Study Desk

because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants.

Religion that God accepts as pure and without fault is this: caring for orphans or widows who need help, and keeping yourself free from the world's evil influence.

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! God chose the poor in the world to be rich with faith and to receive the kingdom God promised to those who love him.

The same God who said, "You must not be guilty of adultery," also said, "You must not murder anyone." So if you do not take part in adultery but you murder someone, you are guilty of breaking all of God's law.

So you must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment.

If you say to that person, "God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat," but you do not give what that person needs, your words are worth nothing.

You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too, and they tremble with fear.

Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.

This shows the full meaning of the Scripture that says: "Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God." And Abraham was called God's friend.

So you see that people are made right with God by what they do, not by faith only.

Another example is Rahab, a prostitute, who was made right with God by something she did. She welcomed the spies into her home and helped them escape by a different road.

We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people, whom God made like himself.

That kind of "wisdom" does not come from God but from the world. It is not spiritual; it is from the devil.

But the wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure, then peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. It is always fair and honest.

You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people, but you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God.

So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes God's enemy.

Do you think the Scripture means nothing that says, "The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone"?

But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says, "God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble." Proverbs 3:34

So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you.

Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure.