Category Archives: James

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Cultivating Healing Community

Yet Another Benefit of a Small Group

James isn’t promoting the idea that you stand up in front of the church next Sunday and blurt out all your sins from the past week—bad words, dirty thoughts, rotten attitudes and dark deeds. While that might be quite entertaining to the folks sitting in the pews, it probably wouldn’t have the intended results James had in mind. Rather, he is speaking of being in an accountable relationship, a small group of some kind where the conditions have been cultivated for redemptive confession to take place. They (whoever “they” are) say that confession is good for the soul. That’s true. But it’s good for the whole, too—the whole person. Confession and repentance will lead not only to cleansing of your heart, it will bring release to your mind and perhaps be the catalyst that speeds healing to your body.

The Journey: James 5:16

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

I don’t think James is promoting the idea that you stand up in front of the congregation the next time you’re in church and blurt out all your sins from the past week—bad words, dirty thoughts, rotten attitudes and dark deeds. While that might be quite entertaining to the rest of the folks sitting in the pews, it probably wouldn’t have the intended results James had in mind.

I suspect James is speaking of being in accountable relationships, perhaps a small group of some kind where the conditions have been cultivated for redemptive confession to take place. That’s why I am a firm believer that every Christian needs a small group (somewhere around eight people is ideal, in my opinion) where relationships have developed enough that this kind of open sharing can take place.

That kind of relationship does not develop overnight. It takes time. It takes a track record of confidentiality. It takes the absolute certainly that your fellow group members have your back. It must be a safe place. It has to be a group where you know that the others have your best interests in mind. And it must be the kind of experience where you have given your spiritual partners permission to look deeply into your soul, ask you penetrating questions, and hold your feet to the fire for your spiritual walk.

Do you have a group like that? If you don’t, ask God to bring people into your life with whom you can cultivate that kind of healing community. Then do the hard work of cultivating openness and accountability with them. I have done that now for years, and would not even begin to think of doing life any other way. It is one of the activities of my week that keeps me spiritually grounded.

They (whoever “they” are) say that confession is good for the soul. That’s true. But it’s good for the whole, too…the whole person. Confession and repentance will lead not only to cleansing of your heart, it will bring release to your mind and perhaps be the catalyst that speeds healing to your body.

“If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you
have done. Then you can pray for one another and
be healed. The prayer of an innocent person
is powerful, and it can help a lot.”
(James 1:16, CEV)

Prayer… Lord, thank you for the people that you have brought into my life who are not afraid to look me in the eye and ask me penetrating questions about the condition of my heart. Give them constant courage, deeper insight, and an overflow of grace. I recognize before you in this moment that I cannot live a healthy spiritual life without that—and them.

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Dead Sea Saints

Reflect:
James 1:1-2:26

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? … Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14,17)

Let me offer my translation what James is saying: “Prove your faith by living it out, because faith without action is no faith at all!”

Church-goers in our culture really need to listen up to James’ words, because there’s a great deal of belief that’s not matched by behavior these days. Our talk is not commensurate with our walk. As James would say, there’s an unfortunate disconnect between faith and action. And this disconnect is the source of much unhappiness, frustration, and even stress for believers.

For instance, we value generosity, but hoard our wealth. We believe in God, but decreasingly participate in worship. We tout the sanctity of marriage and family values, yet the divorce rate among believers has skyrocketed. We sing of peace on earth, yet there’s more hostility in our homes than ever.

Sociologists refer to this disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live as incongruent values. In chapter 1, James spelled out the sad consequences of living with these incongruent values:

  • Self-deception: “…and so deceive yourselves.” (James 2:22)
  • Dissatisfaction: “…like the man who looks at his face in the mirror…and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (James 2:23)
  • Bondage: “…the law that gives freedom…” (James 2:25)
  • Spiritual Poverty: He won’t be “blessed in what he does.” (James 2:25)
  • Irrelevance: “…his religion is worthless.” (James 2:26)

What James is describing is a pointless faith; a lot of knowledge but little implementation. That’s a big problem in the church today. We’re like Dead Sea saints: A lot of inflow but no outflow. And like the real Dead Sea, the result is a stagnant, stinky body of water. Nothing is more disgusting to God and dissatisfying to people who live it than dead faith…an inflow of God’s riches with little or no outflow.

