Category: James

More of God’s Wisdom

James 3-5

Devotion by Juliet Taylor (Tennessee)

The wisdom James is giving his readers sounds a lot like the wisdom given in the law of Moses (Leviticus 19), from the book of Proverbs, and from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7). I can’t think of a better devotional than to review it and what I believe it means so I can apply it:  

Let not many of you be teachers, because teachers will be more harshly judged. Teachers have a responsibility to seek God’s wisdom about what they are teaching others so that they will not lead others astray. They are influencers. If you’re going to influence someone to follow God’s word, take care that you are seeking God’s wisdom about how to interpret it so that you can lead by example, like Jesus did. 

We all stumble in many ways. But if we can learn to control our tongue, we can be a perfect person, able to control how we behave. Jesus did this. He only spoke what the father told him, and then did what his father said to do.

Like a ship’s rudder directs the whole ship, or a bit in a horse’s mouth directs the whole horse, so the tongue bridled can direct the person’s behavior. The tongue speaks what’s in the heart of the person; the person’s own will. If the tongue can be tamed, by seeking God for his wisdom about what to speak and then do, the person is letting God lead, or letting God’s will direct her, or walking by the spirit.

Practice using caution when you speak, seeking God’s wisdom about what you should say and what you should do like Jesus did, so that what you say is what you do, and what you do is what God says is good.    

Again, just as a small flame can set a whole forest on fire, so the tongue is a small thing, that can send a person to the grave. If what you speak is not of God, you’re speaking of your own wisdom and doing your own will. When you do this, death is the end result if you do not get back on the right path.

Man has tamed all of God’s creation, and yet he cannot tame his own tongue. With it he blesses his father but then curses men who were made in the likeness of God. Let’s not let it be this way, friends.

Who among you is wise and understanding? If you are, prove it through your good deeds. Notice that it doesn’t say the wise and understanding should become a teacher, though that should be a prerequisite, I think.

If you are wise and understanding, it will be evidenced by your bridled tongue. You will be a gentle person, who does the will of God.

Deeds that are not good, or not wisdom from above, include bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. The behaviors involved with these characteristics are earthly, or demonic, and they create disorder and evil. They are deeds done with the motivation of loving oneself without a care for others.

Deeds that are good, from above, will be produced from people who are first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. These are deeds that are done for the good of others, for love’s sake.  

The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. In other words, our goal is to sow the word of God in others peacefully, so that they too will bear righteous fruit; they’ll become people who also become righteous and are peaceful.

How many times do you see the opposite happen, especially online? I work from home, with fewer opportunities to spread the gospel face to face, but I enjoy doing it online. Others use this tool as well. Unfortunately, I think many keyboard warriors have missed the mark on this one. There seems to be a motivation of pride – to win an argument, with much quarrelling and name calling, rather than peaceful planting for love’s sake. If someone doesn’t want to hear your argument, shake the dust off and move on peacefully.

Chapter 4.

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? It’s your desire to please yourself, or for your own will to be done. For example, you lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain what someone else has, so you fight and quarrel.

You do not have what you want because you do not ask. If you do ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you can spend it on your own pleasures.

You are supposed to ask to receive things for your own good and for the good of others, that is, God’s wisdom about whatever God says is good for you.

If you don’t, you’re like an adulteress, envious of something not meant for you, but you take it anyway to please yourself. When you do this, you’re a friend of the world, and an enemy of God, because you do the things opposed to his will and will therefore hurt yourself or others in the process with your own will/judgment. 

He jealously desires his spirit to dwell in us, which prompts us to desire to do his will, not our own. Therefore, he gives greater grace to the humble, that is, to those who seek God’s help in making decisions (and then act on his wisdom about what to do).

So, submit to God for his wisdom. Resist the devil by resisting the urge to walk by the flesh (your own will) rather than the spirit’s urging, and the devil will flee. Remember that he fled from Jesus after his temptation because Jesus met him with this resistance. He told him he will do God’s will. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Be humble people. Humble people cleanse their hands (stop sinning). They aren’t double-minded, they are seekers of one will, God’s. If they were sinning or seeking to please both God and man, they need to mourn and weep their sin and circumstance. Humble people will be exalted.

Don’t speak evil about your neighbor. This means do not slander; don’t charge someone falsely with malicious intent by attacking their reputation. When you do this, you have judged your neighbor as unworthy of receiving the royal treatment of love. When you do this, you have spoken against the law (of Moses (Exodus 20:16), but as it should be applied  under the law of liberty) and become a judge of it, rather than a doer of it.

