James 5: 1-6
James is now addressing rich farmers who are most likely not believers. He doesn't tell them to repent and return to the Lord, he just warns them against the coming judgment.
(1) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
Weeping may or may not be audible, but the wailing howling definitely is very loud. These men are commanded to accept the miseries of judgment that is coming.
(2) Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
In that day, wealth was held in foodstuffs and clothing, and these having been hoarded in storage so long, they have gone to waste.
(3) Your gold and your silver have rusted;
The Greek word katiotai may refer to rust, tarnish, or corrosion. Since gold and silver do not rust or corrode, he must be referring to tarnished metal, indicating how long the hoarded wealth had lain idle.
and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.
They had more wealth than they would ever have been able to spend, yet their workers were deprived of their wages. The idea that the corrosion will eat their flesh like fire is a graphic way of declaring that their greed will result in their own destruction, as if the corrosion that ate their riches will actually eat their very flesh.
It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
These rich people have hoarded their treasures in the last days, as emphasizing that it may even be in the last hour before the Lord returns. So they wouldn't have time to spend it anyway.
(4) Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
The second crime they are being charged with is that they're not paying their workers what is due them. He says that the money itself is crying out, still in the possession of the dishonest farmer.
And the workers are complaining, and their complaints are also reaching the ears of the Lord, who commands armies.
This title, Lord of Sabaoth, is used for the commander of hosts of angels, stars, and Israel's army. So this is our Lord God Almighty. And He is the One who will vindicate the workers.
(5) You have lived luxuriously on the Earth and led a life if wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
The luxurious living is a soft, enervating luxury that tends to demoralize. And the wanton pleasure describes extravagant and wasteful self-indulgence. In their self-indulgence, the rich people have given their hearts all the luxury and pleasure they wanted, as in a day of slaughter as a feast, a continual party. Or, as in Jeremiah 12: 3, the day of judgment, that they will be as cattle, completely unaware of impending destruction.
(6) You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.
The fourth and final crime of the wicked rich men was that they had murdered innocent men. Earlier in the second chapter of this letter, the rich are accused of dragging believers into court (2: 6), here they are charged with murder.
This is not to be taken as figuratively, but literally. Examples of this are Christ, Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, and the author himself.
The word dikaion, sometimes translated as "innocent men," is given here more correctly as the righteous man. It is that class of people who were known as the righteous that James had in mind.
More than being innocent, they were believers, and were mostly from the ranks of the poor (see 2: 5-7). The Greek text abruptly declares, ouk amtitassetai hymin ("He does not oppose you").
These wicked rich men were guilty of attacking not merely a righteous man but a man who was defenseless or who refused to fight back.
I see this happening today, when unrighteous people who have been customers of small, independently owned, Christian businesses, receiving their good will for many years, suddenly turn on them and request that they participate in a celebration honoring something that they know God condemns. They will then drag them into court in order to deprive them of their livelihoods, their means of supporting their families, and more. They try to divest them of everything they have in the world to sustain their lives.
This is evil. James is saying that these evil people have nothing to look forward to except fiery judgment, at the coming of the Lord, which may be very soon now.
But God is not willing for any to perish, even these evil people! If they would turn to the Lord, away from these evil practices and lifestyles, the blood of Jesus would wash even them as white as snow and break their addictions to these evils.
He would rescue them from the deceptive snares that have trapped them, and set them free. He would put His own Holy Spirit into their spirits, and teach them His ways. Then they would be able to experience the joy of the Lord, and the happiness of knowing how valuable they are, and how much they are loved!
O my Father, I pray for all Your children, especially those who are being persecuted, slandered, attacked, and despitefully used. I pray that they would know that You are holding them in Your lap, and feel Your strong, gentle arms around them, protecting them. Continue to have their brothers and sisters who can to assist them in their betrayals and tortures and travails.
Father, You love us more than we can ever imagine! You made us all to be Your own children, with worth and value to even put us in positions over Your holy angels.
Thank you, Father, for all that you have done for us, and for Your greatness and majesty. Thank You for calling us, and saving us, and re-molding us into the very character image of Your dear Son.
