James 3

Taming the Tongue

 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

In one breath I praise You and in the next, I am cursing You indirectly when I gossip, or back bite, or grumble. You hate grumbling. Your Word says so. Forgive me Lord.....

 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Is it hopeless Lord? Is there no hope for my mouth? Create in me a Clean Heart Lord, please........

 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt^[a] water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Lord, I just want to take my talents and bury them and hide. I know this is Wrong. Your Word says so. Help me to bring your great returns. Shore me up Lord. Send someone to help hold my arms up in this battle.

Two Kinds of Wisdom

 17But 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. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Wisdom: Pure. Peace-loving. Considerate. Submissive. FULL of Mercy and Good Fruit. Impartial, Considerate. THAT is a huge list. I want to know this way Lord. I want to serve in this way.

Footnotes:

1. James 3:11 Greek bitter (see also verse 14)

After spending Thanksgiving dinner in a Chinese restaurant with the A/C on in the house because it was 80 degrees outside, I thought to myself, "Bah, Humbug!" The stress of the holidays was starting to mount. My husband's motorcycle (and mode of transportation to and from work) broke down leaving us to dip into our emergency savings to fix and he had to spend most of the holiday weekend in the garage trying to fix it. It was so hot an humid outside that I just could not get into the holiday spirit. And then something miraculous happened. I got down the box of Christmas decorations and saw my children's eyes light up. We went through the boxes of keepsake ornaments remembering times gone by. We strung lights around the kitchen cabinet and simmered apple cinnamon potpourri to give the whole house the smell of fresh baked goods. I turned the A/C down lower and we strung garland around the entertainment center. My boys played with a train set and took turns playing santa in a santa hat. I got so excited that I even baked cookies (and I don't bake, I cook)! When my husband came in from the garage we listened to Christmas carols and turned on the fake TV fireplace. I read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and we drank hot chocolate. So, this is Christmas! Family, Love, Laughter, Home, Blessings, Warmth, Food, Cuddles, Kisses, and Chocolate Cookie messes. December starts tomorrow with the countdown to Christmas and I say, "Bring it on!" I am ready for more holiday fun!

Tomorrow will be December 1st, where has all the time gone. Seems like it was just summer, now it's almost Christmas.

I am thinking that Monday will be kind of a free day for me, normally I do~ make menus/grocery shopping, but we have changed the day of grocery shopping to Friday mornings. So I need to reconfigure my cleaning schedule a litttle.

We had a not fun time yesterday with our new stove, when they delivered it we looked over the entire box and even opened up part of it to make sure it was the right model. Since we knew we wouldn't be installing it until after Thanksgiving we kept it all boxed up so it would stay nice. Roger took the old one out and we brought the new one in and went to unpack it and the smoothtop cooking surface has a crack in it, it was right at the edge so we didn't see it when we opened it up. Now we are without a stove for a least a week hopefully not much longer than that. I don't like not having a stove but since I have started doing weight watchers maybe this will be one of those blessings in disguise. This past week at my weigh in on Wednesday I had lost a total of 6.6 pounds (this was my third weigh in) it sure seems to come off slowly and I still struggle with being hungry all the time but I am eating much better and I plan on doing it as long as I can.

The rest of the evening tonight I plan on finishing up our cards so that I can mail them tomorrow...

Crafting this week will hopefully  include cutting out the pj's for the grandkids. I have put my Christmas stockings on hold for now, I just put our old ones up and I have lots of detailed work to do on the ones I want to make. I don't want to just hurry and throw them together so they will be done for this Christmas.

I have started a Bible Study that I have had for a few years and never got around to doing. It's called "A woman's walk with God" by Elizabeth George it's about the Fruits of the Spirit. The first one she talks about is Love, some of the things I have read so far are real eye openers, I will be sharing with you all any interesting things I come across. I have only read about 40 pages so far but here are a few things that stood out to me...

