Meditations

Read James 5

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for
each other so that you may be healed.”
(James 5:16)

Thoughts… 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 of two to four (perhaps a few more, but no more that eight) 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.

One More Thing… “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.” —Augustine

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

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

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

James 3

“If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and
could also control ourselves in every other way.”
(James 3:2)

Thoughts… When James uses the word “perfect,” he doesn’t mean sinless. The word “perfect” literally means mature and healthy. And according to James, your tongue is what gauges both your spiritual maturity and spiritual health. Just think of your tongue as a spiritual dipstick, measuring the level of your spiritual vitality.

Your words direct where you go; they can destroy what you have. But most of all, they disclose who you are—the real you! As Jesus explained in Matthew 12:34, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Simply put, your words simply display what you already are.

If you’ve got a problem with your tongue, it’s much more serious that you think: What you really have is a heart problem. A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue means an insecure heart; a boastful tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue has an impure heart; a critical tongue reveals a bitter heart. On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart. One who speaks gently has a loving heart. Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So if you have a tongue issue, what you really need to do is deal with your heart problems. How might you do that?

To begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!”

Painting the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. You can change the outside, try to turn over a new leaf, but what you really need is a new life. You need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician

Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” David prayed in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business.

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day. You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone. Your life is living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. The psalmist prayed in Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize, then pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.” If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, develop the discipline of thinking before you speak. Back in James 1:19, we were told, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In other words, you must engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control you whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by filling your mind with the Word of God. What goes into your mind gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth.

There are 800,000 words in the English language, 300,000 are technical terms. The average person knows 10,000 words and uses 5,000 in everyday speech.

If you will allow God’s Word to dominate your mind, your 5,000 everyday words will begin to reveal a truly mature and healthy person.

Prayer… Lord, help me to use every single word today to bring glory and honor to you and life to those around me.

One More Thing… “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” —Mother Teresa

James 1

“When troubles come your way, consider it
an opportunity for great joy.”
(James 1:2)

Thoughts… 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: 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 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 promises to 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 things happen to me to produce good things in me so that eternal things can happen for me.

• Sundry Gifts— Verses 16-18: Redemptive suffering also has a way of helping us appreciate the variety of God’s gifts that we might otherwise have missed. 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.

Prayer… Lord, thank you for those things that I have suffered. They have hurt, but better yet, they have helped. They have instructed. They have transformed me. They have caused me to move closer to you. And you have stood by me through them all, sustaining and strengthening me. I am forever grateful.

One More Thing… “Pain may indeed constitute God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world to surrender.” —C.S. Lewis

Read James 5:1-20

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed.”
(James 5:16)

Thoughts… I don’t think James is promoting the idea that you stand up in front of the congregation and blurt out all your sins from the past week—bad words, dirty thoughts, rotten attitudes and dark deeds. While that may be very entertaining to everybody else, it probably will not 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 of two to four (perhaps a few more, but no more that eight) where relationships have developed enough that this kind of open sharing can take place.

That kind of group does not happen overnight. It takes time. It takes a track record of confidentiality. It takes the absolute certainly that your fellow group members will have your back. It is a safe place. It is a place where you know that the others have your best interests in mind. And it is a place 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 the integrity and purity of 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 develop that kind of deeply authentic 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.

One More Thing… “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.” —Augustine

Read James 4:1-17

“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will,
we will live and do this or that.’”
(James 4:16)

Thoughts… James is saying that one of the big mistakes we can make in life is to do our planning without God. He describes this kind of person in verse 13: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’”

Did you notice there is not a single mention of God in this person’s planning? This guy knew what he wanted and how to get there, but he didn’t bother to check it out with God first.

It’s not that James has a problem with planning—he doesn’t. What he has problems with is presuming. It is good to have dreams and goals—as long as you include God and establish them prayerfully. The problem with the person in this verse is that he forgot to include God in his planning. He just presumed that God was okay with what he had in mind. But he didn’t seek God’s advice or approval first. He had operated independently from God.

That’s a pretty common sin. And it can lead to some very serious and negative outcomes in our lives. The great Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote prolifically on the horrors of the Russian Revolution, where 60 million Russians died, attributing this nightmare to one simple fact: “Men have forgotten God.”

This is what James is talking about. You can be a believer and forget God 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. And when you do that, in effect, you become a practical atheist.

If this is such a common sin, then what is the solution? Very simple: Include God in your goal setting. In fact, you may need to stop what you are planning right now and ask God what he thinks about it.

If you are buying a home, purchasing a car, making a career move, hiring an employee, beginning to date, ending a relationship — what does God have to say about it? Do you even know? If you haven’t gone to God first, then you need to seek his forgiveness and be willing to back away from that commitment, if possible, if he hasn’t given you the green light.

Verse 15 says, “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” The starting point to bringing your life under God’s control is to put everything through the “if” filter mentioned in this verse: “If” it is the Lord’s will…

These early Christians in James’ day really began to catch on to ordering their lives by seeking the Lord’s will first. They came up with a Latin watchword to remind each other of the importance of actively putting all of life into God’s hand. It was Deo Volente: “If God wills.”

In fact, in many periods of history, the believers would end their letters with “D.V.”, Deo Volente. Then would they respond to, “If God wills” with another phrase, “Carpe Diem: Seize the day.”

What a great way to live: “If the Lord wills, I will seize the day!”

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

One More Thing… “The will of God will never take you to where the grace of God will not protect you.”

Read James 2:18-3:18

“If we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and
could also control ourselves in every other way.”
(James 3:2)

Thoughts… When James uses the word “perfect,” he doesn’t mean sinless. The word “perfect” literally means mature and healthy. And your tongue is what gauges your spiritual health. Just think of your tongue as a spiritual dipstick, measuring the level of your spiritual vitality.

Jesus explained it this way in Matthew 12:34, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” In other words, your words simply display what you already are. Your words direct where you go; they can destroy what you have. But most of all, they disclose who you are—the real you!

If you’ve got a problem with your tongue, it’s much more serious that you think: What you really have is a heart problem. A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue—an insecure heart; a boasting tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue has an impure heart. A critical tongue reveals a bitter heart.

On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart. One who speaks gently has a loving heart. Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So if you have a tongue issue, you need to deal with your heart problems. How?

To begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!”

Painting the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. You can change the outside, turn over a new leaf, but what you really need is a new life or a fresh start. You need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician

David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business. Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day. You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone. Your life is a living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. In Psalm 141:3, the psalmist prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize and pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.” If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, the solution to mastering your mouth is in the discipline of thinking before you speak. Back in James 1:19, we were told, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” One quick and two slows. In other words, engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control you whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by filling your mind with the Word of God. What goes into your mind, gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth.

There are 800,000 words in the English language, 300,000 are technical terms. The average person knows 10,000 words and uses 5,000 in everyday speech.

Why don’t you make a commitment to use all 5,000 to speak life with your tongue.

Prayer… Lord, help me to use every single word today to bring glory and honor to you and life to those around me.

One More Thing… “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” —Mother Teresa

Read James 1:19-2:17

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

Thoughts… You probably went to church this week and listened to the Word of God taught by your pastor. So here’s the deal: What did he say, and what did you do with 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 their content in the real world of our everyday life.

That 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…and cause some spiritual growth to kick in as well.

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