Joy despite Trials

 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1: 2-3)

Consider it absolutely God’s favor and grace given to you, showing that He loves you enough to grow and strengthen you in your faith by allowing trials to come against you. God loves you and wants you to grow to be more like Jesus, who is righteous/pure. So, let God purify you in the fires of trials, like gold is purified through fire.

The growth of your faith from trials will build perseverance. This perseverance is God making you able to endure under challenges He allows in your life. It can be a cheerful endurance because you know God is FOR you. He does not give you more than you can endure, for He is faithful to you. And when you experience trials and temptations, God will show you a way through it so you can patiently bear and endure (1Corinthians 10:13).

You will grow stronger with God. Perseverance is a gift from God because He loves you. So, consider trials as joy because God is with you and is growing you.

You will be victorious with God’s guidance, power, and strength as you confront temptations and evil.

You can persevere with God.

Consider it joy that God loves you and grows you to be like Jesus and to be a victor over evil, temptations, and trials in life.

Consider it Joy that God is FOR you, not against you.

Consider it JOY that you are

Chosen

Saved

Loved

Watch and Pray

 

A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” (Matt 26:42, BSB)

 

Anyone who has been to a Christian church at Easter or when the Lord’s Supper is observed likely will have heard this passage from Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane after serving the Lord’s Supper to His twelve disciples. He was hours away from being led to His crucifixion. Jesus, in His human form, was sorrowful about what He would endure by the Jews and Romans. Yet, because He was wholly God as well as human, He knew what He came to earth to do must be done to save people from the sins and judgment of their sins—death, an eternal separation from God. 

 

Why is this important for us? The foremost reason is that God does not want us to live in eternal hell separated from Him because He loves us. God wants to give us the best life now and forever, a life full of peace, love, and joy, all of which come from Him.

 

Why else is this verse important for us? The example Jesus, the man, gives to us of surrendering to Father for His best plan, His perfect purpose, is what we need to see, understand, and enact. Jesus first approached the Father in verse 39. Matthew wrote, “Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’” Jesus sought the Father for strength for His human self to be brave and to endure the terrible trial He would go through very soon. He sought to be with the Father for closeness and connection, just as a child of any age seeks closeness and connection with his/her parent. One other important point we need to see is Jesus was solely surrendered to the plan the Godhead (including Himself, the Son) made to redeem each person who believes in Him. Jesus surrendered to the Godhead’s will and perfect plan. He sought closeness with the Father. Jesus sought strength to endure the terrible torment He would soon experience. 

 

Why, then, does it seem Jesus said the same thing in verse 42? In the two verses between Jesus’ two statements to the Father, Jesus walked to Peter, James, and John and found them sleeping. He asked if they weren’t able to keep watch with Him for one hour. At first thought, one hour is not a long time. Most people read, watch tv, or talk with people easily for an hour. Consider now what Jesus expected them to do. He expected them to watch and pray. How many people do you know who pray for one hour? What about for thirty minutes? Fifteen minutes? Jesus expected them to do more than stay awake and pray. He expected the three to keep watch. Being watchful is being alert to temptations, temptations to not look at God but self, that potentially lead to sin. Jesus expected the three men to keep watch against coming temptation by praying to have God’s strength to defeat that temptation and continue onward with God. Jesus wanted Peter, James, and John to prepare to face their battles against temptation. They could do this by recognizing their human weaknesses and praying for God’s strength to overcome their weaknesses so they could stay close to and surrendered to Him. When Jesus walked to them in verse 40, He found the three men surrendered to their bodies in sleep. They didn’t see that hour for what it was, one of few hours before their Messiah would fulfill the prophecies to give release to the captives. Instead, the three disciples sought no strength from God to endure through the night, pray for their Messiah, and pray for the people who would hear about Him to believe in Jesus. A lot can happen in an hour. An hour isn’t very long after all. 

 

In verse 42, Jesus said, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” Compare it to what He said in verse 39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” In these verses, Jesus basically said the same thing. The first time, the three disciples may not have understood what Jesus said at the Lord’s Supper would actually occur. They might not have understood the necessity of praying that night. In verses 40 and 41, Jesus told them for what they should pray. He then returned to His own prayer place to be with the Father as the disciples watched and heard Him pray. Jesus modeled for them again why to pray—to be close to the Father in heart, mind, and spirit. He showed them with this prayer time about asking for God’s strength to do what is God’s will. Most importantly, Jesus showed the three how to submit and surrender to God’s perfect plan. It begins with being in a close relationship with Him. By communing with Him daily, the disciples could get God’s strength and walk His journey for their lives with Him. 

 

Did the three disciples stay awake that second time? No, Jesus returned to them and found them asleep. Jesus asked the disciples in verse 38 to stay at the place He told them and keep watch with Him. His goal was multi-purpose. Jesus wanted to be with His Father. He, as a man, would experience a terrible torment on the cross. Jesus submitted and surrendered to the will of the Godhead to love humanity in this extreme way. He wanted to show the three disciples how to stand against temptation by praying for God’s strength to defeat it. Temptations can come in simple ways like falling to the human weakness of tiredness and not taking time to draw close to God. It can come in sensational ways, too, like tormenting a person’s heart, mind, body, and spirit. 

 

Submitting and surrendering to God can be as easy as asking for more energy and focus to be with God in prayer. The three disciples fell asleep. It appears they didn’t ask for God’s strength to stay awake to watch and pray for themselves, the other disciples, unbelievers, and Jesus. Each of us know what most likely keeps us from praying. Without prayer, it’s hard to submit to God and surrender to His will. Without prayer, we won’t know His will or have His power to surrender our will for His.

 

Instead of Jesus saying to us like He did to the three men, “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak,” may He put His mind into us that willingly says, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done” (Matt 26:41-42). What do you need to surrender to God today to be able to be with Him in prayer?  Will you take the time to watch and pray?

 

My prayer for you and me is what Jesus prayed in verse 42. “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”

Engrafted Living

 

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬‬

“Pure” means it’s free from the contaminating influences of sin. Undefiled means not stained by sins. A person can only be free from the influence of sins and cleaned of sin if he or she has believed in Jesus and been made clean by Him, by the salvation He gives to those who believe in Him.

Only this person—the cleansed one whose life shows the influence of the Spirit through being grafted into the Vine—can worship God without defilement. Only the person cleansed by Jesus’ blood and not under the influence of sin can genuinely worship (offer pure and undefiled religion/worship) God. 

This type of worship extends from the walls of the church into the believer’s everyday life. It includes visiting and looking after (taking care of) orphans and widows in distress (emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually). 

Pure, undefiled worship also includes keeping oneself unstained by the sinful world. Every action, thought, word, and attitude should come from a heart of worship, guided by the Spirit, and flowing as fruit from the Vine. 

Worship does not end when we step outside the church walls. It includes living the life into which you’ve been engrafted. Live affecting other people’s lives with Jesus’ love and care. Live letting the Spirit grow you by worshiping God daily by the changing of your mind, attitude, heart, words, and actions so all these things become pure and undefiled religious worship of God. From this, others will be affected by Jesus by being saved, being grafted into the Vine, and being continual worshipers of God, too.

“Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭22‬, ‭25‬-‭27‬ ‭

Wisdom

 

 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

— James 1:5

 

What is wisdom? First note, it comes from God. He is the source of wisdom. Wisdom is part of God’s being. It is “the knowledge and practice of the requisites for godly and upright living.” God wants us each to live sinless lives and be in a right relationship with Him, so He will give wisdom and the ability to live righteously. So ask Him for it. 

 

How much wisdom will God give? Does God give enough to tease a person? No, He gives what is needed to live godly lives by making godly decisions. God gives wisdom sincerely. He seeks to bless a person, so why would He withhold any wisdom when He wants us to live godly lives. God gives blessings without holding back.

 

God gives wisdom without reproach. He doesn’t give wisdom while casting blame. God doesn’t say, “You should’ve known this, but here you go, have My wisdom.” He doesn’t give begrudgingly or while shaming. 

 

God wants a deeper relationship with His children. He willingly blesses us with what we need to grow closer to Him and to make us more godly. God gives from His unending fountain of blessings, from His being. James said just ask for wisdom from God. Upon seeing our sincerity in seeking Him and His wisdom, God will bless us with wisdom in how to live our lives more godly, so we can be closer to Him.

 

Have you asked God for wisdom? Ask with faith not with doubt. Grow more like Jesus and closer to God. Know and remember what Jesus taught, “Seek first God and His kingdom and all these things shall be added unto you.” Seek God. Ask for what you need. Be closer to Him, more like Him. Live godly lives. This requires God’s wisdom. Go ahead and ask Him for it.

Healed

 

Jesus’ ministry began when John the Baptist baptized Him in the Jordan River. Following His baptism, He spent forty days in the wilderness, during which He did not sin when tempted by Satan there. Jesus began formal ministry from this point. He walked to Galilee and walked around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus met and called Simon and Andrew, brothers and fishermen, and John and James, who were brothers and fishermen, too. After they walked to Capernaum, they immediately entered the synagogue, where Jesus taught from the Scriptures with power and authority. He was confronted in the synagogue by a man overcome by demons. To these demons, who recognized Jesus was from Nazareth and the “Holy One of God,” Jesus commanded, “Be quiet and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25)

Each of these instances showed Jesus’ power and authority. He had power over temptation, too. Jesus displayed His authority when He called disciples. He revealed power and authority when He taught from Scripture in the synagogue. Jesus exhibited His power over demons. Mark’s purpose was to show Jesus is the Son of God who came for everyone. He spent no time reminding his readers and listeners about Jesus’ genealogy. Mark was determined to share the good news about Jesus. So, he declared who Jesus is at the beginning of his gospel. Mark told of Jesus’ actions and words during His three-year ministry. This Bible study continues teaching from Mark 1 as he disclosed more of Jesus’ life and ministry.

Touched

²⁹And immediately after they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now Simeon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and they immediately spoke to Jesus about her. ³¹And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she served them. (Mark 1:29-31 [NASB])

Mark continued to use his favorite adverb, “immediately,” to begin this passage. Jesus wasted no time. He spent every moment intentionally ministering. Jesus showed the disciples and others who watched or heard about Him what Christian service should include. Serving as a Christian means being ready for opportunities to serve other people. It means readily telling them about Jesus, the Messiah.

At the right time, Jesus was born on earth. At the right time, He was baptized. Now, Mark shows in his gospel, the right time for ministering was still immediate. Jesus realized His time on earth was brief. He must tell and show people who He is. Jesus wants people to know why He came to earth. So, at once, Jesus and the disciples left the synagogue and went to Simon and Andrew’s house in Capernaum. They walked to their house to complete the Sabbath day, which was from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. When they arrived at the house, Simon and Andrew spoke to Jesus about Simon’s mother-in-law being sick. Jesus arrived at Simon’s house at the right time.

Jesus continued to reveal Himself. To people at the synagogue, He began revealing his power and authority at the synagogue. Jesus taught Scripture with power and authority and had power and authority over the Satanic powers, as He showed when He cast out demons from the man. With this recent occurrence at Simeon and Andrew’s house, Mark continued telling how Jesus continued to show His power. After Simon and Andrew spoke to Jesus (vs. 30), Jesus walked to Simeon’s mother-in-law and touched her hand. The fever left her immediately. The touching and raising her up held no magical power. His divinity and loving intention that she gets well caused the fever to leave her body and she be well.

Consider what occurred in Simon’s and Jesus’ actions. By telling Jesus about his mother-in-law, Simon showed he cared about her and that she was equally important as anyone else in his eyes. Consider this: no antibiotics or aspirin existed in those days. Fevers could come from bacteria or virus in the region, such as dysentery, pneumonia, and malaria. Jesus did not say he was afraid to touch her. He did not ask for hand sanitizer, latex gloves, or mask. Jesus recognized the woman was ill since she did not force herself to get up and serve them like women of that time did. He wanted her to be well. Jesus did not want her to worry about hosting.

Knowing these things, Jesus went to the mother-in-law’s bed with Simon and Andrew. He entered her room to heal her. Jesus wanted her to seek and come to recognize Him as the Messiah. He cared about her body, mind, soul, and heart. Jesus touched the feverish woman and helped her get up. His power as the Son of God because He willed it healed her. Jesus cared about her as He cares about all women and men. Jesus freed this woman from sickness and from anguish that she was not being an excellent hostess.

With this action, Jesus showed to the world He has power and authority over sickness and demons. He taught and spoke with power and authority when He taught the Scriptures. Jesus did these during the Sabbath. Jews believed people must not work on the Sabbath. Jesus later taught, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27 [NASB]).

Gathered

³²Now when evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. ³³And the whole city had gathered at the door. ³⁴And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast our many demons; and He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. (Mark 1:32-34 [NASB])

Until the people gathered at Simeon and Andrew’s home after the Sabbath, Jesus revealed Himself just to Jews. With the casting out of the demons at the synagogue, word spread. The people of Capernaum sought to understand more about Jesus. John wrote this in John 12:32. He stated Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself.” Jesus came so that each person would hear about, seek, and believe in Him so they would be saved.

Jesus’ ministry was to proclaim the kingdom of God has come. He set about proving He is the Son of God. He did this so when He told them He was the prophesied Messiah, they would believe in Him for salvation. By powerfully and authoritatively showing His divinity, He brought more people near to Himself and released people captive to sin, illness, blindness, demons, and a host of other things (Luke 4:18 & Isaiah 61).

When the Sabbath ended, people of Capernaum brought sick people and demon-possessed people to Jesus for Him to heal and release them from their captivity. They flocked to see Jesus’ works to prove what other people said was true. Remember, the people of Capernaum came from several places — Rome, Greece, Syria, Israel, etc. They had known other people could do the same works. These people wanted to see Jesus prove He has power and authority. People wondered if Jesus is truly the Son of God.

