James 4 1/10/13

Hello guys and welcome back to another post by me, your host, Matt. Today we will be discussing James 4. 

1-10

James says that the reason that we fight with each other is because we want things that we can't have. We want these things for our pleasure and when we want what the world has it is viewed as hating God. God is against the proud but he is kind to the humble. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Be humble before The Lord, and he will make you great. 

11-12

When you criticize a fellow Christian you are criticizing the law they follow and thereby making you a judge rather then a follower of the law. But God is the only true and rightful judge so it's not right for you to judge others. 

13-17

We can never accurately predict what will happen tomorrow. You could run late, get sick, or win the lottery so what you should say is if it is Gods will, I will go and do this or that. Let God do the planning.

That's it for today folks see you next time. Take care, brush your hair. I'll see you tomorrow. 

James 3 1/9/13

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 3 of James. This chapter is pretty short so I'm expecting this post to be short as well.

1-12
James starts off with warning people that teachers are judged more strictly than other people. Then he goes through all these analogies about how the tongue controls the body, like the bit in a horses mouth or a rudder on a ship. Then in verse 8 he says "But no one can control the tongue. It is wild and evil, full of deadly poison". He says our tongues are two-faced. We praise God with the same mouth that curses others. This is bad but it's something that we all do because we aren't perfect.

13-18
True wisdom. You can show your wisdom by living right and being humble. Verse 14 "If you are selfish and have bitter jealousy in your hearts, you have no reason to boast. Your boasting is a lie that hides the truth." This verse makes me think of a bully. They only bully others to drown out the truth inside themselves. This kind of wisdom doesn't come from God, it comes from the devil. The wisdom that God gives is, verse 17, "First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help people who have trouble and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest." People who live right get the blessings that come from living right.

I told you it was going to be short but thats all I got for chapter 3. Until next post, or comment, -Matthew Jimenez

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James 2 1/8/12

Hello and thank you everyone for all the wonderful feed back yesterday. Today we will be doing James chapter 2.

1-7
James begins with loving thy neighbor like thee's self. He talks about how people judge all the time and how we're very bad at it. He brings up the example where your hosting a party and a well dressed man with bling bling walks in and a poorer looking man walks in. You would offer the well dressed man a nice seat but you would give the poor fellow a worse seat when compared to the rich man. You judged them by how they looked and then acted on it. Rich people are rich in money while God made poor people are rich in faith.

8-13
God's number one rule is love your neighbor as you would love yourself. James says that if you treat someone as more important then someone else then you are breaking all of Gods law. The best metaphor that I could think of for this is a ribbon, like at the end of a race. The ribbon represents Gods law and all the individual laws are written on the ribbon. Now say you break one of the laws and where that law was written on the ribbon is now broken. What happens to the ribbon? It breaks. It doesn't matter which rule you break, sin is sin and sin is equal.

13-20
Faith with out works is dead. If a fellow Christian walks up to you in need of food a clothes and you tell them be safe and stay warm, without actually giving them anything then your words were worthless. What you say ani't gonna help this guy out, he needs action and aid or 'works'. You wanna know something else interesting? Demons have more faith then some people. It say in verse 19 that demons believe in God and shake with fear, so what makes faith good is action witch is why demons are bad and not good because of their faith.

21-26
James goes and proves the faith that does nothing is worth nothing. He brings up Abraham and how he had the faith to sacrifice his son. Because of his faith plus actions he not only saved his son but also was made right with God. He was called a friend of God. James also talks about Rahab and the spies but the point is still the same, faith that does nothing is dead.

That concludes chapter 2 of 5 of James and tommarow will be chapter 3 of 5 of James. Take care, bush your hair, I'll see ya when I ya, hopefully down below;) (winking face).

James 1 1/7/13

Hey everyone this is Matt here about to drop some wisdom upon you about James 1, our first chapter.

1-8
So James is written by, guess who, James and he starts off talking about troubles and trials. he tells us to be happy about our troubles because they will grow us in our faith if we remain faithful to God. James also tells us that to ask God for wisdom and believe and should not doubt him because after all, he knows every thing.

9-11
The next section refers to wealth. Poor believers should be happy that God thinks of them highly and rich believers should be happy when bad things humble them. As pastor Rob said just because your not healthy, wealthy, or prosperous doesn't mean that God does not love you. James just said that God loves the poor as well as the rich, so don't be thinking that you need to be a billionaire so very bad, because God loves you no matter what.

12-18
Now James moves on to discuss temptation. Temptation does not come from God, it comes from your very own desires, the things you want. If you follower your desires, they will lead you to your spiritual death. God blesses the faithful and all things good come from God and he will never change.

19-25
James preaches always be more willing to listen then to speak. God gave you two ears for listening and one mouth for speaking. Don't get angry because anger aint yo friend. Its not ever going to help you in your walk with Christ. He also says listening and doing nothing is pointless. In other words you can read the whole bible, memorize it in fact, and accomplish nothing if you don't use it. It would be just wasted knowledge.

26-27
This little bit talks about guess what... the first G in our series... Ok times up Glory! More specifically worship. Verse 26 basically says that you shouldn't brag about your offerings and think that your all that because of them. DO NOT BE LIKE THESE TWO CLOWNS this is what not to do."Hey man, I gave 100 dollars in church this morning" "Oh yeah that's nothing I gave 500 dollars, I'm so more religious then you..." God does not want an offering if its just to show off for someone else. It has to be sincere and from the heart no matter the size. Then verse 27 simply says to help those in need and stay pure from worldly sin.

