1 Peter 1:10

Here we have a text telling us that the prophets have inquired and searched carefully regarding the salvation of our souls.  They also are the ones who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.

This is something that I have missed.  We think about the old testament and how the prophets told the people how to live life best as well as to warn when the people were not living in a good way.  The prophets also were doing their best to learn about God's Son and His work to save us.  I can imagine when I was in college with a research paper.  I would be in the library pulling more books than I could carry off the shelves and dragging them to a study room.  Buried there for hours at a time, I went through each determining which books were actually useful and what made each different from the others.  The prophets would have been tackling something far more important so I am sure that they utilized every resource, human or divine, that they could to better understand the salvation of our souls.

This leads us to the next one.  God was definitely a part of their lives because He spoke through them to give future generations hope.  He prophesied through the prophets about the salvation of the soul.  Of His Grace for us.

Peter 1:8,9

1 Peter 1:8,9

I really like this text.  It says that despite not having seen Jesus for ourselves, we still love Him.  It is because we believe in Him with such large amounts of joy and glory that we can be assured of the end result of our faith.  The salvation of our souls.

I know firsthand two things.  First, that being in close communion with God by reading the Bible and trusting Him does bring about incredible peace, energy, and a positive outlook on life.  Only when I have deviated from that relationship have I felt despair and depression.  Second, that life isn't easy just because I am a follower of Jesus.  Things can still be tough.  However I can't imagine facing those hard times without my Jesus helping me be a better person and providing for me.

1 Peter 1:7

1 Peter 1:7

In this verse, we are told that the "genuineness of your faith" is worth a lot more than the most refined gold.  This is because despite the bad times we go through, our faith allows us to stay true to God by praising, glorifying, and honoring Jesus.  When Jesus is shared with others, it should be an occasion of rejoicing shouldn't it?

Bird Story

Bird Story - Story Time With Mindy

I want to tell you a story.  At my grandparents' farm, there are a lot of birds.  This isn't for any particular reason, unless you count all the birdfeeders.  There is one by the kitchen window, one by the livingroom window, one by the back bedroom window, and a cluster by the sewing room window.  It is this cluster that I want to particularly describe to you.  My uncle is a smart guy and figured out a way to ensure that the small birds, and only the small birds, got to the birdseed.  He was particularly worried about squirrels stealing those birds' food.  So he put up some poles and hung the birdfeeders from them.  Then he put up a round fence with a roof of chicken wiring.  That way the birds could easily step or fly through at their convenience.

One day I was sitting at the window watching the birds happily eating their birdseed.  They flitted to the cage, slid through the holes, and flew to a perch on the birdfeeder or to the ground below in search of birdseed.  It was fun to see the brown, red, yellow, and speckled covered birds happily chirping as they ate. 

Suddenly, a hawk appeared.  It danced around the large cage as the frantic birds all rose in a flutter to fly away.  It had it's eyes on one particular small bird that was on the bird feeder.  The little bird rushed to one side of the cage only to be confronted by the hawk.  It rushed to another side only to have the hawk meet it there.  I watched in horror, silently screaming at the tiny bird to stay inside that cage.  As long as the little bird stayed inside, the large hawk could not touch it.  Deserted and alone, the tiny bird could only stare in terror at it's enemy.  Instinct to flee overtook it's common sense and the bird dashed outside the cage.  Not even a foot out and it was caught in the clutches of the hawk, driven into the ground, and killed. 

I had a hard time understanding why, when the little bird could have been safe, it chose to leave it's haven.  The little bird's worst fears were in sight, but could not have harmed him if he had stayed there.  Instead, it left the safety of the cage and lost it's life.

It seems like there should be a moral to this story.  Something like staying in God's care is where we are safe.  Or perhaps focusing on the bad things around us will lead to unhappiness.  How about not trusting in God to take care of us by doing things our own way instead?  That sounds about right.

1 Peter 1:6

1 Peter 1:6 continues from the previous sentence that took three versus.  That we would be very happy even if for a little while we dealt with sorrow from the various experiences in our lives.  That the plans God has for us to live with Him is so wonderful that what we endure now will be worth it. 

