Verses For The Week

 Jeremiah 17:14 -- "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed, save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise."

Psalm 30:2 -- "O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me."

The Weekend Sermon -- "Mark 2:13-17"

      I am glad to be posting the message for the week. This is an important week here on the blog. As of this week, I have been posting on this site for 15 years. I thank the Lord for the opportunity. 

     For the past few weeks now, we have been engaged in a study of the Gospel of Mark. It is going to take us some time to get through this book, but I know that we will learn from the life and work of the Lord Jesus. 

     In the last message, we learned about Jesus healing a paralytic man who was let down through the roof by his friends. Jesus healed him and forgave him of his sins. Right away, the religious authorities took a dislike to Jesus, and that would continue throughout the course of His life and ministry. 

     Today, we are looking at Jesus call of Levi who in other Gospels is called Matthew. Levi was a tax collector. In the context of Jesus' day, that meant that he was one of the most despised people in the land. Tax collectors were seen by the local population as collaborators with the Romans. Tax collectors were also seen as crooks who took more than they were supposed to in order to line their own pockets and live an extravagant lifestyle at the expense of the common people. 

     One day, while Jesus was teaching, He saw Levi at his tax collection stall. He called to Levi to come and follow him. Immediately, Levi left everything and followed Jesus. 

     That evening, Levi hosted a big dinner for Jesus and his disciples. Levi invited over some of his tax collector friends. Of course the Pharisees and religious leaders didn't like all of this one bit. They criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. However, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy that need a doctor but the sick, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners."

     There are a couple of things I want to focus on in this passage. First of all, Jesus called everyone to come and follow Him. What I mean by that is that He called all types of people. We already saw that He called ordinary fisherman to be His disciples. Now He was calling a despised person to come and follow Him. 

     The Pharisees did not think that a tax collector and other sinners would ever be acceptable to God. They didn't even attempt to get them to come to the Lord and do the right thing. They just excluded them. In Jesus' time, those in certain occupations and those who were sick were considered to be less and looked down on. However, Jesus didn't look down on or despise or reject anyone. He came to seek and to save those who were lost. He saw something in Levi that would make for a good disciple, and He invited Him. 

     We don't want to be like the religious leaders of Jesus time and exclude anyone from the grace, love and mercy of the Lord Jesus. He said that whosoever will may come. He also told us, "Come unto Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. All and whosoever includes everyone. Jesus invites you, me and the whole world to come to Him and receive His love and forgiveness. No one is excluded from the love of the Lord Jesus. 

     Levi immediately followed Jesus. He didn't wait around. That should be our response on two levels. For those who don't yet know the Lord, if you feel the Spirit calling you to faith in Christ, now is the time to respond. Now is the day of salvation. Come to the Lord immediately. For those who are already followers of the Lord Jesus, we need to be ready to do what the Lord is telling us to do right away without delay. Don't procrastinate in doing the Lord's will for your life. Don't waste time. Obey the Lord right away. 

     The final thing that I want to point out from this passage is what Levi did after he came to follow Jesus. He invited others to know about Jesus as well. Once we have experienced the love, mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, we need to tell others about what Jesus has done for us. We don't want to keep the good news to ourselves. We want to obey the Great Commission and go and tell. 

     If you don't know Jesus, come to Him today. If you are being called to a task or mission by the Lord, respond now. If you haven't been telling others the good news about the Lord Jesus, start right away. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     There are supposed to be some bad storms in my area this week. Please pray that they won't be too bad. 

     War has come again. I know that it is distressing. Let us keep praying for peace. Pray that all sides in the conflict in the Middle East right now will lay down their arms and work for peace. Continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and Sudan. Let us all meditate for peace and goodness in the world. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in China and Tunisia. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

    Next week, we will continue in Mark. I will post the verses on Tuesday, and I will post the next section of the James commentary on Wednesday. May God bless you all. 

James Commentary -- Chapter 2

 Here is James 2

 

James 2:1-4

 

     We are now going into chapter two, and this chapter has a lot in it that is relevant for our day and age. We start out the chapter with an admonition for James that Christians should not be ones who show any type of favoritism. But, before we start studying what that means for us today, I am struck by how James refers to Jesus. He calls Him our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

     Jesus is ours. That is something that we have to really let sink in. He belongs to us and we belong to Him. We are united together by His grace. He is glorious. He lives in glory right now seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. One day, He will come and all of His glory will be revealed to all as every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

     Now, let us get into the heart of the section. James gives his readers a stern warning against showing any type of favoritism. He does not want people to favor any other believer or visitor to the congregation based on their wealth or their status.

