James 2:12-13

NIV: Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

The Message: Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

As Christians, we have been saved by grace, the free gift open to all. We are not saved by the good deeds we do, by how well we conduct ourselves, whether we are kind to our neighbours. The only thing that qualifies us for heaven is the fact that we have received Jesus Christ, the only son of God, as our Lord and Saviour. But just because we have done so, because we are saved, does not excuse us from obeying Jesus, obeying God.

It is not a case of telling ourselves that we are saved, so we don't have to keep the ten commandments, we don't have to obey God. There is not one set of rules governing believers, Christians, and another set of rules governing non believers. Each one of us will stand before God:

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad (NIV)

God's gracious gift of salvation does not free us from the requirement of obedience. We will all face Christ on the day of judgment to give an account of ourselves. I don't want to end up in heaven as one escaping the fire:

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

I want Jesus to look at me and say "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21, KJV), to know that I used wisely all the gifts God has given me.

It is a case of obeying God no matter what, of trusting in Him despite all the problems we face. But not obeying God through religious conformity, because we have to. We have the freedom to choose, the freedom to obey God or not, whether we are followers of Jesus or not. The difference is that as believers, the freedom we have n Christ means that we willingly obey God, but not begrudgingly, because we have to, because we want a reward, or because everyone else in church is doing so and we don't want to be the odd one out. The law, obedience to God, is not a set of external rules we must follow because we have to, in the same way that we have to obey the laws of our country, pay our taxes, drive within the speed limit and so on. It is a case of wanting to obey God because we have the freedom, the choice, and freely choosing His way, not ours, because we love God and are empowered by the Holy Spirit living within us.

So this involves, as James says here, treating others as we would want to be treated ourselves, not paying back like for like, retaliating whenever we feel hurt or threatened. We need to show mercy and grace to others, forgive them when they wrong us, just as God has shown each one of us mercy, grace and forgiveness. This doesn't mean we lie down on the ground and let everyone and his dog walk all over us, because sometimes we have to take a stand, to refuse to do something if it is wrong, insist on doing something if it is the right thing to do, no matter what the cost.

We need to be different, to be the salt and light in this dark world and to shine out against the general tide of sin and depravity that is rapidly filling every corner of the world. It is not easy. Quite the opposite in fact. There are people dying in Pakistan, India, China, Korea, and other countries for their faith. There are thousands of Christians imprisoned in Eritrea, and many suffer daily torture, persecution, ridicule in many, many other countries of the world.

Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. So no matter what the treatment we receive, we should try always to behave as Jesus would, to show others the love of Christ, show his mercy and forgiveness. Not always an easy task in this day and age.

James 2:11

NIV: For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a law-breaker.

The Message: The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period.

How many times do we each look around at our friends, relatives, neighbours, people we pass in the street, or perhaps we read in the newspapers of what people have done, hear the news reports in the TV or radio. It is easy to be critical of other people, to see their faults and flaws, see their wrongdoings, their crimes, their sins. After all, when you hear the news of one of Jamie Bulger's murderers committing some other offence and having to be taken back into custody, you know that is because he is a murderer, beyond the pale and his crimes are too heinous to even mention.

It is easy to sit and say you would never murder a young child like that (Jamie Bulger was around two years old when he was brutally killed by two ten year old boys, probably some 17 years ago now and the things those boys did to James were really horrific, the stuff of horror stories). Thou shalt not commit murder obviously doesn't apply to you, to me as we would never do anything like that……but what about the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22?

You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. (The Message)

The simple moral fact is that words kill. So when we get angry, we are guilty of murder in our hearts.

James talks about the idea that because we do not commit one sin, because we don't break one commandment, that will cancel out or balance the commandment we do break. So if, for instance, there are five commandments we never break, then they will balance the five we do break and we will be sin free.

Well, reading James and the other books in the bible, it is obvious it does not work that way. Take a good long h

ard look at the ten commandments in Exodus 20:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5. Honour your father and your mother.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's.'

