be an ambassador for Christ
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Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Allie Yost, and we have some guests today. And first off, Gracie, this is rude. This is straight up inconsiderate and rude. We don't have flies on the podcast today, but we have the girl, Thelma.

Girls, normally I put them away, but today I didn't. And then as soon as I clicked, as soon as I clicked the record button, they come running over here. They were sleeping on the couch. So I didn't feel right waking them up and making them go in their cages. So I was like, I like tiptoed away. I was like, okay, this is perfect. I'm going to start recording the podcast. They're going to take their nap because they were just playing outside on a hot summer's day. But maybe they will just sleep with us today. Guys, I'm thinking about doing a different intro.

Like, I know we have the, hi, I'm Allie Yost, your host of the most of Christ with Coffee on Ice, but I'm thinking more like, welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Allie Yost. Yost. I'm just kidding. Guys, I don't really have a plan for this episode. Can I keep it a buck with you? I don't have a huge plan at all. So we're really going to ask the Holy Spirit to intercede, but happy Friday, guys. I

I hope that you are having a beautiful day so far and that you're looking forward to this weekend. I hope that you have some fun plans. I think we should pray over this time that we'll have together and just pray that the Holy Spirit moves and that he speaks to us and he teaches us something because I do think that today we should read scripture. So we should read the Bible together. That's what we're going to do today. I have no idea what scripture, so we should pray about that too and see where he guides us.

Lord Jesus, I just thank you so much for being here, God. I thank you that you are present with us, Lord, and I thank you for every single listener who has tuned into this episode, whether it is their first time ever or they are a loyal, reoccurring listener. God, I just ask that you bless them. And Jesus, I just pray over this time that we have together, Lord. I pray that it is pure.

I pray that we get to learn from you today, Lord. And I pray for a softening of hearts, Lord. I pray for an opening of our minds and our ears. God, I pray that you open our eyes to things that maybe haven't been opened to yet. And so, Lord, I just pray for just a purification, God. I pray that you purify us even more, Lord, that you make us more innocent, God. You make us more like you, Lord.

I just pray that this episode is valuable and that it touches everybody's hearts and it's relatable and they feel seen by their father, Lord. Most importantly, I pray that this episode helps every listener feel seen and loved by you, God, because you do love them and you see them. And whether they feel it or not, at all times, you are with them.

So God, I just pray right now that they feel your presence as well. God, that I pray that even if they felt numb or they haven't felt close to you in a long time, Lord, I pray that over the span of this episode, they feel that for the first time. I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, y'all, let's dive into this episode. Also, Lord, tell us where to read. I don't know where to read in the Bible right now. I'm going to be honest. But guys, look, I got a Bible.

I got a new Bible. It's so pretty. I ordered it. I bought it from a brand called Hosanna Revival. It's stunning, but also my worst nightmare is kind of coming true where I was afraid that I was going to get it dirty, and it already has been loved on a little bit. It's gotten a little dirty, but that's okay. It's honestly, it's gorgeous. I don't have the new international version anymore, though. I have NLT now, so...

I'm really excited. I just wanted to try out a new translation. And so, yeah. So there she is in all her glory. So we have a new Bible. Love her. And I put all these blue Bible tabs on it to go with the theme because it's blue and white. Okay, Lord. Where do we go, Jesus? Are we in the New Testament or the Old Testament? What do we do? James? Okay.

Y'all, I heard James. Who else heard James? That'd be crazy if someone else heard James. Someone's jaw is on the floor. I know it. Someone else heard James. Isn't the Holy Spirit so cool? So yeah, so what I think we should do, y'all, is we should just read the Bible and just see what the Lord has to say. We'll just start right from the top of James.

Wow, that was cool. I've never heard the Lord's voice so quickly like that. This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the 12 tribes, Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings. Faith and Endurance.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. Whoa. Guys, that alone is like crazy. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Can we just like break that down and talk about that for a second? First off,

I don't know if y'all could hear my giddiness and the way I was smiling when I was started to read. If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, because that's literally what we just did. And I just think that's so cool. Like that's actually how we just led this episode was we asked the Lord for wisdom and we did it with full faith in him.