Mark said the whole city gathered at the door of Simon and Andrew’s house. Mark claimed that 1500 people from Capernaum were at the same house. He might have exaggerated. From each gospel writer’s account, people sought to see the man called Jesus. They wanted to understand who Jesus is. They wanted to see what He could do. It was worth the time to take that person to Jesus if He truly could heal their sick family member or friend. Mark did not say anyone believed in Jesus as the Messiah that day. From this passage, we realize an entire city could testify Jesus has power over sickness and demons and power and authority to teach Scriptures.

Besides these things, Mark noted Jesus would not let the demons say who He is. The time was not right for Jesus to be known as the awaited Messiah. Politics were not right; the people would expect Him to be their victorious warrior-king. For Mark, primary importance was to show Jesus is who He says He is, the Servant-Son of God who came to set captives free. That captivity could be because of illness, slavery, sin, society, etcetera. In the right time, Jesus would show Himself to the world as the long-awaited Messiah. Peter was the first to declare Jesus as the Messiah. In Mark 8:29, after Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ (Messiah).” Notice after this confession by Peter, Jesus warned the disciples to tell no one about Him. That revelation was not due.

Application and Conclusion

Jesus quieted the demons. He told others not to declare He is the Messiah. Now, almost two thousand years after Jesus’ ministry, many people still have not been told about the Messiah. Some Christians live as if Jesus is still telling His followers not to say who He is. Does He act less in our world today? Do marvelous rescues of the oppressed, enslaved, and sick people not occur? Or is there nobody who needs saving anymore?

Lest we think we are in a world where Jesus is irrelevant, consider the violence, wars, prejudice, thievery, rage, illnesses locally and globally, depression, and suicide. Is there less reason for Jesus to care today about people? No, just as in the past, the world needs a Savior, who heals, frees, shows mercy and love, and forgives sins. No one has ever died, then returned to life, ascended to heaven, or interceded with the Father as Jesus did/does. His intercession to the Father and breaking into our reality with His powerful works still occurs and will until time ends.

Where do you stand with Jesus? Have you heard about Him? Did you turn your back on what He offers? Have you listened to people tell of Him, believed in Him, and accepted His love and salvation, but live as the world lives? Have you never heard of Jesus? Are you curious?

Jesus is the Son of God, who was born to a virgin by the Holy Spirit. He was raised and faced testing and temptation, but never sinned. He died a sinner’s death by crucifixion (suffocation) on a cross, like the worst of sinners experienced. Three days after His death, He came back to life and walked among people for forty days. After those forty days, Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His followers to the Father. He lives throughout eternity and existed before time began.

Now, where do you stand with Jesus? Will you seek Him and believe? Will He be Messiah and Savior for you? Jesus told the demons not to say He is the Messiah. Why? He said it not to lie, but because it was not the right time.

Now is the right time.

If we Christians stay silent, even the rocks will cry out (Luke 19:40). Jesus is not telling you today to stay silent. After His resurrection, He commissioned His disciples. Jesus said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18020 [NASB]).

The Messiah already is. His existence on earth and in heaven cannot be dismissed.

Will you dismiss your salvation? Will you dismiss Jesus’ commission of you?

Wolves, Roses, and Joy

Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again-my Savior and my God! (Psalm 43:5 [NLT])

Many people believe Christians do not face hard times. They have this idea that once a person becomes Jesus’ follower, life will be a bed of roses and no wolves will batter the door of his or her life. Those of us who have been Christians for a while know the truth. We know life has hard times in store for everyone because we live in a sinful world. At times, life is harder for Christians because we believe in Jesus and follow Him. How could life be harder for Christians than non-Christians? Because Satan constantly wages war against Christians attempting to discredit them and Christ. Satan is the incessant wolf at the door. For people who are not followers of Jesus, they might question why Satan would fight more with Christians? Let’s consider a few role models of the faith and their lives.

David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22), though chosen by God to be the king over His people, the Israelites, battled against his enemies. He was a man who had blood on his hands. The Philistines, Saul and his army, Absalom’s army, and many others fought against David because of jealousy, anger, or a desire for his land, people, and resources. Even though God chose David, David still had difficult times. Some of those difficulties came because of his own decisions, like when he lay with another man’s wife. Wolves, temptations and persecutions from Satan battered his door. Yet, during his difficult times, David still praised God and looked up to Him as his strength, protection, joy, and hope. In Psalm 43, he pleaded with God to rescue him from unjust people. David wrote many lamentations and included in them stanzas expressing his hope in God who was his strength, refuge, fortress, and joy. David’s life was not a bed of roses. If anything, David lived like a shepherd, outdoors on rock and dirt much of the time, as he fought against his adversaries. As king you’d expect him to have lived a luxurious life. David’s enemies, the wolves, did not give him time to rest and live that kind of life. Yet, he still had the joy of God. David chose to seek God in the midst of his trials.

Job was a very righteous man, he revered God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). He had seven sons and three daughters. Job owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. People considered him the greatest man in the East. (Job 1:2-3) One day Satan entered the heavenly court and God asked him, “Where have you come from?” During their conversation, Satan said to the Lord,

Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse You to your face.

“All right, you may test him,” the LORD said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” (Job 1:9-12 [NLT])

Satan threw everything at Job except for his own death. Even his three friends turned on him and told him to plead for God’s forgiveness. Surely, they thought, he had sinned against God and the horrible things happening to him were because of that sin. Job lost his ten children, servants, wife, herds, grain, produce, and buildings. Satan took everything he owned away. Yet, Job did not turn away from following and obeying the LORD (Yahweh, the eternal One). Instead, during the trials Satan threw at him, Job said, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand upon the earth at the last.” (Job 19:25 [NLT]) Job, though a righteous man, lived a life that was not a bed of roses. Yes, God blessed him, and those blessings were very good, but he faced trials. The wolves battered his door. To prove the faith of Job, God allowed Satan to test him. Satan’s test failed. Job’s life demonstrates Satan trying God’s children. It shows this child of God’s life was not always fragrant and pleasant. After the season of trails by Satan, God blessed Job more than He had in the first part of his life. He doubled the number of his animals and gave him seven more sons and three more daughters. Besides this, Job included his daughters in his will along with their brothers to receive an inheritance. Doing this was very unusual because only men could inherit in their patriarchal society. Job remained firm in his faith in God during his trials. He grew stronger because of them. During his time of trials, Job chose to seek God and draw on His joy to get him through his difficult times.

