SURPRISES FROM GOD James 1:1

I reread my old blogs today...was that me speaking? I felt I was reading new material for the first time. I recalled some good lessons in some verses I had 'put on the back burner' after reading. This is a good reminder of how much momentum we lose if we are away from the word of God for just a little while. Unfortunately, it has been a while, fortunately, I am here in this moment today. Yay!
As I told those of you who are blogging together, I have escaped from the suggested verses for the time being, and will, I am sure, return to them at a moment when God decides those particular words are what I need in my life...or when I run short of ideas hahah whichever comes first...but today I wanted to share another 'drop' of encouragement I was handed from God when I decided to return to reading his word and talking to him.

 I signed up for a Beth Moore study a few weeks ago...I had been out of these studies for various reasons for a long time..(I was going through some personal struggles and didn't feel like talking to other women or putting on that "smile" that says everything is great, I had been attending another local Christian congregation because my husband felt he needed a change and I was embarrassed and sure I would be labeled a "church hopper" (Pride issue by the way--and not anyone else's business if they wanted to make an issue of it.) So, I backed away from the women who I just knew would be smiling, laughing, and living their perfect lives...so I would not have to reveal that I was facing challenge--that I was the weak one in the group...the one whose life was imperfect...poor thing. Now, that sounds so horrible to say now. Hah! It sounds so Satin lead. ["Don't let others encourage you--they will only find you weak!" "The other ladies have perfect spiritual lives, you are gonna stick out like a sore thumb." (Just how does a sore thumb stick out??? hahah that's another blog!) "You might cry in front of them!!" --enter that stabbing music from the movie Physco!!] hmm...

Well, this being some two years later, undramatically, all they said when I signed up was "great" and when I came in and sat down I don't know what they thought! I think they were all kinda in the same boat looking around kinda nervous at being in a new group that takes a while to feel bonded and natural in. Go figure.

The study was of the book of James. I always think instantly of the "control your tongue" book, and God knows I can always use more of that!! So I had signed up. The first lesson was a review on who James was (the brother of Jesus) and interestingly enough he was not a believer until later in Jesus life...maybe even near the end. But even so, when he did become a believer--what a believer he became! God even used him to write his inspired word to the Jewish converts and for us today. Here is where the cool part comes in.

I had been been contemplating that God didn't promise us happiness always and I had, as I expressed in my last blog, been searching for happiness in conditional places and things. I had decided to look for Joy instead, because God said we would/could have joy even when we weren't happy. The entire second lesson was on James 1:1 a short greeting to the people he was focused on writing. Really? Could she possibly spend and hour talking about this little insignificant heading?? But, Beth Moore is chatty just like me and words are not usually a problem haha..she said this lesson would not be our favorite or most remembered at the end of the series and I had that thought of uh-oh..she is warning us...this can't be good...probably going to be a little boring. To the contrary, she did a word study on the word "greetings." The Greek word was chairein. The lesson concluded with her revealing that the word God instructed James to write to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations meant JOY TO YOU. Joy to you!! I was stunned and humbled and smiled inside with peaceful satisfaction.

 I love when God does those preplanned things that he had to be working on long in advance of the time he would present it to us...(like Jerry Harris' story of running out of money and food in college on a weekend and the postman delivers a letter at the last minute which had been mailed a few days before with money in it from someone who thought a poor college student might need a little financial encouragement.--that fed him that weekend.) God had penned that greeting in Greek hundreds of years ago, I had read it in English many many times with no apparent meaning other than Greetings...Hi! But this time it was a special message to me...Joy to me! He was offering Joy to me through the study of James...which I am super bursting with excitement to study now!! Can't wait to see what else he has for me personally to learn from this book! I have read over it  many times, studied it in group settings and verse studies through the years, but I know this time will be different and am looking forward to the words revealed anew.

So, if I may borrow a few words from God....
Pamela, to the women who are joining me in this blogging experience or to someone who just happens to be surfing the net and falls upon this blog...
Chairein! Greetings! Joy to you!!