And so I just love, I just love how real the Bible is. Like, I just love that we can literally not only read the Bible, but like see the Bible be brought to life. Like we saw the Bible being brought to life before we even read that scripture. Like we lived that out and it happened and it's going to like, he's going to continue to give us wisdom because we asked for it. We prayed for it. And I, I,

I'm actually really grateful that we're talking about prayer just for the second. I just want to mention this because I knew I wanted to try to integrate this into the episode already for today, but I've been really learning from the Lord about how powerful our prayer is. And, you know, we've talked about prayer plenty of times on this podcast, and there's just such a gravity to prayer that I think we forget about. And we don't realize that praying is actually the most powerful thing that we can do. And sometimes I like lose that. Like I...

forget how like sometimes I feel like I pray but I don't want to say they're empty prayers but I don't I'm not fully convinced that the Lord is either hearing me or I'm not fully convinced that the Lord is actually going to do it and I don't know why I really feel like it's such a fight of like my spirit versus my flesh because my flesh wants to doubt and like not

believe that these things will come but my spirit always does and it's like I'm constantly fighting my flesh with that where sometimes I don't even want to pray because I'm like what is this actually even going to do like I don't know why I fall to that but I know that's so that's got to be so relatable like so many of us are like is this even working and so one thing that I've just I've really been learning from the Lord is actually how powerful our prayers are and I've been asking him to like

help me with that. You know, where if I'm praying on something, like I just did it actually before we started recording for the podcast, I was praying for something and I was like, Lord, I'm really practicing my prayer right now. I'm really practicing like having faith that like there's gravity in the words that I bring to you and that you care about them and you don't forget them. And I like will voice that part to him too, where I'm like, Lord, I am trying, like I'm practicing. I'm trying to practice like having faith in

in praying and then believing that you're you're gonna do it you know and I think honestly like that's all he wants because even the way that the scripture is worded it says if you need wisdom or ask our generous God and he will give it to you he will not rebuke you for asking but when you ask him be sure that your faith is in God alone and honestly like when I do bring my requests to God and I'm praying things to him and I'm bringing specific prayers to him I'm

I don't have any belief in anything else. Like I'm like, if this is going to be answered, it's going to be answered by God and God alone. And so that's all he needs. All he needs is that is you're trying, you're doing it and you have faith in him. And I actually don't think there's anything wrong too with like asking him, God, show your sovereignty to

Like I need my faith to be boosted by you answering this prayer. Like I'm praying the prayers and I'm believing that you hear me and I'm practicing like voicing things to you, even when my flesh doesn't want to do it or if my flesh feels like it's pointless.

But God, I need you to show up, like do something, you know, like I need you to like help my faith grow deeper in prayer. And I do believe that the way that that happens is, well, one praying, but then also the Lord answering those prayers, you know, and I believe that every time a miracle like that happens where we make a very specific prayer and then the Lord answers it, it does deepen our faith and our courage and

In praying. Like when those things happen, you're like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to pray again. You know? Whoa. Anyway, there's just so much wisdom even in just those few verses. I loved that. Believers who are poor have something to boast about for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers. The little flower droops and falls and its beauty fades away.

In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, God is tempting me. God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.

temptation comes from our own desires which entice us and drag us away these desires give birth to sinful actions and when sin is allowed to grow it gives birth to death y'all

I love this. I just want to talk about this too, really quick. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. When you are being tempted, do not say God is tempting me. When we are being tempted, the Lord is telling us here that it is not God who tempts us. Like God is not the one trying to set us up for failure. He doesn't.

dangle a carrot in front of our face and try to see if we're going to do it and then punish us for it. That's not the type of God he is. And that's what the scripture is saying.

Temptations come from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So temptations actually come from our own desires. Temptations actually come from our flesh. They also come from the enemy. Like if anyone's going to dangle a carrot of temptation in front of us,

It's the enemy because he wants us to fall to sin because sin is the wedge between us and our heavenly father, right? That's what causes the distance between him and us. It's our desire because it's just the way our flesh is. It's weak, y'all. Our flesh is weak, but our flesh wants, wants what our souls don't, right? Our spirits are different than our, than our bodies. And so temptations come from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

So with these desires then comes acting on it, which is sin. So if the desires are clearly go against the word of God and what he tells us to do, and then we act on it, that's when we sin. Or even if we're simply like entertaining it, that's when it gives birth to sinful actions and sinful actions give birth to death. Isn't that interesting how our flesh can crave something that actually leads us to death?

Like our flesh is tempted and desires sin, but ultimately it's the thing that ends up killing us. Like that's the thing that ends up separating us from our father. That's the thing that ends up leaving us empty is sin, but our flesh desires it.

