Be Quick To Hear

"Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath..."

It sounds positively un-American! We are all about self-expression. But God wants something better for us. He wants us to honor him through hearing his word and putting it into action.

Trials & Tribulations

The early Christians began to be pursued, arrested, imprisoned and killed for their faith in Jesus. This persecution caused many to abandon their homes and businesses to find relative safety in other regions of the Roman empire. Now they have to start over - and it wouldn't be easy. Where would they live? How would they make a living?

James writes to them and starts his letter with this admonition... "Count it all joy..."

Really? How can we do that?

From Judgment To Revival

The book of Hosea is about God's coming judgment on a nation that had abandoned Him. Israel practiced sycretism, idolatry, and immorality. The country was full of corruption, betrayal, violence and injustice. God was about to bring in Assyria to devastate the country and scatter the survivors among the nations.

But chapter fourteen is about God's ultimate plan for restoration of Israel. Here is a message of hope. The love and grace of God mean that even judgment is a means to bring about ultimate blessing.