Category Archives: scripture

James: Rotting Wealth…

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(This week we read James 5)

“Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days… You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” (attributed to Malcom Forbes.) Is this true?

James warns against living in “luxury and self indulgence.” There is danger in pursuing “stuff” over pursuing Jesus! When we believe what we possess materially is of more importance than what we possess spiritually, we are in deep trouble. The love of money will produce evil in our lives.

It is not wrong to possess wealth, but we must keep it in the correct position in our lives. What we own is not ours. All that we have and all that we are belongs to God. If we are blessed with possessions, we are to use those possessions to bless others.

The pursuit of wealth over the pursuit of God will lead to emptiness. In the end, what we have owned here will not follow us into eternity. Wealth will rot… Only one thing is eternal and will matter when we die — Jesus! When it is all done our goal should be to hear Him say, “Well done.”

Whatever our financial status may be, abundantly rich or just scraping by, a life lived after “self- indulgence” will end in death. Once again, life is not about me and what I possess. It is all about Jesus.

Not my will but His be done!

James: Do Not Slander

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(Today is James 4)

“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Speak life!

Slander- . A false tale or report maliciously uttered. and tending to injure the reputation of another. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

We are to be careful of how we talk about others. If we slander, or speak evil, of others, we judge them. We also judge “the LAW” —The one law that Jesus stated that completed and fulfilled all the others: 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭12‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

When we speak evil of our neighbor, or our spiritual family — brother or sister in Christ, we are not loving them as we would love ourselves. So we have judged the second of the greatest commandments, that Jesus stated, as irrelevant to us. We are not keeping it or obeying it!!

Loving our brother and sister is to desire to benefit them and prosper them and to act accordingly to that desire. It is action. When we love we “do.” We display that love by what we do and say.

Our words must be used to build up and encourage, NOT defame and destroy.

“Who am I to judge my neighbor?” Jesus didn’t instruct us to judge (condemn/ punish – Greek) our neighbor…

He told us to love!

James: God’s Wisdom vrs. The World’s

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(Today is James 3) 

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wisdom is the correct application of what we know. God is all-wise. He knows everything, because He is all knowing. His knowledge is complete, and He has the correct application for all the knowledge He possesses.

God’s wisdom is described in verse 17. 

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s wisdom will be on display in the our lives when we truly know Him. What we know we will act upon as we listen to and obey the Holy Spirit. We will act humbly with deeds that produce good fruit.

However, if we are focused on our self, ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will be all about our own ways — self focused. We will know, or experience, our desires, our wants, our ways… this is far from experiencing the benefits of God’s Wisdom. What we experience will be the outcome of the world’s wisdom — “earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.” “Disorder and every evil practice” will abound.

God’s Wisdom vrs. the worlds. Life vrs. death…What will we choose to pursue?

James: “Screen Door on a Submarine”

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“You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

Faith without works is useless!

God has given each of us “a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) This is the capacity to believe, but we must act on it! Our actions “complete” our faith.

We can say we “believe there is one God.” (verse 19) And James says that is “Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” The question is: “what are we doing with what we believe?”

If we truly believe that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ came and died then resurrected from the dead in order to set us free from sin, do we live like we believe it?

Abraham believed God and the Scripture says, “It was credited to him as righteousness.” (Verse 23) He was put into right standing with God and He was known as “God’s friend.” He had a personal relationship with God. This relationship was reflected by his willingness to obey God no matter what the cost of obedience may be.

If you and I have faith and believe what God says, then we will act accordingly. In short, we will do it!

Coming to God in faith is just the beginning of what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to consume us! He wants us to receive His Word — what He says. He wants us to believe it to be true. He wants us to act upon it in obedience.

There’s a classic song by Rich Mullins that I am going to attach. Listen to its words and consider. Do I act upon what I believe? Or do I have a “screen door” on my spiritual submarine?

James: The Word — God’s Measuring Stick

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(Today is James 2)

“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Word is the law that gives freedom. (James 1:22-25) It is the truth!

The Word judges. It is the measuring stick by which we must take every thought, every teaching, every decision and lay it up beside to examine, distinguish, and decide if they are according to God’s perfect will for us. When we “speak and act” according to what we see in the Word we will live in freedom. But if we refuse we will live in error which is a life of captivity.

Through Jesus, God has displayed His mercy towards us. We are placed in right standing with Him. When we receive Christ, His Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit will empower us to “speak and act” as God desires.

We need to know the Word so that we know God’s will for us. As we see what God wants for us in His Word, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us power to obey. Whatever our circumstances may be may we place them against the measuring stick of the Word. So we may judge correctly what we need to say and do. This is how we can live free — filled with God’s joy, love and peace!

