We have been reading James in our devotion time, and recently, I found out how hard it is to control one's tongue. In speaking, according to the Bible, it's impossible to be a perfect person. There are, though, two things that might help us. If we search inside of ourselves, we can find the reason why we did or said the things that give us trouble. If we deeply examine ourselves, we can know the cause of our actions. In living in this world, we are influenced by "a power to destroy" and "a power to build up". Look at today's scripture reading and you won't be able to help nodding in agreement. In this passage, "Wise man" signifies one who has the wisdom to discern the good things from the bad. The opposite power of destroying belongs to Satan. Without knowing it, and this is owing to living in a world where Satan is the ruler, we Christians come under the strong influences of Satan. However, just like in Acts 2, when we receive the strength that comes from above, we receive wisdom as well. Then, we have the ability to be pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, merciful.. and sincere.

As most of you know, we are having a bazaar today, and all of the ladies of Chapel Noah have been very busy preparing for it. They have collected many items from people at church, and are trying to reach out to the people around the "Little House" church down-town with this fun event. I would say that these people also have peace in mind; they are surely peacemakers!

Through the act of selling and buying, we can never be in a negative mood. It is a fun thing to do, and it softens people's hearts.

One of the Golden Rules, for Christians to observe, is to do to others what you would like others to do to you. See Mt.7:12. In practicing this, we need to receive wisdom from above. We can't just push what we want to do, but we need to be able to tell the people's needs. We need strength and wisdom, as peace-makers.

It may, or must, be we adults -- who push children away from Jesus. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." In His words, we can find an important message. In those days, children were regarded as nothing. They were not counted in the numbers of people! Often, today, we behave the same way, looking upon children as immature, noisy, stubborn, and prone to bringing us unnecessary troubles. However, Jesus said that we were to imitate them. See Mt.18:1-10. Once the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest person, and Jesus replied that the least ones are the greatest. By this, Jesus was indicating those who know what they truly are, and can say, truthfully, "I am not the greatest." Remember the story of Naaman and Elijah. Naaman was so angry after Elijah told him just to go and wash in the river seven times. It seemed like such a silly thing for such a great man to do. At first, in his anger, Naaman refused to consider it. But, on second thought, with his servant's wise council, he decided to obey the prophet's advice. He learned not to say "I am great."

One more thing that Jesus taught us to do is to call God the Father, Abba [, which is a very personal child's way of addressing one's father]. The point of this is to think like little children. Little children always need their father's support. A new-born baby can't tell who is his father, but after a year or so, he can tell, and without him, he can not have peace inside to lead his own life. Just like children need their fathers, we also need God as our Father in life.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
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