Authentic, saving, God-pleasing faith is not just something you say or feel or believe, it is something you do! Now just to be clear, our faith is not determined by what we do. But it is demonstrated by what we do. Faith is taking what you know to be true, what is of utmost and eternal value to you, and living it out in every fiber of your existence.

God’s invitation to you, wherever you are on the faith continuum, is to move from knowledge to a day-by-day, moment-by-moment personal relationship with him.

In the 1850’s, a famous tightrope walker named George Blondin, for a publicity stunt, decided he would walk across Niagara Falls on a rope that had been stretched from one side of the falls to the other. Crowds lined up on both the Canadian and American side to watch this unbelievable feat. Blondin began to walk across—inch-by-inch, step-by-step and everybody knew that if he’d make one mistake he was a goner. He got to the other side and the crowd went wild. Blondin said, “I’m going to do it again.” And to the crowds delight, he did. Then, to everybody’s amazement, he crossed again, this time pushing a wheel-barrow full of dirt. He actually did this several times, and as he started to go across one last time, someone in the crowd said, “I believe you could do that all day.”

Blondin dumped out the dirt and said, “Get into the wheelbarrow.”

In a very real sense that’s what God is saying to you today. Talk is cheap. Get in the wheelbarrow of faith…And “you will be accepted and pleasing to me…and I will bless your life!” (James 1:25-27)

“Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” ~Martin Luther

Reflect and Apply: What can you do today to put your faith into action?

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Redemptive Patience

Reflect:
James 1:2-3

“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.”

Benjamin Franklin said, “those things that hurt, instruct.” In review of the growth in your life, you have probably found that to be true, as I have. The best lessons in life have come from the things we wouldn’t have chosen for ourselves: a failure on a test, the break-up of a romance, the loss of a job, the denial of a dream.

Of course, at every one of life’s speedbumps there is a choice either to get bitter or to get better. It all depends on our response to these difficulties. If we choose the better route of patiently and joyfully enduring our trials, here are a few of the God-ordained growth outcomes that James mentions:

  • Maturity—Verses 2-4: Patiently and redemptively enduring trials takes us through a cycle from pain to patience to perfection.
  • Wisdom—Verses 5-8: Painful trials always cause us to scratch our heads and seek guidance for a way forward. For the believer, this is always an opportunity to go to God—through prayer, by his Word, and through his people—to ask for wisdom. And God will always give it in liberal amounts.
  • True Riches—Verses 9-11: Trials have a way of reminding both poor and rich that wealth and material things are fleeting, but our relationship with God isn’t. When everything else fades from view, the true richness of belonging to God is all the more appreciated.
  • Eternal Reward— Verses 12-15: Patience in suffering will be rewarded with the crown of life on the day we stand in eternity before God. This life will soon pass, and eternal life will begin. Enduring suffering for a season—even if it is an entire season of life—will seem like a blip on the radar a billion years into our eternal life. Bad happens to me so that good things can happen in me so that eternal things can happen through me.
  • Sundry Gifts— Verses 16-18: Suffering redemptively also has a way of helping us to appreciate the variety of God’s gifts that we might otherwise overlook. We become much more sensitive to life, and thus, much more grateful to God.

Suffering is never much fun. No one in his or her right mind would purposely choose it. But when pain finds us, if we dedicate ourselves to going through it redemptively, the reward will be the joy of our spiritual transformation.

“Don’t you realize that someday you won’t have anything to try you, or anyone to annoy you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience…If you are to practice patience, it must be now.” ~A.B. Simpson

Reflect and Apply: Take a moment to thank God for those things that you have suffered—or are currently suffering. They hurt, but better yet, they have been instructive. They are helping you, causing you to move closer to the Father., who is standing by you, sustaining, strengthening and perfecting your character. For that, you can, in faith, express heartfelt gratitude.

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Basic Training

Today’s Reflection:

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:19,20)

One of the basic skills we must acquire to meet life’s challenges successfully is learning how to respond in God-honoring ways to hurtful people, devastating circumstances and crushing disappointments. How we handle our experience of pain in life will lead either to bitterness or it will open the door to blessing.

I find it interesting that this is one of the first lessons God teaches us in Genesis through the example of Cain and Able. In Genesis 4, these two brothers, Cain and Able, offer their sacrifices to God. However, for a reason unknown to us, God finds Able’s sacrifice acceptable, but not Cain’s. Cain is so thoroughly upset over this he sinks into depression, seethes with anger and begins to plot violence against his brother.