James: Cleaning House

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(Today we read James 1)

My daughter in law is a minimalist housekeeper. At first her way of doing things seemed a little extreme to me. If she doesn’t use something, she gets rid of it from her house. She doesn’t hold onto very much stuff “for a rainy day…” Her house is clutter free, easy to keep clean, and refreshing.

I’ve been living at my current home for 17 years. I have not adopted her mindset when it comes to stuff… There have been times when my husband and I contemplate getting a dumpster to get rid of the extras. Life would be a little easier if we did. 

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

James tells us that God has good things in store for us. “Every good and perfect is from above…” God desires that righteousness is produced in us. Which is “Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

In short, we need to “get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…” Repentance is the equivalent of cleaning out the spiritual clutter of our spiritual hearts. It is making room for the “Word planted in you, which can save you.” The word “Save” here in the Greek means, “To save, heal, preserve, rescue.”

God wants us to be full of Him — His Word! He wants to save us from our destructive patterns, heal us from our hurtful past, and rescue us from the sin that destroys us.

What is it that we need to “get rid of…?” Holding tightly to our ways, our thoughts, and our desires (i.e. sin) leads only to death, darkness, destruction. 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s time to take our “spiritual clutter” (sins) to the dumpster of repentance and get rid of all the moral filth we have been living in!

James — Consider It Pure Joy

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(Join me in reading chapter 1 of James each day this week)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Nothing is wasted in our lives. Trials and testing of our faith helps us to mature. In fact, it is what God uses to make us “complete, not lacking anything.”

Perseverance in the Greek is defined as “Endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for, cheerful endurance, constancy.”

My youngest son has spent quite a bit of time at the gym working on body building. He has told me that building muscle actually requires tearing of muscle fibers that is rebuilt by our bodies in a stronger form. Our spiritual muscles are similar. Testing of our faith through trials can produce a cheerful endurance because we know the end result will be a closer relationship with Jesus.

If you are going through a trial, God is always at work in it! You and I are meant to “consider it pure joy!” In the end our relationship with God will be stronger! Trials build “spiritual muscle” that we all need in order to “not {be} lacking anything.”

Philippians — God’s Family

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Day 2 of Philippians 1 !!

Today verse 3- 7 are standing out to me.

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart…”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As I read them, the question— “Who’s your tribe?”, keeps coming to my mind.

Tribe is defined as “family.” Paul had his “spiritual family” or “tribe.” He prayed joyfully for them. They had a “partnership in the gospel.” They worked together to make Jesus known! Paul even spoke of his deep feelings of affection for them. He said he had them in his heart.

We are not meant to go it alone! God designed us for relationship, not only with Him, but with each other.

Who is it that you share your life in Jesus with? Who do you pray for? Who prays for you?

If you lack spiritual family (i.e. God’s family)in your life, where do you need to connect to experience it?

Show Us The Father — Life

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Today is Mark 15 and 16.

Every time I read the account of the crucifixion, I feel a sense of sadness. To think of the accusations, the false trial, the mocking, the beatings, the carrying of the cross up the hill of Golgotha, the nails being driven into Jesus, and Him being lifted up on the cross… such sadness.

But Praise God the story does not end in death.

Jesus came to show us life! Not only show us, but to make the way for us to experience His life. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” We experience Life when we experience Him! He and the Father are one. Our Heavenly Father is life!

From the moment of creation, when Our Heavenly Father breathed life into every living being, until now. He is the ultimate source of life. The very breath of life we experience in our lungs comes straight from Him. However there will be a day when that breathing will cease in each one of us… What then?

Jesus showed us on resurrection Sunday what God’s good plan for us is — resurrection life! Eternal life!

We do not have to fear death. Our Heavenly Father desires for us to experience His eternal life. Sin brought death into our world, but we do not have to experience an eternity of the separation of death. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?””
‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Show Us The Father — Abandoned

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Abandoned — To give over entirely.

Today is Mark 14.

Jesus at any moment in His 33 years on earth could have changed His course to the cross. He knew exactly why He had came. He knew how this would all play out. He knew the rejection He would suffer. He knew the pain He would endure. Yet He “abandoned” Himself. He gave Himself over to the purpose of His Heavenly Father.

Over and over in this chapter He warned the disciples that He was going to suffer and die. But He chose to abandon His will that desired for His Heavenly Father to “take this cup” from Him. Then He spoke these words, “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Verse 36)

Jesus gave Himself. The Father gave His Son! (John 3:16). Our Heavenly Father abandoned, gave over entirely, His Son for us out of His love. When I consider this great love, my thoughts go to what my response should be.

In every situation and circumstance of my life, may I echo the words of my loving Savior. “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” My Heavenly Father gave without reservation His only Son. Jesus gave without reservation His very life. May I give without reservation EVERYTHING I am and live a life that is abandoned to God’s will!