Unspotted

 Happy Sunday!

"You might think you are a very religious person. But if your tongue is out of control, you are fooling yourself. Your careless talk makes your offerings to God worthless. The worship that God wants is THIS: caring for orphans or widows who need help and keeping yourself free from the world’s EVIL influence. This is the kind of worship that God accepts as pure and good."(James 1:26-27 Easy-to-Read Version).

The King James Version of this verse says, "and to keep himself unspotted from the world."(James 1:27).  You know me, I always see interesting things when I read the Word.  I immediately thought of the old Dishwasher Detergent commercials that showed two women comparing the glasses that came out of their dishwashers. Do you remember those commercials? They wanted to get you to buy a specific detergent so that your dishes would be "spotless".  God wants us to surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that we can make it through this life unspotted, untainted, and undefiled. 

It also made me think about the 12 spies Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land.  The King James Version says 10 of the spies brought back an "EVIL" report.  Numbers 13:30-33 says, "But Caleb reassured the people as they stood before Moses. “Let us go up at once and possess it,” he said, “for we are well able to conquer it!” “Not against people as strong as they are!” the other spies said. “They would crush us!”  So the majority report of the spies was NEGATIVE: “The land is full of warriors, the people are powerfully built, and we saw some of the Anakim there, descendants of the ancient race of giants. We felt like grasshoppers before them, they were so tall!”(Living Bible).  Until they got into their feelings, they were reporting the facts.  But they failed to acknowledge the TRUTH.  God promised the land to them and no matter how big the people were or how little they saw themselves it was theirs to take.

Throughout the Bible there are comparisons.  Psalm 1 compares the righteous man and the ungodly man. Numerous scriptures in Proverbs compare the wise and the foolish.  Malachi 3:18 says, "Once more you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving him.”(Message).

Unspotted means different!  Are you different?  Or are you just like everyone else?  When you hear about inflation do you cry like the 10 spies?  Or do you remember Psalm 23:1, "The Lord is my shepherd; I have ALL that I need."(NLT)?  When you hear about random acts of wickedness do you immediately fear that it could happen to you?  Or do you proclaim, "You, Lord, are the light that keeps me safe. I am not afraid of anyone. You protect me, and I have no fears. Brutal people may attack and try to kill me, but they will STUMBLE. Fierce enemies may attack, but they will FALL."(Psalm 27:1-3 CEV).  When a pain hits you, do you say, "I thought I was healed"?  Or do you declare, "The Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within ME and he will, by that same Spirit, bring to MY whole being new strength and vitality."(Romans 8:11 Phillips)?

There was a cute meme that said, "This is John".  Some were positive and others were negative.  Some said "be like him" and others said, "don't be like him".  We can make one for the the 2 spies that came back with a positive report. This is Caleb and Joshua. They believed God. Be like Caleb and Joshua.

Love and prayers, Cynthia