What about when we choose to stay in bed on a Sunday instead of going to church, or when we read our emails, go out with friends, or watch TV instead of spending a quiet time with God? Then there are the images we put before us to help us worship, to focus our thoughts on God - are they not graven images? Then the times something happens and we just automatically say "Oh God", taking the name of God in vain, using it as a swear word. The name of Christ here in the west is in common use as a swear word. As for honouring our father and mother, who hasn't argued with their parents at some tine or other? Then getting angry with your brother or sister is as bad as committing actual murder. As for adultery, this includes the thought as well as the deed, so looking at a beautiful women as she passes by and letting your imagination run riot is as bad in God's eyes as actually committing adultery. Then stealing. Have you ever taken a pen from work, used office paper to write personal notes, taken something belonging to your brother or sister, borrowed something and forgotten to take it back? Then you have stolen. False witness is lying. You may have just stretched the truth on occasion, told a little white lie to get out of trouble, but it is still a lie and therefore a sin. Finally, coveting your neighbour's house, seeing something someone else has and wanting it for yourself. Someone has a new car, new clothes, new baby, new husband, whatever it may be, and you want one too. Your greed, jealousy and lust get the better of you.

Each one of us has probably broken the ten commandments umpteen times, too numerous to count. We may not have kept track of each and every occasion but God knows and I am so thankful that he has cast my sins from his memory as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), that he no longer has a list probably several miles long of all the times I have sinned.

Because God does not grade sin according to how severe it is. There is no colour coded chart with deeper colours at one end for the more serious sins, murder, rape, and so on, and lighter colours at the other end for the less serious sins, for maybe telling a little white lie, not doing something when we should, etc. Just because we have not gone out and brutally killed a little child as Jamie Bulger's murderers did does not mean that God looks more favourably on us than he does on them. We are all sinners, each and every one of us. It doesn't matter how serious (or not) in man's eyes are the sins we have committed, or how commonplace, any sin removes us from God, any sin at all.

That's why what Jesus has done is so amazing. He took on his shoulders the sins of each one of us. So every snide remark, every dig at others, the anger, the greed, the lust, the murder, the lies, the rape, the adultery, the stealing. Each and every sin he bore on his shoulders, carried the weight of them and was punished for each and every one of them. The brutal torture he faced at the hands of the Romans, the stripes on his back, when the skin was torn from his body by the whip, was because of the things we have done, the things I have done. The nails through his hands and feet are because of my sins, the spear in his side is because of what I have done. He paid the price to set me free, to set each one of use free. There is no one who is so bad, or who has committed such awful acts that Jesus' sacrifice does not cover the cost. Each one of us has had the punishment for our sins paid for by Jesus, the slate has been wiped clean and God sees each one of us as dressed in white robes of righteousness. He doesn't see the stain of sin on our souls, the dirt, the grime.

Whether we choose to receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour or not, he paid the price to set us free. If we reject Him, if we refuse to accept the price he paid for us, if we turn our back on this free gift given in love, then we are doomed to spend eternity apart from God. We will face the wrath of God, the judgement, and the eternal damnation that follows. Take a look at Revelation 7 and 9 and see the seal judgements the trumpet judgements, what will happen in the tribulation. There is no neat and tidy ending, no promise of good things to come, if we reject God. Our hardened hearts will be such that even though we know the catastrophes we are facing are from God, we will end up cursing God instead of being in awe at his power and might.

So take a good look at your life today, the things you do and where you are going. Is God at the centre of your life? Is Jesus your Lord and Saviour? Because if not, the bible is only too clear on what will happen. There are so many people who do not know God, or who think they do but are in reality following a false religion. Jesus Christ is the only way to God and any other path is a lie from the devil.

James 2:10

NIV: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

The Message: You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others.

It is so easy to look at the things others are doing and be critical. I can look at my husband, my children and see them doing something and think to myself that I would never do that. I can watch or listen to the news and think how dreadful something is, how awful some people must be to do things like that, to kill, murder, torture, kidnap young children. How it is a truly dreadful world we live in with all the violence and crime.

