#to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world

[aspirant1598]

[theinwardlight]

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 1:22, 26-27

[magaministriesusa]

Christianity Is:

Christianity Is:

https://www.magaministries.com/maga.../christianity-is

James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

There is a saying that Christianity Is A Relationship and not a religion, and in many respects this it true, but perhaps it would be more accurate to state what the Bible says that Christianity Is: "The only pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father."

In this passage on a pure and undefiled Christian religion, James encourages us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, and righteous in all our ways. He reminds us that our services should mirror God's Word of truth and that our lives should be separated from ungodly behavior and worldly pursuits. He warns that failure to live this way causes our Christian witness to be worthless, which he reminds us will make the Christian religion "vain and ineffective."

Sadly, many in Christendom today have brought the pure and undefiled Christian religion into disrepute though false teachings, doctrines, foolish predictions and greed. They make a mockery of biblical prophecy, have a lack or reverence for the Lord, redefine the gospel of Christ, and have an incorrect interpretation of the Word of Truth.

Let our hearts desire be to reflect the yearning desire that our Christian religion may be pure and undefiled, and our relationship with the Lord Jesus become increasingly intimate.

Our CHURCH Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word of truth and the wisdom that it contains. Help us to live our lives as unto the Lord in close communion with Christ so that our Christian religion may be pure and undefiled in Your sight. We pray that the words of our mouths may be gracious, and the works of our hands be carried out to Your praise and glory so that our lives becomes reflections of Christ in us, the hope of glory. In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN.

[lennart11412]

21Therefore lay aside all filthiness and [d]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone [e]among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

[gfablogs]

What Is the Connection Between Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation?

Abuse, neglect and exploitation are all forms of human rights violations. No matter the age of the perpetrator or the victim and no matter the relationship between them, anything that deprives someone of life, liberty and security of person, or any action that results in slavery, servitude, inhumane treatment or punishment, is violating that person’s rights as a human being.1

Human rights violations can come in the form of sexual or physical abuse, human trafficking, violence, child neglect, prostitution, debt bondage and much more. No one feels safe or cared for in any of these scenarios. The long-lasting effects of ensuring any one of these include mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, self-harm and the inability to create or maintain healthy relationships.

Genesis 1:27 tells us,

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (NKJV).

Each human on this planet is a reflection of the good and kind Father in heaven who longs to be in relationship with His children He created. He never intended for any of them to experience harm at the hand of another.

James told us how we can reflect Christ:

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”2

Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Com

[swarehime73]

James 1:27 -Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. ,, God's view on religion is vastly different than our view. God puts great importance on people, especially the poor and widows as well living like Jesus and not the world.

[angelojamal]

”Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ——- Let no one say when he [or she] is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he [or she] is drawn away by his [or her] OWN desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.“

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

[albertfinch]

INTERCESSORY WORSHIP

Jesus simply could not look upon the multitudes and not have compassion for them (Matthew 9:36, 14:14). His heart was so full of the love of the Father that He couldn't look without compassion.

We are to live the same way. We should be so full of God's love that rivers of living water should flow from our hearts and change lives and atmospheres everywhere we go. This is what Jesus was referring to when, in Matthew 10:8, He said, "Freely you've received, freely give."

He said to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and raise the dead. 

Matthew 25:34-40 - "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'"

THE MINDSET OF JESUS

 James 1:27 -"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

The mindset of Jesus was to ignore His needs and instead focus on the needs of the poor and the sick. We need to be unspotted or uncontaminated from the ways of the world and simply fix our eyes on Jesus and follow in His footsteps.

Once we get to that place of deep worship, that place where the glory falls, it is then we should begin to cry out for the lost, for the broken, for the sick, the poor, and the dying. That is a natural thing.

There is a very fine line that separates worship and INTERCESSION— the two go hand in hand.

LIVING LIKE JESUS

Worship is more than just music or art; it's a lifestyle (Romans 12:1). We need to live like Jesus -- not just to see the need, but also to meet the need. Anyone can be a THERMOMETER and just gauge the spiritual temperature, but we're called to be THERMOSTATS and to change the spiritual temperature! We're not called to just point out sickness, poverty, and sin; we're called to change those ashes into beauty. After all, it's Christ in us that is the hope of glory!

As we spend time in INTERCESSORY WORSHIP, crying out. 

We begin to truly experience more of Him and less of ourselves, more of the Spirit and less of the flesh. It stirs up boldness within us to step out and love and DISCIPLE the unloved and to have compassion for the multitudes.

Once we've gotten to the place of interceding in worship, there is still one more step—GO FIND HIM. To find Him in the broken, to find Him in the poor and the sick, to find Him in the lost, to find Him in the widow and the orphan. The promise is that if we seek Him, we will find Him. He's calling out, "Come find Me." Will you go?