O Father, no one is beyond Your reach. No one has done anything so evil that You cannot forgive. Father, You want us to want to love You back, and You will not violate the free will You gave us.
Please send out Your children to share with all the world how much You love them, to show them who You are and what You have already done for them in Christ Jesus. Give them all the understanding to make an informed decision whether to turn toward or away from You.
Father, send us especially to all of Your embryonic children, to bring them to the birth into Your family; and grow us all up to maturity into the full stature of the Son of God.
And no one will have any excuse when they face the coming judgment.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Saturday, March 7, 2020
The Lord And Businessmen
James 4: 13-17
(13) Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."
These are Christian businessmen who think they own the world.
(14) Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Even the longest life is like a puff of smoke, that disappears. One life in the history of the world, is as less than a moment.
(15) Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that,"
As Christians, they should already know this. But they are arrogant.
(16) But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Instead James must remind them that it is evil, a sin.
(17) Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
This is sin of omission. These men (and women) even today need to hear this.
O my Father, please help us all to heed this, especially those of us who are in business for ourselves. I pray for all the Christian businessmen and women to remember to tithe on their income, and to help the less fortunate with gifts of benevolence.
Father, send out Your businessmen and women as missionaries each time they go out of town, as well as at home. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labors, and also share. And those who have amassed much of this world's goods, let them form foundations that will help the less endowed, and the poor.
My Father, send out Your children into all the world, to spread the seed of Your word until every living person can know how much You love them. And to bring Your unborn children to the birth into Your family.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the glory of God the Father, through all future eternity. Amen.
Even so, come soon and quickly, Lord Jesus!
(13) Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."
These are Christian businessmen who think they own the world.
(14) Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Even the longest life is like a puff of smoke, that disappears. One life in the history of the world, is as less than a moment.
(15) Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that,"
As Christians, they should already know this. But they are arrogant.
(16) But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Instead James must remind them that it is evil, a sin.
(17) Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
This is sin of omission. These men (and women) even today need to hear this.
O my Father, please help us all to heed this, especially those of us who are in business for ourselves. I pray for all the Christian businessmen and women to remember to tithe on their income, and to help the less fortunate with gifts of benevolence.
Father, send out Your businessmen and women as missionaries each time they go out of town, as well as at home. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labors, and also share. And those who have amassed much of this world's goods, let them form foundations that will help the less endowed, and the poor.
My Father, send out Your children into all the world, to spread the seed of Your word until every living person can know how much You love them. And to bring Your unborn children to the birth into Your family.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation; to the glory of God the Father, through all future eternity. Amen.
Even so, come soon and quickly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, March 6, 2020
Criticizing
James 4: 11-12
(11) Do not speak against one another, brethren.
One who talks about another is a gossip! James is telling his hearers to stop criticizing one another.
He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the Law and judges the Law; but if you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.
The Law here probably refers to the command in Leviticus 19: 18; "Love your neighbor as yourself." To speak against your neighbor is to violate this law. The person who does this places himself above the law and, by his action, declares that rule to be bad or unnecessary, rather than submitting to it and keeping it. Instead, he's passing judgment on its validity and sets it aside.
(12) There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
The only One who has the authority to give laws and to judge according to those laws, and is able to either save or destroy people according to the laws, is God alone.
So if you are judging people, pointing out their defects and faults, who do you think you are? Do you think that you have that authority over another person? Are you the master over that person, his or her owner?
God is the owner of us all, Jesus bought all of us for the price of His blood poured out at the foot of His altar, the cross. We do not own people, especially our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
We have no right or authority to criticize someone else's servant. I am not to enter my neighbor's house and tell her how to clean her home or what her children should wear to school! She is responsible for these things, and she is not accountable to me!
This is what we're doing when we gossip. We are putting ourselves into the place of the Lord, declaring ourselves their lord, usurping God's authority!
O my Father, please help us to realize the seriousness of this wagging of our tongues against one another! Only You are God, we are not. Only Your Son is Lord, as You have placed the Lordship and responsibility over all Creation into His hands.
Father, teach us how to love one another, as we love ourselves. Show us how we want to be talked about, and speak of others in that vein. And help us to love one another as You have loved us, even when we don't approve of them.