     If a person is rich or poor, they should be treated the same way. If a person is dressed well or poorly, they should be treated in the same respectful and honorable way. There should be no discrimination, and there should be no favoritism shown.

     This passage reminds me of something that I have seen in some church meetings. Those that are big donors or so-called VIPs are given reserved seats at the front of the church. This is in direct contradiction to what James Is teaching here. That sort of thing should never be practiced in any church.

     I believe that we can go further with James’ idea. There should be no type of racism, sexism, ageism, ethnicism or any other type of discrimination in the church or amongst God’s people. The church is for all. Jesus saves and came to save everyone. We are all one in Him.

     If anyone teaches that one race or ethnic group is better than another, that is a sign that that person’s teaching is not of God. All people from every tribe, nation, and group will be worshipping the Lamb around the throne.

James 2:5-7

     Now, getting back to James most contextual criticism.  James does not want anyone to discriminate a poor person in favor of a rich person. James says that God has especially chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom. That is powerful. That means God has a preferential regard for the poor. He does not want anyone causing any type of hurt or oppression against them.

     James goes on to talk about the fact that the rich are often oppressors. In fact, most of the time, those who are very wealth became that way by not following the teachings of the Lord and by oppressing their workers and those in marginalized groups.

     We are not to dishonor a poor person, and we are not to show favoritism to a wealthy person. The worst examples of this that I have seen are pastors who will go visit wealthy members of their congregation in the hospital, but you never see them at the bedside of someone who doesn’t have two nickels to rub together.

James 2:8-11

     James is really driving home his point now. He goes back to what he heard the Lord Jesus say. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He said that we are to the love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Then he added that we are to love our neighbor as ourself.

     In this section, James makes it clear that to show favoritism or to discriminate is a violation of the law that we should love our neighbor as ourself. It follows right along with what Jesus said when He told us that we are to do unto others as we would have done to us. In other words, we are to treat other people in the same way that we would like to be treated. If we don’t want people to discriminate and be prejudiced against us, we should not act that way to others.

     According to James, we are lawbreakers if we show favoritism, and if a person breaks the law in one area it is the same as if he has broken every law. One is just as bad as the other, because they are all violations of the standard of a holy God. Not committing one sin but committing another makes us guilty of all. That is why we need a Savior.

James 2:12-13

     We are to act as people who will be judged by the law of God. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that we are under the law. It means that Jesus is the judge. The Bible says that everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in order to give an account. Christians will be judged at this judgment, but not for salvation. It is a judgment of rewards. What we have done with our lives for the Lord.

     In light of the fact that we will give an account to our Savior, we need to live according to His commandments and teachings. We need to be doing what He has told us to do. In fact, Jesus spoke about this just as James is. He told us that we should live in such a way that we would not be ashamed at His coming.

     In verse 13, James talks about mercy and judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And aren’t we thankful for that. God is merciful to us and has forgiven our sins. He has forgiven us and given us a new life in Jesus Christ. When we come to Jesus, He takes our sins, and we receive His righteousness which allows the judgment of the Lord for our sins to pass over us.

     Just as we have received the mercy of the Lord, we ought also to be merciful to others. We need to forgive others when they sin against us. Jesus spoke about this over and over again during His time on earth. We need to forgive seventy times seven, He told us. He also said that if we aren’t willing to forgive others, the Father will not forgive us.

James 2:14-19

     The section of James that we are going in to now is one of the most controversial passages in all of the New Testament. Some Christians use this text to prove that salvation is not by faith alone. Others try to explain it away or not deal with what it is really saying. Some, like Martin Luther, want to just throw the whole book out the window.

     Let’s look at what James is trying to get at in this passage. James begins by asking if a person can be saved by faith without deeds. He asks, “Can such faith save them?” James compares faith without deeds to someone seeing a hungry person who tells that person to be warm and filled and then just walks off and doesn’t do anything to help that person.  James says that faith like that, or faith without deeds is dead.