This is mentioned to be from the author Jerry Bridges~

"To recognize that there is someone I do not love is to say to God, I do not love You enough to love that person."

another excerpt from the book~

But when Jesus calls us to love our enemies and do good to them, He tells us to do good to them "expecting Nothing in return" Luke 6:35

So far I am liking this Bible study quite a bit, it's very interesting and informative.

Hope everyone has a great start to their week...

Blessings,Joann

I am looking to reduce some of my books that I have in my house.  I have a goal of emptying one bookshelf so that I might put something else on that shelf. 

I am trying to find places online that I can post the books for free.  Currently I use Half.com, Paperback Swap, and Cash4Books.net. 

Does anyone know of other book places?  Can be exchange sites as well as I tend to exchange for books for our church library and donate them.  The basic need is that they are "Free postings!". 

Thanks for any help!

Warmly, ~Melissa

James 2

Favoritism Forbidden

5  Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

So many places in the Word talk about this......and as a mom, I know when you repeat yourself several times.....it's important. Help me to love others with child-like faith.

8  If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"^[a] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"^[b] also said, "Do not murder."^[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

Thank you for The Law Lord. I know I cannot 'keep it' but it is there as my measuring stick. Help me to Love today. I love your Word Lord. Thank you.

12  Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Lord, help me to be merciful. Not compromising, not 'soft', not 'luke-warm', but help me to be merciful, like you.

Faith and Deeds

 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"^[e] and he was called God's friend.

24   You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Help me to do what you want me to do. I don't want to get caught up in busy stuff. I don't want to do deeds that are worthless.Convict me in my wrong directions, and move me towards what pleases you. Show me in your Word, where you want me.

25  In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

My sins are as scarlet as Rahab's yet you used her in a mighty way. Lord, you can use anyone, who allows you....please, use me. Let me know......show me. Please.

Footnotes:

1. James 2:8 Lev. 19:18
2. James 2:11 Exodus 20:14; Deut. 5:18
3. James 2:11 Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17
4. James 2:20 Some early manuscripts dead
5. James 2:23 Gen. 15:6

and six hours later we drove in the driveway:> needless to say the turkey didnt get cooked and the big football game we were going to watch wasnt even aired locally lol

It has been pretty foggy here the last few days so it was nice to escape it even for a few hours...the sun was shining and it was warm enough on the hill ,we didnt even need sweatshirts...we had a great time.. we came home with a tree that is about 3 feet to tall, (we did pretty good usually it is much more off.. funny how everything looks so much smaller out in the great outdoors), a craftsman wrench (found on the side of the dirt road we were bouncing down) and quite a few shaggy mane mushrooms, and a batch of fried chicken mushrooms...they were tasty:>

its cold and foggy back in the valley and the fog is so thick I am very thankful we are all tucked in for the night...we brought the tree in for the night so it wouldnt freeze but I think tomorrow we will be getting a new Christmas tree stand...we have been limping by with this one too long... we will make a dump run tomorrow...

The trip tip roast  Dad marinates in a mesquite marinade...once its grilled he slices it... very good!  

A  trick I like to use to make it really good is to add a ounce or two of  tequilla in with the mesquite marinade it gives  it a nice little zing....

Hey ,Ladies I recieved an email today about gift cards .Don't Buy Them This Year as a Gift !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alot of BIG Store's are CLOSING after the Holidays !!!!!!!!!!!! Your gift cards want be honored if the one you pick is Closing For Good due to the ever Changing  Economy. I'm sure we all will be hearing more about this subject as this year ends .The stores are trying to make money during the holidays . They are  stocking up on our money to get them throught , and draining the low and middle class Folks .So ,it might be a good idea this Christmas ,to Share the most important gift  of all LOVE . Having an old Fashioned Christmas ,baking ,cooking ,crafts ,and spending TIME with love one's. Which is really what our Children want and need from their Family .Time spent with them !!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone had a blessed family gathering this Thanksgiving .See ya all later , Shaune