Even when we think they are wrong, and are harming themselves and others, let us realize that they are accountable to only You, and help them to understand their errors with respect and gentleness. Father, we cannot do this without Your Holy Spirit in us.
My Father, strengthen us in Your power, to love one another, and to show the world how much You Love us all, to draw all Your embryonic children to the birth into Your family. Grow us up into the maturity of the full stature of the Son of God. Fill Your magnificent house with all of Your uncountable family, surrounding Your great banquet table to enjoy sweet fellowship forever with You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
(11) Do not speak against one another, brethren.
One who talks about another is a gossip! James is telling his hearers to stop criticizing one another.
He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the Law and judges the Law; but if you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.
The Law here probably refers to the command in Leviticus 19: 18; "Love your neighbor as yourself." To speak against your neighbor is to violate this law. The person who does this places himself above the law and, by his action, declares that rule to be bad or unnecessary, rather than submitting to it and keeping it. Instead, he's passing judgment on its validity and sets it aside.
(12) There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
The only One who has the authority to give laws and to judge according to those laws, and is able to either save or destroy people according to the laws, is God alone.
So if you are judging people, pointing out their defects and faults, who do you think you are? Do you think that you have that authority over another person? Are you the master over that person, his or her owner?
God is the owner of us all, Jesus bought all of us for the price of His blood poured out at the foot of His altar, the cross. We do not own people, especially our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
We have no right or authority to criticize someone else's servant. I am not to enter my neighbor's house and tell her how to clean her home or what her children should wear to school! She is responsible for these things, and she is not accountable to me!
This is what we're doing when we gossip. We are putting ourselves into the place of the Lord, declaring ourselves their lord, usurping God's authority!
O my Father, please help us to realize the seriousness of this wagging of our tongues against one another! Only You are God, we are not. Only Your Son is Lord, as You have placed the Lordship and responsibility over all Creation into His hands.
Father, teach us how to love one another, as we love ourselves. Show us how we want to be talked about, and speak of others in that vein. And help us to love one another as You have loved us, even when we don't approve of them.
Even when we think they are wrong, and are harming themselves and others, let us realize that they are accountable to only You, and help them to understand their errors with respect and gentleness. Father, we cannot do this without Your Holy Spirit in us.
My Father, strengthen us in Your power, to love one another, and to show the world how much You Love us all, to draw all Your embryonic children to the birth into Your family. Grow us up into the maturity of the full stature of the Son of God. Fill Your magnificent house with all of Your uncountable family, surrounding Your great banquet table to enjoy sweet fellowship forever with You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Why Do We Quarrel?
James 4: 1-10
(1) What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
Are you focused on satisfying your own physical needs? Getting the things that will provide comfort to yourself?
(2) You lust and do not have; so you commit murder.
You assassinate someone's reputation to obtain what you think they have.
You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.
You want what someone else has, so you pick fights, and argue, and sue them.
You do not have because you do not ask.
(3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Jesus said to ask for what we need, but God loves us too much to give us what would not be good for us. And when we ask just to waste it, no wonder He doesn't grant it to us.
(4) You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
An adulteress is one who is not faithful to her husband. Jesus is our husband, as the Bridegroom to His bride, the church. When we turn to the world to satisfy our desire for pleasurable things and relationships that are outside of His plans for us, then we are turning away from Him, and being unfaithful to Him.
We're acting like the world provides better than our Maker, treating Him as an enemy who doesn't want good for us.
(5) Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?
The best translation of the Greek here is in the NIV footnote: "that God jealously longs for the Spirit that He made to live in us."
The difference between envy and jealousy is that envy desires what belongs to someone else, and jealousy is not wanting to lose what belongs to them. He just said that we are committing spiritual adultery, and God is a jealous God, He does not want to share us with the world.
(6) But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
God's grace is always more than we need, and He will give us all the more grace when we're struggling to turn back to Him from the world. The quote is from Proverbs 3: 34: "Surely He scorneth the scorners: but He giveth grace to the lowly." (KJV).
