He Leads The Way To The Scattered Tribes James

²⁶In the same way that a body has no life without the spirit, so faith has no life without deeds.

¹My sacred family members, not many of you should become teachers of our spiritual ways. For you know that we who teach will face a stricter judgment. ²We all stumble on the path in many ways. But if we could keep our words from hurting others, we would be mature human beings, able to aim our whole lives in the right direction.

³Those who put bits into the mouths of horses are able to move them in the direction they want them to go. ⁴It is the same with a canoe. Even when a large canoe is being pushed by strong winds, it takes only a small paddle to steer it where someone wants it to go.

⁵In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts about great things. A large forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame, ⁶and the tongue is itself a flame of fire. The tongue is a world full of evil and spreads its poison throughout the body. The words spoken by the tongue have the power to set on fire the very circle of life itself, and its flames come from the Valley of Smoldering Fire.6

⁷Every kind of four-legged beast or winged one of the air and every reptile or sea creature can be tamed and have been tamed by human beings. ⁸But no one can tame the tongue. It is an evil that never rests, full of deadly poison. ⁹With it we bless the Great Spirit, our Honored Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in his image. ¹⁰Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My sacred family members, this should not be. ¹¹Does both sweet and bitter water come from the same spring? ¹²Can olives and figs come from the same tree? Can a grapevine bear figs, my sacred family members? Not at all! And neither can saltwater be used to make water fresh again.

¹³Are any among you wise and understanding? Then show it in the way you live, doing good from a humble and wise heart. ¹⁴But if your hearts are full of bitter envy and selfish desires, then stop boasting and speaking lies to cover up the truth about yourselves. ¹⁵This is not the kind of wisdom that comes down from the One Above Us All. Instead, it is from this world. It is unspiritual and of the evil one. ¹⁶For where there is jealousy and selfish ways, you will also find confusion and all kinds of evil at work.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from the One Above Us All is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, full of mercy, and open to another’s way of seeing and thinking. People with this kind of wisdom are like trees filled with good fruit. They have open hearts with nothing to hide. ¹⁸This wisdom will bring about a harvest of doing what is right, because they are peacemakers planting seeds of peace.

¹Where do the wars, fights, and arguments among you come from? Do they not come from the selfish desires that wage war in your own bodies? ²You want what you do not have, so you kill for it. You want what belongs to others, but you cannot get it from them, so you fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask the Great Spirit. ³When you ask for things, you do not receive them because you ask for the wrong reasons, wanting to satisfy your own selfish desires. ⁴You are unfaithful people! You must know that if you become friends with the ways of this world, you make yourself an enemy of the Great Spirit.

⁵Do you think our Sacred Teachings have no meaning when they tell us that Creator’s Spirit in us longs for us to be faithful and true to him? ⁶But his gift of great kindness is more than enough, just as our Sacred Teachings also say, “The Great Spirit stands against the proud and arrogant, but he shows great kindness to the humble of heart.”7 ⁷So humbly follow all of Creator’s ways. Make your stand against the evil trickster,8 and he will turn and run from you. ⁸Draw near to the Great Spirit, and he will draw near to you. Wash your hands clean of your broken ways, and purify your hearts and minds from trying to walk two different roads. ⁹Cry out in your misery. Be sad and weep. Turn your laughter into sadness, and your joy into tears. ¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Great Spirit, and he will lift you up to a place of honor.

¹¹My sacred family members, do not speak accusations against each other. If you do, you are putting yourselves above the law, deciding who is guilty or not. When you do this, you are acting against the law itself instead of doing what it says. ¹²There is only one true Lawgiver and Judge who has the power to decide who has done right or wrong. He is the one with the right to set people free or bring them to a bad end. So who are you to judge a fellow human being?

¹³Listen to me, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a trading post in some village. There we will stay for a year trading our goods and gaining more than we started with.” ¹⁴You do not even know what tomorrow will bring. Your life is like the morning mist over a lake that is there for a short time and then gone. ¹⁵Instead, here is what you should say, “If it is what Creator wants, then we will live and do these things.” ¹⁶But as it stands, you are making prideful boasts. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷So then, the one who knows to do good but fails to do it is walking in broken ways.

¹Listen to me, you who have great possessions, weep and howl over the times of trouble and sorrow that are coming your way. ²Even now your treasured possessions are rotting away and moths are eating your fine garments. ³Your gold and silver will waste away. It will be a witness against you and eat your flesh like fire. For you have piled up many possessions in the last days.

⁴Behold! You have held back the goods you owed to the workers who harvest your crops. Their cries for justice have reached the ears of the Chief of Spirit Warriors. ⁵Your life on this earth has been one of getting for yourselves whatever you want to satisfy your selfish desires. You have fattened yourselves9 like an animal prepared for a day of slaughter. ⁶You have falsely accused and put to death the innocent, who did not even try to stand against you.

⁷So be patient, my sacred family members, until our Honored Chief appears. Look at the worker in the field who patiently waits for the seasonal rains to fall so the land can bring forth its fruits. ⁸In the same way, you must also be patient and stand firm, for the appearing of our Honored Chief is close at hand. ⁹So then, my sacred family members, do not grumble against each other or you may be found guilty. Look! The Judge who decides is right outside, ready to come in.

¹⁰My sacred family members, follow in the footsteps of the prophets who spoke for the Great Spirit. Even in times of suffering, they remained patient and strong. ¹¹Look at how we honor those who have stood firm in troubled times. You have heard the story of Turns to Creator (Job), how he stood firm to the end and found the Great Spirit to be kind and merciful. The Great Spirit will do the same for you.

¹²The chief thing I want to say to you, my sacred family members, is that you are not to make solemn promises. Do not promise by the spirit-world above, or by the earth below, or make a solemn promise in any other way. Your simple “yes” or “no” is enough. You may be found guilty if you say more.10

¹³Are you suffering? Send up prayers. Are your hearts glad? Sing traditional songs of honor and praise. ¹⁴Are any among you sick? Call on the elders of the sacred family to pray over them and smudge them with sweet-smelling smoke11 in the name of our Honored Chief. ¹⁵When you send your voice to our Honored Chief, trusting in him, he will heal the sick ones and restore them to health. He will forgive and set free any who have been following their bad hearts and broken ways.

¹⁶So admit your broken ways one to another and pray for each other that you may be healed. The prayer of one in good standing with Creator is powerful and good medicine.

¹⁷Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah) was a weak human being, the same as we are. He prayed with much prayer that it would not rain, and for three winters and six moons no rain fell on the land. ¹⁸Then, when he prayed for the rain to fall, down it came, and once again mother earth gave a harvest of good food.

¹⁹My sacred family members, has any of you wandered from the truth? Has anyone helped you find the way back? ²⁰If so, then let them know, the one who helps someone return from broken ways has rescued their soul from death and hidden the many paths that lead to broken ways.

Aho! May it be so!