     James says that faith without deeds is dead. It is useless. Even the demons in hell believe, but they don’t have any deeds. James says that he will demonstrate his faith by his deeds.

     So, what are we to make of this? Is James trying to say that we are saved by a combination of faith and works? No, he is not. He is making a statement about the demonstration of true faith. He wants to let his readers know and understand what saving faith truly looks like. True and saving faith is not a mental assent to a list of facts about God. The devil and his angels know the truth about God and who Jesus is and what He did. But, they do not bow the knee to Him. They do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. They are in rebellion. Their acknowledgment of some facts they know to be true does not bring them out of their rebellion against the True and Living God.

     What James is saying is that there are many who have a profession of faith. They claim to be believers in the Lord, but their actions do not demonstrate that they have Jesus as the Lord of their lives. It is an empty profession of faith. They do not have a true possession of faith.

     Jesus spoke about this exact same thing. He said when the end of time comes and people are judged many will come to Him and say Lord, Lord.  Jesus will say to them depart from me for I never knew you. You were a worker of lawlessness. Likewise, Jesus said that when He judges the nations, some will ask when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked, etc. He replies that when you did not do good unto the least of those among you, you did not do it unto Me. In other words, you said you were a follower of mine, but you never did anything that I asked you to do. Therefore, your actions revealed that you never really had faith and trust in Me.

     Jesus also talked about the good tree and the bad tree. A good tree bears good fruit while a bad tree can only produce bad fruit. Jesus said by their fruits you will know them. So, Jesus is saying the exact same thing as James. A person’s works reveal what is truly in their heart. Anyone can say they are a Christian. The proof, so to speak, is in the pudding.

     James is certainly not contradicting other parts of the Bible in this passage. We know from the writings of Paul that we are saved by grace through faith. It is the gift of God. Paul tells us that we are saved unto God works. We are not saved by good works, because, as the Bible says, all of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the eyes of God.

James 2:20-26

     James will now give us two examples from the Old Testament to show us the point that he is trying to get across. First of all, we have the example of Abraham and his offering up of Isaac. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham could have said OK Lord, and then he could have gone out and sacrificed a goat. Instead, he was going to sacrifice Isaac and God stopped Him. The Bible says that Abraham believed that even if he sacrificed Isaac that God could raise him from the dead, but it was dead faith until Abraham had an action behind it. His action proved his faith.

     In the same way, we have the example of Rahab. When the spies went to Jericho, Rahab hid them so they would not be captured. Joshua and Caleb told her that if she placed the scarlet cord out her window, she and those with her would be spared when the city fell. Rahab did what she was told, and she and those with her made it out alive. She could have believed all day, but her action demonstrated that she truly believed.

     If you have accepted Jesus as the Savior and Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within. He works within us to produce the fruit of the Spirit. We also as a child of God have the desire to do what it is that Jesus has taught us and commanded us to do. When we follow the Lord in obedience, we are showing the world that Jesus is truly in our hearts. That is what James is trying to say.

Verses For The Week And Prayer

     We need to be praying for peace in the entire Middle East region. Please be in prayer. 

I Peter 5:7 -- "Casting all your anxieties upon Him, because He cares for you."

I Peter 3:11 -- "Let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it."

The Weekend Sermon -- Mark 2:1-12

      Thank you for once again taking some time to read the message for the week. I hope that everyone has had a great week so far. I am doing about the same. 

      Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been studying what the Lord has to teach us from the Gospel of Mark. We finished up chapter one last week, and we are going to begin in chapter two starting with our message this week. 

     In our passage for today, we have to recall what happened at the end of chapter one. Jesus healed a man that was filled with leprosy. He told the man not to tell anyone, but the man went ahead and told everyone. People were coming from everywhere to see Jesus and to be healed. 

     With this in mind, we come to the events that are recorded in chapter two. Jesus is in a house preaching and teaching. The crowd is huge. The house is entirely filled, and there are people standing all around trying to get a glimpse of Jesus and hear what He has to say. 

     At this event, there were four men who had brought their friend who was paralyzed to be healed by Jesus. The crowds were so great that they couldn't get in. So they improvised. They went up on the roof, took away some of the roofing, and lowered their friend right down to where Jesus was at. 

     When Jesus saw the man, He told him that his sins where forgiven. This infuriated the religious leaders. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and He informed them that the Son of Man had power to forgive sins. Jesus then healed the man completely, and that was a sign to the religious leaders of Jesus' power. 