Instead of seeking God’s wisdom about your neighbor and what to do, you used your own wisdom to judge him falsely according to your own will. You will be put to shame, for there is only one judge, who is able to save and destroy.  

We do this when we rely on our own will to make a profit as well. When you make your own decisions about what you’ll do to make a profit, or an abundance beyond what you need, and succeed, you become boastful. When you boast in relying on your own wisdom and will to make a profit, rather than relying on God for your provision and what to do with it, you’re being arrogant. Instead, seek God’s will in the matter, and do it. You don’t know what tomorrow holds for you.

If you know the right thing to do according to God’s will but do not do it, that is sin.

Chapter 5.

If you’re rich and store up treasures for yourself on earth without regard for reliance on God for your provision, nor using your abundant excess for those in need, your wasted rotting possessions will testify against you in the end (because you’ve decided to be the judge of how you’ll behave instead of relying on God’s wisdom to teach you what to do in various matters of this life).

The context here is about the rich who have been wicked, withholding the pay to those who served them in making their abundance. Like Abel crying out to God, the cries of those you’ve mistreated will reach the ears of the Lord, whom God appointed judge.

While you were enjoying your luxuries, those who worked hard but were treated badly were dying. You didn’t save them with your wealth by helping them with it. Instead, you condemned the righteous to death by withholding what could have helped them. They died without fighting against you for help.

Instead of being like this rich man, be like the righteous laborers. Be patient until the coming of the Lord, just as the farmer is patient in waiting for the precious produce of the soil to be ready. If you can be patient in thinking on the coming of the Lord whose time is near, it can strengthen your heart, and you can endure.

Don’t complain against brothers and sisters in Christ, so that you won’t be judged. The judge is standing at the door! I tie much of what I read about unrighteous complaining to the Israelite children in Massah and Meribah. They were judged for grumbling against Moses (and in turn, God) for bringing them out of slavery only to suffer in the wilderness, with no regard for the good God had done for them. They looked back at their life as a slave and thought it better than being free in the wilderness. This showed a lack of faith/trust and disobedience to God, as it was testing God.

As examples, this wisdom from God mentions the prophets of old, how they endured suffering for doing what was right in God’s eyes with patience and were counted blessed, especially the prophet Job. Those closest to him urged him to grumble against God for his poor circumstances. He never did. We know how it turned out for him in the end, full of God’s mercy and compassion. Take him as an example to follow if you are suffering.  

Above all, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgement. I think this comes from Matthew 6:33. The Law of Moses says, “Do not make false vows, fulfill them to the Lord.” But Jesus says don’t make a vow at all. Let your word be good enough.

So why would this be above all? Because oaths in Jesus’s time were used to manipulate or test God. People would use vows or oaths in the name of God to get someone to do what they wanted them to do because they’d swear by God’s name. Don’t do this!!! I believe it is also part of taking God’s name in vain (e.g., “I swear to God I’ll do what I say”).

What’s in the heart of the person who swears by God’s name? It’s not to honor their commitment but to get what they want using God. Just let your word be good enough. Don’t test/use/manipulate God. He can’t be tempted anyway so you’re just condemning yourself.

If you are suffering, pray.

If you are cheerful, sing praises to God.

If you are sick, call for the elders of the church and they will pray for you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.

Notice that if you are suffering, you are to pray, but if you are sick, you are to have someone else pray for you. I think this is because the sick person may not be able to pray as he would when well. But what follows should follow all who are righteous who pray; it should be a prayer like the Lord’s prayer, including asking for forgiveness of sins.

Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. I don’t think this is strictly in context with someone who is sick needing prayers for sin. It should be a part of our everyday life as Christians, as we pray the Lord’s prayer together. The prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought before God, can accomplish much, just like it did for Elijah when he earnestly prayed for no rain.

If anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Turning someone from sin is loving them. But be sure to be gentle when you do it. And be sure you don’t have a log in your own eye first (Prov 10:12; Matt 18:15-17; 1 Peter 4:8).

Our daily lives should involve helping each other be the people God wants us to be, working together to know and do God’s will. It will involve praising God together, serving each other, praying for one another, and helping each other abstain from sin or turning away from it. Lives are at stake.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Chapter 3 places a lot of emphasis on taming the tongue. I think this has to do with stopping ourselves to seek God’s wisdom before we speak and proceed to act on our own wisdom/with our own will. What do you think?