God knows the wrestling match going on inside of Cain and comes to him with some life-giving advice:

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

It is important to note that God didn’t explain his reasons for not accepting Cain’s sacrifice and he didn’t address the fairness or unfairness of it, but he focused in on Cain’s heart and challenged him to offer a right response: “Cain, do what is right, then you’ll get rewarded—the choice is yours. But know this: how you choose to respond will either lead to blessing or bitterness.”

The lesson is clear: We cannot always control or even change our circumstances, but we can choose how we are going to respond to them. And how we respond is of utmost importance of God. What happens in us is so much more important to God than what happens to us.

Now fast forward to the ending chapters in Genesis to Joseph’s story. The mistreatment of his brothers and the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife lands him in jail. When, after years of enduring this hardship, he is elevated to the highest position in the land and now has a chance for revenge, how does he respond?

With bitterness? Anger? Retribution? No. His response is one of grace, and grace of the highest order. Why? Because Joseph was convinced that God had ordered his life and therefore could bring good out of his circumstances—if he remained faithful and patient.  Here’s Joesph amazing response in Genesis 50:20,

“Am I God to judge and punish you? As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for he brought me into this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.”

Are you tempted to complain about your circumstance today? Is there someone who has hurt you deeply? Are you enduring unfair treatment or false accusations? This could be your finest hour…or worst. It all depends on your response. How you handle this will either lead to blessing, or bitterness.

Put your life and circumstances in God’s hands. Be faithful and patience. Offer him your trust and let him work the details out to your advantage. He knows what he is doing. As David said in Psalm 139:16,

“Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Since that is the case, I think we can trust Him! Don’t you?

Something To Consider:
“If a man meets with injustice, it is not required that he shall not be roused to meet it; but if he is angry after he has had time to think upon it, that is sinful. The flame is not wrong, but the coals are.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

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The Big “If”

Read James 4

“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s
will, we will live and do this or that.’”
(James 4:15)

Thoughts… The greatest challenge we face in our lives these days isn’t terrorism from without or secularism from within; it’s not high taxes or soaring gas prices or sinking financial markets or an uncertain income stream; it’s not gay marriage or activist judges or a biased press.

It is not anything but the clear and present danger of a life independent of God. I am not talking about the unbeliever, mind you. I am speaking of Christians who live, in effect, as practical atheists.

So how is it that a believer gets into that predicament? James says it happens when we make our plans without God. Notice in James 4:13 that there is not a single mention of God in how some Christians plan for the future: “Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”

It’s the mistake of knowing what you want and how to get it, but never checking it out with God first. Now James isn’t down on planning. Rather, he is talking about presuming. It is to presume that God will be okay with your plans without asking him first. It’s great to have dreams and goals—as long as you include God and establish them prayerfully. Not to plan with God as your first and foremost consideration is to commit the sin of self-sufficiency.

The great Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote prolifically on the horrors of the Russian Revolution, where 60 million Russians died, and he attributed this nightmare to one simple fact: “Men have forgotten God.” This is what James is talking about. You can know God yet overlook him in your daily life. It’s possible to love Him but leave him out of the picture when it comes to planning your career or running your business or pursuing your education. In effect, when you forget God and fail to consult with him, even about the daily ordinariness of your life, you become a practical atheist.

So what’s the solution? Very simply, include God in your planning. In buying a home…purchasing a car…making a career move…hiring an employee…beginning to date…ending a relationship, first find out what has God said about it. Verse 15 says, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”

Take note of the word “if”. Did you know that right in the middle of LIFE is IF? The starting point in bringing your life into line with the will of God is to put everything through the filter of that one big IF: If this is what God wants!

If you leave God out of the equation and live as a practical atheist, life will be IF-E for you at best. At worst, life will be a living “L”!

Proverbs 16:3 and 9 reminds us that we can make plans, but we should count on God to direct us. Proverbs 3:6 says, “Remember the LORD in everything you do, and he will show you the right way.”

So I would encourage you to stop praying, “God bless what I’m doing” and start praying, “God, show me what you’re blessing, and that is what I will do.”

That’s the surest way to keep “life” all together.

Prayer… Lord, your will—no more, no less. That’s what I desire!

One More Thing… “Our God has boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small. Our expectations are too limited.” —A.B. Simpson

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Dead Sea Saints

Read James 2

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but
has no deeds? Can such faith save him? … Faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
(James 2:14, 17)

Thoughts… Here’s my translation of what James is saying: “Prove your faith by living it out, because faith without action is no faith at all!”