So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God, our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. Oh.

Okay, so this is beautiful. So James is walking us through how to resist temptation, to not sin, how it goes against the word of God, to not be misled, shedding light on the fact that anything that is good and perfect is actually a gift coming straight down from heaven, from God, our heavenly father.

who created the lights in the heavens. And through all of this, with all of this, he chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. So even through like our imperfections and the way that we are tempted to sin and the way that we even have betrayed and will betray God,

humanity. Out of all creation, we are still his prized possession. Y'all, that's how big the Lord's love is for us. We are his prized possession. We are his prized possession. We are. Like, think about everything else he's ever created. The galaxies, the universe, the stars, planets, dogs. Dogs are perfect. Like, everything. Sunsets, the ocean, everything.

Every little creature and bug in the ground, like birds, over everything he's ever created, we are his prized possession. We are so much so of his prized possession that he gave his one and only son to die for us on the cross. Can we just let that like sink in for a second? I can't actually fathom that type of love.

So if you feel far from the Lord, just know that there's nothing you could ever do under the sun that would make him love you any less. Because it says he never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

Yeah, there's nothing you could ever do to make God love you less. We just already are. We are already his prized possession. The thing is, y'all, is this Bible is a promise. It's a promise from God. And it's not changing. It's not changing. It never has changed. These words...

He meant it and they haven't changed. He hasn't changed his mind. He hasn't updated the Bible or like altered it or changed it. The Lord knew what he was promising us when he put all of what this Bible is together. And so we need to believe that we are his prized possession. We need to believe that the Lord is not a liar. We need to believe that the Lord tells the truth and only the truth, that he is only of things good and beautiful and

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father. The word of God is good and perfect. And in the word of God it says, out of all creation we became his prized possession. And that's not all of humanity except for, fill in the blank, your name. It's all of humanity including especially your name. Like you, you are God's prized possession.

Y'all, I think the Lord just wanted y'all to remember how much he literally loves you. Individually. You. Like, the person I'm speaking to, he loves you.

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. Wow. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. Oh, that's so beautiful.

What God is saying in this is that it is a true test, not only by how much we know about the Bible, not only about how much wisdom we hold about knowing the word of God, but also acting it out and doing it. I think that's more important. I think God at the end of the day would much rather us act out the word of God than to like study it and memorize it without actually bringing it to action.

Hey guys, how's it going? Are we loving this pod episode? Is it our favorite? Is it absolutely blessing us? Thanks God, you're the best. So this is gonna kind of give a commercial moment y'all, but I really just wanted to let you know that there is a way to give to the podcast and help support it financially. We've already been doing this, but we've considered and taken in some of your guys' feedback and we believe that this is going to be the easiest and

and simplest way to give to the pod if it is something that you feel led to do. So we're going to do it through PayPal, and you guys can give at www.paypal.me backslash CWCOI. It will also be linked in all descriptions below the episode, as well as in the link in our bio on our social media. If you've already given to the podcast in the past or you decide to do it after this episode, I just want you guys to know that it means the world to me. Thank you for your generosity and

And I just appreciate and love y'all so much. Okay, now let's get back into the episode. I love this too. This just shows so much of the father's heart too, where he encourages us to care for orphans and widows in their distress, refusing to let the world corrupt us. God is telling us to love everybody. God is telling us to love the lowly, the people who have less,

Orphans and widows, right? They have loss. They have a lack in their life. And so that is just a way of saying love everybody and don't let the world corrupt you. Don't let the world corrupt your heart where there's like favoritism or you look down to people because of...

Who knows? Maybe their status or whether they have money or not, or honestly, in this generation, how many followers they have on Instagram. I mean, all of that applies, but essentially what the Lord is telling us is to love everybody and don't let the world's wisdom corrupt you.

the way that you look at human beings. Like every single person is a person that the Lord loves and we should be respecting and loving everybody equally. And I think sometimes we get that mixed up with like what respect looks like, like simply respecting somebody, but then maybe agreeing with their lifestyle. I think too many times in this world there's so much division

Because we don't agree with the way that we live our lives, right? That could be simply somebody's lifestyle. It could be their sexuality. It could be a culture. It could be a country. Like there's division all over the world. I think at the end of the day, even when we don't see eye to eye, we should still be loving people. And I don't think that disagreeing with somebody means there has to be a lack of love. Love can always be.

