Category: James

James 1:19

5/6/2012

James 1:19-20 “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

As I went back over James today these verses just hit me. I believe they did because I struggle with anger more than anything now. I love the challenge that James gives us in verse 21, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your soul.” We need to work on surrendering to God and letting the Spirit lead us that is when our hearts are changed and we can grow in maturity.

Chapter 1 verse 22 says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” We can’t think that once we are done reading we are good, God’s word is our manual for life and we must learn it and live it so we change and grow. We need to remember that Jesus coming freed us from our sinful desires and gave us a way back to the Father. Our hearts must be transformed and opened to what God has given us so we do not have to do anything on our own.

His word and the Spirit will lead us to the narrow road. We can never feel comfortable we must humbly come to God daily in prayer and an open heart knowing that when we do we will feel the peace and joy that only comes from the Lord. Amen

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James 4

5/3/2012

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James 4:4 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

When we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we must release our desires and surrender to God’s will. This happens when we open our hearts and study God’s word faithfully. The things of this world are not for us, we will desire them because we have lived that way but when we are born again we are new creations. And when we start to desire the world again we listen to the Spirit who is in us and we choose to follow Him instead of ourselves.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “…come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” How do we keep our minds and hearts out of the world? We come to Christ and talk to Him letting the Spirit who will lead us right decide what we do. This is us letting go of the control and giving it to God showing Him our love and faith. We will all fall short of His glory sometimes but as we mature and learn more we will be led by the Spirit and repent when we fall short of His glory.

God gives us the tools to grow and He wants us to use them. Not by our works but by our love. I love what James says in chapter 4 verses 7-9, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

We must remember that when we resist and come close those are things we have to do to make our walk complete. If we don’t resist and come to God we will always struggle and it will be harder for us to repent when we fall short and that is a dangerous place to be. We need to ask, seek and knock so we can be humble and truly be faithful in all situations. Amen

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James 3

5/2/2012

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James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”

This is so important for us to remember when we are thinking of learning and growing. Wisdom that we need to follow only comes from the Lord. Any other wisdom is worldly and has us focus on ourselves. Chapter 3 verse 13 says, “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”

True wisdom is outwardly focused and takes the spot light off what we can gain and putts it on how we can serve others. It is imperative that we are not just focused on ourselves because when we are we start doing things that benefit us and not things that glorify the Lord. Chapter 4 verse 1 asks, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?”

We are our biggest struggle sometimes, we must look at what we can do to honor God and see how Jesus never thought of Himself even when He was tired. Jesus was always focused on the Father and we must always do the same. We can’t worry about what others have we must just set out to be faithful with what we have and then work hard to honor God and ask for His strength to get us through.

Chapter 4 verse 2 says, “You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” We need to ask God always and be faithful with whatever we have and understand that God’s timing is the best timing for us. And when we ask we must have the right motives and the right heart or it means nothing. Verse 3 says, “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong- you only want what will give you pleasure.”

We need to keep focused on Him in all we do and never stop growing. Amen

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James 1

4/29/2012

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James 1:12-15 “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Wow! Our desires give birth to sinful actions and as that grows in us it gives birth to death. Choosing to live in sin and follow our sinful desires can lead to death even after we say we believe. Look how James starts this chapter off in verse 1; “This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the “twelve tribes”- Jewish believers scattered abroad.”

We must be patient and be seeking to live a life that is like Jesus Christ’s. When we understand this and surrender our lives fully to Him not trying to hold on to the world we truly know Him and we have transformation in our hearts. We cannot say because we believe it is ok for us to deliberately do things that please us. It doesn’t matter if it is an addition or not, we must turn it over to God and seek and ask for more strength and understanding.

Chapter 1 verse 5 says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” It is very important to understand that we need to ask but it is also very important that we understand what it says in verse 6, “But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as uncertain as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.”

Our desires are not an excuse to live how we want, when we give those desires up and we grow, the Spirit gives us every way out so we don’t do it. It is our responsibility to listen and choose what we do. The devil made me do it is bull, he tempts us or puts things in our path but we ultimately choose what we do. The devil tempted Jesus and Jesus went to God’s word, we are called to do the same so get in His word and ask for understanding and wisdom and then choose life by living in Christ. Salvation is a free gift that we don’t have to earn but we do have to take it (accept it). Amen

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James 1

8/2/2011

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James 1:19-21 “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

This is so important as we mature in our faith because our reactions are what make people wonder about what we believe. We need to be an example to people of what Christ has done for us so we let the Spirit lead us and we slow down how we react and react like Christ. It is so important for us to change and work on being a new creation so we can let people see that with Christ we can do all things. When we are learning and trying to live by the Spirit we must work on our actions constantly and not just use our words.

