James Ch 5

I have quoted v 12 to myself many times over the years..."Let your "yes" be yes, and your "no", no, or you will be condemned." If I say I am going to do it, I try so hard to do it. It is a good lesson for not just saying "yes" to something because you feel like you should. If I say "yes", then someone is counting on me to keep my word. And if I don't, then they will have more difficulty believing me each and every time. It takes a much longer time to build my reputation for keeping my word than to destroy it.

That's all for today :).

James Ch 4

Vs 1-6 speak to me about twisting or manipulating situations to get them to turn out my way. We don't ask God for help with the situation because we know our motives are wrong...but we want our way anyway. What God gives is so much better.

Vs 7-8 (Msg) "So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life." Wow, Quit dabbling in sin... This one time won't hurt, right? I think that is dabbling. It's the sins that don't seem so big or bad that satan uses to separate us from God.

Finally v 17 really brings it home. "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." So omission is just as sinful commission. I pray my eyes will be open to see what he would have me do.

Moving On...James Ch 1

I could underline every verse in this Chapter and talk about it. James is so full of wisdom. V 2-4, "Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything", mirror my life verses, Romans 5:3-5 "Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope..." and they were written by two different men. Amazing.

V 5-6 are particularly timely for me today. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt..." If I am given a choice betwden two jobs, I will need real wisdom to choose. So first I am praying I wont be given a choice, but if I am, this convicts me that I cannot doubt God will give me wisdom to make the right decision.

V 22-24... "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." Do what it says! Pretty plain and simple there. Finally v 26..."If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." I have been doing better about keeping my mouth shut, but this is telling me I can totally cancel out what I try to show to others as a Christian just by opening my mouth. Scary.

James Ch 2 - Favoritism and Faith

Verses 1-4 talk about not showing favoritism among believers. I know I am guilty of that, and that is one of the reasons God has me reading these very words. In the Message, verse 4 says "haven't you segregated God's children" instead of "discriminated among yourselves" in the NIV. The wording in the Message hits me much harder. I may discriminate among many different things in life to choose the "finer" or better for me. But the word segregate has a much harsher connotation with it, and those are GOD'S CHILDREN that I am segregating into nice neat piles. Please forgive me, Lord.

Verses 8-11 continue with the picking and choosing, yet now it is among our sins. You know, the big ones versus the little ones. The little white lies versus the big black ones. I've done this, but I've never done THAT for heaven's sake! The Message says "You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others." The NIV "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it". I know we are sinners, and sin every single day, and that is why we need Jesus. These verses just drive home that it is all equal in God's sight, so we can't think of ourselves higher or better than another.

Faith and works...they go hand in hand. v 15 (Msg) "Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?" & 17 "Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" I think we all need a sermon on this at least once a month. I can read my Bible every day and live the best, cleanest life possible, but if I am hiding in my house and never reaching out to anyone, what good has that done God's kingdom? God doesn't NEED me, but he does use me to show others what He is all about. God promises that He will always take care of our needs, but I know He uses us to help each other with those needs.

I hope you are learning and being reminded as much from James as I am. I pray it will be deeply planted in my heart and not just be for today.

James Ch 3 - Taming the Tongue

This chapter is so in my face like all others that it almost brings me down instead of feeling lifted up...but it is teaching and I know God uses his words to convict us of our sin.

I honestly don't remember a day in my life that my mouth wasn't a problem for me. As a child I was called "Mouth of the South" by loving teachers for talking so much and so loud. I always got a "minus" on my report card for that part. I always wanted to be shy and quiet, but God didn't make me that way. The challenge is taking how he made me and using it for his good!

V1 is a kick in the booty. "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Funny how I chose that as my career. I pray if God has me enter the classroom again that I have my act more together than I did the last time I was there. But I know this also applies to teaching at church - being an example to the little or big ones that I am teaching.

V 8-10 "but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 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". I need to pray every morning that I will allow God to use my tongue for good and that I would not allow my sinful self to use it for evil.