2. Chapter 4 seems to lump things we do that don’t seem too harmful (like quarreling) with things we deem very harmful, like murder. Jesus seems to do this too when he applies the New Covenant command of love to Old Covenant laws (i.e., don’t just refrain from murder, refrain from being angry with your brother). I think he does this to show us how to stop sin from “growing”. If you can cut off anger and love your brother, you won’t murder him. What do you think?

3. Chapter 5 made me think a lot. God is for the protection of his people. His laws are for our good and the good of others, yet he calls us to sacrifice our rights in order to save others. Others in turn are to sacrifice for us. How do you decipher when to speak up and act for justices’ sake verses staying silent and suffering unrighteousness done to you by others, knowing God will judge through Jesus in the end?

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God’s Wisdom

James 1-2

Devotion by Juliet Taylor (Tennessee)

How do you want to be known? James calls himself, “a slave to God and to the Lord Jesus the Christ.” Though we’re no longer slaves, but friends of Christ, it is a great grand opening to talking about how to be perfect, which is in doing the will of God until the end of our lives (because we’ve become people who really want to)!

James is writing to the 12 tribes dispersed abroad, so in other words, he’s writing to Jewish Christians in various lands. I’m not sure what persecution was going on at the time of James’s writing, but we have seen in other books of the Bible that spreading the Gospel put a target on Christians. James gives his brethren what they need to endure whatever happens to them to the end of their lives. He gives them God’s wisdom.

James encourages his brethren to consider various trials with joy, as a testing of their faith, as it produces endurance, which results in perfection. These words point my thoughts to Jesus in the garden. What was about to happen to him was happening because others hated him for what he spoke and did, and they wanted his influence to stop. They were jealous.

Jesus was in agony thinking about the cross and thinking about the disciples and early Christians who were about to be scattered for his sake, that James may be writing to now. He endured the cross by thinking about what would be accomplished because of this final trial.

This is how you endure hardships for the Lord; you think about all of the people you will influence by following Jesus’s example so that they too can desire to love like Jesus and be saved. This perspective can bring you joy. Changing your mind to have this perspective during various trials is wisdom from God.

But if we lack wisdom about what to do, especially during hardships, all we need do is ask and God will be generous to teach us his ways. But we must ask in faith, without doubting.

We shouldn’t doubt that he’ll give us wisdom about what to do when we ask because he’s proven that he’s a good God and father, who teaches us his ways for our own good. A good father won’t give his children something that’s going to harm them when they ask for something they desire, right (Luke 11:11-13)? Of course not. He’s going to give them what they need (though it may not always seem like it, such as in the case of Jesus going to the cross).

If you doubt that God is going to give you wisdom for your own good, and instead will give you wisdom that will harm you or make your situation worse (e.g., Massah & Meribah), you’re showing him that you don’t trust him. You’re like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. You’re not going to get anything from him if you don’t trust him.  

James goes on to teach the dispersed brethren a bit of wisdom that we can all heed. I think it is the wisdom of God that’s of utmost importance for us to follow as his disciples. We’re not given a set of laws we must follow in the New Covenant, but we are given wisdom. Let’s desire it like Solomon did and do it like Jesus did:  

A poor man knows that God is his provider. He can glory in his humility (glory in that he seeks God’s wisdom for his survival). But a rich man that does not rely on God for his means and pursues what he wants for his own personal gain can glory in his humiliation. He’s not going to make it to the Kingdom of God without seeking the father’s wisdom about his provisions (or his abundance).

Know that this life comes with trials. Trust in God’s wisdom to get through it and let it shape you into the kingdom citizen God wants you to be, so that you won’t be a person that desires harm to come to anyone, rather, you’ll be a person who loves like his son. In the end, your crown of life will be waiting.

Understand that when temptation comes, it didn’t come from God. It came because our world has been shaped by people who didn’t always choose God’s will. It came because there is a devil lurking about, persuading people to choose to eat of the tree that’s choosing their own wisdom about what’s good and evil, and then they do evil, which affects everyone. It came because we ourselves don’t always choose God’s will. Our own lust breeds sin that will always lead to death. But choosing God’s wisdom about what we should do to overcome our lust (our own will) approves us as one who wants God as our judge when we do what God says is good.

Every good and perfect gift given comes down from the father above (meaning, it was given by God, and it was his will). It was his will that he brought us forth by the word of truth (his wisdom about creating us new in Christ), that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creation. So be the first fruits you were meant to be, as lights to the world like his son.

You already know God’s word, so put away what remains of filthiness in your life that will prevent you from seeking God’s wisdom and doing his will. Be quick to hear from God, slow to speak, and slow to anger so that you will be a person prepared to receive the word implanted, which is his wisdom about what you should do to save your soul (and your neighbor’s soul).