I sit here in my ivory tower, watching the world go by with a critical eye, never looking at the things I do, the times I mess up, how often I actually do things that are just as bad. Well, ok, I don't actually go around murdering people, torturing them and so on, but what about the times when I come out with a cutting remark that makes someone feel really useless and insignificant? Or when I sit here and fume silently to myself (feeling really superior because I didn't lose my temper and answer back, as well!), going over the things that were said to me, the things that person did, how awful it was, what a mean and rotten person they are, I would never do or say that, metaphorically polishing my halo whilst being ever so critical and judgemental?

Take a look at Matthew 5:21-22:

You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. (The Message)

It is the intention of our heart that matters, the reasons behind the things we say or do. Even thinking we hate our brother and want to kill him is as bad as actually killing him.

And Jesus goes on to say (Matthew 5:27-28, The Message):

You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.

Our thoughts count just as much as our actions. It’s no good feeling all superior and holier than thou because I don't go around killing people, jumping into bed with every other man I see, ignoring my marriage vows. There are men who, for instance, do not commit adultery but will look at other women, read pornographic magazines, etc but Jesus says that is just as bad as actually committing the deed. Getting angry with someone is just as bad as killing them.

It's all very well being critical of others, pointing out their faults and flaws, even if it is only to ourselves (and feeling oh so superior in the process…), but if we think the same things, albeit we never act on it, then we are just as bad. Keeping all the ten commandments apart from one doesn't make us any the better a person than someone who breaks each and every commandment on a regular basis.

God does not grade sin. He doesn't give us marks out of ten for the number of sins we have committed, how serious they are, how often we committed them. A mass murderer in God's eyes is just as bad as the person who tells lies or who gossips. It's not a case of Adolf Hitler scoring a 10 whilst I get a 1.5, for instance. God is so pure, so holy, so just, that He cannot be anywhere near sin. It is like the isolation rooms in hospitals where every precaution is taken so that germs, infection, cannot get to the person in the isolation room. Our sin separates us from God, completely, utterly, like a chasm between God and each one of us that we cannot cross.

I love the NLT translation of Isaiah 44:22:

I have swept away your sins like a cloud.

I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.

Oh, return to me,

for I have paid the price to set you free.

Jesus has paid the price to set us free, to bridge the chasm between each one of us and God. We just have to take His hand and walk across. His sacrifice means that our sins are forgiven, each and every one of them. The sly digs, the innuendoes, the hurting, the hating, the pain, the gossip, the pride, even the murder, the theft, the adultery, the abuse, every single sin is forgiven. Every last one of them.

When we tell ourselves that God wants nothing to do with us because we are sinners, that He could never forgive or forget when we did x, y or z, we are actually being full of pride and imagining that God is too weak and ineffectual to do anything, that our sins are greater than God's ability to forgive, his capacity for love and his great mercy.

No one is so bad that God cannot forgive them, no sin is so great that God's love cannot cover it. There is nothing we have done that could make God love us less, and nothing we can do to make Him love us more. Isn't that just so awesome and so gracious of God? He has paid the price to set us free.

James 2:9

NIV: But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as law-breakers.

The Message: But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it.

Those are strong words indeed, telling us that when we show favouritism, when we give preference to someone because of the way they look, how they are dressed, the job they have, the money they have in the bank, the position and fame they have, then we are committing a sin. I mean, you wouldn't necessarily think that by showing favouritism you were sinning. But what are we doing when we give someone preferential treatment? We are actually preferring them to others, so someone else is suffering because we have not treated them in the same way.

I remember when I was a child, my brother and I would count the vegetables on our plates to make sure one of us did not have more than the other. Crazy, I know, but I have seen my own children do the very same thing. Nobody likes to be treated less well than others, it implies that you are not as good, not as worthy.

So exactly what is favouritism? Well, Chambers English dictionary defines this as:

favouritism or (US) favoritism noun the practice of giving unfair preference, help or support to someone or something

Then if you look preference up in a thesaurus, the following alternative words are shown:

• Preferential treatment
• Preference
• Partiality
• Nepotism
• Bias
• Discrimination
• Prejudice

Woah! This is a real eye opener to exactly what is implied and inferred by showing favouritism. When we show favouritism, we are actually discriminating against someone else. It is not a case of just doing good to one person, but of actively choosing not to do good to someone else. It is treating someone unfairly be virtue of the fact that we are choosing someone else above them.