(7) Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
God will help us to turn to Him, to submit to Him. The devil knows that God is in us, and when we confront him, he must flee away! We are to run away from temptation, but when we confront the devil, we must stand our ground!
(8) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
In several places God has said that, "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you search for Me with your whole heart; I will be found by you" (Jeremiah 29: 13. See also I Chronicles 28: 9 and II Chronicles 15: 2).
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
We who have been sinning need to wash our hands of these things; we who have been bouncing between God's ways and the worlds ways need to decide to follow God and confess our wandering to Him for cleansing, and leading us aright, and purifying our hearts.
(9) Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
If you have been enjoying the pleasures of sin and worldly delights, then turn around; realize how you've been breaking your Lord's heart, and mourn and weep for hurting the One who loves you more than you can imagine!
When God saved me, I wept for having hurt the heart of the One who Loved me that much! He made such an impression on me, that even now, almost 50 years later, I will never go back to that besetting sin that had me trapped, that God released me from that day!
(10) Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
I gave my whole life to Him that day, because I knew I didn't know what I was supposed to do, and He knew why He had given me this life. I became His bond-slave, willing to follow Him wherever He would lead, and He has blessed me beyond my fondest dreams!
I cannot out-give God. When I try to bless one of my sisters in the Lord, she just blesses me more! Whenever I give what I "can't afford," He just gives me more!
He always generously gives us more grace whenever we think we lack the resources we need. He is our Source for everything!
O my Father, thank You for all of Your goodness and grace and provision! Thank You for Loving us more than we can ever imagine!
O Father, help us to know that this world can never satisfy us, and that when we turn to it for its pleasures, they always come with a cost.
You give to us freely, and the abundance of the Lord comes with no regrets (Proverbs 10: 22). And our only cost is a benefit, to be under the Master's authority! To have His provision and protection.
Father, we Your children need to get to know You better, so we will always turn to You instead of to the world. To know You is to love You back! And we will also love who You love, those who are still in the world.
My Father, You have chosen to create the human race to be Your children. This is why You are not willing for any to perish. You want every one of us to turn to You, but You've given us the choice; and You know that not all of us will believe You.
Send out Your children, Father, into all the world, to let them know how much You love them, to rescue them from their traps and cages that hold them hostage, even snatching them out of the very fires of hell licking at their heels.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(1) What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
Are you focused on satisfying your own physical needs? Getting the things that will provide comfort to yourself?
(2) You lust and do not have; so you commit murder.
You assassinate someone's reputation to obtain what you think they have.
You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.
You want what someone else has, so you pick fights, and argue, and sue them.
You do not have because you do not ask.
(3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Jesus said to ask for what we need, but God loves us too much to give us what would not be good for us. And when we ask just to waste it, no wonder He doesn't grant it to us.
(4) You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
An adulteress is one who is not faithful to her husband. Jesus is our husband, as the Bridegroom to His bride, the church. When we turn to the world to satisfy our desire for pleasurable things and relationships that are outside of His plans for us, then we are turning away from Him, and being unfaithful to Him.
We're acting like the world provides better than our Maker, treating Him as an enemy who doesn't want good for us.
(5) Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?
The best translation of the Greek here is in the NIV footnote: "that God jealously longs for the Spirit that He made to live in us."
The difference between envy and jealousy is that envy desires what belongs to someone else, and jealousy is not wanting to lose what belongs to them. He just said that we are committing spiritual adultery, and God is a jealous God, He does not want to share us with the world.
(6) But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
God's grace is always more than we need, and He will give us all the more grace when we're struggling to turn back to Him from the world. The quote is from Proverbs 3: 34: "Surely He scorneth the scorners: but He giveth grace to the lowly." (KJV).
(7) Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
God will help us to turn to Him, to submit to Him. The devil knows that God is in us, and when we confront him, he must flee away! We are to run away from temptation, but when we confront the devil, we must stand our ground!
(8) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
In several places God has said that, "If you seek Me, you will find Me, if you search for Me with your whole heart; I will be found by you" (Jeremiah 29: 13. See also I Chronicles 28: 9 and II Chronicles 15: 2).
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
We who have been sinning need to wash our hands of these things; we who have been bouncing between God's ways and the worlds ways need to decide to follow God and confess our wandering to Him for cleansing, and leading us aright, and purifying our hearts.