No matter what, like love can always be in the room. No matter what, you don't have to agree with somebody to love them. And if somebody doesn't agree with you, that shouldn't be taken as a lack of love. There's love should just always be in the room, no matter what. And so I really believe that's what the Lord wants us to do too, is to love everybody, no matter what.

No matter what, there's no excuse. There's no exception. There's no, no, we're supposed to love your neighbor. That's everybody. You're, you're supposed to love everyone. And so we need to refuse to let the world corrupt us. Even when it comes to politics, y'all like, honestly, the government politics, all of it, it has such evil running rampant in it because it causes such division, especially like in our country, there's such division in,

And division is sent straight from the pits of hell. Like God doesn't want any division within his children at all. I don't care where you're from. I don't care what religion you practice. I don't care what your sexuality is. I may not agree with every single person.

But that doesn't mean I don't love them still. I love everybody because Jesus tells me to love everybody. And so I'm not going to talk down to anyone. I'm not going to act like they're less than than me. They're all invited to my table just as everyone was invited to Jesus's table.

If we are Christian and we are representing God, that should be so heavy, by the way. Can we just let the fear of the Lord fall on us for a second? If you identify as Christian and you love the Lord and you love Jesus, that means that you are basically an ambassador for the Lord. Okay. So if somebody has never met the Lord in their life, they've never seen Jesus, they've never met the Holy Spirit.

They don't know any Christians. Maybe you're the first Christian they've ever met in their life. You better make sure that you're being loving to everybody because that is what Jesus wants us to do. And that is who Jesus is. Jesus is love. God is love. So we're not talking down to anybody. We're not judging anyone. We're definitely not causing division and we're absolutely including everybody.

But yeah, I just, I feel like too many times we get it mixed up though, that like respecting somebody and agreeing with somebody is loving them. But that's not what the Lord teaches us. Love is love. And then there's having similar opinions and agreeing and whatever. But if you, even if you don't agree with somebody, you can still love them. Like there is no absence of that. Love is, love is always possible.

Also, should we go back a little bit too? I love this part too. Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts for it has the power to save your souls. You must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. We're also not supposed to get angry with anybody, even if, even if.

We don't agree with them. Even if everything they're saying goes against what God says. We do not get angry with people. We do not fight fire with fire. Okay, mini lecture. I just love that. I'm passionate about it because I'm passionate about what Jesus tells us to do, which is to love. And so I think we should spread some more love today. I really do. Okay, moving on.

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The spirit is smirting right now. Did you just hear that, guys?

How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you have favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.

If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, you can stand over there or else sit on the floor. Well, doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him?

but you dishonor the poor? Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear? Yes, indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law, as found in the scriptures. Love your neighbors as yourself. But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin, and you are guilty of breaking the law.

For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. For the same God who said, "You must not commit adultery," also said, "You must not murder." So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. That last sentence, y'all, is so powerful. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. I feel like that's like the world's version of being like karma comes around.

that's literally the most worldly karma is not real it's not it's worldly wisdom but it's just so funny how like worldly wisdom like actually mimics the word of god almost every single time because god is the ultimate knower god knows all he is wisdom but yeah if i were to compare it to like a way that the world says it it's like that but it's

Basically what God is saying is like, if you don't have mercy for others, I'm not going to have mercy for you. Like you will be held at the standard that you hold everybody else. If you're being biased, if you're, you are performing favoritism, if you are picking people because they can offer you something versus maybe a poor person who couldn't offer you a whole lot, whatever it looks like.

The same way that you treat others and the same way that you judge others is the same way that the Lord will judge you. If you've been merciful, God will be merciful as he judges you. So if you are fair to everybody, the Lord will be fair to you.

And the thing is, is y'all, there's gotta be consequences to our actions. You know, I think sometimes people could hear that and they'd be like, well, that's not fair, but it is fair because we're responsible for making our own decisions, right? I think God, I mean, ultimately he gives us knowledge. He gives us wisdom. He speaks to us.

but it is up to us to actually do it or not. And so if we decide to go against what the Lord says, but then we try to justify it by being like, oh, well, I do all these other things that the Lord tells me to do, but you are purposefully choosing to not obey this one thing. Well, it's exactly what the scripture says for the person who keeps all of the laws, except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. There has to be consequences.

If we are actively and purposefully going against what the Lord tells us to do, like we know we're not supposed to be doing something and then we do it anyway, there are consequences to that.