So, for instance, if I give one of my children only chicken breast when we have a Sunday roast, and give the others the grey meat from the leg or thigh instead, then I am preferring one child and treating the others unfairly, showing bias. If, as an accountant, I only mix with other accountants and "professionals", then I am discriminating against those who do not have professional qualifications, the letters after their name, the higher education. Yet a fancy title and letters after your name don't make you a better person. What about when I ignore the Big Issue person, when I choose not to see them or hear them? That is a form of discrimination as well.

We are told to love one another. Not to love only those who have money, or dress well, or have a good education, who talk the same way we do, like the same things, and so on.

I know I take a very simplistic viewpoint but in reality, I reckon the whole of the bible comes down to love, the great love God has for each one of us, the love Christ has for us, so much so that he died on the cross for us, the way the Holy Spirit loves us and is actively changing us from within to become more like Christ. And we are instructed to do likewise. Not always an easy thing to do when some people are always insulting you, belittling you, and then what about those Christians who are being persecuted for their faith, locked up, imprisoned, raped, murdered? They too are called to love those who persecute them.

This is challenging. I am sure we can all think of people we would rather not have anything to do with, the ones we would cross the road to avoid. But those are the very people we are called to love. God loves every one of us, and we are to love others as God has loved us. I know I fail miserably at this, just as I fail miserably on many other things. So it is a case of leaning on God, asking Him for help me love those I would rather not be on a desert island with. And I know God will not fail, that even though it may take a month of Sundays in my case, He will be changing me from within, making me more Christ like (and He has a long way to go, believe you me!), so that one day, I will truly be able to say that I love all men and treat them equally, just as God treats each one of us equally.

NIV: But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as law-breakers.

The Message: But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it.

Those are strong words indeed, telling us that when we show favouritism, when we give preference to someone because of the way they look, how they are dressed, the job they have, the money they have in the bank, the position and fame they have, then we are committing a sin. I mean, you wouldn't necessarily think that by showing favouritism you were sinning. But what are we doing when we give someone preferential treatment? We are actually preferring them to others, so someone else is suffering because we have not treated them in the same way.

I remember when I was a child, my brother and I would count the vegetables on our plates to make sure one of us did not have more than the other. Crazy, I know, but I have seen my own children do the very same thing. Nobody likes to be treated less well than others, it implies that you are not as good, not as worthy.

So exactly what is favouritism? Well, Chambers English dictionary defines this as:

favouritism or (US) favoritism noun the practice of giving unfair preference, help or support to someone or something

Then if you look preference up in a thesaurus, the following alternative words are shown:

• Preferential treatment
• Preference
• Partiality
• Nepotism
• Bias
• Discrimination
• Prejudice

Woah! This is a real eye opener to exactly what is implied and inferred by showing favouritism. When we show favouritism, we are actually discriminating against someone else. It is not a case of just doing good to one person, but of actively choosing not to do good to someone else. It is treating someone unfairly be virtue of the fact that we are choosing someone else above them.

So, for instance, if I give one of my children only chicken breast when we have a Sunday roast, and give the others the grey meat from the leg or thigh instead, then I am preferring one child and treating the others unfairly, showing bias. If, as an accountant, I only mix with other accountants and "professionals", then I am discriminating against those who do not have professional qualifications, the letters after their name, the higher education. Yet a fancy title and letters after your name don't make you a better person. What about when I ignore the Big Issue person, when I choose not to see them or hear them? That is a form of discrimination as well.

We are told to love one another. Not to love only those who have money, or dress well, or have a good education, who talk the same way we do, like the same things, and so on.

I know I take a very simplistic viewpoint but in reality, I reckon the whole of the bible comes down to love, the great love God has for each one of us, the love Christ has for us, so much so that he died on the cross for us, the way the Holy Spirit loves us and is actively changing us from within to become more like Christ. And we are instructed to do likewise. Not always an easy thing to do when some people are always insulting you, belittling you, and then what about those Christians who are being persecuted for their faith, locked up, imprisoned, raped, murdered? They too are called to love those who persecute them.

