Words of Wisdom #30

We have been looking at the urgent warning Jude gave this group of believers about a dangerous invasion into the church: the twisting of the love and grace of God in Christ to be merely the acceptance of sinful behavior.  These people, some of them leaders, were bullying their way in, making all sorts of false accusations against God's people, dividing the church - but most of all, they were rebelling against Christ. 

So, how should they respond? How should we respond? Hold fast to and contend for the true faith and grace of God.  We are not to bully in return, but definitely show ourselves to be different.  We are to show mercy to the confused and doubting, but also cling to our own purity. We are to live like Jesus is Lord. Jude now concludes with a blessing my dad used almost exclusively in his ministry, which is very appropriate in where we find ourselves today:

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

As we submit and commit ourselves to Him, and the true Gospel of Grace, He will see us through this assault on grace, full of hope and joy. 

Words of Wisdom #29

Jude has been giving a dire warning to beware the infiltration of the church by those who had redefined "grace" into a "whatever-you-want-to-do permissiveness." Such things have been judged in the past and will be judged in the future. That's God's business.  How are we to respond?

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 

First, Jude says: "Remember the Apostles warned you about that." And where did they hear that? Jesus had told them. Don't be surprised that there are people like that who try to make their way into the church.

Second, he says, "Keep on encouraging each other with the true Gospel, pray with and for each other, and live lovingly with each other, waiting together for the hope of Christ's return. You're in this together.

Third, display God's character to those who confused.  It won't do any good to bash them. Notice the key characteristic of God we are to demonstrate is mercy - a willingness to give help when asked, a readiness to share the real Gospel of grace,which is able to save, and a commitment to holiness balanced with mercy.  Don't let them take over your heart, mind, or church, but do continue to show them true grace.

Words of Wisdom #28

Jude was addressing his fellow believers with a very urgent matter: The doctrine of grace was being perverted into the allowance of immorality in their midst. Yesterday we saw three examples from the Old Testament of how those who had done so before had received harsh punishment, and therefore so would these. He continues:

 8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude says "It's not just their gross immorality. It is their blatant irreverence toward God and their blasting His people and His godly leaders like Cain did against God and Korah did against Moses and Aaron in Numbers 16."  They treated everyone like they had the right to do wrong and no one was allowed to confront them, while they could make false accusations, finding fault against anyone they wanted. Jude says: "They don't belong with you.  It is not yours to judge; step back and let God take care of that. But don't let them give the world the impression they are part of my God's people; step back away from them, lest they infect your thinking, your way of speaking, or your lifestyle."

Words of Wisdom #27

Yesterday, in the opening verses of Jude, we saw a warning against the twisting of grace. Grace is not letting someone stay in their sin and do whatever they want to; it is God's gift to help us change and live our lives in obedience to Christ.  In our verses today, Jude strengthens his warning with some Old Testament examples:

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

These are three examples of judgment, where those who are punished at one time knew and experienced the goodness of God.  Note that in the first example it is Jesus, the Son, who saved Israel our of Egypt, and He later destroyed some of the same people who rebelled in the wilderness. Christ has authority to save and to judge. The same thing applied to the fallen angels: created to praise God, but judged when they puffed up with pride. Thirdly, Sodom and Gomorrah, the most pointed and appropriate example of the three: it had been a place of plenty, which God had caused to prosper and bloom - that's what had drawn Lot there.  It became a place not only allowing sexual immorality, but promoting it officially.  The implications are obvious: the same thing would happen for the people of God in Jude's day if they twisted grace into saying such sexual perversions were not only permitted, but to be celebrated.  Judgment was to be expected. 

Words of Wisdom #26

We just finished looking at the letter of James, with what many see as words of wisdom; how about Jude?

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jude is addressing a group of people who, much like James' audience, were going through some hard times; they found themselves calling out for mercy, and their faith was being challenged.  Jude was going to remind them about how great their salvation in Christ was in order to encourage them, but something more pressing had come up: a group of people were infecting the church. These people were perverting the grace of God, twisting it into the idea that God doesn't care how we live our lives. Such a concept leads to people living in sensuality - it's what feels good to me that matters most. This is a deadly error. It denies the Lordship of Christ; it makes Him our stamp of approval to do anything we want to do. Grace doesn't do that. True grace changes our lives. We've seen the same thing happen in the American church the last couple of years, but like Jude says here, this began long ago; it has just surfaced and we need to respond to it wisely, calmly, lovingly, but with conviction. We need God's wisdom for sure. 

