TODAY’S MANNA SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2018 TOPIC: A LOOK AT THE MIRROR

TODAY’S MANNA

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2018

TOPIC: A LOOK AT THE MIRROR
TEXT: JAMES 1:19-27
1) THE KEY VERSE: 
“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” 

(James 1:25).
2) THE TEXT:

(JAMES 1: 19 – 27 KJV)
“19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20. 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.”
3) THE MESSAGE:
i) A story was told of two dogs that went to the house of one thousand mirrors. One was unfriendly and the other very friendly. 
ii) As the unfriendly dog climbed up to the wall to see the mirror, it saw another one thousand unfriendly dogs like it and as it barked, it suddenly saw another one thousand fierce-looking dogs growling back at it from the mirror. 
iii) It had to quickly run out because it was afraid it could be eaten by the ferocious one thousand beasts. 
iv) Meanwhile, as the friendly dog climbed up the same house, it saw another one thousand friendly dogs in the mirror. As it wagged its tail to greet, one thousand other happy dogs greeted it in return. 
v) What both saw in the mirror was actually a reflection of how they both look and what they both had inside of them. 
vi) The book of James is blessed with so many biblical metaphors and symbolic expressions. We read today that we should be “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath”. 
vii) For this to be possible, we must look into the mirror of God’s word. If we have been looking into an imperfect nature, law, music, words or writings of men, then we may as well harvest the imperfect and rash behaviours of the fallen man. 
viii) But when we look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therein, and if we be doers of the Word, we shall be blessed in our deeds. 
ix) There are indeed enormous blessings when we use the word of God as the perfect mirror to daily x-ray our lives and conduct. 

a) It helps us have control over what we say and how we act. 

b) Our religious devotion would become purer and approved by God; and 

c) we will know how to impact others positively. 
x) Every detail of our lives must be guided by God’s word because by it, we will be judged ultimately.
4) THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: 
God’s Word is the cleanest mirror we can trust to see our souls.
BIBLE READING IN ONE YEAR: 
1 KINGS 12-14
Happy Weekend😁😁😁