If you hear the word of God (God’s wisdom about what you should do) but then fail to do it, you’re like someone who looks at himself in a mirror (hearing the word only), but then walks away, forgetting what he looks like. I equate this with going to church, getting filled with the Holy Spirit to do God’s will, then forgetting that you are a child of God throughout the week, and that you were meant to shine for others to see through your works. We need to actually do what we hear. That’s the word implanted. It’s continually being filled by the holy spirit so that we can walk by it (action).

Instead of looking at yourself in the mirror, look intently at the perfect law of liberty, to love as Jesus loved, so that you won’t be an effectual hearer only of the word, but a doer. Notice in this example that there’s no walking away, in contrast to the mirror. You look intently at it so that you won’t walk away and forget. Your eyes are continually fixed upon the law that says to do something, for loves sake, to save others, just like Jesus did.

Bridle your tongue to let God’s wisdom about what you should do prevail and guide you (by being quick to hear when you ask, slow to speak so that you’re sure you’re speaking God’s will and not your own, and slow to anger – God’s will about what you should do isn’t going to be to tell you to get angry, for the most part, because anger does not bring about the righteousness of God). Your own tongue can deceive you into thinking that you’re doing God’s will, but it’s just lip service if you’re not doing what God says to do.

Pure and undefiled religion is in the doing of God’s will continually, instead of our own (which is sinning). Doing God’s will will keep us unstained by the world. For Jesus, pure and undefiled religion was laying down his life for us. For us, it may be to love orphans and widows in their distress by visiting them and giving them what they need. It can be loving anyone in distress by visiting them to help them, especially the brethren.   

Don’t just do good for those who society favors. If you do, you’ve chosen to be the judge of who’s deserving of God’s royal treatment, rather than relying on his wisdom about it. God favors those who favor him, who are generally the poor, because they’re humble (they rely on God for his wisdom instead of the rich, who generally rely on their wealth).

If you show partiality by way of how you treat the poor compared to the rich, then you’ve dishonored the poor. And for what? The favor you show to the rich goes to people who oppress you. They are those who have no problem dragging you into court when an issue arises, and will there blaspheme your name to win a case against you.

If you are fulfilling the royal law from scripture (Lev 19:18), “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well, because that’s God’s will (and in so doing, you fulfill all the Law of Moses and the prophets (Mat. 7:12; 22:40 with the Shema)).

If you show partiality however, that is sin. It is sin because you’re using your own wisdom/being the judge of who’s deserving of God’s royal treatment (who gets your love and who doesn’t?). It is better to be merciful to the poor than to judge them unworthy of your mercy by way of how you treat them.

And if you sin in this way, you are guilty of sin and are convicted as a violator of the Law (of Moses, I think; but also of the law of liberty). Not showing partiality is a moral law we should still “follow” under the law of liberty because we want all people to enter the kingdom of God. Treating the poor as well as we treat the rich just may show them the love of Christ, planting a seed of faith/trust that will bring them to the kingdom.

Jesus explained how to do this with some of the laws from the Law of Moses in his Sermon on the Mount. Here it looks like James is doing it with the law against showing partiality. The wisdom from God then, is the same wisdom from God under the New Covenant regarding how to fulfill this commandment. It’s in loving your neighbor as yourself – not just the rich and influential.  

Under the New Covenant, we are to speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty, serving all with God’s royal treatment (treat them how you’d want to be treated because you are motivated by love to get them into the kingdom).

If you committed the sin of showing partiality under the Old Covenant, you would have to repent by making a sacrifice to cover the sin. Under the New Covenant, you need to repent to your high priest Jesus (a much easier yoke), and stop showing partiality because you realize that you want the poor to know the love of Jesus and enter the Kingdom of God as much as you want to. If you don’t show them mercy, God will not show mercy to you on the day of judgment.

You can’t rightly say you have faith without works that are evident of your faith. Your works are how you treat people based on whose will you decide to follow. If someone says he has faith but no works, it is like telling the cold and hungry person who asked you for food to, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” without actually giving him anything. This is worthless if you don’t give him what he needs when you are able.

Belief that something is true is not enough for justification’s sake. Take the belief that God is one for example. The demons believe this to be true, but shudder. They know the truth, but their actions reveal that they follow their own will and oppose the preaching of faith in Jesus. They shudder because they know they are guilty before a powerful God and will face destruction soon.