Consider any of the disciples of Christ. They each faced persecution. People killed several of them. Many of the disciples faced imprisonment. Even today, Jesus’ followers face persecution, torture, and martyrdom because of their faith. Christians’ lives are not always a bed of roses. Yes, God blesses them, but they, too, face hard times–illnesses, lack of money, hunger, taunting, persecution, mocking, and death at the hands of other people. People who are not Christians consider the persecutions and wonder why a person would risk living like that and then they, themselves, turn away or they become the persecutors. Another group of people consider today’s Christians and the history of Christians and wonder what would make a person so strong in his or her faith to continue following Jesus when he or she knows persecution will come. Consider what Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10:16-18, 21-23, 28, & 34-39,

¹⁶ Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.
²¹ A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.
²⁸ Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
³⁴ Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
³⁵ I have come to set a “man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ³⁶ Your enemies will be right in your own household!”
³⁷ If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. [NLT]

Jesus told His disciples that Christians’ lives will not always be a bed of roses. Their lives showed this to be true. Expect trials, persecutions, and even death. Students and slaves should expect no less that what happened to their teachers and masters. Wolves will batter the door of your homes if you are a Christian. Satan wants to discredit you and your testimony about Jesus. Notice, Jesus’ disciples chose to go through the trials, but they didn’t do it alone. They drew on the strength God gives. They counted it all joy. A joy they received from the source of joy, God, the Father.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 [ESV])

Christians should expect and will live through hard times. Jesus said it and believers lived out this truth in the Old and New Testaments, and in every generation since then. Satan is the incessant wolf at the door. He constantly tries to defeat the testimony of Christians about Christ. Yet, we need not fear. We can have joy even in difficult times. Why? Because God is our Redeemer. He is our refugee and strength. From Him we can have joy and hope. How can we have joy even while suffering? David explained and proclaimed it in Psalm 43:4. “There I will go to the altar of God, to God-the source of all my joy. I will praise You with my harp, O God, my God!” [NLT] Because God is the source of joy, we can have joy since we are Christians. Because Jesus defeated death and sin, we have hope beyond what we are facing and beyond this mortal life. Go to the altar of God. Rejoice because God is your joy. Your source never dries up like the land, water, and human bodies. It never rusts or corrodes.

Our Source of Joy is Eternal.

God is our Source of Joy!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12 [NIV])

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9 [NIV])

Lord, You are the fountain of all blessings. From You flows hope, joy, love, truth, righteousness, and all good things. Forgive me for losing hope and grasping only the joy of the moment instead of seeking You, the fount of blessings and the God of my soul. Lord, help me recall You and Your promises and blessings when I walk through dark times. Help me stand strong in Your strength remembering the hope You have given me through the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus. Help me have joy even when facing trials because You are my strength and shield. Because of You, I have hope. Lord, help me not to shrink away from difficulties, but to walk courageously through them with You so I may grow closer to You and become more like You. Because of Your grace, I not only can prevail in these situations, but I have eternal life with You. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

The Right Way

“And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:18 [NASB])

Consider great things guided by small things. A ship goes how the rudder is pushed or pulled. A horse goes how the bit is guided. A person guides them both. Our lives, too, go in the way by whom we allow to direct it. When we get behind the steering wheel of a car, we can direct it where we want, assuming no disaster or health matter interferes with the steering of the car. We can decide for ourselves where the car will go. Our thoughts lead our words and actions.

James said in James 3 that though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts of great things (3:5). Our tongues may boast of our educational degrees. It may boast of our work status. Our tongue may boast of what we own, where we are going, or what we have done. Yet, none of these things or this boasting gives us the unattainable by humankind.  Nothing of what we’ve done, said, or thought can make us righteous.

Paul explained in Galatians 1 that, of all men at that time, he had more reason to boast than any Jew. In Galatians 1:13-14, he told the church at Galatia he advanced in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries among his countrymen and was more extremely zealous for his ancestral traditions. Each of us understands Paul’s great goals of being the best at what we do and of wanting recognition for being the best. Still, once Paul met Jesus on that road, he realized his best would never be good enough. He persecuted people just to advance in his job. God does not condone persecution or selfish ambition and jealousy.

We may not physically persecute people. Instead we might “put people in their place.” By doing that, we strive to make ourselves appear greater in the eyes of people. Isn’t that what seeking to be better is about? We do these things to boast, to build ourselves up higher. This way of life is arrogant. James called this “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart” in James 3:14. Have we considered it that way? Have we realized this drive to get more, be more, and appear greater than others comes from selfish ambition and bitter jealousy?

James continued with this thought. In James 3: 11-12, he pointed out that good and bad cannot come from the same mouth. What comes from the mouth comes from the heart, and that defiles you, Jesus said in Matthew 15:11. We can say the same about our actions. What we allow to guide our mouth and our body comes from our heart. Just like fresh water and salt water cannot come from the same source, so selfish ambition and acts of righteousness cannot come from the same source. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus in Matthew 5:6 preached on the mountain, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

If we cannot be righteous and do righteousness in word and action on our own while seeking greater things, titles, and praise, how do we succeed in the world and do righteous things? If I can’t do it on my own, what do I do? Jesus explained this in John 14:6. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” No one can be righteous and do righteous things in their own strength. We each inherited the tendency to sin. Of our own strength, we cannot defeat temptation and sin. If we are honest, we will acknowledge we have sinned because of our own selfish ambition and jealousy. That is sin. Sin is seeking what we want irrespective of what another person wants or what is good for other people. Sin is turning away from God and His purposes to do what we want no matter what the cost.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions (sins), made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show us the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10 [NASB])

By God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, He imputes (credits) Jesus’ righteousness to each person who believes in Him. This righteousness does not come because we are good or worthy. God gives it to each of us when we believe and because of His grace. From that point in time, the person who believes in Jesus for salvation has imputed righteousness and can do righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit within him or her. That person can overcome the desire to feel the need to be better than everyone else or own more than anyone else.  That person realizes he or she is not better than anyone else, but is a sinner just like all people. The only difference is that person received salvation from sin and eternal death. This power of Christ in us gives us the desire to do God’s will for His purpose, not for our selfish ambition or jealousy. We live a righteous life when our purposes align with God’s and our resultant actions, words, and thoughts agree with God’s.  

From the point of a person’s salvation, that person sows the seed of righteousness in peace (James 3:18). People see his or her faith in his or her good behavior and gentle wisdom (James 3:13). This wisdom from God is and brings peace, purity, gentleness, reasonableness, mercy, and good fruits.

Now when you get behind the steering wheel of the car (your life) you recognize God gave you, how will you drive it? Will you drive it with righteousness and its resultant wisdom and peace? Or, will you drive it with bitter jealousy and selfish ambition seeking to get what you want at whatever cost?

Remember, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6 [NASB]) We can’t have righteousness and be right in all our actions, thoughts, and words without Jesus. Without Him, we sow discord, anger, jealousy, arrogance, hatred, etc. Is that what you want in your life? Or would you rather have the righteousness and wisdom that creates purity, peace, gentleness, love, joy, patience, kindness, humility, goodness, self-control, and faithfulness? (Galatians 5:22-23 and James 3:18)

It’s time we realize what Paul did on the Damascus road. He said in Galatians 1:15 that God set him apart even from his mother’s womb and called him through His grace. God said this to Jeremiah, too, in Jeremiah 1:5. Both of these men heard God’s voice in their hearts, minds, and spirits, and they believed.

God knew each of us before He formed us and before we were born. He calls us to Himself so He can make us righteous and justify us by His Son. Consider Romans 8:28-30.

And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. [NASB]

Who’s driving your car?

Righteousness is available to you, to each of us.

Will you accept it and let God drive?

Jesus is the Way.

He gives righteousness.

With Him, we need nothing else.

We can be satisfied.