Words of Wisdom #25

We come today to the last verse of the letter from James:
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James had been talking to us about the impact our words have on others - often negative. In yesterday's passage he focused on the positive impact we can have on one another with our words through prayer. This concluding paragraph again focuses on our positive impact: speaking words of truth to one another. You never know, James says, when you care enough to confront a member of your fellowship with their error, when God will use that act of love to bring that person back from his wandering from the truth and heading down the wrong path.  Of course, it is never us who saves another person; only Christ can do that, but we can have the privilege of planting the seed of the truth of God's Word into one another's lives and be used of Him to make a positive difference

The last phrase of this passage has caused a lot of discussion among theologians throughout the centuries: will cover a multitude of sins. How does this action of helping to lead a person gone astray back to the right path do this? Whose sins are covered?  Probably both. The one who was going astray will end up not committing a number of sins they would have, and the loving believer who helped them will have done something to "make up for" a lot of sins he or she had committed with their mouths.  This, of course, is not saying that our sins and good deeds are put in a balance to see which we have done more of, but only that when looking at our lives, as we grow more like Christ, we should see our mouths doing more good, and less evil.  Who can you use your mouth to help today?

Words of Wisdom #24

We've been looking at James' instructions on how the proper attitudes and motives should come out of the mouth of a follower of Christ. He continues on in chapter 5, verse:

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

As he has done previously, James picks a biblical character to illustrate his point: Elijah was a man of powerful prayer; he prayed boldly, specifically, and persistently for years, during a time of oppression. These believers were being oppressed for their faith and tempted to turn in their hearts and with their mouths to complaining, backbiting, and all sorts of abusive behavior with their speech. "Inappropriate!", James says. No matter our circumstance, as Christ followers we need to be people of prayer: praising God, praying for one other, willing to humbly ask others to pray for us, so we do not become bitter complainers. What have you allowed the difficult circumstances of your life do to your prayer life? Maybe it's time to let your prayer life control your circumstances.

Words of Wisdom #23

James has taken us deep in examining our attitudes and motivations, and is especially focusing on how bad attitudes and poor motives come out of our mouths. Today we look at just one verse of chapter 5:

12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. 

James has made a big deal about being judged by our words. People need to be able to trust us to be honest in what we say - especially fellow believers.  Our faith is grounded in trust in God and His Word. Therefore, when it comes to God's people, we need to be able to trust one another and our words to each other. Any half-truths or twisting of the truth we commit destroys others' trust, weakening the bond of love upon which Christ's body depends.  I'm not sure which is worse: not being able to trust a fellow believer's word or have them not able to trust mine.  It's so important, James has said it's more important than anything else. 

Words of Wisdom #22

In the paragraph we read from James 5 yesterday, we were exhorted against selfishly storing up the things of this world, while ignoring the needs of others, because someday those things will all be taken away. Today, James continues to keep us looking forward:

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

What often happens when we don't get what we want when we want it? We become impatient and complain: we complain against God and take it out on those around us. We forget how patient God is with us. His patience, compassion and mercy are like a three stranded chord we can depend on. We are to be patient like He is, like the prophets and Job were. Why can God demand so much from us? Because we have seen the purpose of the Lord - God is not rushed: He plans, He plants, He waters, He cultivates, He watches and waits for just the right moment; He does things right. He will return at just the right time

Words of Wisdom #21

We move today into James 5:

 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

We might be tempted to read the above paragraph and say: "Okay, not me; I'm not rich, so I'm good." Not so fast. James would tell us: "Stay at the mirror a little longer and look a little more closely." Very few of us may be what some call "filthy rich," but we have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence, even at the expense of those around us. We have collected treasures we cannot take with us, which our kids will probably not even care about, while brothers and sisters of the faith around us, not far from us, and around the world go without the basics. "Take a good hard look", James says, "and determine to change." Don't wait for it to be taken away from you; begin to share it today. 

words of Wisdom #20

We saw yesterday that having taken us deep into our hearts and minds to examine our motives and attitudes, James now is having us examine some of the things we say, like:

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

So, what is the right thing to do that we often fail to do? Submit our lives and our plans to the sovereignty of God.  Our plans come out in our words, which lead to actions in pursuing them.  These once again reveal our arrogance and selfishness.  It's all about me and what I want, without stopping to ask God, or others, how our plans line up with God's will or affect those around us.  We consider whether we could, but sideline whether we should.  Our heads are bigger than our parts in the big picture. It is good and right for us to think and plan, to have dreams and pursue them, but let us always ask God: Is this what You want?"