Abraham (a Jew) had faith, and so did Rahab (a Gentile). They believed that God was able to fulfill his promises to them for their good (or that God’s people would fulfill their promise because of who their God was in Rahab’s case), and so they acted based on their belief. They are included in the promises of God because of this. Likewise, let’s prove that we have faith by our works, which are acts of love, proving that we are becoming a person like Jesus, who chooses to do God’s will for the good of all; for loves sake.

QUESTIONS

1. Do you think that the sins of others in times past have affected your walk with God? If so, how can you change that so that you will affect others with the good you do?

2. Do you think the Royal law is the same as the law of liberty/freedom?

3. If we are guilty of a sin (like showing partiality) under the law of liberty/freedom, how does our high priest Jesus differ in how our sin is handled from the high priest under the Old Covenant?

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A Change of Heart

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 51 & 52

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 4:1-12

In the margins on my Bible, I had the following notes for this section (presumably thoughts on a sermon or lesson I heard in the past):

  1. We cannot underestimate the seriousness of sin
  2. Jesus calls us to mourn our sins in acts of genuine repentance
  3. If our natural reaction isn’t to mourn, we should pray for God to change our hearts
  4. Our God deserves our full-hearted obedience & worship.

#3 stuck out to me as I was reading – are there times that we don’t mourn our sin?  We try to make excuses for it, why it is ok for us to do it (and maybe not for someone else). 

Usually, we try not to think about our own sin.  But we do need to take time to reflect on our lives so that if we do have sin, we can repent and be forgiven.

I think in doing that, it can lead us better into #4.  If we are mourning our sin, repenting, and asking God to change our hearts, that can help mold us to what God desires which obedience comes from and further leads us into a deeper worship.

In reading through these verses, I see how our selfishness and self-absorbedness can cause fights among one another, can lead us to seek out worldly pleasures, and to think too highly of ourselves.

Instead, we need to humble ourselves and work on selflessness as we turn to God.  And there are some wonderful promises in this!

“Come near to God and he will come near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (vs 8 & 10)

I want to draw nearer to God, and He wants that too.  He isn’t looking for ways to avoid us – He is looking for us to come to Him, and He will be right there with us. 

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Consider where in your life you have been/are friends with the world – thus making you an enemy of God. Are there times that we don’t mourn our sin? What excuses have you made for your sin?
  2. Where would you rank yourself on a selfishness meter – 10 being always selfish, 1 being always selfless? How is pride and humility related to selfishness and selflessness?
  3. What heart change might God be looking for from you? Will you pray for it?
  4. How can you work at submitting yourself to God? How can you work at resisting the devil?
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Taming the Tongue

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 46-47

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 3:1-12

Reading this passage is powerful to me.  It’s only 12 verses, so take the time and read through it if you haven’t.

The imagery just really paints a picture in your mind of the kind of control being talked about.  And what has this control?  The tiny little tongue.

It is so small, yet so powerful.

The words you say have a powerful impact on others.  A kind word can lift someone from a valley, but a negative word can push someone down who may have already been knocked down.

My 3-year-old son made the joyful revelation when talking and making faces at his baby cousin this summer – “If I’m happy at her, she’s happy at me!”  Life isn’t quite always like this, but typically, if you speak kindly to someone, you are much more likely to get a positive response from them whether it is a kind word back or help in an area you are looking for.

Verses 9-10 read: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be.”

[italics added]

How can we curse someone made in God’s likeness with the same mouth we praise our God with?  Those ideas are so contradictory, yet it is easy to put people down.

For example, you may be aware that we have an election coming up soon.  There are so many negative things being said about politicians in all parties.  But how can we talk this way about someone made in the likeness of God?  I think what it boils down to is that is not how we are viewing them.  We are looking at them based on their actions or thoughts that we don’t agree with, but not looking at who they are as a person which is someone made in God’s likeness.

Let us try to view everyone in this way in order that we might better praise God. 

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you think God is thinking about those who praise Him and curse men?
  2. Watch your tongue today and see how many times you speak poorly of people – or catch yourself ABOUT to speak negatively of someone made in God’s likeness. Why do you think it is so common in the world?
  3. How can we be different? Is it possible to state your opinion about ideas without putting down people?
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Heart Change

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 44 & 45

POETRY: Psalm 107

NEW TESTAMENT: James 2:14-26

Faith or Works

How are we saved?  We are saved by grace alone, through our faith in Jesus Christ.  But what comes out of our faith?  Shouldn’t it be works?

If we start with works and try to earn our righteousness, we won’t get there.  We cannot earn salvation.  However, if we have faith, works should come out of that.