In verse 22 it says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”

People are watching us always when we call ourselves “Christians” so be ready to live it out and continually work at maturing, asking God to fill you with wisdom and understanding. Doing religious things does not make us “Christian” heart change and living differently is what shows God we love Him.

I love verse 26 which says, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”

You will not be helping the Kingdom of Heaven and you will cause people to stumble.

Verse 27 says, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

I pray for God to give us the strength to see past the world and all its selfish ways and for us to be slow to react to our emotions and truly let Him lead. We need to seek God and work on living a way that looks like the example God gave us with Christ. We can’t do it on our own but we need to open our hearts to let the Spirit fill us. Amen

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James 3

12/14/2010

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James 3:13-14 “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.”

I feel this is something we should all work on. We should all seek wisdom and understanding that comes from God and work on living a live that resembles Christ.

In verse 17 it says, “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.”

This is where we all should desire to be, and we should let nothing get in the way of us moving toward Christ. It says “if we are wise and understand God’s way…” how do we truly do this without the passion to learn about it every day? There is so much excitement when we can live truly loving God first and then doing our best to continually grow in our understanding.

I would like to end with James chapter 4 verse 8 which says, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

Forget the world and live, Amen.

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James 1

12/7/2010

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James 1:14-15 “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Just think about what is going on in our head for a minute, if you are like me random things just pop up. It is so important for me to be full of the Spirit and learning daily so things that are pleasing to God get in my random thoughts. What daily devotion does for me is slows me down to process everything before I just act. I still struggle with anger but I am getting better because of my devotion. I truly believe that we need to be willing to grow and move toward Christ everyday and seek God’s wisdom and apply it to our lives. In James chapter 1 verse 22 it says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.”

When we fill ourselves with God’s wisdom we have less crud to fill our lives.

Verse 21 says, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

When we listen to the Spirit we have a better chance to choose what is right and with the evil being removed we can truly grow. Amen

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James 5

8/24/2009

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James 5:16 “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

This is so important to think about. We are not supposed to do our Christian walk on our own. Remember it says the “earnest prayers of a righteous person,” not just the earnest prayers of a Christian. We must be working and growing; living a life that resembles Christ so we can truly feel the realness of our faith. That faith is solid and unmovable when we surrender fully to God. I love this prayer from Gary Thomas; “We can’t impress God. And so I prayed, Lord, help me to see this world with your eyes. Otherwise I might value what you despise and despise what you value.” We need to let it go and remember God has done so much to show His love to us we just need to work hard to show our love to Him. We shouldn’t be thinking of all the negatives that go on, we should look at what God has done for us. Then we will remember we are all growing together as fully devoted followers of Jesus. Let people in your life that can help you and pray with you and for you. Paul always prayed for people.

In Ephesians 1:16-17 he says, “I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.”

We need to accept this prayer and open God’s word and let it happen. Fill yourself with wisdom so you can pray and help others around you and have the confidence to be a light. Amem

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James 3

8/23/2009

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James 3:13 “If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.”

Are we truly listening to God and understanding our true purpose in life? If we say we are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ then how can we decide to follow our flesh? How do we not give or help people every time we have the chance? God’s word is so powerful when we open it and use it to transform our lives. It is one thing to say we are Christians but it is another to live like we are Christians. The struggle with this world will always be there that’s why it is so important to talk to God daily and open His word and live it.

James says in chapter 2 verse 10; “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”

Fight flesh by filling your heart with God using what Jesus did to guide you everyday. We need to also listen to the Holy Spirit and continue to grow everyday. I really like James chapter 4 verse 8 which says; “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

Put all your trust in God and saturate your heart with His word. Then when you are about to do something or act on something you listen to your heart because you have filled it with good. Jesus came and gave us the perfect example, learn and follow and be thankful for everything. Amen

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James 1:14-15

8/22/2009

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James 1:14-15 “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. The desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

Satan will attack in all sorts of ways making us feel comfortable in what we are doing. We need to check everything we do with how it is honoring to God. This is how we can stop the mind games that we all deal with. Fill ourselves with God’s word, give our life to Christ and follow the Holy Spirit in our heart.

Verse 21 says, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

Jesus did it; He put God first and then did everything God showed Him.

Verse 22 says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourselves.”

We shouldn’t be thinking of ourselves we should be thinking how we can live for others, always being a light. James gives us this warning that we really need to look at.

In verses 26-27 he says, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

I know I need to continue to work on my tongue; it has a mind of its own sometimes.

Is the world and what we want corrupting us? Pray for God to open your hearts and give Him your time to learn to be like Jesus. Amen

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