This is challenging. I am sure we can all think of people we would rather not have anything to do with, the ones we would cross the road to avoid. But those are the very people we are called to love. God loves every one of us, and we are to love others as God has loved us. I know I fail miserably at this, just as I fail miserably on many other things. So it is a case of leaning on God, asking Him for help me love those I would rather not be on a desert island with. And I know God will not fail, that even though it may take a month of Sundays in my case, He will be changing me from within, making me more Christ like (and He has a long way to go, believe you me!), so that one day, I will truly be able to say that I love all men and treat them equally, just as God treats each one of us equally.

James 2:8

NIV: If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, Love your neighbour as yourself, you are doing right

The Message: You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself."

If we are really trying to obey Jesus, to follow His teachings, be His disciples, then we will love others as we love ourselves. Didn't Jesus tell us "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. " (Matthew 7:12, NIV). Then what about Leviticus 19:18:

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord. (NIV)

It is not a case of only loving those who love us, or only living those who show kindness towards us, or favour us. No, we are called to love all men, women and children, and to love them as we love ourselves. That means that we love the girl who picked on us when we were at school, the boy who tried to beat us up, the boss who is continually criticising, the ex wife or husband, no matter what they have done, the friend who goes and repeats to others things you have told them in confidence, the bank manager who is unwilling to lend any more money, people who are rude and objectionable, those who are continually trying to do you down, keep you under their thumb, whoever they are and whatever they have done.

I read a while ago of the parents or a murdered teenager who said they had forgiven their son's killer. It was heartbreaking, as the boy was an innocent bystander, in the wrong place at the wrong time, and here were his parents, literally hours after his death saying they forgave his killer. Could I do that? Could I have done that? I don't know as you never really do know what you would do until something like that happens, and you never want anything like that to happen anyway. But what an example to others they were and are. Living what the bible tells us.

I tell my children that if they don't like something done to them, then they shouldn't do that very same thing to others. They should treat others as they would want to be treated themselves. Just because someone has called them names (for example) is no excuse to call that person names in retaliation. It may give them an excuse to do so, but it does not make it right. The funny thing is, my daughter repeated almost exactly the very same thing to her younger brother last week, telling him not to do something because "it doesn't make it right"!!! Just when you think they never listen to a word they say, they come out and surprise you by repeating verbatim something you have previously said!

It just goes to show that others will watch what you say and do, they will note your behaviour, what you say, how you act and respond. What sort of an example do we as Christians give if we only love those who love us? If we give preferential treatment to some people, and ignore others? Jesus didn't tell us to love only those who dress smartly, have good jobs and a happy family. We were not told to be nice to others if they are nice to us but respond in kind to everyone else. We are told to behave towards others as we would wish people to behave towards us.

I sit here and think of some of the people I have known, and it is a tall order to follow. Yet Jesus did exactly that. Look at how He treated the Pharisees. Yes, he criticised them, but on the cross, He asked for forgiveness on all those who had put him there. He could have called down legions of angels to destroy every one of them, Asked God to punish them for eternity and a day in revenge for what they had done.

If Jesus can forgive others for having him tortured and killed, show them love and compassion even as he was dying, then don't you think we should show love towards others too?

James 2:6-7

NIV: But 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? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

The Message: Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name—"Christian"—used in your baptisms?

This is a direct message to the church not to follow the money, not to look down on the poor and look up to the rich. After all, in James' day, and in ours too, it is the rich who exploit the poor - you only have to look at the way the west exploits the third world countries to see that, with children working all hours to make clothing, toys, trainers and all sorts. Not only that, it is the rich (who have the money) who will threaten litigation to get their money back from those who can least afford it. Presumably, James was referring to actual cases where believers had been taken to court by the rich because of some dispute yet were still favouring the rich in the community by giving them the best seat, preferential treatment and so on despite how they were treated in return. Of course, it couyld be they were trying to show Christian love, but when it is at the expense of the poor, as it presumably was here, then how can it be love?