Just as you think about the world, there are consequences when you murder someone. There are consequences when you go against the law. There are consequences when you don't pay your taxes. There are consequences when you go against what the government says, right? Even though we probably don't want to pay our taxes, even though sometimes it's really tempting to get angry, we know there's consequences to doing those things. Do we still have a choice at the end of the day to do them? Yeah. Everybody has a choice.

Everybody has a choice to commit a crime or not, but it's the consequences that hold us to a standard and honestly keep us accountable.

If there were no consequences, imagine the world would already be up in flames by now. And I think that's, that's just another thing that the Lord has already set an example of is like, that's started with God. God has shown us that there are consequences to the way that we go against what he tells us to do. He tells us to love and he tells us to do good things. Like truly, there's no reason for us to go against what God says, because ultimately at the root of all of what God tells us to do is to love God.

To fear him, respect him, take seriously the things he says, and love. And so when we decide to not do that, we will feel the heat of not doing that. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. This kind of turned into a little bit of a heavy episode, but apparently the Lord wanted us to hear this, y'all. So let's just keep going. Faith without good deeds is dead.

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you say goodbye and have a good day, stay warm and eat well. But then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.

Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now, someone may argue some people have faith, others have good deeds. But I say, how can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. You say you have faith for you believe that there is one God. Good for you. Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror. How foolish.

Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Oh, man. Wait, James is tough. James is like, he's really cutting. This is so good. I got to read this one more time, y'all. James 1.19. You say you have faith for you believe that there is one God good for you. Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror. How foolish. Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

The Lord literally just told us that if we are not walking out with good deeds and we say we have faith, we are no better than a demon because demons also believe there is one God. They do. They know that. They believe it. They absolutely believe it. They know their fate and they do tremble in terror, right? When it comes to the Lord, even demons believe in God. Like they believe God.

and know that he's real. But one of the things that would make us very different from a demon is actually the good deeds, producing good deeds through our faith, which is following the word of God, which is doing the things he tells us to do. That's our fruit. When you hear somebody say, oh, they got good fruit. That's like, they got good fruit. Like they got good deeds. Like what they have to offer, what they give is giving. It's very aligned with the word of God. It's good.

You know somebody is like a real believer of the Lord when they're not gossiping, when they're not selfish, when they're not easily angered, when they're generous, when they're selfless, right?

When they are inviting to everybody, when they see everyone, right? They're loving to every person. They're just filled with so much love. They're like just filled with the Holy Spirit, right? That's good fruit. Those are like, they perform good deeds. You see it in the way that they act, in their actions, yeah? That's what fruit is. Fruit is actions. When someone's got rotten fruit, when they ain't got good fruit,

It's like, okay, yeah, maybe they have faith, but they're no better than a demon because they're not acting it out. I think the, again, what the Lord is telling us here is the bigger part of it all is also just doing it, like doing what the Lord tells us to do.

Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the scripture says, Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. He was even called the friend of God.

So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. That's so good, y'all. I was talking about praying, right? Right before this episode, we are made right with God, not only by our faith, but what we do with our faith. What are we doing with our faith? Are we praying? Are we praying? Are we acting out God's will? Are we listening to him and then doing it?

That's when we are right by God is when we have the faith, but use it. And we, it's what we do with our faith. That's so good. Rahab, the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. Just as the body is dead without breath. So also faith is dead without good works.

Okay, James is absolute fire flames. This is so good. All right. Ooh, y'all, this is a good one. We're in James 3 now. Okay, controlling the tongue. Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes, for if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire.

It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? No. And you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

The thing that really stuck out to me that like legit struck me in the chest is James 3 9. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

Oh my goodness, y'all. And when this scripture tells us that our tongues are evil and like all it wants to do is like spew poison. I mean, if we didn't have the Holy Spirit in us and we didn't have the wisdom of Jesus Christ, if we didn't have the word of God, if we didn't have the kindness of the Lord living in our hearts, then

we would be spewing evil. I think that's actually just the reality that we have to come to conclusion with. I don't know. I feel like I kind of struggled with that for a little bit. I don't know if it was pride. I guess it was where I was like, I'm not an evil person. I'm not a bad person. But also y'all, my tongue was nasty. My tongue was nasty before I knew the Lord. I was spewing hate. I was spewing

cuss words. I was spewing resentment and bitterness. I, my tongue was nasty before the Holy spirit came inside of me. Like before I actually had the Holy spirit dwelling inside of me and I had the wisdom of the Lord. Do I,

Am I perfect? No. And none of us are like we are. We are always going to be tempted to gossip. We're always going to be tempted to cuss. We're always going to be tempted to speak ill. We're always going to be tempted to cuss people out on the highway. The temptation and our flesh will always be weak, but it's the way that the Holy Spirit holds us accountable and holds us at a place of stability because he is our foundation to only speak love and light, to only speak life.