Lord, I try to do good things. I try to be my best and, also, get what I want. I don’t want to assume I need You to give me everything. I can work and get some things for myself. Yet, when I do it my way, I find an emptiness. I find as I get what I want, things around me don’t always work out right. Someone gets hurt. Another person gets left behind and not helped; and I feel guilty. I wonder if I could have done it another way. I have forgotten You are the Way. You are the best way. Lord, forgive me for seeking things and titles and forgetting You. Forgive me for leaving You to get what I want. I am weak and broken; I’m a sinner. Forgive me, please. Teach me contentment in You. Teach me patience and how to wait for You. Lord, take me where You want me to go. Give me what You want me to have. Use me to speak and do good and righteous deeds. Lord, use me to tell of You and Your glory. I am Your vessel; use me for Your will. Amen.

Juxtaposed Pride

“But He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” James 4:6 [NASB]

In reading James 4:1-10, we see three main things. First, we see sins keep us from God. Second, we see how we can reconnect and stay aligned with God. Third, we learn when we rightly relate to God by voluntarily humbling ourselves to Him, He provides everything we need. We say, “Surely I know this.” Yet, if we know this, why don’t we stay humble? Why do we envy other people? Why do we quarrel and fight with people?

James spoke to the Christians in Jerusalem in this letter. In these verses, he broke down his lesson to them into two opposite ways of life-the greedy, envious, and arrogant way and the content, submissive, and humble way. We think we are living humbly, but when we read the first four verses of chapter four, we realize something about ourselves. James told the Jerusalem Christians’ he knew of their quarreling and fighting. He had heard about their disputes. James pointed to the reason for these fights and quarrels. He said they came from their seeking to fill their human desires. James called these desires lust. Lusting means desiring with your heart what you do not have. It is being discontent with what God has given you. Lusting causes the person to give their desire for things a higher priority in their life and thinking than they give God. It is coveting what someone has and wanting one like or better than it. James said we want it so much we willingly murder for it. He could have meant a literal murder by killing someone to get what one wants or a metaphorical murder of running someone’s good name through muck so other people do not consider that person highly. Also, it means murdering your relationship with God so He has a lower priority in your life than the item for which you lust. Quarrels and fights come from lusting or coveting what someone else has, and it causes murder of the person, his or her reputation, or one’s relationship with God.

James added to this and said their envy caused them to fight. All the while, he said, they could have asked for it from God. Still, if they had asked for it with the wrong motive, of which lust, envy, greed, and pride are, then God would not answer. What makes what one asks for a wrong motive? James said when a person asks for something to spend it on their personal pleasures, that shows their lusts and desires. This makes a person an adulterer, he said. When someone puts someone or something higher in their estimation than God, they worship it more than God. This creates hostility toward God because the person wanted something for the wrong reasons and against God’s purposes and plans. The person purposed to go against God’s will and so made him or herself hostile, turn 180 degrees away from God (turn his or her back on God), and walk away from God.

“Surely,” we say to ourselves (because we wouldn’t dare mention this to another person), “we do not turn our backs on God. No way do we lust after and become adulterers, choosing things and people over God.” Let’s not fool ourselves; we each are guilty for choosing things contrary to God’s will. We each envy and strive for things, relationships, power, and influence. Sometimes these are contrary to God’s purposes and plans.

With verse five, James brought the sting of disappointment; we cringe at disappointing God. He said, God jealously desires the Spirit He made to dwell in believers when they became believers. When we turn our backs on God and go our own way, we cut off conversation with God or we only go to Him when we want something. That means we separate the Holy Spirit, who came to dwell in us upon our salvation to guide us in God’s way, from God with our sins. We have chosen not to allow God to guide us. We disappoint God. He jealously loves us, and He jealously desires a relationship with us, a relationship that comes through His indwelling Spirit.

What is the point James made? He painfully made the Jerusalem Christians aware of their greed and adultery that separated them from God. He told them in verse six, “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” God doesn’t take His hands off His child because they sinned against Him. He opposes the proud, the one who took his or her own life and desires into his or her own hands. God stands against the ways of His proud child. He jealously goes to combat to gain His child back from Satan’s temptations and sin. If you jealously love your spouse or child, you would go to battle to get them back from captivity. When we sin, we are in captivity and God opposes Satan to get us safely back from the sin that entangled and entrapped us. This is what James meant when he said, God opposed the proud. This is the greater grace God gives. God didn’t initially just give us grace to save us from our sin so we could be called the children of God. He gives and keeps on giving grace. The Lord opposed Satan and keeps on opposing Satan to keep us safe. He jealously loves us and His Spirit within us. God wants a right relationship with each of us. When we realize this while sinning and while in a right relationship with Him, we are humbled before God. This awareness makes us realize our littleness in comparison to almighty God. We then voluntarily submit ourselves to Him and His plans. We receive God’s grace when He rescues us, and we receive it when we have this recognition and voluntarily humble ourselves. God is favorably disposed to giving blessings from His bounty to people. These blessings are grace and can be tangible things, but also include kindness, favor, forgiveness, love, salvation, sanctification, protection, etc. Even though no one deserves God’s grace, He gives it. It’s like our relationship with our parents. Even though we did something wrong, they still love us.

James began this chapter with a list of six things that arrogance caused the Jerusalem Christians to do and be-quarrel and fight, envy, lust, adultery, not asking or asking with the wrong motives, and having a friendship with the world and being an enemy of God. As a juxtaposition to these, in verses seven through nine, He gave six commands that the humble child of God can do to turn back to God and escape arrogance and separation from God.

 James told them to submit to God, which is a voluntary personal subjecting of one’s self to God’s plans in heart, mind, actions, and word. James told them to resist the devil which means to do to Satan what they did to God when they envied and lusted. They are to turn their backs completely on Satan by turning 180 degrees from facing him and his temptations. When a person turns 180 degrees from Satan, he or she is facing God. This turning from Satan is opposing him and forcefully declaring one’s personal conviction ardently. The LORD is my Shepherd, or any other Bible verses you have memorized help with this effort.

Next James told the people to draw near to God. The closer you get to God, the farther you get from Satan and His temptations. Nothing unholy can be in God’s presence; therefore, Satan cannot be in God’s presence. So, if you get close to God, Satan cannot still be close to you. A promise comes with this command. He said when you draw near to God, God will draw near to you. What do we need to do to be in God’s presence? James reminded the Jerusalem Christians. He told them to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. Literally, ceremonially, and spiritually clean your hands from the sin you did. Wash them to get the dirt and stains off them. Wash them to ceremonially (mentally and with the heart) remove the sin and guilt from them. Wash their “hands” spiritually and resubmit themselves to God and His purposes. A person cannot be double-minded and be God’s child. By washing, you separate yourself from your past, and dedicate your today and tomorrow for God. The spiritual cleansing is purifying one’s self. It means to take into one’s heart the morals of God and cast away the world’s morals, the morals by which you sinned.

Finally, the last command James gave the Jerusalem Christians was for them to grieve, mourn, and weep over their sins and their intentional separating themselves from God. True contrition according to James occurs with realizing your wretched condition as a sinner who lusted after the world, feeling guilt and lamenting because of those sins, and physically weeping for the grief you caused God and yourself by being opposed to God by sinning. James meant literally to weep. He emphasized this with the second half of verse nine when he told them to turn their laughter into mourning and their joy into gloom. Instead of laughing cry. Instead of experiencing joy for the things you acquired, feel gloom because they caused you to separate from God.

