James 1:20-2720 For the wrath of
man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay
apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness
the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.23 For
if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass:24 For he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed.26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth
not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.27 Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless
and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James tells us right here in verse
21 to lay apart all filthiness…that means get those things out of your life!
The second part of that verse lets us know we need to receive with meekness the
engrafted word. If you‘re not familiar with engrafting, it means to bond, to join or fasten as if by grafting, to become grafted and begin
functioning normally. We talk about grafting trees or plants together,
so the different plants grow together and become one. When organ or bone marrow
transplants are involved, we hope that they graft so the body will accept the
new piece and they will become one. This is how the Word of God needs to be in
our lives, part of us. Some scriptures that illustrate this are Psalm
119:11 and Psalm 119:9.
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee.
9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by
taking heed thereto according to thy word.
If we take God’s Word and make it part of our lives it’s
engrafted, embedded in our lives. Memorize a verse to the point it
automatically comes when there is fear or trouble. 2
Timothy 1:77 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
We’ll talk more about this
passage next month.
Pastor Paul, Haven of Rest
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