Not death, but life. And there is so much power. We hold the power of life and death in our tongue. And it is actually that serious. It actually is that serious. And so, yeah, the truth of the matter is our tongues are literally nasty without the kindness of the Lord. And that's just crazy. Like sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, but then sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.

Yeah, that's just crazy. Our tongues, man, our tongues. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will definitely break your spirit. Names will definitely pierce your spirit. I would rather take sticks and stones to break my bones over piercing somebody in their literal spirit. All right, y'all, this is good. We're in James 3, 13. True wisdom comes from God.

This is so good. If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Did y'all hear that? I need to read that one more time. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly,

unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil for every kind. When scripture tells us that for jealousy and selfishness are demonic, you are not possessed.

But you are definitely being oppressed and influenced by the demonic because the whole reason that Lucifer was struck down from heaven, the whole reason that Satan was kicked out of heaven was because of the jealousy. Come on, y'all. Jealousy and selfishness that he had in his heart. He stopped looking at the Lord and he started looking at himself and he started to be, he was jealous of the Lord and he wanted what the Lord had.

It was the minute he stopped looking at God and he started looking at himself and putting himself on a pedestal. Right. So honestly, that's crazy. Like jealousy and selfish ambition. It is demonic because that's exactly what Satan did. That's what that's what got him in the place that he's at.

That's what sent him to hell for all of eternity. That, that is his destiny because of the jealousy and selfishness that he's, he's held in his heart, that he held in his heart and he, he, he wanted what God was. He wanted to be like God. He wanted what God had.

Y'all that's crazy. That's so humbling. Oh, that's so sobering y'all. And we're all guilty of it. We are literally all actively guilty of that. That's crazy. All right. All right. We're about to finish up. Let's just read this. But the wisdom from above is fire of all pure. It is also peace, loving, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others.

It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. Oh my gosh, guys, I want to keep reading. Do we just read more of James like next week? I

am obsessed with this. The wisdom that's in here. Wow. Wow. Wow. Y'all that was so good. I actually think we need to continue to read James next week. Do we all vote that we should do that? This, this has been fruitful for me. Like I promise, I pinky promise you right now that I will not read James until next Friday for our next episode. Don't read it without me. Stop

whatever, do whatever the spirit tells you to do. You can keep reading it. Maybe we can just read it again next week. But I actually want to continue to read this with you guys. This has been so fruitful for me. I am so grateful. Can we just thank the Holy Spirit right now? Can we just thank God for the way that we asked him for wisdom and he like, he showed up and he gave us some serious wisdom. A lot of it was convicting. A

I'm grateful for it because without conviction, without God's correction, we can't grow, you know? And I think that's, that's essentially what James was starting with, right?

When we read the very, very beginning of it, yeah, I kind of started off saying that. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom. Okay. Yeah. Anyway, I think it's beautiful to be corrected by the Lord. I think it's beautiful to be humbled by the Lord. I think it's beautiful to be sobered by the Lord and to take into consideration. Yeah. Just his correction. Cause he's a dad and he loves us and his correction is good. Y'all it's good. Cause he's a good dad and it all comes from love.

Well, I love you guys. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Christ with Coffee and Ice. I hope it was fruitful. I love y'all. We're in this together, guys. We're learning together. I'm no better than you. We really are. We're just family figuring it out. We are. The Lord is humbling us collectively together, okay? Thank you, Lord, for teaching all of us today.

I love y'all. Can we do something cool today? Can we actually show somebody how cool Jesus is today? Can we practice our faith? Let's practice our faith. Let's do more good deeds. Let's use our faith. Let's not just have our faith, but let's use it this week, okay? I love you guys.

I'll see you next week. We will continue to read James. I hope you have a great weekend. God bless y'all. I love you. And also next week is the last episode of season three. Oh my gosh, it's giving finale. I love y'all. I'll see you so soon. Bye.

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