(9) Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
If you have been enjoying the pleasures of sin and worldly delights, then turn around; realize how you've been breaking your Lord's heart, and mourn and weep for hurting the One who loves you more than you can imagine!
When God saved me, I wept for having hurt the heart of the One who Loved me that much! He made such an impression on me, that even now, almost 50 years later, I will never go back to that besetting sin that had me trapped, that God released me from that day!
(10) Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
I gave my whole life to Him that day, because I knew I didn't know what I was supposed to do, and He knew why He had given me this life. I became His bond-slave, willing to follow Him wherever He would lead, and He has blessed me beyond my fondest dreams!
I cannot out-give God. When I try to bless one of my sisters in the Lord, she just blesses me more! Whenever I give what I "can't afford," He just gives me more!
He always generously gives us more grace whenever we think we lack the resources we need. He is our Source for everything!
O my Father, thank You for all of Your goodness and grace and provision! Thank You for Loving us more than we can ever imagine!
O Father, help us to know that this world can never satisfy us, and that when we turn to it for its pleasures, they always come with a cost.
You give to us freely, and the abundance of the Lord comes with no regrets (Proverbs 10: 22). And our only cost is a benefit, to be under the Master's authority! To have His provision and protection.
Father, we Your children need to get to know You better, so we will always turn to You instead of to the world. To know You is to love You back! And we will also love who You love, those who are still in the world.
My Father, You have chosen to create the human race to be Your children. This is why You are not willing for any to perish. You want every one of us to turn to You, but You've given us the choice; and You know that not all of us will believe You.
Send out Your children, Father, into all the world, to let them know how much You love them, to rescue them from their traps and cages that hold them hostage, even snatching them out of the very fires of hell licking at their heels.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Wisdom
James 3: 13-18
(13) Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
God's wisdom is gentle.
(14) But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
(15) This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
(16) For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
Bitterness, envy for what belongs to another, and arrogance are all deceptive. Worldly wisdom comes from our enemy, the liar, who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy. And he can be very persuasive.
(17) But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
God's wisdom is not mixed or diluted with any selfish or prideful attitudes, but is pure, as God is pure. And because it is pure, it promotes a positive peace among one another, in gentleness.
Someone with God's wisdom is willing to listen, and is reasonable, even with people they don't agree with. And they will give allowance to someone, forgiving slights; and merciful, with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23). Their emotional responses are level and honest.
(18) And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
This peace is more than an absence of hostilities. It is a positive well-being and quietness; a restfulness.
A person who teaches others how to relax and trust the One who holds them in His hand is sowing a righteousness-seed.
We may have many seasons of sowing before a season of harvesting, but we will reap what we have sown when the right time comes.
O my Father, thank You for Your peace that surpasses what we can understand. Teach us how to appropriate Your wonderful gift of peace of mind, even in the midst of trials and troubles and sorrows.
Help us to show one another how they also can settle down, curled up in Your lap, when they face circumstances that are upsetting. Show us all how You care for us, as a Daddy who is so tender with His little toddlers.
O Father, You are God and we are not. We need You, we need Your wisdom, to not fall prey to the enemy's deceptive ploys.
Father, grant us Your peaceable wisdom, to discern the truth of all we consider, so that we will be able to see Your plans for us, and Your great Plan of the Ages and our part in it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
(13) Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
God's wisdom is gentle.
(14) But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
(15) This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
(16) For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
Bitterness, envy for what belongs to another, and arrogance are all deceptive. Worldly wisdom comes from our enemy, the liar, who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy. And he can be very persuasive.
(17) But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
God's wisdom is not mixed or diluted with any selfish or prideful attitudes, but is pure, as God is pure. And because it is pure, it promotes a positive peace among one another, in gentleness.
Someone with God's wisdom is willing to listen, and is reasonable, even with people they don't agree with. And they will give allowance to someone, forgiving slights; and merciful, with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23). Their emotional responses are level and honest.
(18) And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
This peace is more than an absence of hostilities. It is a positive well-being and quietness; a restfulness.