With verse ten, James reiterated for emphasis what he said in verse six. He said, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.” James spoke about humility again. Verse ten relates humility to the six commands in verses seven through nine. If you rightly relate to God, you will submit to Him, resist the devil, draw near to God, cleanse your hands and heart, and mourn your sins. As James said in verse six, God gives grace to the humble. He gives His favor to those who voluntarily submit to and fully depend on the Lord, and not on one’s self. When a person humbles him or herself, he or she recognizes and exalts the Lord as everything they need and will ever need. When a person humbles him or herself before God, then He will exalt that person in the eyes of other people. People will recognize his or her humility as they watch him or her, and all the while God will receive the glory.

It would be easy to say, “Oh, that was just for the first century. We are beyond that and can decide things for ourselves. After all, we are the ones who advanced society.” Yet, James’ words, learned from his time with Jesus, are for us today. We should be humble. We are mere, finite creatures whom God created, protects, provides for, and loves. Nothing we can do extends our lives indefinitely. More importantly, nothing we do will cleanse us from every wrong thing we’ve done. God’s grace can and does cleanse us, and He gives eternal life to the person who believes in Jesus as Savior. Our getting things for ourselves, we think, is great. “Why do we need God?” Still, we are never satisfied when we get for ourselves. We envy, desire, lust, and allow things to make us adulterers. Only God gives and keeps on giving satisfaction because only what He gives is best, filling, and fulfilling. When He gives, we have no more need. If we submit to God and humble ourselves in relationship to Him, we will have no need because He gives and keeps on giving from His grace. From His bounteous supply, He gives eternally because of His never-ending love and His forgiveness of our sins.

                      “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”                                         

John 4:10 [NASB]

God gives and keeps on giving grace to the humble.

Lord, I am a mess of contradictions. I call myself a Christian, but then I want what my co-worker, neighbor, or family member has. Lord, I get so caught up in earning enough money to buy the things I want or getting the perfect spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend then I lose sight of You, forget about You, and don’t remember You are the giver of all good things. Please forgive me, God. Forgive my pride and envy. Forgive my turning my back on You. Help me trust in You more and remember Your Promises and Your past blessings. Help me withstand temptations and stand strong with You. Amen.

Do the Right Thing: A James 4:17 Devotional

James compiled his teachings to Christians into one singular lesson. He said in verse seventeen, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” When a person is a Christian, he/she belongs to God’s family and knows right from wrong because of Jesus’ Spirit indwelling the person. People can comprehend the heart of God. No believer can say he or she did not know the right thing to do. The Holy Spirit teaches of righteousness and convicts of sin. James said if a person recognized he/she was supposed to do something, but did not do it, omitting or choosing not to do what is right makes him/her a sinner. Whoa, intentionally not doing something right is a sin! Intentionally choosing to do something wrong is a sin, too.

Christians cannot say they did not understand. The Holy Spirit will tell believers what is right and wrong to do, say, and think. Luke spoke about this in Luke 12:47. The person who chooses not to do what God says is right, God will judge. Jesus similarly told the Pharisees in John 9:41. Peter took this idea further in 2 Peter 2:20-21.

Since we understand James’ meaning in verse seventeen, how is it a compilation of his earlier teachings? Consider his teachings.

·        Do not show favoritism to the rich hoping to gain influence and help from them in the future. God provides for each person what he or she needs when she needs it. You have an inheritance in the kingdom of God. Love your neighbors as your self. Show your love of God in your obedience to His laws. Do the right thing. (Ch. 2)

·       Show God’s love even to the poorest person by giving food, clothes, shelter, and daily needs. In this, you show your faith by your works and fulfill the second greatest commandment. Faith without works is useless (2:20). Do the right thing. (Ch. 2)

·       Guard your tongues. Blessings and curses cannot come from the same mouth. Ask for God’s wisdom. Allow the Holy Spirit to help bridle your mouth, which bridles your whole body thereby showing the new creation your relationship with God through Jesus Christ effected. Teachers have a greater accountability and stricter judgment from God. Do the right thing. (Ch. 3)

·       Ask for God’s wisdom to guide you so jealousy and selfish ambition do not lead you astray to arrogance and lying against the Truth. Seek wisdom and produce the fruits from above. Do the right thing. (Ch. 3)

·       Do not envy another person. Envy leads to quarrels and fights. It makes a person an adulterer, hostile to God. God gives the greater grace – the better blessing(s) – salvation and eternal life. James gave six things for each believer to return to God.

ü  Submit to God

ü  Resist the devil

ü  Draw near to God

ü  Cleanse your hands

ü  Purify your hearts

ü  Humble yourselves before God.

                        When a believer does these things to return to the Lord, God will draw near

                         the person and exalt him/her. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

·       Do not slander and judge another person. By doing so you judge God. You are not greater than God, so you cannot judge another person. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

·       Consult God when planning your future – in business and everyday life. You do not know the future and cannot plan without God’s guidance, recognizing He holds the future, provides the profit, and gives everything you need. Do the right thing. (Ch. 4)

Each lesson James taught to the Jerusalem Christians in his epistle dealt with the whole person – heart, head, mouth, and body. He taught how to speak and act as Christians in this world. James taught Christians to be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” That means embodying the love of God in their daily lives. Christians understand what they are to do because of the indwelling Holy Spirit and Christian teaching. They sin if they did not do what is right and just. Christians cannot say they do not want to get involved. As Christians who understand the right thing to do, they must do the right thing in situations encountered in daily life.

Be “doers” of the word, not “omit-ers.”

Prayer - More Than Words: James 5:13-20

Introduction

James’ ending to this epistle is not abrupt though it might appear that way compared to the endings by Paul. It concludes his teaching on faith that results in action. Throughout this letter, James admonished the Jerusalem Christians and later readers to put their faith into action by praying without doubting and doing practical works such as bridling their bodies by not showing favoritism, slandering, and judging, and by loving their neighbors by helping the poor and speaking with love. Added to these, James taught the Holy Spirit resides in every believer to help him or her live life as a child of God – loving God with all his or her heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving his or her neighbors as this or herself. He recognized the Jerusalem Christians experienced trials and persecutions and admonished them to endure knowing they had eternal hope - eternal life Jesus Christ gave them.

This letter’s biggest teaching is that believers must live out their faith in works as evidence and testimony of their faith and salvation. As James said, faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Along with this, he taught faith should be lived out in community with other believers. Christians are not isolated and should support one another in prayer, practical help, and encouragement to walk in the ways of the Lord. The last two of these are the teachings by which James ended this epistle. Through his teaching on prayer in verses thirteen through twenty, James taught the Christian faith is personal and communal. Let us now look into these eight verses to understand what James taught.

Prayers of an Individual 

James taught the Jerusalem Christians prayer should occur during hard and easy times – times of suffering and of cheer. He spoke to individuals in specific in verse thirteen as noted when he said, “anyone.” James taught each person to pray when he or she experienced hardships and troubles, and when afflicted. By using these words, he reminded the Jewish believers of Psalm 50:15 when the Lord said, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” [NASB] James taught the believers to pray during their suffering because he knew and wanted to remind the people God will hear and help them.