I think most people reading this probably know these things.  You’ve probably heard a sermon, read a devotion on it, etc.  But do we live that way?  Do we live in a way that is trying to work on all the individual things in our lives, to clean them up one by one, to do the good things we are supposed to?

Alternatively, we can focus on growing our faith.  On accepting the gift given to us and let the good works come naturally as a result of that.

The youth group at our church recently read in Romans 12 which lists many snippets on how we should be living “love must be sincere…be joyful in hope…share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality…live in harmony with one another…do not be conceited…” and many more. 

We could use this as a checkbox of good works to make sure that we are doing the right things to show our salvation.  But that doesn’t address our hearts.  If we need a checklist to make sure we are loving one another, we need to go back and look at our hearts.  What we talked about in class was to pray to have our hearts changed so that living this way would come naturally out of the overflow of our hearts.  And I think this relates to the faith vs works question. 

If our faith is sincere, our hearts are changed, and the result of that is good works.

A checklist can be a good way for you to ask yourself – am I living as one whose heart has been changed – but I don’t think it is good to be living our lives based off of a checklist.  It focuses you more on the tasks rather than the effects of what you are doing or the purpose behind it.

So maybe ask yourself if you are doing these good things, or avoiding the bad, but if you aren’t meeting the things on that list, don’t place your focus there.  Instead, pray for God to change your heart and you should start to see that happen more and more.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Where have you seen faith without works? Where have you seen works without faith? Why, do you think, God is looking for both, working together?
  2. Are you living as one whose heart has been changed? Are you living out your faith daily? What evidence do you have to support your answer?
  3. What specific heart change can you pray for?
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Religion that is Worthless

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 38-40

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: `James 1:19-27

Have you ever spoken without thinking and hurt someone as a result?  Maybe you have seen this object lesson before, but think of a tube of toothpaste.  It is really easy to squeeze the toothpaste out (my kids are happy to do so in excess if they make it to the counter before me).  But once it is out, it is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and messy to get that toothpaste back in.  Once you speak, you can’t take your words back.  You can apologize, but that doesn’t change the fact of what you said.

How quickly do you become angry?  I like verse 20 which gives us a reason why we should be slow to become angry – “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

It is easy to get angry, to speak rudely, to interrupt others’ speech.  But these things do not help us to live the life God wants us to.  It might make us feel better for a second to have an outburst, but usually, we feel worse afterwards and it has done nothing to improve our lives.

But how do we go about avoiding this temptation that is easy to slide into?

“get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

In a small group I was a part of in the spring, there was an idea that kept coming up from discussing the sermons – if you aren’t producing good fruit in your life, take a look – are you letting sin have a hold in your life?  We have to be constantly on the lookout for where sin seeps in and push it out in order that our fruit can show.

Verse 22 – “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says[!]”  You have to act.  It is great to go to church, listen to sermons, classes, read the Bible on your own, etc.  All great things.  But if all you do is listen, it isn’t going to make a difference.  You need to actively push the sin out of your life and pursue the good.

To circle back to the beginning of this section, here is what James writes in verse 26 “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” 

That is strong language!  Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue?

Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for?  What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?

Silence has value.  In the words of Thumper “if ya can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue? When might you have questioned someone else’s religion because of what they said? When was the worth of your own religion decreased due to what you said?
  2. Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for? 
  3. What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?
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God Won’t Give You Anything Beyond…

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 36-37

POETRY: Song of Songs 8

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 1:1-18

Do you feel joy when you go through trials/temptations? I would guess not as it is opposed to our natural inclinations.

But when we go through hard times, we can come out on the other side stronger. 

Have you heard Christians say that God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?  That is a perversion of the truth. 

We weren’t created to be able to handle this life on our own.  We were made with a need for God.  The trouble comes when we recognize our need for something beyond ourselves but turn to something or someone besides God and become dependent on that.  That is when idols are created.

God won’t put things in our life that can’t be handled with His help.  But there likely will be things in your life that you can’t handle on your own.  That is your reminder, if you aren’t already, to depend on God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 is where people get the wrong idea.  But they just read part of it.  They read “he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  The verse continues though to say “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  He will provide a way!

When we try to do things on our own, we can quickly become prideful – thinking we are great, or, become depressed because we can’t do what we tried to. 

