Last year, I sowed some stevia seeds
a few weeks later, they were up and running
two seeds successfully germinated
and as they grew, I re-potted them into larger containers
and then, the stevia plants began to flower...
I left the flowers come to seed and disperse into the soil
and those seeds germinated and came up, looking for sunshine
and I got more excited to see more stevia coming up...
because you see...
I love to use stevia to sweeten the day with
and stevia is a great way to sweeten as a substitute for processed sugars
go to the stevia plant to read more about this sweet perennial
I pruned back my stevia plants and harvested the leaves and stems
and now the new little plants have the room and light to grow more sweetness...
for a later harvest
in the meanwhile...
the leaves I harvested are in the process of drying
once they are dried...
I will grind the leaves into a powder and store in a glass jar in a cool dark spot
that should keep for a few weeks...
but, I don't think it will stay around that long
we'll be using the stevia powder fast enough
continuing on with R. C. Sproul's excerpt from his book, "Knowing Scripture"...
this will be the last part of his explanation of words with multiple meanings in the Bible
"How does Paul use the word in Romans 3? Here, there is no dispute. Paul is clearly speaking about justification in the ultimate theological sense.
What about James? If we examine the context of James, we will see that he is dealing with a different question from Paul. James says in 2:14, "What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" James is raising a question of what kind of faith is necessary for salvation. He is saying that true faith brings forth works. A faith without works he calls a dead faith, a faith that is not genuine. The point is that people can say they have faith when in fact they have no faith. The claim to faith is vindicated or justified when it is manifested by the fruit of faith, namely, works. Abraham is justified or vindicated in our sight by his fruit. In a sense, Abraham's claim to justification is justified by his works. The Reformers understood that when they stated the formula, "Justification is by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."
from "Knowing Scripture" ch. 4 by R. C. Sproul
of course, there is so much more than what I've given you...
but wanted to give you a small inkling of the importance of understanding how to read Scripture...
and know what the words mean in the light of context
if you are interested in reading the whole book (125 pages)...
you can go to ligonier.org to the store link on their page
May your day or night be sweetened with the grace of God.