In this same verse, James reminded the believers they should pray to God even during joyful times when no suffering or hardship wearies them. When times are joyous, cheerful, and peaceful, Christians should praise God. Lifting praises to God is music to His ears. It results in our hearts soaring so that our spirits and minds sing of God, who He is, and what He has done. “Singing praises” to God requires more than our minds. It requires the spirit (the whole person). Paul spoke of this prayer and praising in 1 Corinthians 14:15 when he said, “I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” [NASB] In reading verse thirteen, we learn James taught the Jerusalem Christians to pray no matter the situation – suffering or joy.

Prayers of the Ministers and Leaders 

With verses 14-15, James taught the Jerusalem believers the ministers and leaders – the elders – were to pray with and over people in the church. The word “elders” comes from the Greek word presbuteros, which means a person of rank or holding an office in the church, those people in ministerial leadership in the church[i]. In these two verses, James spoke about the elders praying over the sick people in the church. He mentioned four things about praying over a sick member of the body of Christ for the prayer to be effective.

James told the elders of the church to anoint the sick person with olive oil. In Israel, people used olive oil for their lamps, for anointing their heads and bodies at feasts (religious and secular), for consecrating someone to the Lord, and for a healing aid for the sick. James taught the elders to use olive oil to consecrate and set aside the sick person for God. They would give the sick person into God’s hands. The readers and hearers of James’ epistle noted this with the next prepositional phrase of verse fourteen – “in the name of the Lord.” Pouring oil on a person does not heal that person, but anointing a person for God’s purpose and attention and in the power of Lord’s name requests God’s intervention for the health of the one anointed. Praying in the name of the Lord acknowledges and requests the Lord’s authority, excellences, and power for the person about whom the elders make the prayer. Mark 6:13 and 16:18 tell of the apostles anointing the sick people with oil in the name of the Lord and of the healing of those sick people. The most important point to understand is that the Lord is the one who heals the sick person, not the elder or the oil the elder poured. James made sure the people knew the praying and anointing required the Lord’s power for healing to occur.

Another aspect required for an elder to be an effective participant in the healing of a sick person is the elder’s faith. In verse 15, James said, “And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick.” Notice to have an effective prayer, the pray-er needs a strong faith to affect the healing of the sick person. The elder must believe in the power and authority of God over everything including the health of people for God to answer his or her prayer. In James 1:6, James taught the Christians if they doubted when they asked God for anything they would be like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. The people who doubted did not have firm faith in God and because of that He would not answer them. In verse fifteen, James said prayer offered in faith would restore (rescue from danger, destruction, injury, and peril) the sick person – the one who is weary and ill. God will answer the prayers offered in faith of Him and His authority and power. James 1:21 says, God has the power to save souls. In James 4:12, he said, God can save and destroy. James 5:20 says, God can save a person’s soul from death. James taught faith can save a person in James 2:14. God has the power to save and heal. He has authority to act as He wills.

With these three elements – anointing the sick person with oil, doing it in the name of the Lord, and praying with faith in the power of Jesus to heal and restore, the Lord will raise the sick person up – cause the person to arise from the sick bed and be well. Besides healing, the Lord will forgive the sick person his or her sins, those things that led the Christian to wander away from God and His divine Law. With this final part of verse fifteen – forgiving the sins of the sick person, James appears to say the person’s illness was discipline or punishment from God for his or her sins against Him. With God’s healing of the person, He forgave the sins of the sick person. Yet if James meant that, the forgiveness of sins would have to precede the healing of the person. Because of that reasoning, a few theologians believe James meant, by including the forgiveness of sins, the prayers of faith by a Christian in the name of the Lord are effective in healing and forgiveness of sins by the Lord. Whether you believe the illness occurred because of God’s punishment for sin or not, James taught the pray-er who prays in faith without doubting is the one whom God will answer for healing and forgiveness of sin.

Prayers of Members of the Body of Christ 

James began verse sixteen with the word “therefore.” By starting this section in this way, he showed this verse is a continuation of his thoughts from verse fifteen. James said in this verse, “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” He meant since the prayers of faith can bring God’s power to forgive sin, each member of the body of Christ can confess their sins to another member and each believer can pray for God to heal the confessing person from the stain of sin to make him or her whole again – righteous and clean before the Lord.

Confession is important for healing/restoring/cleansing from sin. Through it, the sinner acknowledges his or her walk away from the Lord, which is sin. By confessing, the person recognizes and professes God’s power to cleanse and heal so the he or she can renew a right relationship with Him. Each Christian confesses his or her sins before his or her baptism, so cleansing from later sin requires confession, too. 

The members of the body of Christ can offer prayers of faith to God asking Him to forgive and restore the person who confessed sins to him or her. A communal element exists for Christians. Another person cannot cleanse a person from sin nor make a confession of sin for him or her, but that person can lift the confessor up before the Lord asking for God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another element of communal life as Christians is worshipping the Lord, singing praise to and adoring Him. Offering encouragement and support, as well as teaching and guiding, are other elements of a communal life of faith. Christians make an individual decision to become followers of Jesus; no one can decide for another person. Yet, Christians live out their lives in communion with each other and God. Faith is individual, but a person must live it out – act upon it. Jesus explained this in the two greatest commandments – love the Lord God and love your neighbor. Christianity is not insular. Christianity is relational, and as such is communal and individual. God answers prayers because of concern and love for another person, the relationship of the pray-er with God, and the faith of the pray-er.

Effective Prayer 

James revisited what he taught in verse 15a with verse 16b. He said in the latter verse, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” This sounds straightforward. Let us look at a few of the words of this passage. “Effective” comes from the Greek word energeo from where our English word “energy” comes. Energeo means to be operative and put forth power in aiding another person; intense and fervent, not wavering[ii]. The English word “accomplish” comes from the Greek word ischuo. It means to have power, to be a force, to avail, and to be able[iii]. With this understanding of these words, this passage means the intense, fervent prayer of a Christian who has no doubt about God or his faith in God can bring God’s power and authority to prevail in the situation. God makes a righteous person’s prayer powerful. The rank or position of the pray-er and the anointing of oil do not cause healing; they have no power to heal without God’s power. The three elements of effective prayer are:

1.      To be effective prayer, the pray-er must be fervent with unwavering faith in God

2.      To be effective prayer, the pray-er must be righteous, upright, guiltless, and innocent observing divine laws so he or she is in a close and right relationship with God.

3.      To be effective prayer, the pray-er must acknowledge God is the only One who has the power and authority to bring change in a situation and ask Him to act specifically in each situation for which prayer is needed.

      James reminded the Jewish Christians of Elijah in verses seventeen and eighteen. Elijah was human and prone to sin. He had no power within himself to effect changes in the normal course of nature. When Elijah prayed earnestly for God to withhold the rain, no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months (1 Kings 17:1 and 18:1). After those three and a half years, he prayed again, rain poured from the sky, and the earth produced its fruit (1 Kings 18:42-45). Elijah was wholly man with no personal power or authority over nature to command the cessation and restart of rain. He was a man completely devoted to the Lord; he was righteous. Elijah was in a right relationship with the LORD. He prayed in the LORD’s name asking for this thing to occur and acknowledging the LORD is the only One who had the power to control nature. Elijah prayed an effective prayer.

