07 May 2023
Two-Minute Features | 14 May 2023 | 30 April 2023

Peace in Our Lives is the Ultimate Goal (TMF:2090)

Friday, May 12, 2023
Peace to Live By: Peace in Our Lives is the Ultimate Goal (TMF:2090) - Daniel Litton
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       If don’t know what is in the Bible, how can we be obedient to it? How will we know when our friend is telling us to just get a divorce or to sue someone that they’re in the wrong? Perhaps we won’t if we’re not familiar with how God wants us to act. Peace then is the ultimate goal. When we act peaceful toward others, we are not displaying an attitude of pride. Really, pride is the opposite of peace. We cannot be peaceful and prideful at the same time. If we are prideful, it is because we have unaddressed fear and guilt larking inside ourselves. The fear is there because we are afraid that if we don’t put on a great presentation, who we really are will be found out. The guilt is there because the very fact that we are displaying pride means we don’t have a good sense within ourselves of our self-worth. We are insecure and the pride makes us feel secure. Our real self isn’t good enough as it stands in our eyes so we have to puff it up falsely, and this is accomplished through pride.

James's Two Kinds of Wisdom, Part 2 (TMF:2089)

Thursday, May 11, 2023
Peace to Live By: James's Two Kinds of Wisdom, Part 2 (TMF:2089) - Daniel Litton
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       He or she is one who is first impure, then sows disharmony, harsh, unreasonable, full of judgement and bad fruits, biased and counterfeit. That gives us a clear picture I think of what we aren’t to be like. Which person matches our current characteristics better? Is it the person James talks about, or is it the bad person? Perhaps there is a mixture both. Either way, James tells us here what we are to be like. Pure wisdom is that wisdom which does not contain any aspects of this world—any worldly philosophy that does not align with Jesus. If we take the truth and change it, or disregard it, we no longer have true wisdom. We have our version of what we think is right, rather than leaving that up to God. Indeed, he has told us of his wisdom in the Bible. That’s one reason it’s important for us to be familiar with our Bibles so that we know what God is excepting from us, as Christians.

James's Two Kinds of Wisdom, Part 1 (TMF:2088)

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Peace to Live By: James's Two Kinds of Wisdom, Part 1 (TMF:2088) - Daniel Litton
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       Finally, James says here to end chapter 3: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” In actuality, there are two kinds of wisdom. There is the kind that James previously talked about, the earthly wisdom. Then there is the above wisdom, which he is now referring to. Here are the terms again: first purity, then peace-loving, gentleness, reasonable, mercy-filled, good deeds-filled, not biased, and genuine. These are the good characteristics. Just out of curiosity, let’s do a scripture reversal here and see what the bad person looks like. He or she is one who is first impure, then sows disharmony, harsh, unreasonable, full of judgement and bad fruits, biased and counterfeit. That gives us a clear picture I think of what we aren’t to be like.

Our Feelings of Wantingness Surrendered (TMF:2087)

Tuesday, May 09, 2023
Peace to Live By: Our Feelings of Wantingness Surrendered (TMF:2087) - Daniel Litton
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       It is very important that our feelings of wantingness for anything be totally surrendered. This is not only for our mental well-being, it is for our obedience to God, and (don’t miss this), it is so that in the end we will get what we really want. You can accomplish this and that through selfish ambition. There is no doubt about that. People do it all the time. The thing of it is, it is just not necessary. American society often tells us that the way we get what we want is by working hard toward whatever it is. Is this how God operates? Well, in taking a close observation, we see that “No, it is not.” Just look at Abraham, or David, or Peter, or Paul. Did any of these people achieve their important positions with God through selfish ambition? No, they were chosen by God. They didn’t do a thing. This is how God operates.

The Destructiveness of Selfish Ambition (TMF:2086)

Monday, May 08, 2023
Peace to Live By: The Destructiveness of Selfish Ambition (TMF:2086) - Daniel Litton
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       Selfish ambition leads us to do things that we shouldn’t do, or normally wouldn’t do if we weren’t driven by such a strong craving for whatever it is. People can lie, steal, cheat, rob, change the rules, escalate, bribe, extort, launder, go against good wisdom, sell out, compromise, or whatever it is, for selfish ambition. On a more smaller scale, people can gossip, exclude, dishonor, show favoritism, speak negatively, gab, speak behind our backs, be narrow minded, act uncaring, disinterested, and unkind. It is very important that our feelings of wantingness for anything be totally surrendered. This is not only for our mental well-being, it is for our obedience to God, and (don’t miss this), it is so that in the end we will get what we really want. You can accomplish this and that through selfish ambition. There is no doubt about that. People do it all the time.