A person who teaches others how to relax and trust the One who holds them in His hand is sowing a righteousness-seed.
We may have many seasons of sowing before a season of harvesting, but we will reap what we have sown when the right time comes.
O my Father, thank You for Your peace that surpasses what we can understand. Teach us how to appropriate Your wonderful gift of peace of mind, even in the midst of trials and troubles and sorrows.
Help us to show one another how they also can settle down, curled up in Your lap, when they face circumstances that are upsetting. Show us all how You care for us, as a Daddy who is so tender with His little toddlers.
O Father, You are God and we are not. We need You, we need Your wisdom, to not fall prey to the enemy's deceptive ploys.
Father, grant us Your peaceable wisdom, to discern the truth of all we consider, so that we will be able to see Your plans for us, and Your great Plan of the Ages and our part in it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
How To Tame The Tongue
James 3: 1-12
(1) Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
We who share our insights need to take special care that we speak only at the Lord's direction.
(2) For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
This is an amazing statement. The person who never says an untoward word is perfect! That means we all must watch what we say, and always consider before we reply. We all have offended with our words.
(3) Now we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
(4) Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
(5) So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
Tiny bits and small rudders. Tiny items that control mighty things. So is our tongue. A minor-sized organ that moves our whole lives!
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
Just a tiny match, or candle, can burn down a whole forest.
(6) And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
Our tongue gets us into more trouble than any other body part. Our words that spill out of our mouths are dumping out what is overflowing our hearts.
(7) For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
(8) But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
Our tongue sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. It is untameable. To bridle the tongue we would have to bridle our brain! Our thinking processes and attitudes! This is what is so difficult to accomplish. We need changed hearts.
(9) With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
(10) from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these thing ought not to be this way.
This is not right, but it happens all the time! Opposite attitudes come pouring out, blessing and cursing.
(11) Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
A fountain cannot, but our mouth-hole does! What is our heart filled with, good or evil? It sometimes looks like--both!
(12) Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs?
Plants do what they're supposed to do: fig trees produce figs, olive trees produce olives, and grape vines bring forth grapes. They obey their directives from their Maker.
Nor can salt water produce fresh.
Aboard ships, reverse-osmosis brings potable water from the sea. But it takes a lot of energy to do it.
It takes a lot of consistent effort on our part to bring out blessings and encouragement to one another out of our human hearts. It's a constant battle. But God has given us His word and His Spirit to teach us His word, to overflow all the negative input that fills our hearts, and replace those bad attitudes with His love.
It's our responsibility to let Him do that, by getting into His word regularly, consistently, and to keep His ways on our minds constantly, especially in the crunch of life. It's when the stuff hits the fan that shows what we've been filling our minds with. When our minds are saturated with His ways, then they seep down into our hearts, too.
And our Father re-makes us, molding us into the very image of Christ's character. This is His miracle in us.
O my Father, help us to be faithful to You in imbibing Your good ways into our minds and thinking, to soak down into our hearts. Re-mold and re-make us, Father, wash away all the deceitful and harmful attitudes we've picked up from the world we live in. Replace them with Your good and healthy and beneficial ways that You designed into this world for us.
Father, help us to follow Your ways in all of our days, to enjoy the benefits and give You the glory. Your ways are not our ways, Father. We need You to lead us into the narrow path, guide us along that strait way that leads to Life.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
(1) Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.
We who share our insights need to take special care that we speak only at the Lord's direction.
(2) For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.
This is an amazing statement. The person who never says an untoward word is perfect! That means we all must watch what we say, and always consider before we reply. We all have offended with our words.
(3) Now we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
(4) Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
(5) So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.
Tiny bits and small rudders. Tiny items that control mighty things. So is our tongue. A minor-sized organ that moves our whole lives!
See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
Just a tiny match, or candle, can burn down a whole forest.
(6) And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.
Our tongue gets us into more trouble than any other body part. Our words that spill out of our mouths are dumping out what is overflowing our hearts.
(7) For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.
(8) But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
Our tongue sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. It is untameable. To bridle the tongue we would have to bridle our brain! Our thinking processes and attitudes! This is what is so difficult to accomplish. We need changed hearts.