More Than Prayer 

Living in community with other believers, since Christianity is to be lived communally and individually, now and then requires more than prayer. Because of Jesus’ noting the two greatest commandments, which sums up all the laws God gave the Israelites, living as Christians means loving and being concerned for other Christians. As stated earlier, living communally with others means acting out your faith for the good of each person. Sometimes this means caring for another person by providing necessities. Other times it means supporting a person during trying situations such as during grief, persecution, or sickness. Still other times it means encouraging, teaching, and admonishing a believer for his or her waywardness from God’s truths and laws and then leading him or her back to God. Verses 19-20 speak to times other than joy, illness, or confession.

James said, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” [NASB] This passage causes difficulty for a few people. To these people, they think it says a Christian can lose his or her salvation if he or she sins after becoming a Christian. To understand what James meant, we must look at the original Greek words and Greek thought of that time.

Let us begin our study of these two verses with definitions of words. A list is below to help our understanding.

1.      “Brethren” comes from the Greek word adelphos, which means fellow Christians[iv].

2.      “Strays” comes from the Greek word planao and means to go astray from the truth into deception, from virtue into sin[v].

3.      “Truth” comes from the Greek word aletheia and means truth about God and Christianity[vi].

4.      The verb “turns back” comes from the Greek word epistrepho and means to turn back to the worship of the true God; to cause to bring back to the love and obedience of God, love for the children of God, and love of wisdom and righteousness[vii].

5.      “Error” comes from the Greek word plane and means led astray from the right way, from God’s laws[viii].

6.      “Soul” is used thirty-three times in the New Testament and comes from the Greek word psuche. Psuche is translated often as “life” in the New Testament. Psuche is the Greek concept of the entire person - body, spirit, mind, and heart (feelings and emotions) [ix].

7.      “Death” comes from the Greek word thanatos and means the death of the body as in separation of body and spirit, or spiritual death[x].

8.      “Cover” comes from the Greek word kalupto and means to hide or veil as in knowledge, or to cover as in Jesus’ blood covers the stain and guilt of sin[xi].

When we study this passage and any New Testament passage, we need to understand the Greek culture of thought. The Greek mindset spoke and thought of a whole person made up of body, spirit, mind, and heart. The word Greeks used for the whole person was psuche. When the Greeks meant to talk specifically about part of the whole person, they used specific words that were not psuche. For our purposes in this Bible study, when the Greeks spoke about the spirit of a person - the part of a person that separates from the body after death and lives eternally either in heaven or hell, they used the Greek word pneuma. Bible authors used pneuma just four times in the New Testament (Luke 23:46, James 2:26, Revelation 11:11, and Revelation 13:15).

With these definitions and the Greek way of understanding our English word “soul,” which includes the body, spirit, mind, and heart, we can better understand verses nineteen and twenty. James wrote to the Jerusalem Christians to live out their faith together and help their fellow Christians not stray from the truth about God, His truth and laws, and their obedience to and love of Him. He told them to bring back the brother or sister going astray from God and His truth because of their own love for God and their straying brother or sister. According to the Bible, they can bring them back using prayer, admonition, and confrontation in love for him or her. Matthew 18:15 and Galatian 6:1 speak about how to lead a straying Christian back to God. James continued in verse twenty by saying, “The Christian who brings his fellow believer back to following God and His ways will save his or her soul – the whole being of the Christian – from death.” By leading a wayward Christian from deception, a believer can save a person from injury and bodily death. Understand this. Because James used the Greek word psuche here, he did not mean a loving Christian would save the spirit of the person from spiritual death. Psuche means the whole person, not just the spirit of the person. This then means the loving Christian who brought the wayward Christian back to a close relationship with God will save the Christian from physical death or injury. Besides that, the fervent Christian who loved and went to save the wayward Christian kept more sins from occurring against God by bringing the sinning Christian back to God and His ways. With these two verses, we realize James taught being a Christian in community with other Christians means more than just praying. It means acting out your Christian faith in love so that a Christian is led back into union with God, a sick Christian is prayed for, and/or praise goes to God for His provisions.

Recap

Throughout this letter, James taught Christians to put their faith in action. In this Bible study, the actions about which he spoke were prayer and bringing a straying believer back to God. In this lesson, James showed that Christianity is not solely an individual life style, but is communal – people helping each other and worshipping together. He exhorted the believers to pray over the sick, rejoice and praise God, confess sins to one another and pray for each other, and to lead a wayward Christian back to God. Faith is not only an inner testament and profession to God, but is an outward way of life. By doing what James taught in 5:13-20, Christians would put love of God and neighbor into action.

Relevance and Conclusion

Throughout this epistle, James taught four primary things. James taught the Jerusalem Christians and later readers of this writing to live out a life of faith in action. He exhorted them to consider suffering and trials as opportunity for growth in Christian virtues – endurance, patience, wisdom, faith, and joy. James contrasted the poor (Christians) and the rich (unbelievers). He instructed them to look to the future for their eventual and eternal hope in Jesus Christ. True faith shows itself in the life – actions and words – of a believer. James conjectured whether a person truly received salvation from sin and death if a testimony of that salvation was not visible in the person’s life. He did not propose a person had to work to receive salvation, but rather the person’s salvation would show in what he or she said and did. James encouraged the Jerusalem Christians to persevere in the midst of trials asking God for strength to endure without doubting He would give it. From trials, Christians will grow in virtue. James reminded them in the midst of trials to hold on to the hope they have that Jesus Christ gave them when they believed and received salvation– the hope of eternal life with Him in heaven. In the midst of these lessons, he taught particular lessons giving examples of how to live life. James taught them to love others by providing for their needs, praying for them, not discriminating and, by that, judging them based on their income, and helping turn a straying believer back to God. These are a few ways to live out his main lessons.

We can apply the same lessons to ourselves today. Is our faith lived visibly in our community – to other believers and to our neighbors? Do our words and actions testify to God’s saving work in our lives so that His love shines through us? Do we persevere and grow by holding on to the knowledge that God provides strength for us now and hope for the present and future?

Today each of us should stop and take stock of our lives. We should go to God asking Him to show us what keeps us from growing more like Christ and from showing God’s love in genuine love for others. For Christians, it is never too late to return to God. For non-believers, you do not know the day when Christ will return, but when He does, it will be too late for you to receive forgiveness and salvation from God. You, then, cannot live with Him in heaven for eternity.

We all have decisions to make now.

What will you decide?

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[i]  Thayer and Smith, The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon, 1999. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/presbuteros.html).

[ii]Ibid. ( http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/energeo.html).

[iii] Ibid. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/ischuo.html).

[iv] Ibid. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/adelphos.html).

[v] Ibid. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/planao.html).

[vi] Ibid. (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/aletheia.html).

[vii] (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/epistrepho.html).

[viii] (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/plane.html).

[ix] (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/psuche.html).

[x] (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/thanatos.html).

[xi] (http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/kalupto.html).