Words of Wisdom #19

As James has had us standing before the mirror taking a good hard look, we have gone from actions to words to deep-seeded attitudes. He now brings us back to how those attitudes come out of our lives and mouths:

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

The purpose of the law is not for us to judge other people, but ourselves.  When we take it and use it wrongly to criticize - first in our hearts and minds, and then with our words - then we are misusing the law, something we have no right to do. We are putting ourselves in the place of the one and only Lawgiver - God Himself. Our job towards a brother or sister in the Lord is not to judge them, but to neighbor them. I'm not sure I've ever heard the word "neighbor" used as a verb before, but we find enough from Jesus' words and elsewhere in the Bible that we can. We are to look around us - to whomever God has put in our path, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, and ask ourselves: "What can I do to help them? What can I do to encourage them, build them up?" We need to be more interested in being a good neighbor than a quick-witted critic.

Words of Wisdom #18

So far in James 4, he has brought us back to the mirror for a good hard look into our motives and attitudes. He has challenged us to look for selfishness, bitterness, jealousy, and arrogance. He now exhorts us:

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Choose sides! Make up your minds! Make purity of heart and life your pursuit. Show the sorrow of repentance. Humbly come to God Who has His grace ready to help you. This is not a clean-up-your-own-life program; this is submitting-yourself-to-God life change. It's letting Him bring glory through us. The exaltation He will bring is not an egotistical "Look at me!", but a humble and joyful "Look what God has done!" 

Words of Wisdom #17

As we began chapter 4 of James yesterday, he took us deeper in our self-evaluation to the motives behind our words and actions - that often we are driven deep down by jealousy and selfishness, so that we not only ignore God and His will, we actually live in opposition to Him. We continue today in verse:

5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

What is God passionate about? What really matters to Him? He tells us in His Word, and He doesn't like wasting His Word; He did not give it to us to ignore. God has placed His Holy Spirit into each and every follower of Christ, and He doesn't want Him living in such sinful selfishness and arrogance. God has a different kind of jealousy - the same word often being translated "zealous". God has a passion for us to live trusting in His grace by humbly stepping aside, knowing God has a better plan and a better way for us than we do. He knows what is best for us, and if we are truly His children through Christ, we will stop struggling so much to get what we want - what others have that we think we need - and trust in His plan. When we don't, we drive the Holy Spirit crazy; He has to live in our impure thoughts and motives. Let's make our hearts and minds a great place for Him to live. 

Words of Wisdom #16

James 4:

 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

As we have seen, James has us looking in the mirror doing some serious self-examination of our actions, words, and now deeper into our attitudes and motivations.  We struggle with this overall selfishness which drives us to jealously of those around us, erupting in arguments and even physical encounters. What this is, James tells us, is wanting the world more than God, choosing the focus and things of this world over Him.  Looking in the mirror, which do we look more like: this world around us or our Father in heaven?

Words of Wisdom #15

Today we come to the last paragraph of James 3:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James has had us looking in the mirror, first at our actions, then our words, now going deeper into our hearts, looking for roots of jealousy and ambition. There we will find the reasons why we do what we do and say what we say.  These twin motivations are not compatible with being a follower of Christ; they come from His opposer. Our thoughts and our motivations must be filtered for purity, calmed by Christ, having a balanced perspective of who we are, teachable, looking on others with the mercy God has on us, Spirit driven, honest and humble.  Notice how much good God has to do in our lives to offset and remove these two negative tendencies we have. But it is like sowing seed; there is an abundance crop of peace - not only in relationships, but deep in our souls, when we allow Him to make such a transformation. Today may we allow Him to make the changes to move us from bitterness and ambition to true peace and joy. 

Words of Wisdom #14

Yesterday we looked in James 3 and his comparison of the tongue to a bridle and a rudder. Today the illustrations get stronger:

 How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Fire and wild animals are two of the most scary dangers we can face in life.  They are unpredictable, and they can wreak havoc quickly, if they are out of control.  Our words can destroy relationships, deflate enthusiasm, crush spirit.  The little tongue does irreparable damage when we do not control it. It really can the the litmus test for our spiritual growth, or lack thereof. James then wraps things up with the question about water: salt water and fresh do not mix - you end up with just salt water. Proclaiming Christ and letting you tongue go rampant do not mix - the evil that comes out totally overshadows your profession of faith.  What have you done with your mouth lately?

