You Should Read This. James

Do you ever read the Bible and it seems like God shines a huge light right on a specific text that opens up an entire passage or book? That happened to me today. I went to James, which I've been drawn to lately, with this question: "Where does the strength come from to do all these things that James calls us to do?" James is a great book, but it's different than a lot of the New Testament in that it doesn't spend a lot of time on the Holy Spirit or even Jesus. It spends more time on what a person looks like who follows Jesus and talks about wisdom more than any other New Testament book.

This morning it was leaving me with that perplexing question, so I told myself, "Start from the beginning and surely the answer will be in there somewhere." It turns out the answer was in the first paragraph. "If any of you is lacking wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault." My definition of wisdom had hindered me from understanding the meaning of this statement. My definition of wisdom had everything to do with understanding with your head. James definition has everything to do with understanding with your feet.

Let me explain what I mean. If you truly have a God-given understanding of how to live the Christian life that doesn't just mean you will follow that with action it means you are acting it out. The wisdom of God is full of power as well. If you are not acting out your faith then you don't have faith. It's not as if the wisdom is there and it's just not making it into your every day life. The wisdom is simply not there. Wisdom that God grants is full of strength to do the thing which He has shown you is right to do.

This unlocked the book for me and so I wanted to share it with you. If you go on to read the remainder of the book it all points back to this God-given-power-packed wisdom, contrasting it with the foolishness of man. In fact many of the passages in the book have an implied "you fool!" at the end of it. I'll give you an example of what I mean. James 1:23-24 reads, "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and...goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like (you fool!)." Or how about this one. The passage demands impartiality toward rich and poor from a church that was apparently showing favoritism toward the rich. It concludes in 2:6-7 with this. "Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? (you fools!)"

I realize this is longer than the usual post, but it's exciting information that will help you understand James as well as live the Christian life. The power for living the life we should live comes from God. Here's the good news, if your lacking that power/understanding, you can ask God and he'll give it to you. There's no specific passage today, just go anywhere in James and pick one applying this idea of the wisdom of God. Here's a link to James if you want it. Have a great day!

Watch Your Mouth. James 3:3-12

My mouth got me into a lot of trouble when I was a kid (it still does occasionally, even today). The words you speak or write can have a huge impact on your life. This is true in the way that I'm sure most of you are thinking, like if you talk back to your boss or parents you will likely not enjoy the consequences. However, it's also true in other situations where we don't normally consider our words to have as much power. Like when an acquaintance asks us to do something we know we shouldn't do. We don't always understand the power of the word "no" in that situation. We don't see the power of the words we've been speaking up to that point that has given them the impression we are something we're not. Use your words well and use them wisely. Tame that tongue of yours and make it your master. It can come in real handy.

James 3:3-12
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Hard but Good. Matthew 7:13-14

The narrow way may be harder, but the broad way is more burdensome. The strength to make it on the narrow path is in the journey. The value of the treasure makes the journey easy and removes the burden.

Matthew 7:13-14
13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Hate the World, Not God. James 4:1-10

In this passage lies a stern warning against loving the world. The one who loves the world is called adulterous, double-minded and an enemy of God, all things I'd rather not be called. Loving the world prompts fighting among brothers and sisters because our heart is defiled and selfish.

There's hope! If you've found that you are in love with the pleasures of the world there is still time for you to repent, to mourn, to grieve and to humble yourself before God. God knows there is no greater life than the life that is hidden in him, and he desperately wants us to see in him the fulfilment of all our hearts desires.

James 4:1-10
1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Faith Prompts Action. James 2:14-24

This is a convicting passage that calls us to action as Christians. If we say we believe Jesus saves from sins and makes us new people that are no longer to the depraved way of life we should live like it. If we say we follow Jesus, there should be some evidence of that. If not, our faith is dead. In other words, the faith we have has never resulted in any real life changing behavior. We look just like someone that has no faith at all. The questions we should ask ourselves is, "How am I different? What has God done in my life?"

James 2:14-24
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Wise and Faithful. James 1:5-8

We were introduced to the letter from James yesterday and continue today with this following passage from the first chapter. It's not long, but it give the first two attributes that a follower of Christ has. By the way, this is the question that should be at the foreground of your mind as you're reading through the text: "What does a mature follower of Christ look like?" This is the questions James answers through the next five chapters.

A Christian is wise and faithful. This is made clear from these three verses. We will certainly need wisdom as we delve into this book, so let's ask for it now, that we also might be mature and lacking in nothing!

James 1:5-8
5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Questions
1. Why do you think the letter starts out with this passage about wisdom?
2. Why is faith ("he must believe") so important to a Christian?

That You May Be Perfect. James 1:1-4

I know this isn't a very long passage, and maybe it doesn't seem to hold a whole lot of meaning. Why just four verses, you may be asking. James wrote a letter to the "twelve tribes" that is full of insight and wisdom even for us, some 2000 years later. In this short introduction to the letter we find out who the author is, to whom its written, the thing that prompted it to be written, and what the author hopes to accomplish through the letter.

I hope that prompted you to take a look down at the passage and scour it for all that information. The author and audience are pretty clear from the first verse, but what's the occasion for the letter? What prompted James to write it? Apparently the recipients of the letter were undergoing some pretty serious trials and persecution. James wrote to encourage them in this. He knows that if they are "mature and complete, not lacking in anything", they'll be able to endure through the trials.

If you work through the rest of the letter, you'll find some major attributes that James thinks it's important to have and develop to live an effective life.

James 1:1-4
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Questions
1. Who wrote James?
2. To whom was it written?
3. What prompted it to be written?
4. What is the author hoping to achieve?