In this letter, James is also saying that it is the rich who slander the name of Christ. After all, what need do they have for Jesus when they have all that wealth, the large house, fancy car and so on? Material possessions get in the way of having a real relationship with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. If you are always watching your stocks and shares increase/decrease in value, you are looking for the next property to buy, keeping an eye on the latest designer clothes, buying the latest make and model of BMW, then how will you have time for God? The things of this world will take up your time and God will be squeezed out.

Of course, the same could be said of the poor too inasmuch as if you are always scrabbling around trying to make ends meet, looking out for the postman to see what bad news he is brining in the post, never having enough money for decent food and clothing, then you are also focusing on the things of this world but in the opposite way from the rich. You are letting your worries and cares take over, letting your eyes and your heart move away from God onto focusing on paying the bills, making ends meet and so on.

We are all guilty of pushing God out of our lives at one time or another for all sorts of different reasons, each one of them appearing to be valid at the time. We all let the things of this world take over, our worries, our cares. But when we do this, aren't we insulting God? Effectively telling him that He can't handle our problems, can't help with our finances, our job worries, health problems, etc? The Lord God Almighty, who created heaven and earth and all that is within it can't sort out the mess we are in, heal our loved ones, resolve our financial problems, provide the discipline for our children, find work for us?

I'm not saying that God is a Mr Fixit who will magically solve all our problems, reverse the moral decline in the country, bring peace to the world, solve the famine situation in Africa and everything else that needs to be sorted. What I am saying is that God can do anything, and for Him, nothing is impossible.

We, I, need to stop focusing on the things of this world, stop giving preferential treatment to some people because of the way they dress, the house they live in, the job they have, and to set our, my sights on Jesus, To remember all that He did for us, for each one of us. Yes, bad things happen. People still get ill and die, some have financial problems, job worries, marital problems, difficult children. There are hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves. Even believers have bad things happen to them and sometimes this is like Job, the devil interfering, sometimes it is a time of testing, it could be spiritual warfare, or just life and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sometimes it is a direct result of our own actions.

God won't necessarily get us out of the mess we are in (even though He can), but he will give us the grace to endure it, the peace to come to terms with what is happening. He will be by our side every step of the way, catching our tears and putting them in a bottle , holding our hands when things get too much, giving us strength to face another day.

We need to learn to trust God, to put our faith in Him as He will never let us down. He is a God of love and mercy, full of forgiveness, slow to anger, quick to forgive, gracious, kind, ever loving, ever faithful, omnipresent, omniscient, the Father of all, the creator of the Universe and al that is within it, the designer of each and every one of us who has counted the numbers of hairs on our head. He is the Lord God Almighty, God of gods, King of Kings, Jehovah-Jirah, the Good Shepherd, Prince of Peace, Faithful and True, Counsellor, Healer. Don't you know how He can be trusted? How He will never let us down despite the times we let Him down, refuse to obey Him, go our own way, deny Him, insult Him, take His name in vain?

Try talking to God today. Listen for His voice, hear what He has to say to you. Open your eyes, your heart, your mind to God and put Him first instead of the things of this world. Don't be swayed by public opinion, by political correctness, but make a stand and trust in God. Cast all your cares and worries on Jesus, and leave them in His hands. Make today the day when you start to really trust God, to get to know Him. I'm going to do that, put Him first in my life, not second, third, or even further down my to do list. I'm not saying I will always succeed, because being totally honest about this, real life sucks at times and has a habit of interfering with the best laid plans and intentions. But a life without God is worthless and empty, and I don't want a life like that.

So what about you? Are you going to trust in God? Cast all your cares and worries on Him, let Him carry the burden, have a real relationship with Him instead of a panicked prayer or two every once in a while when things get too much? Or are you going to carry on regardless, having fun, leading your life without regard to anyone other than yourself? Kow towing to those whom you think will get you that promotion, that new job, give you preferential treatment? Turning your back on God, rejecting Jesus, ignoring the evidence of God that is all around us?

It’s your choice.