Words of Wisdom #13

Today we move into James 3:

 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

In calling us to self-examination, James has continually brought us back to the mirror to look at our lives. Now he calls on us to stop there and listen to ourselves.  We say a lot of words every day - even the most introverted among us - and what we say matters.  The bottom line of spiritual fruit is self-control, and one of the things we find hardest to control is our mouths. As we stand and listen to ourselves, we must ask a number of questions: Do I talk so much to make myself seem wiser, more spiritual, more valuable? Do I say things that put others down to make me seem better? Are there things I could say and should say that would be beneficial for someone else, but I am being too selfish and complacent to say something? May the goodness of God fill our hearts, and therefore our lips, today. 

Words of Wisdom #12

Yesterday in James 2, he again brought us back to the mirror to take a good look at doing good works - not as a means to salvation, but as an evidence of it. He continues in verse:

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

As we see in Paul's letters, James too reminds us that Abraham is the father of faith, but His faith was also evidenced by trust and obedience, when he was willing to do something that said: "God, I really trust you. I trust you so much to keep your promise to make me a great people I will give back to you my "son of the promise", Isaac. Abraham's belief was shown in action.  Rahab did something to show that she believed God would do what He promised these Israelite spies He would do, and she proved it by doing her part to keep them, and the plan, alive.  Faith exists in our spirits, but shows itself in what we do with our bodies.  What evidence can you show yourself that you really trust in God and His promises?

Words of Wisdom #11

James moves on to another question for us to bring to the mirror today in chapter 2:

 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

In theology, there is a whole long answer to the question: "What is saving faith?", which clearly spells out how one receives eternal life. That is not what James is talking about. He is talking about evidence that one is saved; that is in one's lifestyle.  Natural and supernatural in the life of a true believer and follower of Christ is a generosity that says: "How can I help you?"  To bless a person is much more than words; it is generosity in motion.  To proclaim we are "saved", yet not have mercy and generosity is a contradiction in terms. As we set out on our day, let's ask the Holy Spirit to point out whom He wants to bless through us today, and make it clear how we can do so,

Words of Wisdom #10

Yesterday, we heard from James how to avoid showing partiality. He continues in chapter 2, verse

 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

There has been an age-long debate on whether one sin is greater than another. In the Old Testament law, both murder and adultery were punishable by death. Those are the two "extreme sins" James uses to talk about partiality and a lack of mercy.  Mercy is a resource in short supply in our day. Turn on the TV or your laptop or listen at the local gathering place and you will find a steady stream of accusations and calls for judgment without mercy.  James nips it in the bud with his first statement: that is not loving your neighbor.as yourself. Who is your neighbor? Whoever God brings across your path, before your eyes, or even in earshot and on the screen in front of you. They are someone who is in a bad way and needs help. Are you going to kick them while they're down or be the neighbor they need? God will treat you the same way some day. 

Words of Wisdom #9

We move on today to James 2: 
 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

James brings us back to the mirror for more self-examination, addressing us as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.  What should that do? It should set the tone and the stage for our attitudes and actions; it should move us humbly to our knees before Him. If it truly does, there will be none of this stereotyping or judging of others where in our actions, or even in our hearts and minds we would put someone at our feet - less than us - nor would we compare others to one another as worthy or unworthy of coming into God's presence.  On a practical note, James says: "Besides, who is more likely to come back and proudly reject you or Christ?" Take the knee, bow before Christ, and you will see things from a much better perspective. 

Words of Wisdom #8

We saw yesterday that those who are wise are not looking around to see what everyone else is doing wrong, they are looking in the mirror to see what they are failing to do, and then turn away to change. In the last section of chapter 1, James says:

 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

So, what does a really religious person, a person who really believes in God, look like? Three glaring characteristics: Control over one's tongue, concern for the helpless, and a commitment to personal purity. When we look into God's word, like we are doing here, we are looking for a takeaway: we want to be able to go out there into our day and say something helpful to others, not something that just tears them down. It means we want to read to get God's heart, His perspective, and that will move us to want to meet needs with compassion.  It means we read to understand God's will, the way things function, the way He intends, and then go out and do not do things the way He never intended us to. We use our minds, bodies and souls properly.  Which one, or ones, of those do you need to work on today?

Words of Wisdom #7

Yesterday, in James 1, we talked about the importance of having the Word of God implanted in our lives, so we will know how to respond to life's trials and temptations. James continues:

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Many are those who say they believe in God and believe in His Word, but sure do not act like it. The proof is in the pudding. But rather than focus on others, we need to take a good hard look at ourselves. Are we really acting like we believe what we say we do.  Also, we tend to focus on what we do not do, whereas the emphasis here is on what we do. The Bible is not just a book of "don'ts"; it is more a book of dos.  In the Garden God only gave one "don't", but a lot of "dos". When facing the day, let's look into God's book asking: "Lord, what do you want me to do to serve you and love others today?" Then do it.

Words of Wisdom #6

James has been addressing how we deal with trials and temptations in our lives and now says this:
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Again, it's a matter of our response: how will we react when we feel we are being attacked? As I heard recently: "anger is not a spiritual gift." Anger itself does not bring about positive change - in our own lives or those with whom we disagree. When we see those words filthiness and wickedness, we automatically think blatant outward sin.  But it is the heart that is desperately wicked, and filthiness has to do more with the words and thoughts we might use in our reactions.  These need to be "put away" and we need to pull out meekness - a humility of soul - along with the words of truth we have planted as seeds in our hearts and minds.  Our reactions - good or evil - have a long-lasting effect on our lives and relationships.

Words of Wisdom #5

Yesterday, in James 1, he warned about temptation. Today he goes on to talk about deception:

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

As we saw earlier in the chapter, contentment is crucial in living a life of wisdom. What do we really believe about God?  Gid is a Good God Who gives good gifts; He is always that way. A case in point is that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us, to give us His Word.  Just like He sends the rain to yield a crop of grain physically, He has sent His truth to yield a crop of faithful followers.  Just like the rain falls on the just and the unjust, God has revealed His Word, with some responding and some not. That does not show badly on God's character or His word; He is still good and it is still true. It's all about our response to Him.

Words of Wisdom #4

James 1:

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

We have already talked about the importance of proper perspective when facing the trials and struggles of life: they are opportunities.  Beyond that, James says, is the matter of responsibility. We may not be able to do anything to avoid a trial or temptation, but we are responsible for our response to it. Notice the similarity between those two "r" words in the last phrase of the previous sentence here: We are responsible for our response. We cannot blame God for that. There are always stopping points in the process of temptation; God always "makes a way of escape", as Paul says in I Corinthians 10:13. Take responsibility and you take a major step in seeing such trials as a means to growth, contentment, and spiritual stability.

Words of Wisdom #3

James 1:

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

The Bible is rich in deep treasures of wisdom. So sometimes we are looking so deep we miss the obvious. James is not denouncing riches at all here; what he is addressing is our approach to riches and possessions. Don't find your value in the stuff that you have and don't do the comparison game with what others have. If you don't have a lot, rejoice when God provides an unexpected blessing. If you have much and lose a significant amount, don't think that God values you less; learn to trust Him.  The fact is that in this world anything and everything we have can be taken in an instant, so don't find your purpose, your value, or your faith in these possessions. Find your value, purpose, and trust in the One who made it and owns it all.

Words of Wisdom #2

 We continue today looking at Words of Wisdom from James, chapter 1
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Here we find the practicality of faith: it is a solid foundation for life; it keeps us balanced between reality and hope for a brighter tomorrow.  The decisions we make today will impact our future days and eternity, so we must decide wisely. That requires that we have as much information and input as possible in making those decisions. "If" - and we could just as likely translate that word "since" - since we need wisdom, we should go to the best source, to the One Who is great enough to know and good enough to let us know, and when He gives that wisdom, trust Him enough to obey - to show that we believe Him, trust Him, and want to live like He really is Lord.  When we do this, God gives us wisdom we can share with those who need it too. 

Words of Wisdom #1

 As we enter into this new month meditating on these Words of Wisdom, they are not my words, but those of scripture from James and Jude. James begins his letter:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I know a number of people whose favorite book of the Bible is James. Often they are spiritually mature - James has helped them "grow up" in the faith.  These Jewish Christians had been forced from their homeland, and they were facing all sorts of trials because of their heritage and because of their faith. The question was: "How would they face these trials? Would they remain steadfast in their faith?" Part of the key to that answer is how they viewed trials: opposition or opportunity? James challenged them and us to look beyond the current crisis or chronic struggle to the state of peace and joy that only Christ can offer. These trials have a purifying effect and teach us something important in not becoming a miserable person: contentment. When James says you will be lacking in nothing, he is not saying you will be comfortable and rich and have everything you want, but that you will have that state of heart and mind that has learned to be content. Have you learned that yet? Don't waste a perfectly good trial: determine to come through it more content.