     Now, what can we all these years separated from these events learn from this miracle encounter? The first thing that strikes me about this event is that this man had some really good friends. They just didn't say they were friends, they showed it. They showed it in a big way. They were determined to get their friend the help that he needed. 

     It is important to have friends like this as we try to make it through this world. It is important to be this kind of friend. A true friend is one that will stick with you in the good times and the bad times. They will help you in any way that they are able when you are going through a hard time. That is the type of friend that we should all try to be. 

    The second thing I notice in this encounter is the way that Jesus demonstrated His divinity as God the Son and the Messiah. Jesus forgave the man of his sin. That is something only God could do. By taking this on, Jesus was clearly saying that He was divine. Jesus also demonstrated His divine power through the miracle of healing a man who was unable to even get around. 

     The third thing I want to emphasize in this passage is the prominent place that Jesus gave to forgiving the man of his sins. Jesus didn't heal the may first. He forgave the man first. The reason for that is that that was the more important thing. Eternity matters more than the temporal. Having a right relationship with God is what means the most in life. Jesus made sure that the man's soul was right, and then He made his body right. 

     The most important thing that you can do in your life is to make sure that your sins have been forgiven by the Lord Jesus and that you have turned to Him and made Him the Savior and Lord of your life. Nothing else in life is more important than this. I hope that you will come to salvation through the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus today. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I am having a great deal of trouble with my health. Please keep praying. Thank you. 

     Please keep praying for peace. Ukraine needs peace and we need peace in Gaza and Israel. Pray that there will be a diplomatic solution with Iran. Also, pray for peace in Mexico. Keep praying for peace in Sudan and Syria as well as Haiti. 

     Pray for those who are dealing with the big snow in the US east. Pray that people will get their power on and get any help and aid that they might need. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Guinea-Bissau and Azerbaijan. Pray that many will come to know the Lord Jesus. 

     Next week, I will post the verses on Tuesday and the next chapter in the James commentary on Wednesday. I will post the message on Friday. May God bless you all. 

James: A Commentary -- Preface, Introduction, Chapter 1

     I have completed my commentary on James. I will be posting this in sections on Wednesdays over the coming weeks. Here is the first section.

James

A Commentary

By – Willard Stringham

Preface

 

     For many years, I have had the desire to write a commentary on the book of James. This epistle is one of the books of the New Testament that I have read again and again and again. Each time that I read it, I am struck by the fact that it is as relevant to the issues of our day as it was when it was penned all those years ago.

     I have both Bible college and seminary credentials, but my intention with this commentary is not to pen an academic work. The goal of this book is to provide the lay reader with an accessible commentary on the book of James and its meaning for our lives today. It will be a more devotional type commentary.

     It is my hope and prayer that as you read this work that you will gain a greater insight into the message of James and how it applies to our walk with the Lord Jesus today. May God bless you as you endeavor to learn more about Him through His word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

     The first thing that we need to address as we begin our study of the book of James is what type of literature it is. James is called an epistle. It is a letter that was written by the author to address a group of believers. Much of the New Testament is made up of epistles with the Apostle Paul being the one who penned most of them.

     As we approach the book of James, we need to ask ourselves which James is the author of this text. There are three different James’ in the Bible. The first one we think of is James the son of Zebedee who was the brother of John. Almost all Bible scholars agree that he did not write this epistle. James was the first martyr among the apostles. He was killed in about 44 AD. The thinking is that there would not have been enough time for the church to spread out sufficiently enough for James to pen a letter to all of the churches that are mentioned in the first part of the book. If James the son of Zebedee did write this book, it would have been the first book of the New Testament canon to be written.

     While the vast majority of scholars hold to the fact that this James did not write the book, I hold out that it is possible. James was one of the inner three disciples. As we will see, much of James sounds like Jesus. It was written by someone who really knew what Jesus was talking about while He was here on this earth. While not probable that James John’s brother wrote the book, I don’t think it is as impossible as many Bible scholars suppose.

     Another James who is a candidate for authorship is James the Less also known as James the son of Alpheus. He is not mentioned in the Bible outside of the list of disciples and apostles when the twelve are listed. There isn’t much support for him being the author.

     The James who almost everyone believes wrote this book is James the Just who was Jesus’ brother and the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was a very prominent leader in the early church, and he was highly respected for his piety and his knowledge. James was the leader of the first church council in Jerusalem that is recorded for us in Acts 15. He would have had the authority and respect to write to churches and to have his words listened to and acted upon.

    Now, just as an overview before we get into the heart of the text, what is James all about. This book is about living a life based on Godly wisdom. It is about practicing what one preaches. James wants those who are followers of Jesus to live like they are what they proclaim. He wants people to be doers of the Word and those who practice pure religion.

     In this book, James tells us how we are to behave in this world. He will tell us that faith without works is dead and that those who follow Jesus need to get control of what they say as the tongue is a deadly poison that can destroy people and a person’s testimony.

     As we will see, one of the things that really attracts me to the book of James is that James speaks out strongly against favoritism and prejudice. He stands up for the poor and for those who labor for a living. He stands for the oppressed against the oppressor. As you read and study this epistle, you will find that it is much like the Sermon on the Mount. There and in this book, there is a strong emphasis on making sure that you don’t have an empty profession of faith but that you have a true possession of faith that manifests itself in living a holy life of good works.

     It is now time for us to dig into what the Lord Jesus has to teach us through the Epistle of James.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James

 Chapter 1:1

 

     The book of James begins by the author telling us that he is the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what all of us who name Jesus as our Savior are supposed to be. We are to be servants of the Lord. That means that He is our master. He gives us His commandments and teachings, and as His servants, we are to follow what He has set out for us. That is what it means to be a Christian. It means following the Lord Jesus in all things. He is the center of our lives. It is not enough to say that Jesus is Savior. He must also be Lord.

    In this first verse, James also addresses his readers. He is writing to the twelve tribes that are scattered throughout the world. What he is saying is that this letter is being written to those of the Jewish faith who have come to recognize that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

     From the day of Pentecost and beyond, many Jewish people came to faith in the Lord Jesus. Since they were gathered for the feast of Pentecost, many went back to their home regions and told others of the good news about who Jesus is and what He had accomplished through His death and resurrection. Many were added to the church day by day.

 

 James 1:2-4 

     These verses are not the easiest verses for us to understand. It seems very difficult to have an attitude of pure joy when trials come to us in our lives. However, James is encouraging us to have the proper attitude so that we learn the proper spiritual lessons that the Lord is trying to teach us when we are going through difficult times in our lives. 

     Let me state, all of the trials and difficulties that we face in our lives are not in some way placed on us by God. God uses the things that we are going through to help us trust in Him and serve Him in a greater way. The Lord wants us to call upon Him to help us when we are facing the difficulties and the struggles that we all go through. 

     Many of the trials that we face in life can be quite challenging. Sometimes, there are so intense that they may cause us to doubt that the Lord cares about us or that He has our best intentions at heart. We need to banish these kinds of thoughts from our minds. 

     When we face challenges and tests to our faith, we endure so that we grow in our faith and trust in the Lord. This process allows us to become more mature in the faith. 

     Let us think about in this way. When you face a temptation, a trial or a difficult situation, you can either succumb to it or overcome it. When we overcome and persevere, we grow, and we are then able to better handle other temptations, trials and difficult times that may come into our lives. 

 James 1:5-8

     In these verses, James is speaking directly about asking God for wisdom. It is in the direct context of asking for wisdom to understand how to make it through any of the hard times and temptations that we might be facing. It is asking for wisdom to overcome. 

     We can take it a step further from this, I think. All of us ask things from the Lord. We are even taught to do this by Jesus in the Lord's Prayer. We ask the Lord for many things each day not only for others but for our own needs as well. 

     When we ask the Lord for wisdom, or whatever else it might be, we need to ask in faith and not waver. James warns against being double minded and unstable in all of our ways being tossed about like the waves of the sea. 

     In faith, believing in the power of the Lord with all of our hearts, we let our requests be made known to the Lord. We have to believe that He has the power. We have to walk by faith and not by sight. Sometimes, things may look bleak, but we must never lose faith in God. 

     The reason that we do not lose faith is that God gives generously to all who ask. The Lord wants to help us. He is not out to get us. He wants what is best for us because He is our kind and loving Heavenly Father who knows how to give good gifts to His children. 

James 1:9-11

     This is an interesting section. It is a contrast between the rich and poor who say that they have faith. As we go through the book of James, you will see that he doesn’t have a lot that is nice to say about those who are rich and powerful. He doesn’t approve of anyone thinking that they are better than someone else.

     In this passage, the first thing that James does is to tell the poor to take pride in their high position. What could this mean? Weren’t they at the bottom of society? Only according to the way the world thinks. Not to the way that God thinks.

     The person who is poor in the goods of this world, is wealthy beyond compare if he is a believer in the Lord Jesus. Why? Because that person is a child of God. Their Father is the King of the Universe. And they are a child of the King. You can’t get any better than that.

     James will go on to say that the rich should rejoice in their humiliation, because they are passing away like a wild flower. They are here today and gone tomorrow.

     What does all this mean? Here is a great instance when we must let Scripture interpret Scripture. We go back to what Jesus said. Jesus said that the rich man who tore down his barns and built bigger barns was a fool. He only thought about himself, and he didn’t use his wealth to help others. Jesus asked what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?

     Also, Jesus gave the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man had it all. He even dressed in purple which in that day meant you were uber wealthy. At his gate was poor man named Lazarus. He had sores all over and the dogs came and licked him. He was as low as a man on this earth can get. Yet Jesus surprised everyone and said that the rich man went to hell and Lazarus went to Abraham’s Bosom which is Heaven. Why? The poor man Lazarus was right with God, and the rich man showed by his lack of caring for others that the love of God did not dwell in him.

     Wealth is not a sign of God’s favor and poverty is not a sign of His displeasure. What is important in life is that we know God and that we live out our faith by doing unto the least of those among us.

James 1:12

     In this verse, James is telling us more about standing up under the trials of life. However, I believe that James is speaking here a little more broadly about the trial of living for Jesus throughout our lives on earth instead of just talking about living through a difficult time or through a specific time of temptation.

     If we endure and make it through this life without losing our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, the Lord will reward us with a crown of life.  It is an acknowledgment from the Lord that we have done what we were supposed to do. The Lord gives this crown, James says, to those who love the Lord.

     Love for the Lord is demonstrated through a life of obedience. Jesus Himself said that if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. He also said that we are His friends when we do whatever it is that He says.

     It is my hope, and I hope it is yours as well, to hear the words of Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

 

James 1:13-15

     In this section, James wants us to know where temptations in this life come from. They do not come from God. God does not tempt any person to do what is wrong. He does not tempt people in order to get them to sin. What James is saying is that God is not out to get you. He is not looking to bring something bad down upon you. He doesn’t want you to fail in following Him, and He is not setting you up to fall away from His service.

     We can’t blame God when we slip and fall and commit the various sins that we commit. James is quite clear. A person sins when he is drawn away by his own lusts and enticements. We are the ones who are responsible for our actions. Our own greed and selfish desires when they are dwelled on, planned on, and schemed on are what leads to sin and separation from God.

     What is the end result of falling into sin again and again and again? Death is what James says. This can be physical and spiritual death. Some sins and temptations can lead to death in the physical sense. Doing certain things and living in certain ways set people up for bad things to happen to them.

     Falling into sin also leads to spiritual death. I am not saying that every time you sin you lose your salvation. What I am saying is that if a person continues to lead a sinful lifestyle that is totally contrary to God and the things of God, that person is making a conscious choice to have a life that is not about God. That ultimately leads people to deny God and decide that they don’t want to be a Christian anymore.

     With this is mind, it is best for us to guard our hearts. When we are tempted, we need to pray and seek the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit. We need to get in the Word. When we do sin, we need to confess it, and move on in once again doing those things that God wants us to do.

 

James 1:16-18

 

     This passage tells us what God is really like and what His intentions are for us. As James said, God is not tempting people and trying to get people to fail. He has not set about to bring bad things and troubles into people’s lives. Instead, James tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father.

     The Lord wants and does give good gifts and good things to us. He blesses us with all spiritual blessings. He has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness. He has sent us the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and bless us with spiritual gifts.

     We see this presented by Jesus as well. He told us that God gives good gives to His children. And He does not shift around and change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. He will always be there to help us and to be our peace in the midst of the struggles and problems of this life.

