Genuine faith quote

What is Genuine Faith? This quote is inspired from the book of James. James was the half brother of Jesus and the devoted leader to the Jerusalem church after the disciples scattered. Blue Letter Bible says this about him;

”When he (James) did follow Jesus, he followed with great devotion. An early history of the church says that James was such a man of prayer that his knees had large and thick calluses, making them look like the knees of a camel. It also says that James was martyred in Jerusalem by being pushed from a high point of the temple. Yet the fall did not kill him, and on the ground he was beaten to death, even as he prayed for his attackers.”

When ever I want to be inspired to live out my faith… I turn to James. Whenever I need the challenge to put faith into action… I turn to this quote.

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photo by Joanna Klapperick

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Humble Quote: What Humility Means

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." - James 4:10

I love the notes I read on this passage... 

Bowing in humility before the Lord means recognizing our worth comes from God alone. To be humble means leaning on his power and his guidance, and not going our own independent way. Although we do not deserve God's favor, he wants to lift us up and give us worth and dignity, despite our human shortcomings.

This is probably one of the greatest ways we can draw close to God. By simply bowing in humility, understanding that all we are is because of him. Our worth and our dignity is because of his favor. Nothing more. 

Living in his power, leaning on his guidance, humbling myself...

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Warning From James

I love reading the wisdom in the book of James. He has short little wisdom nuggets for us as we read throughout the whole book. His writings are less about theological information and more about how to challenge us in our daily living. He includes little one-liners and metaphors that are easy to remember and memorize.

In Chapter 3 James talks about the tongue. Or our words. I was especially challenged when he warns us to be careful with how we speak about other people because those people were made in the image of God. It’s easy to talk “smack” or slander others. But when we do, we are putting down what God created. And not just created but created in his likeness.

The tongue is a powerful muscle. We talk about this often with our kids especially with them being in their playground years of life. But let us not forget this as adults. That powerful muscle God created… the tongue. Use it for good. Use it to build up rather than to tear down. Use it to encourage rather than slander. Use it for praise over insult. Use it for truth over gossip. It sounds easy to do but this is no easy task. We need to constantly be aware. Constantly be in-step with the Lord. Aligned with his will. It is not an easy thing to do on our own so it’s a good thing we have the Helper within us.

I pray that we see people, all people as images of God. Because when that shift takes place, we see them as broken and beautiful. Rather than an object.

In His likeness.