We can come out of the other side of trials and temptations with a stronger faith if we leaned into God during this time.  It should allow us to become more mature in our faith and deepen our relationship with God.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What is a past trial you have gone through with God’s help? How did He help you? How did your perseverance grow during this experience? How did you mature through the process? What joys can you take away from that past trial?
  2. What joy can you find in your present trial?
  3. Consider some of the Christians that you most look up to. Have you ever met a really strong Christian who has had a really “easy” life?
  4. What will you say the next time you hear someone say, “God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?”
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Maturity

Old Testament: Jeremiah 7 & 8

Poetry: Proverbs 7

New Testament: James 5

James has focused his entire letter on Christian maturity — both in our faithfulness to God and in our conduct toward others. It’s not enough to just call ourselves Christ followers; we must be continually striving to grow closer to Him in our behavior, our morality, and our internal attitudes. Now James concludes his letter, and he does so by talking about where we place our trust in this life. This is very much a continuation of the thoughts James shares in chapter 4:7–12: Trusting God instead of the world.

“Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Your “yes” must be “yes,” and your “no” must be “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.”

James 5:7–12

The impatience and callousness that can come from trusting in our wealth compared with the patience and strength that comes with trusting in God is the theme of chapter 5 of James. He puts this patience in the context of a farmer who has to keep a long-term view of their work, knowing that a lack of patience could result in a ruined crop. Our trust in God encourages us to be patient with Him as well as with one another.

Take people like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Job as examples of this kind of patience and trust. Their examples testify to us that our patient faith can endure anything through the Father. These people should be role models to us, not simply icons of faith. We should look at the way they endured their trials, at the ways they overcame discouragement and outright persecution, and strive to do the same.

Then we get to the “above all” statement. This is the sum of everything James has written so far regarding our mature faith. Putting God’s word into action, showing generosity, overcoming prejudice, taming our tongues, growing in humility, and putting our trust where it belongs — all of this boils down to a very simple principle: be honest.

·       If we are honest with our perspective about suffering, we will understand that pains of this life are temporary and look to God’s greater purpose for us.

·       If we are honest with God’s word, then we will put it into practice when it tells us to change things in our lives.

·       If we are honest with the example Jesus has left us, then we will put others before self, discard prejudice, and seek mercy before judgments.

·       If we are honest with ourselves, we will be mindful of the ways we use our words and control our language even when angered or frustrated.

·       If we are honest about our place in Creation, we will be humble before God and put His will before our own.

·       If we are honest in humility, then we will place our trust in the Creator rather than the perishable things He has created.

Applying the wisdom in James takes time. God has not left you alone in this but will work this out for you if you are humble and honest. May you be blessed this week and always seek the Kingdom.

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. Honestly evaluate what you most often put your trust in. Your wealth, the world, your job, your family, your Creator? How can you display more trust in God Almighty? What would that look like?
  2. How mature is your Christian faith? What would help you grow even more mature?
  3. How would you rate yourself on each of the “If we are honest…” statements above? Which one do you think God would most like you to work on right now? What would be a great first step? Pray and tell God about the change and action steps you would like to make.
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Humbled

Old Testament: Jeremiah 5 & 6

Poetry: Proverbs 6

New Testament: James 4

Yesterday we talked about taming the tongue. We learned how hard it is to do. How do we get God’s help? Luckily for us James speaks on this in the very next chapter. The answer is…

Humble Yourself.

Humility is not something we can achieve. We might consider it American to think we could. You can do it. Be proactive. Take the first step. Grab the bull by the horns and be humble.

Make no mistake, we do have a part to play in humility. It is not only an effect but a command. In particular, two apostles tell us to humble ourselves. And both do so in similar ways.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. 1 Peter 5:6

So far as we can tell, James and Peter haven’t been inspired by each other on this point, but by the Old Testament. In the immediate context of instructing us to humble ourselves, both quote the Greek translation of Proverbs 3:34 (“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

For our purposes here, observe that both calls to self-humbling come in response to trials. James refers to quarrels and fights within the church:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1–2

Conflict among those claiming the name of Christ humbles the church. It serves as a test of pride, and humility. James reminds them not only that they are “sinners” and “double-minded” but he also reminds them of Proverbs 3:34. He charges the church to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God (James 4:7–8). In other words, “Humble yourselves before the Lord.” The church is being humbled from within. Now, how will they respond to God’s humbling purposes in this conflict? Will they humble themselves? Will we? Can we?

Over and over again in the Bible, self-humbling is not something we initiate but something we receive, even embrace — even welcome — when God sends his humbling, however direct or indirect his means. The invitation to humble ourselves does not come in a vacuum but through our first being humbled.

Humility, like faith — and as a manifestation of faith — is not an achievement. Humility is not fundamentally a human initiative, but a proper, God-given response in us to God himself and his glory and purposes.