(9) With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;
(10) from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these thing ought not to be this way.
This is not right, but it happens all the time! Opposite attitudes come pouring out, blessing and cursing.
(11) Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?
A fountain cannot, but our mouth-hole does! What is our heart filled with, good or evil? It sometimes looks like--both!
(12) Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs?
Plants do what they're supposed to do: fig trees produce figs, olive trees produce olives, and grape vines bring forth grapes. They obey their directives from their Maker.
Nor can salt water produce fresh.
Aboard ships, reverse-osmosis brings potable water from the sea. But it takes a lot of energy to do it.
It takes a lot of consistent effort on our part to bring out blessings and encouragement to one another out of our human hearts. It's a constant battle. But God has given us His word and His Spirit to teach us His word, to overflow all the negative input that fills our hearts, and replace those bad attitudes with His love.
It's our responsibility to let Him do that, by getting into His word regularly, consistently, and to keep His ways on our minds constantly, especially in the crunch of life. It's when the stuff hits the fan that shows what we've been filling our minds with. When our minds are saturated with His ways, then they seep down into our hearts, too.
And our Father re-makes us, molding us into the very image of Christ's character. This is His miracle in us.
O my Father, help us to be faithful to You in imbibing Your good ways into our minds and thinking, to soak down into our hearts. Re-mold and re-make us, Father, wash away all the deceitful and harmful attitudes we've picked up from the world we live in. Replace them with Your good and healthy and beneficial ways that You designed into this world for us.
Father, help us to follow Your ways in all of our days, to enjoy the benefits and give You the glory. Your ways are not our ways, Father. We need You to lead us into the narrow path, guide us along that strait way that leads to Life.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Monday, March 2, 2020
Faith And Works
James 2: 14-26
(14) What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
(15) If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
(16) and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
If you say that you are a Christian, and you believe in Jesus, then what are you doing to show that He has saved you? If you know someone has a need that you can help with, but refuse to do so, is that loving your neighbor?
(17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Just to say you believe is not enough to save you.
(18) But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Whether with works or without, the substance of your faith is really what matters.
(19) You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
The demons know who God is, and what Jesus accomplished for us, and they know that they are under condemnation.
(20) But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
When a person has put their trust in Christ to have taken their place in death to pay their sin-debt, then they will express this salvation in love for one another, meeting needs and encouraging.
(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
(22) You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
(23) and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.
(24) You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
The word justified is dikaioo, which means "to show as just or righteous," not to make righteous. Justify means to show to be just, not to make just. So he was saved by his faith, which was shown by his works.
When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, it demonstrated that his faith in God was genuine, many years after it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So he wasn't saved by his works, it was by trusting in God in faith.
(25) In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Rahab, also, believed that the God of the Hebrews was trustworthy, and her faith was also demonstrated by her protection of the messengers, and was even included in the genealogy of our Savior.
(26) For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
So, James is not saying that we are saved by our works, because there is nothing we can do to pay off the debt we owe.
He is saying that when our faith is genuine, saving faith, then it will be worked out in our attitudes and treatment of one another in what we do. But if our attitudes have not changed, so that we still treat others the same way we did before we believed, then our faith is no more saving than that of the demons.
Saving faith is trusting Jesus to have taken your death on the cross. We are all the criminals who deserve execution, and Jesus fulfilled the personal sacrifice as the Lamb of God for each of us, individually. His blood has unlimited worth, and is more than sufficient to pay the sin-debt of every person who ever lived.
That is why God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance, realizing that they deserve that death (II Peter 3: 9). Because He created the human race to be His children.
But He gave us a free will, because He wants us to choose to love Him back. Many have already chosen to refuse His offer of Redemption, because they've decided to believe the lies of our enemy, instead.
Only those who choose to turn to God and accept the sentence we deserve, then let Jesus pay that debt for us, will be born into His family. This is the faith we are to believe with: trusting Him to have done all the work for us.
Then we will have His Holy Spirit in us to prompt us and power us to do the good works He planned before time for us to do. The works that demonstrate that our faith is genuine, saving faith.
But the faith must come first, then the works will follow.