     James goes on to wrap up this section saying God chose to give us birth. This means that God wanted to redeem us. He wanted us to come home to the Father’s house. We are the first fruits spiritually of all. We are the ones who have trusted in Jesus, and we are no longer bound by death, hell and the grave. We have new life. We are born again, and we will live with the Lord in a glorified body like unto the glorified body of the Lord Jesus in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

James 1:19-20

 

     We get some really good advice in this section. It doesn’t matter if you are Christian or not, this is something that if followed would help to make the world a better place. We should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

     Listening is a hard thing for many people to do. We all sometimes struggle with being able to stop and let someone else tells us what is on their heart. We always want to get our own two cents worth in. If we are always talking, we can’t find out what someone else is thinking, and that can cause us to not understand where someone else is coming from. If you listen more and speak less, you will learn a whole lot more.

     We should be slow to speak. What this means is that we should give a measured answer and not just blurt out the first thing that comes into our minds. We should analyze what we are going to say, so as not to inflame a situation or say something harsh or rash that we are sure to regret later. We especially don’t want to say something in anger. Why?

     Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. When you are angry, it causes one to speak words that hurt and not words that heal. It causes someone to at many times turn away from Jesus because they see those who say they follow Jesus being angry and saying mean and destructive things all the time.  If are becoming angry and saying angry things all the time, there is no way that we can be doing the things that God has called us to do.

James 1:21

     In addition to making sure that we aren’t an angry type of person, James tells us to rid ourselves of the moral filth and evil that is so prevalent in this world. We can see that this world does not value the same things that God values. Whatever God has revealed that He wants people to do, the world and its value system says to do the exact opposite.

     For this reason, Christians need to live holy lives modeled upon the example of the Lord Jesus. If we keep our eyes fixed on Him and follow all that He has told us to do, we will not go astray.

     One of the virtuous we see in the life of Jesus is humility. Like Jesus, we need to have a humble heart realizing that everything we have comes as a result of the grace of God. Salvation, and every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above.

 

James 1:22-25

 

     This is one of the most well-known passages in the book of James. It begins by telling us not to practice self-deception. We are not to be the kind of people who study and hear the Word of the Lord only. We are also to be the ones who follow the instructions of God’s Word. We are to follow the teachings and the commandments of the Word. We are to see the way that the Lord Jesus lived and acted while He was among us, and we are to do likewise.

     James gives us an example of a person who hears the Word but does not act on what he hears. It is just like what happens when a person looks at himself in the mirror in the morning. He sees the truth of his appearance, but just after he walks away from the mirror, he cannot remember in detail the image that he just saw.

     Now, I think what James Is getting at is that a person who just hears the Word and does not act upon never makes it a part of his deep reality. It never really gets down deep in his soul and becomes a part of him. It does not shape him and make him what he needs to be in the Lord.

     A person who really deeply and fully looks into the Bible and studies it, especially the teachings and the commandments of the Lord, that person will be blessed in all that they do. The reason for this is that they will be living life in God’s way. They will be living in this world following the example of the Lord Jesus. And when we do that, we cannot go wrong.

     The admonition of this passage is clear in another way. James is saying, and he will repeat the theme, don’t just say you believe, show it. Don’t just quote verses and show your Biblical intellect. Do it. Live it out, or it doesn’t make any difference.

 

James 1:26-27

 

     This is a particular favorite set of verses for me. It tells about what true religion really consists of. There are many people who are religious. They go to church. They say all the right things. They will tell anyone that they meet what a good Christian they are. But are they practicing true religion according to James?

     True religion for James means visiting the orphans and widows. What does this mean? It means just what Jesus said. It means doing good unto the least among us as if doing it unto Him. There are a lot of vulnerable, hurting and oppressed people in this world. A Christian is someone who stands for justice for the oppressed. A Christian practicing true religion helps the poor and helps those who cannot or will not help themselves. Jesus said when you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me.

     James adds an additional component to true religion. We are to keep ourselves from being polluted by this world. In other words, we are to live lives of holiness. We are to come out and be separate from the values and the false idea system of this world. We are to go God’s way and not the way of the world, the flesh and the devil.

     When we do what the Lord has commanded us to do to help others. When we love our neighbor as ourselves. When we treat others as we wish to be treated, and when we live our lives without sin, we are practicing true religion. And that is pleasing to God.

Verses For The Week

 Psalm 37:4 -- "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Isaiah 12:3 -- "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."