My thoughts today

James 3:17-18 (The message version)

"Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. "

1. begins with Holiness
2. Characterizations:
a. Grace "getting along"
b. Mercy "Gentle & Reasonable"
c. Consistent "Not hot one day and cold the next, not two faced"
d. Dedicated "Develop... community"
e. Righteous "Dignity and Honor

I think I could preach a sermon out of this one statement!!!

I just thought this was interesting in my reading today, and really wanted to share.

Satan & Lord Dividing the Souls

On the outskirts of town, there was a big old pecan tree by the
cemetery fence. One day two boys filled up a bucket with pecans and
sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.

"One for you, and one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy.
Several were dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed,
he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to
investigate.

Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for
me."

He just knew what it was. "Oh my," he shuddered, "It's Satan and the
Lord dividing the souls at the cemetery."

He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met
an old man with a cane, hobbling along.

"Come here quick," said the boy, "You won't believe what I just heard.
Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up souls."

The man said. "Beat it, kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk?"

When the boy insisted, the man hobbled to the cemetery. Standing by
the fence they hear, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me”

The old man whispered, "Boy, you, you've been tellin' the truth! Let's
see the devil himself."

Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still
unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought
iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a
glimpse of Satan.

At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. And one last one for
you. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence, and we'll
be done."

They say the old guy made it back to town 5 minutes before the boy.

Go I-N-D-I-A-N-S!

Lexi, when did you grow up? It seems like just yesterday I was holding you in my arms and singing songs about Jesus in your ears (you didn't cry, I promise!). One minute you are on the farm, working side-by-side with your daddy, never complaining. The next minute you are playing with your girl cousins in the most feminine of games. What I admire most about you is that you embrace life. Tonight you embraced cheering. I can't say I've ever watched a Freeman girl cheer. We've played volleyball, basketball, softball, and even danced in the drill team. I do believe, however, you are our first cheerleader. Uncle Tom and I are so proud of you! Keep embracing life and pursuing your dreams! We love you!