Christmas TIme....2010

My lesson in humility

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House

 ¹ One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ²There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

 ⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.

 ⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

I Never Tire of Wonderful Sundays

Isaiah 64:8 (New International Version)

 ⁸ Yet you, LORD, are our Father.
   We are the clay, you are the potter;
   we are all the work of your hand.

Wednesday's Wisdom

Chapter 5 of the Book of James

http://www.biblestudyinfo.com/james/congrats.shtml

What does James have to say about the power of prayer?

The imagery throughout James's Epistle is vivid and stark. He sometimes cajoles, sometimes threatens, but he always exhorts us to refrain from what is evil and to act in right ways. He concentrates on human action...until he achieves the final passages where he waxes eloquent on the power of prayer.

Verse 13: "Is anyone among you in trouble?" He should Pray. "Is anyone happy?" He should sing praises. This is a common feature in many church services and well it should be.

I want the power of prayer to be manifest in my my life daily.  James tells us that the "Prayer of a good person has a powerful effect." We must pray, but not be selfish in our prayers. We must get closer to God by communication with him. For in the final analysis this is what prayer is all about.  It is a communication with our creator that helps us to become better human beings.