James Week

Last week was a good week. We went up to Bishop, CA to a resort in the mountains called Cardinal Village resort. We weren’t there for a vacation. We were there to work. We had class on Monday morning and had Monday afternoon to do homework, and then on Wednesday morning we loaded up in the vans and headed out for Bishop. It was good to get out and not be inside all the time for homework. The cabins we stayed in were pretty cute, too.

This is the cabin called "Golden Trout," where all the single ladies stayed. Sorry, no pics of the inside.

We were split into teams for working around the place. Some worked outside, digging a ditch, some cleaned the cabins, getting them ready for the summer season, when the resort is open. My team was in the store and café, cleaning, cooking, shelving things. It was actually fun. We worked form 9 am to 4 pm. Both days (we came back on Saturday, so we were only there two full days) we some of us went on hikes. The first day, we went to this beautiful waterfall and then to an old gold mine. The second day, we went up to Lake Sabrina, but I didn't make it all the way (Migraines, and high altitudes don’t mix well). Several people got excited about iron pyrite (fool’s gold), but were disappointed to find out that it wasn't actually gold.

The waterfall

Really, really cold water

The abandoned mine shaft

James was a good book. Often times, people misuse James 2:26.  It is used as a way to guilt trip people into going on mission trips, or giving to charity. But this is looking at it from the pagan mindset that we must perform in order for God to love us. This is not what God wants us to think. I wrote about it for my homework:

We don’t see it. If we have faith, then we have it right. But that’s not it. We often hear people say “Faith without works is dead,” but we never really understand what it means. We think that to have salvation, we have to be good people. It is because we take James 2:26 out of context. James wasn’t saying that salvation comes from works. He was saying that to keep our faith alive, we have to feed it. It’s like a fire. There cannot be fire if there is not something to burn. If you light wood, it burns, but after a while the fire starts to die, if you don’t add more wood to it. So faith is fire and works is wood. Without one there cannot be the other, because one has to be kept alive.

Fuel the fire. Keep your faith alive. Let it burn hot and bright. Let it be seen forever by everyone.

I’ve never really struggled with my faith dying since I gave my life of God, but I’ve also never known that if I don’t feed my faith, it will die. James has given me a new perspective on faith and works. I used to get frustrated with the whole “faith without works” thing. I used to think that it was just people trying to force me to do what they wanted, using it as a guilt trip for not helping people who were in need. But now I see it as a challenge. I’m being challenge to keep my faith alive.

I’m taking up the challenge to fuel the fire.

This week, we are back on the YWAM base, and we will be studying Galatians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians. I’m excited to see what God’s going to blow my mind with. I’m always surprised by what he reveals to me, either about his character, or, now that we’re in the New Testament, about Jesus, and what it is to be a follower of Christ.

As I said in my last post, I still need this quarter’s tuition, which is $2700. I’m praying, and I ask that you would join me in praying. If you feel led to give even a small amount, you can call the base, or you can go straight to the website and give. Phone number and link are at the bottom.

If you want to contact me directly, my email address is also at the bottom.

Timeless Truth of the Week:

Whatever is in your heart usually come out of your mouth.

Where is your heart?

Where is your mouth?

Watch what you say.

Because not only sticks and stone hurt.

Words hurt just as much.

Maybe you think you don’t mean it,

But it still might hurt.

Words cut deep.

Words sting.

Even if you think that you don’t mean it,

You do.

If it came out of your mouth,

It came out of your heart.

So don’t just watch what you say,

Don’t just watch what you think,

Watch what is in your heart.

http://www.cardinalvillageresort.com/

https://ywamla.org/donatepay/

+1 818 896 2755

MadelineBHendley@gmail.com