O my Father, please help us to understand what You are telling us in Your written word. We know that Your Love for what You made has caused You to do everything possible, and even impossible, to rescue us from the condemnation we have called down upon ourselves. And when You save us from ourselves, You wash us pristine clean in the blood of Your Son, then place in us Your own Holy Spirit to give life to our dead spirits, and be born into Your own family.
Then in the power of Your Spirit in us, You are molding and making us into the very image of Your Son, as Your sons and daughters resembling our Father; and doing the good things You planned for us to accomplish for Your Kingdom, our benefit, and Your glory.
O Father, send out Your children into the fertile fields of the world to gather all Your harvest, to find all Your lost lambs to rescue them from the brambles and pits that trapped them.
Father, fill Your house with all of Your uncountable children, surround Your great banquet table with Your sons and daughters, to eternally enjoy sweet fellowship with You and one another.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
(14) What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
(15) If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
(16) and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
If you say that you are a Christian, and you believe in Jesus, then what are you doing to show that He has saved you? If you know someone has a need that you can help with, but refuse to do so, is that loving your neighbor?
(17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Just to say you believe is not enough to save you.
(18) But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Whether with works or without, the substance of your faith is really what matters.
(19) You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
The demons know who God is, and what Jesus accomplished for us, and they know that they are under condemnation.
(20) But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
When a person has put their trust in Christ to have taken their place in death to pay their sin-debt, then they will express this salvation in love for one another, meeting needs and encouraging.
(21) Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
(22) You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;
(23) and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.
(24) You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
The word justified is dikaioo, which means "to show as just or righteous," not to make righteous. Justify means to show to be just, not to make just. So he was saved by his faith, which was shown by his works.
When Abraham offered Isaac on the altar, it demonstrated that his faith in God was genuine, many years after it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So he wasn't saved by his works, it was by trusting in God in faith.
(25) In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
Rahab, also, believed that the God of the Hebrews was trustworthy, and her faith was also demonstrated by her protection of the messengers, and was even included in the genealogy of our Savior.
(26) For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
So, James is not saying that we are saved by our works, because there is nothing we can do to pay off the debt we owe.
He is saying that when our faith is genuine, saving faith, then it will be worked out in our attitudes and treatment of one another in what we do. But if our attitudes have not changed, so that we still treat others the same way we did before we believed, then our faith is no more saving than that of the demons.
Saving faith is trusting Jesus to have taken your death on the cross. We are all the criminals who deserve execution, and Jesus fulfilled the personal sacrifice as the Lamb of God for each of us, individually. His blood has unlimited worth, and is more than sufficient to pay the sin-debt of every person who ever lived.
That is why God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance, realizing that they deserve that death (II Peter 3: 9). Because He created the human race to be His children.
But He gave us a free will, because He wants us to choose to love Him back. Many have already chosen to refuse His offer of Redemption, because they've decided to believe the lies of our enemy, instead.
Only those who choose to turn to God and accept the sentence we deserve, then let Jesus pay that debt for us, will be born into His family. This is the faith we are to believe with: trusting Him to have done all the work for us.
Then we will have His Holy Spirit in us to prompt us and power us to do the good works He planned before time for us to do. The works that demonstrate that our faith is genuine, saving faith.
But the faith must come first, then the works will follow.
O my Father, please help us to understand what You are telling us in Your written word. We know that Your Love for what You made has caused You to do everything possible, and even impossible, to rescue us from the condemnation we have called down upon ourselves. And when You save us from ourselves, You wash us pristine clean in the blood of Your Son, then place in us Your own Holy Spirit to give life to our dead spirits, and be born into Your own family.
Then in the power of Your Spirit in us, You are molding and making us into the very image of Your Son, as Your sons and daughters resembling our Father; and doing the good things You planned for us to accomplish for Your Kingdom, our benefit, and Your glory.
O Father, send out Your children into the fertile fields of the world to gather all Your harvest, to find all Your lost lambs to rescue them from the brambles and pits that trapped them.
Father, fill Your house with all of Your uncountable children, surround Your great banquet table with Your sons and daughters, to eternally enjoy sweet fellowship with You and one another.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
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