So that's the end of Chapter one of James. Tomorrow will be chapter 2. Place your comments down below and feel free to criticize me. Tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Also leave your favorite verse(s), and any questions you have about the chapter. I'm putting this up 1/6/13 (Sunday) but really its meant for 1/7/13 (Monday). Take care, brush your hair, I'll see you guys down in the comments.

Philippians 4

The book of Philippians was really amazing! I'm sad its over, but Matt Jimmenez will kick off the next book of the Bible starting tomorrow!

Philippians 4:6 Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything.

This is my favorite verse in the Bible. Everytime I'm worried about anything I think of this.

Can't wait to see what you guys get out of Philippians 4!

See you at highschool!

PHILIPPIANS 3

Sorry this is so very late, I had a wrestling tournament today.
Philippians 3 is super amazing because Paul teaches something that most people believe the OPPOSITE of!
Muslims, Hindus, Buddists, and others all believe you may get to heaven by good works. In Philippians 3 Paul talks about how he obeyed the law without a fault! Before he could even make choices for himself his parents did what the law required them to do them.

PHILIPPIANS 3:7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 

Now that Paul is a Christian he knows that obeying the law and being pretty much perfect was getting him NOWHERE! He was still a sinner deserving death.

Philippians 3:8-9 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 

It took Paul all of his childhood and a good bit of his adult life to realize that everything is worthless when compared with knowing Christ Jesus. Luckily, we can see through his life these lessons without having to live them ourselves. Don't let anything in your life come before Jesus Christ, because IT IS GARBAGE compared to JESUS CHRIST!

Philippians 3:13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

Whenever, I stop and think about how many times I've messed up in the past and walked away from God, I find myself unable to move forward. Paul says forgets the past because he knows every second of the future is a step closer to God

Philippians 2

Philippians 2 is a really great chapter because it builds on Philippians 1. Yesterday Jackie was talking about how she thought obeying God, pleases Him. 
Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.
This verse proved she is right. Also I usually have the desire to obey God, but not the power to carry it out. V. 12 and 13 make me think that the more I obey God the more I'll be able to do it again.
Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining or grumbling.
This verse has had a big impact on my life because when I was little, I had to right it 100 times if I complained about a chore.
Now it helps me not complain or at least keep the complaints in my head.
Philippians 2:15 So that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people let you lives shine brightly before them.
I am trying my best to not do anything that will hurt my testimony for God. Billy Graham has been good about this and he will leave an unscathed legacy for God. Actions speak louder then words. If are living an upright joyful and peaceful life, without using bad worldly things to find that joy and peace, your testimony can be proof of your faith in the Lord.

Philippians 1

1rst day of Phillippians today. Philippians is my favorite book of the Bible because of how Joyful it makes me feel to read about a church that was following the LORD right and didn't need to be reprimanded by Paul.

Philippians 1:5 because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.

I think that is amazing! I always felt like I couldn't share my faith until I knew more about God or was closer to Him, but the people in Phillipi went out and spread the Gospel knowing way less than I do.

Philippians 1:21,22 For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don't know which is better.

Paul is such an amazing Christian! Every second he was alive was FRUITFUL service for Jesus Christ. That means no matter if he was in prison, getting beaten, or in court, that time was being used and good results for Christ were coming out of it. I know I waste a lot of time doing worthless stuff. I want to get my life to where it is fruitful service for Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:29 For you have been given not only the privelege of trusting Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

This sounds like one of the commercials where at the end they throw in a special offer, like Not only will you get the Proactive Scrub Brush, we will also throw in two free bottles of shampoo! I know for me suffering doesn't get me excited. :( I am going through a desert thing right now and I'm trying to be positive but its not easy. Suffering in a Godly way does bring glory to God though. It brings more glory than living Godly because it's harder to do. That's why I think they say suffering is a privilege.

I'm praying God blesses you in your Bible reading and day today. Don't forget to comment!

Free Day

So we finished Romans yesterday and we have not met to talk about what we are  going to read next or who is leading it, so today is a free day. Meaning that you read what ever chapter or chapters you want and comment with what you learned, what stood out to you, etc.

We are having bible study tonight at 6:30 - 7:30. We will be covering A LOT: Romans 4-16, if you did not read all of this its okay please still come because we will be talking about a lot of good things. :)

Romans 16 - LAST CHAPTER

IT'S 2013!!!! I hope you all had a great 2012! :)

Today is the last day of Romans :( I have learned a lot and I really hope you have too! I love what everyone had to say when they posted. 

With Romans being over and we have not really met to talk about what to read next, tomorrow is going to be a free day. That means you can read whatever chapter you want in the whole bible and then tell us about it on the blog. :) We will decide what book is next at bible study tomorrow. :)

So anyways back to Romans 16. 

The first part of Romans 16 is Paul talking about all the different people he knows that have helped him or that are his friends. Then it says: Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings. (Romans 16:16 NLT).

Then Paul warned everyone to watch our for the people that would try to turn them away from their faith. They do this by teaching the opposite of your faith. These people are doing this for them, and it says that: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. (Romans 16:20 NLT). This verse means that God will punish these bad people one day because they are doing things for them self's, and he will reward the people that are doing things to glorify him.