"Keep on asking and it wil be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7 AMP

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

[nekonekochan]

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 1:19‭-‬27 NKJV

https://bible.com/bible/114/jas.1.19-27.NKJV

[aspirant1598]

[christianotome]

I don’t really like the word religion

John R. Cross, in The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, defined religion as the human effort to reach God. However Jesus said “[...] I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Therefore any effort men make to reach God is vain. There are a couple of verses about religion at the New Testament

“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:20‭-‬23)

“If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:26‭-‬27)

This is what I understand by reading this:

Doing this for the sake of showing off means nothing to God

Following rituals mechanically is worthless

We must watch out for what we do and be careful to what we say

What God really wants is for us to love first Him and then other people

What I really want to say is that true christian belief it’s not about what we can do to reach God, but that He reached us through the sacrifice of His son. And that’s why I don’t like the word religion, but I don’t know any other word that can be used.

[g0ds-g1rl]

James 1:27

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thu., Feb. 4, 2021

Commemorated on January 22_by the New calendar

The Holy Disciple Timothy (+ 96) 

     The Holy Disciple Timothy was from the Lycaonian city of Lystra in Asia Minor. Saint Timothy was converted to Christ in the year 52 by the holy Apostle Paul (+ c. 67, Comm. 29 June). When the Apostle Paul and Barnabas first visited the Lycaonian cities, the Apostle Paul at Lystra healed one crippled from birth; many of the inhabitants there then believed in Christ, and among them was the future youthful disciple Timothy, his mother Eunice and grandmother Loida (Lois) (Acts 14: 6-12; 2 Tim. 1: 5). The seed of faith, planted in the soul of Saint Timothy by the Apostle Paul, brought forth abundant fruit. He became a zealous student of the Apostle Paul, and later his constant companion and co-worker in the preaching of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul loved Saint Timothy and in his Epistles called him his beloved son, with gratitude remembering his devotion and fidelity. He wrote to Timothy: "Thou hast followed me in teaching, in life, in disposition, faith, magnanimity, love, and patience in afflictions and sufferings..." (2 Tim. 3: 10-11). The Apostle Paul in the year 65 ordained Saint Timothy as bishop of the Ephesus Church, which the saint administered for 15 years. And finally the holy Apostle Paul, situated in prison and knowing, that the act of martyrdom was before him, summoned his faithful student and friend, the Disciple Timothy, for a last farewell (2 Tim. 4: 9).

Saint Timothy ended his life as a martyr. At Ephesus the pagans made a feastday in honour of their idols and they carried them through the city, accompanied by impious ceremonies and songs. The holy Bishop Timothy, zealous for the glory of God, attempted to halt the procession and reason with the spiritually blind idol-worshipping people, by preaching the true faith in Christ. The pagans dashed angrily upon the holy disciple, they beat him, dragged him along the ground, and finally, they stoned him. The holy Disciple Timothy's death by martyrdom occurred in the year 80. In the IV Century the holy relics of the Disciple Timothy were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the church of the Holy Apostles. Holy Church venerates Saint Timothy as amongst the number of the Seventy Disciples.

© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.

James 1:19-27 

19So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Mark 10:17-27

17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"18So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.19You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'20And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.23Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.26And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, "Who then can be saved?"27 But Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible."

[chawsl]

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27 NKJV

[mt-seeker-of-rain]

Pure and Undefiled...

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit the orphans and the widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

— James 1:27

[christianmenatwork]

Are You Clean-Selah74-CMAW171

S

I recently gave a talk at my church and I really enjoyed preparing for that and giving the talk and thought the topic would be a good one for us to discuss on this podcast.

  I'll provide a link to the entire talk which was streamed on Youtube and lasts over an hour. I encourage you to check it out since there's a lot more discussion in that than we'll have time for you on this podcast.

  My intent with this Selah episode is to hit the main points from that talk, and to make some application to the workplace.

  So let me start by giving some context on this talk.

  In our Messianic congregation, we have worship and teaching similar to most churches.  A few things that are different than what I was used to before attending this church include that we publically read a couple chapters before the Pastor gives his teaching, then we have what we call Oneg, which is basically a potluck meal, and then we have what we call Torah Talk, which is another teaching that normally involves a lot of participation from those attending and often allows to go a little deeper into certain topics from the reading that there wasn't time for in the main teaching.

  We call the readings the parashat.

  Wikipedia's definition of a parashat is "a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year."

  So we follow that Jewish tradition.  Every parashat has a traditional name which is normally a Hebrew word found in the parashat that kind of sums up the overall message from that Parashat.

