does come, it will go by so fast (as a vapor) that you will not even believe it. So what should we do about it? Dont put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Like witnessing to your friend, like reading your Bible, like inviting that stranger to church. DO IT TODAY!
YOU GUYS ARE DOING GREAT! STAY FAITHFUL! WE ARE KEEPING TRACK OF WHO IS DOING THEIR DEVOS, SO DO THEM EVERY DAY! IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMEENTS JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL! THANKS!
GET IN THE WORD!
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Well, todays devos are something we all have had our problems with: saying someothing bad about someone. Have you ever done that before? You may not understand what verse 11 means when it goes on and on talking about the judge and the lawgiver, so let me explain. The idea here is that when you or I talk bad about someone, we are judging them. This passage makes it clear that we have no right to judge, God is the only judge and therefore if we see someone doing something that we do not like, we really have no right in and of ourselves to look down on them. That idea finishes by stating that there is only one law giver, and that is God. He is the only judge.
The second part of these seven verses go on to talk about the rest of your life. It says, who do you think that you are to put off things until tomorrow. It says that you do not know if tomorrow will come, and even if it does come, it will go by so fast (as a vapor) that you will not even believe it. So what should we do about it? Dont put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Like witnessing to your friend, like reading your Bible, like inviting that stranger to church. DO IT TODAY!
YOU GUYS ARE DOING GREAT! STAY FAITHFUL! WE ARE KEEPING TRACK OF WHO IS DOING THEIR DEVOS, SO DO THEM EVERY DAY! IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMEENTS JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL! THANKS!
GET IN THE WORD!
WEDNESDAY, April 9th, 2008
James 4:1-10
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Once again there is so much in this passage. I will point out what impacted me the most. This whole passage starts out by asking us another question: The question is, "Where does all of this fighting come from?" If I hate someone, what causes that hatred? God explains that my hatred comes from my fleshly desires. (My Lusts) Those desires could range from anything to jealousy, pride, anger, selfishness, and many more. These things are the root of fighting in your and my life. Think about it, if you are fighting with your parents, it is because you want something, you want to be treated a certain way, you think you deserve better parents... Whatever the case is, Any fighting that we are involved in is simply a false understanding of our selfish desires.
And we all love verse 4. We become adulterers when we cheat on God. Maybe you have seen one of those tv shows that show husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends cheating on each other? Well, one of those shows could star, US!!!! When we get involved in sin, God says, when we are a friend of the World, then we become His enemy. I want to be Gods friend, not his Enemy!!!
Love you guys! Keep up the good work! See you tonight in church!
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Once again there is so much in this passage. I will point out what impacted me the most. This whole passage starts out by asking us another question: The question is, "Where does all of this fighting come from?" If I hate someone, what causes that hatred? God explains that my hatred comes from my fleshly desires. (My Lusts) Those desires could range from anything to jealousy, pride, anger, selfishness, and many more. These things are the root of fighting in your and my life. Think about it, if you are fighting with your parents, it is because you want something, you want to be treated a certain way, you think you deserve better parents... Whatever the case is, Any fighting that we are involved in is simply a false understanding of our selfish desires.
And we all love verse 4. We become adulterers when we cheat on God. Maybe you have seen one of those tv shows that show husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends cheating on each other? Well, one of those shows could star, US!!!! When we get involved in sin, God says, when we are a friend of the World, then we become His enemy. I want to be Gods friend, not his Enemy!!!
Love you guys! Keep up the good work! See you tonight in church!
TUESDAY, April 8th, 2008
YOU GUYS DID AN INCLREDIBLE JOB ON YOUR DEVOTIONS YESTERDAY. GREAT JOB KASEY, JESSICA, and JILL! I WANT TO CHALLENGE YOU TO BE FAITHFUL EVERYDAY AND FOR TODAY DO THIS... CALL SOMEONE WHO YOU KNOW HAS DONE THEM IN THE PAST AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO GET ON TONIGHT AND DO THEM AGAIN!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
James 3:13-18
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
What a short, but informative passage! This passage makes you ask the question: "Am I a person of strife? or am I a person of peace?" This passage reminds me of the kind of person we have all met. "That Guy" the one that wants to fight over everything! He is always right, and if you question that, then you are in for it! Lets look at this man of strife: it says that this man is someone with bitterness, jealousy, strife, pride, a liar, full of sensuality and devilish actions. Does that sound familiar? Hopefully not, If so, we must strive to become like the wise man in verse 17. PURE! peacable, gentle, easy to be rebuked, merciful, REAL! (not a hypocrite).
If we are like this Wise man, then we will have a life of Peace!
So the question is asked in verse one: Who is a wise man? Well, let him show out of his conversation! (That word conversation does not meant talking, but it means "lifestyle")
Our Lifestyle should prove that we are a person of wisdom not a person of strife!
DONT BE "That Guy" :)
YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
James 3:13-18
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
What a short, but informative passage! This passage makes you ask the question: "Am I a person of strife? or am I a person of peace?" This passage reminds me of the kind of person we have all met. "That Guy" the one that wants to fight over everything! He is always right, and if you question that, then you are in for it! Lets look at this man of strife: it says that this man is someone with bitterness, jealousy, strife, pride, a liar, full of sensuality and devilish actions. Does that sound familiar? Hopefully not, If so, we must strive to become like the wise man in verse 17. PURE! peacable, gentle, easy to be rebuked, merciful, REAL! (not a hypocrite).
If we are like this Wise man, then we will have a life of Peace!
So the question is asked in verse one: Who is a wise man? Well, let him show out of his conversation! (That word conversation does not meant talking, but it means "lifestyle")
Our Lifestyle should prove that we are a person of wisdom not a person of strife!
DONT BE "That Guy" :)
YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
MONDAY, April 7th, 2008
James 3: 1-12
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
This passage is one that applies to every person with a tongue. That would you and me! This passage lets us know how powerful and dangerous our tongue can be. The orange is facts about the tongue and the Blue is illustrations to help us understand how something so small can be so powerful. This passage explains that man has been able to tame every kind of animal. Think about it, we can teach our dog to do tricks, you go to sea world they teach a whale to do tricks, you go to the zoo and you see monkeys do tricks, horses, cows, sheep, tutrles, ligers :) all of them can be tamed. But we cannot tame our tongue. The truth is, the tongue will always diplay what is in our hearts. Therefore, if we want to control our tongue, we must control our heart!
The passage ends by explaining that there is no way that a water fountain can have bothe sweet water and salty water, the same tree cannot bring good apples and oranges. Therefore a persons mouth CANNOT bring forth praise and worship on Sunday and pour out trash throughout the rest of the week!
Lets guard our heart, so that we can guard our tongue!
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
This passage is one that applies to every person with a tongue. That would you and me! This passage lets us know how powerful and dangerous our tongue can be. The orange is facts about the tongue and the Blue is illustrations to help us understand how something so small can be so powerful. This passage explains that man has been able to tame every kind of animal. Think about it, we can teach our dog to do tricks, you go to sea world they teach a whale to do tricks, you go to the zoo and you see monkeys do tricks, horses, cows, sheep, tutrles, ligers :) all of them can be tamed. But we cannot tame our tongue. The truth is, the tongue will always diplay what is in our hearts. Therefore, if we want to control our tongue, we must control our heart!
The passage ends by explaining that there is no way that a water fountain can have bothe sweet water and salty water, the same tree cannot bring good apples and oranges. Therefore a persons mouth CANNOT bring forth praise and worship on Sunday and pour out trash throughout the rest of the week!
Lets guard our heart, so that we can guard our tongue!
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