Church-goers in our culture really need to listen up to James’ words, because there’s a great deal of belief that’s not matched by behavior these days. Our talk is not commensurate with our walk. As James would say, there’s an unfortunate disconnect between faith and action. And this disconnect is the source of much unhappiness, frustration, and even stress for believers.

For instances, we value generosity, but hoard our wealth. We believe in God, but decreasingly participate in worship. We tout the sanctity of marriage and family values, yet the divorce rate is skyrocketing. We sing of peace on earth, yet there’s more anger in our hearts and hostility in our homes than ever.

Sociologists refer to this disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live as incongruent values. Back in James 1, the sad consequences of living with these incongruent values are clearly spelled out:

  • Self-deception: You will “…deceive yourself.” (Verse 22)
  • Dissatisfaction: You will be “…like the man who looks at his face in the mirror…and immediately forgets what he looks like.” (Verse 23)
  • Bondage: You will not live under “…the law that gives freedom…” (Verse 25)
  • Spiritual Poverty: You won’t be “blessed in what you do.” (Verse 25)
  • Irrelevance: Your “…religion is worthless.” (Verse 26)

What James is describing is a pointless faith; a lot of knowledge but little implementation. That’s a big problem in the church today. We’re like Dead Sea saints: A lot of inflow but no outflow. And like the real Dead Sea, the result is a stagnant, stinky body of water. Nothing is more disgusting to God and dissatisfying to people who live it than dead faith…an inflow of God’s riches with little or no outflow of God’s grace.

Authentic, saving, God-pleasing faith is not just something you say or feel or believe, it is something you do! Now just to be clear, our faith is not determined by what we do. On the other had, our faith is demonstrated by what we do. Faith is taking what you know to be true, what is of utmost and eternal value to you, and living it out in every fiber of your existence.

God’s invitation to you, wherever you are on the faith continuum, is to move from a knowledge of him to a day-by-day, moment-by-moment personal relationship with him.

In the 1850’s, a famous tightrope walker named George Blondin, for a publicity stunt, decided he would walk across Niagara Falls on a rope that had been stretched from one side of the falls to the other. Crowds lined up on both the Canadian and American side to watch this unbelievable feat. Blondin began to walk across—inch-by-inch, step-by-step and everybody knew that if he’d make one mistake he was a goner. He got to the other side and the crowd went wild. Blondin said, “I’m going to do it again.” And to the crowds delight, he did. Then, to everybody’s amazement, he crossed again, this time pushing a wheel-barrow full of dirt. He actually did this several times, and as he started to go across one last time, someone in the crowd said, “I believe you could do that all day.”

Blondin dumped out the dirt and said to the man, “Get into the wheelbarrow.” He had no takers!

In a very real sense that’s what God is saying to you today. Talk is cheap. Get in the wheelbarrow of faith…and if you do, you will be accepted and pleasing to me…and I will bless you life!” (James 1:25-27)

Prayer… Dear God, help me to live out my faith in my moment-by-moment life!

One More Thing…“Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” —Martin Luther

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Weekend Bonus: Sermon Sampling

Do not merely listen to the word, and so
deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
(James 1:22)

Thoughts… You’ll probably go to church this weekend and listen to the Word of God taught by your pastor. So here’s the deal: Will you remember what he says five minutes after he’s done, and, if you do, more importantly, what will you do about it?

The biggest problem, as I see it, with the church in America, is that we are spiritually educated well beyond any corresponding level of obedience. We have become connoisseurs of fine sermons but we fall well short of any real implementation of the sermon’s content in the real world of our everyday life.

Sermon sampling is a sure way to spiritual lethargy, and I’m sure you don’t want that for your life. I certainly don’t. So here is a suggestion: Take a notebook with you to church, write down the main points of the message, and before you leave the service, write down at least one point of application that you will seek to implement that very week.

Try that for one month, and see if it doesn’t upgrade your experience of church, kick start some spiritual growth and release a little more of God’s blessings in your life. As James says in verse 25,

“If you do what [the Word] says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

Prayer… Lord, never let it be said of me that I talk the talk but I don’t walk the walk when it comes to my Christian faith. Help me to be a doer of your Word. And if I ever become guilty of hearing but not doing, give me a kick in the spiritual backside to jumpstart my obedience.

One More Thing… “The golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters is not intellect, but obedience.” —Oswald Chambers