We don’t teach ourselves to be humble. There’s no five-step plan for becoming more humble in the next day, week, or month. Within measure, we might take certain kinds of initiatives to cultivate humility in ourselves, but the main test comes when we are confronted, unsettled in the moments when our semblances of control vanish and we’re taken off guard by life in a fallen world — and the question comes to us:

How will you respond to these humbling circumstances? Will you humble yourself?

Daily humbling ourselves under the authority of God’s word, and humbling ourselves by obeying his words, and humbling ourselves by coming desperately to him in prayer, and humbling ourselves in fasting — these all have their place in our overall response as creatures to our Creator. But first and foremost, we need to know humbling ourselves is responsive to God.

When the next humbling trial comes, will you bow up with pride, or bow down in humility? God has a particular promise for you in these moments. The God of all power will exalt the humble in his perfect timing.

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. When has trials and conflict humbled you? Do you think you needed to be humbled?
  2. Why do you think God opposes the proud? Why do you think He gives grace to, and lifts up the humble?
  3. What is your response to God? Does it include a healthy dose of humility?
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The Influence of the Tongue

Old Testament: Jeremiah 1 & 2

Poetry: Proverbs 4

New Testament: James 2

(I told Andy he was in charge this week so yes, he could have some days discussing various chapters from James that don’t line up precisely with the reading plan in order to have some two-part devotions. So, today’s devotion actually comes from James 3).

Have you ever hurt someone with your words? Of course, we all have. That inability to hold your tongue. The control of the tongue has both negative and positive aspects. It involves the ability to restrain the tongue in silence. But it also means being able to control it in gracious speech when that is required.

Sanctification in any area of our lives always expresses both sides. A putting off and a putting on. Speech and silence, appropriately expressed, are together the mark of the mature (compare with one of the clearest illustrations of this in Colossians 3:1–17). Nor is this James’s first reference to speech. He had already said that for a professing believer to fail to bridle the tongue is to be guilty of self-deception (1:22–25) and the hallmark of a person whose religion is worthless (1:26). He uses some imagery to explain just how powerful this tongue is. In James 3:3–5, James uses two illustrations. The tongue is like the bit in the mouth of a horse. This tiny appliance controls the enormous power and energy of the horse and is used to give it direction. James may well have been familiar with this picture from common experience in daily life. He had seen powerful Roman military horses and had probably heard stories of chariot races. The point, however, is the power and influence concentrated in one small object. That’s how it is with the tongue.

The tongue is also like the rudder in a boat. Large ships were not unknown in the ancient world. The ship that originally was to transport Paul across the Mediterranean en route to Rome held 276 people (Acts 27:37). We know that a large ship like the Isis could carry one thousand people. Yet such a big and heavy vessel was directed simply by a turn of the rudder!

Why does James speak this way? Of course, divine inspiration but also of both biblical knowledge and personal experience. The tongue as I’ve heard it said “carries into the world the breath that issues from the heart”.

We do not realize how powerful for evil the tongue is because we are so used to its polluting influence.

Jesus says the tongue projects the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is from within, “out of the heart,” that the mouth speaks (compare with Matthew 12:34; 15:18–19). But like the smoker, so accustomed to the odor, the atmosphere in which they live, the person with polluted speech has little or no sense of it — no sense that they exhale bad breath every time they speak.

But with all of this said, James is forced into a confession. Nobody — Jesus excepted — has succeeded in mastering the tongue! Our only hope as we pursue the discipline of self that leads to mastery of the tongue is that we belong to Christ and that we are being made increasingly like him. But this battle for “vocal holiness” is a long-running one, and it needs to be waged incessantly, daily, hourly. Are we fighting it? So we get it. We don’t say mean things, we think about what we say. We use judgment with our words. Many people miss one important element in taming the tongue and that is adding Godly speech to our vocabulary. This is a life-changing, mind-altering, and wonderfully encouraging side.

Which we will get into tomorrow. 🙂

-Andy Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. Knowing what you now know about the tongue from James 3, what warnings and instruction on the words you say and don’t say can you apply to what James has to say in James 2?
  2. Which do you find harder – silence when silence is most appropriate or gracious speech when gracious speech is most important? Think of an example of when you should have been silent – but you weren’t. And, an example of when you could have used gracious speech – but you didn’t. How could the situation or relationship have been altered by better control of your tongue? How might your tongue be used now to help mend these relationships?
  3. Are there any specific words/phrases that your speech would be better without?
  4. In what situations do you find it difficult to control your tongue? What could you do next time you are in that situation to demonstrate that you want to become more and more Christ-like?
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