  My talk was based on Lev 14-15 and the Parashat was called "T'zria".  These passages are primarily about T'zaraat which is often translated as leprosy but really refers to a skin disease. 

  This lesson had both physical and spiritual lessons.

  The first lesson was that Disease is usually contagious and therefore for the good of the whole, the infected person is quarantined. 

  The scriptures talk a lot about keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.

  Ps 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;”:

  In 1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV Paul says “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

  James 1:27 NKJV says “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

There was a lot of discussion during this talk about how we should apply these in our lives.  It reminded me of how so often the Christian walk is filled with tension, in a good way.  In this case, we should not mingle and be spotted by unbelievers, but at the same time we are to be like Jesus and love on unbelievers and those who are entrapped by sinful lifestyles that we're not currently struggling with.

I think the key in working this out is to know where we are in our walk.  If we're spiritually weak, we need to be very guarded not to let the world impact us.  If we're spiritually strong, relatively speaking, we need to be salt and light and be about the Father's business while there is light during the day, sharing the Gospel, and blessing others.

This is certainly true in the workplace.  There can be a lot of temptations in the workplace and opportunities to sort of blend in and be worldly and sinful.  Our job is to be set apart, but to also always be ready give an answer to everyone who asks us the reason for the hope that we have.

  In  John 17:15 NKJV Jesus said “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

  One of the great things about working in the marketplace and not in "full-time" ministry is that it's so easy to live out this prayer from our Savior.   Going to work each day, we are in the world, but our job is to keep ourselves from the evil one while at work.

That's just the first lesson I discussed and there were 6 lessons, but I'm going to keep this short so I can get to other parts I usually cover in my Selah episode, especially I didn't do that in the last episode.

Again, if you want to hear more check out the full teaching at the link in the shownotes.

https://youtu.be/ySVAHjI-hLI

  E

I want to use E portion of the Selah episode to stat a new series calling Essentials, scriptures we can all look to when we’re frustrated, confused in our world, asking ourselves “what do I do?”  These essentials will not be specific to the workplace, I’ll try to continue to reference those work specific passages in the L or Logos section. I guess you could say what's special about the passages I've selected is that they help us narrow in on what should our Christian walk look like, to serve as a guidepost for us to reflect, assess, and adjust as needed.

  I’m not going to teach or comment on these scriptures but will try to let them speak for themselves and ask you to spend time meditating on these each week and ask God to show you how He wants you to apply them to your life now.

I also ask you to look into the context for these passages, what comes before and after them and the mindset the original writer had.  I will intentionally keep these brief and leave it up to you to pursue and investigate the context of each.

  Titus 1

For an overseer,  as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Titus 1:7-9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Titus%201:7-9&version=ESV

  L

  Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

  You often this passage used at weddings, but I'd like to talk about teamwork in the workplace.  Do you value the members of your team at your work?  Are you a good team member?  You may be thinking, "I'm not part of a team" and my response to that is that you may be part of a team but aren't thinking about it and trying to do things on your own.

  I had the priviledge to attend my 2nd Nascar race yesterday with one of my daughters and her fiance at the Martinsville Speedway, sometimes referred to as the paperclip since it's one of the short tracks still regularly used.

  It was a lot of fun overall.  It rained a little when we got there but it stopped quickly and didn't delay the race very long.  One comment I have to make is that just about everyone there seemed like they were at some level of drunkeness.  The first time I went to a Nascar race I went with some people that chose to get drunk.  At the time I was still a tee-toteler and had been for a number of years, so that was awkward.  I now drink in moderation but I guess my comment was that for the most part the people I saw didn't seem very happy, and I was driving to the event and chose not to drink and it was a joy to not feel the need to include that in the event.  Just something I was thankful for in addition to having a good time with daughter.

  But the main reason I bring up the race was to make an application from the verse today from Ecclesiastes. I was rooting for Chase Elliott.  He was leading after the first 2 stages of the race, which made up over half the race.  Then in the beginning of the third stage, Chase's pit crew had a slower pit time than William Byron, #24 and so coming out of the pit William Byron took the lead and he never let it go and went on to win the race.  Unfortunately Chase Elliott got kind of lost in the pack and ended up, I believe in 10th place.

  This reminded me how important teamwork is.  Whether it's with our wife, or at our job, or other parts of our life, we should resist the temptation to be the Lone Ranger and take the time and effort to work well with others, which may include giving them credit or helping them to develop their skills.

It will pay off for them and for us, and it's biblical, meaning it's God's way. 

  A

https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork

  H

  Jokes

  My friend told me he couldn't afford his water bill - I sent him a get well card

Check out this episode!