I’ve been reading Karen Kingsbury’s and Gary Smalley’s books about the Baxter family. Good things happen, bad stuff, emotional outbursts, love, jealousy, patience, impatience-slices of life fill the pages. These are great books if you like novels.
In the real world, our ladies’ Bible study is reading the book of James and talking about what the verses mean and how they apply to our lives. We may bring up other topics. More people show up for this freer environment. We don’t have to worry about getting back to a topic that’s in a study book, when the interest has gone elsewhere. I always ask God for wisdom to handle questions before we start.
One night a few weeks ago, I asked God for a Bible verse before I went to bed. I felt led to Colossians. (Colossians 1: 1-2, HCSB) tells the reader, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother:
“To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father.”
I loved that! Grace to you. Peace from God our Father. I need God’s grace. I need God’s peace in these days when my husband faces another surgery for the squamous cell cancer on his face I wrote about last time.
Good verses follow, but what struck me as important again were verses 9b-14:
“We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins in Him.
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities-
all things have been created
through Him and for Him.
He is before all things,
and by Him all things hold together.”
Powerful revelation of God and His relationship with us. God amazes me. I had an opportunity to go to a ladies’ Spring Event last Saturday. When I prayed with one of the speakers, a missionary I’m acquainted with, I felt such a strong sense of God’s presence. Tremendous peace. I didn’t want to stop praying, but I knew others were waiting their turn. I looked and sure enough, probably six people in line. So, I left to find the others from my group and the lunch provided.
God says to seek Him, and He will be found. If you haven’t sought God the Father, Jesus Christ, His Son; and the Holy Spirit from the Holy Bible, you might want to give it a try. It’s the best decision I ever made, despite the warnings of persecution of God’s followers. This life is short and true believers are promised a second life of eternity after our mortal body passes away. The book of James is a practical book of wisdom, showing what a true disciple of Jesus lives like. Imperfect people obey and love God, ask for forgiveness and help when they mess up. They repent, God forgives, and life goes on with growth in relationship with our supernatural parent. This may be simplistic sounding, but how can a mere human explain the wonders of God’s majesty and insight to humans He created and loves?
https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/book/james/
May God bless you!
Write Light 