This tells me that God must be a really wonderful God to live with and to live for.  Otherwise I wouldn't find any sorrow worth enduring.

1 Peter 1:3-5

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

1 Peter 1:3-5

There are several things one can find in these texts.  First there are glimpses of who Jesus is.  Second there is what we have to look forward to.  Finally there is a mystery that will be unveiled.  And all these things are things that you are to rejoice in.

First:  We get a glimpse into the character of God.  When Jesus came to earth, he showed us what God was like through his personality and actions. 

God is merciful.  Not just when He feels like it, has the whim to be, or for a certain amount of time.  God has a lot of mercy. 

God is Life and Hope.  Without God, we wouldn't be alive.  Without God, we couldn't have hope for a better future with Him. 

God is salvation.  When God sent His Son to die for us, He created a way for us to be with Him someday. 

God is wealthy and generous with that wealth.  He has a large inheritance for us that will last forever.  And He has decided that it would belong to us.

God is protective of us.  He wants us to be okay and uses His power to ensure that we are okay.  He knows that because of our faith in Him, that His gift of salvation will be the key we need to join Him someday.

Second:  There are things that we have to look forward to.  They overlap with who God is because in the end it is God that we are looking forward to being with.

We have an inheritance that is waiting for us.

We have a God who loves us waiting to spend time with us because we accepted His Son's sacrifice on our behalf. 

Third:  There is a lot we don't know about at the end of time.  However, it will be something that we get to see and learn about when God reunites with us then.  All that we could want is there.  I know that personally I am looking forward to just being with my God of Love.  He will make everything okay again.

1 Peter 1:1,2

Introduction to the First Book of Peter

The author identifies himself as the apostle Peter who is a shepherd for God's flock and a witness to the sufferings that Jesus went through.  If you cross check with the text John 21:15-19, you will see that Peter was asked by Jesus to tend His flock after His resurrection.

This particular book, from what I can understand of it, was written to a large area with many small churches in modern day Turkey.  They were suffering quite a bit and he wanted to encourage them. 

It was written most likely in Rome during the reign of Nero around the early 60s AD. 

This book is focused on the bad things that Satan brought against the early Christians and how God will take even those bad things and use them for His glory.  After all, God does not waste anything.  Not even the mistakes of others or the intentional pain by those with evil in them.

*****

1 Peter 1:1,2

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace be multiplied."

If you want to write an elegant and unique introduction at the beginning of a letter, then here is something to use as an example.  You know who is writing to who, and if they are a friend or not.

This new book, or letter, that we are going to be looking at now is to a broad group of people.  Something to definitely take into consideration as we continue to go through 1 Peter.

Something I want to focus on is the blessing at the end of this.  "Grace to you and peace be multiplied."

Here is something that I think we brush past without fully realizing the gem contained in these words.  Particularly the phrase "peace be multiplied" and the impact understanding this phrase can have on your life. 

Through life bad things happen to us.  Someone picks on you when you were young and in school.  Teachers give you more than you can handle all at the same time in college.  Your supervisor at work uses you as his personal scapegoat when he has a bad day.  A family member manipulates you or a close friend betrays you.  Someone says mean things about you or perhaps you were lied to.  Some of these or all of these can be bad points in your life.  Things that you feel grumpy about.

If you have these things in your mind or heart, then you can not have peace too.  Peace is a gentle, nourishing thing that fills you and cleanses such memories of their sting and bite.  If you have very little peace, then when it is multiplied, you gain only a little more.  If you have a lot of peace (because you chose to not hold onto those bitter and grumpy feelings), then when it is multiplied you gain a lot more.

Basically in this introduction alone, we are given a blessing that rewards you according to how you are treating your emotional life.  Your reward is larger the more you have forgiven (and I mean truly forgiven) others no matter that wrong done to you.

James 5:19,20

James 5:19,20

The Book of James ends with a final message.  A plea if you will.

If anyone you know messes up or starts to live life in such a way that you know is harmful to them or others, don't let them go.  Stick around and try to help them.

 It might be something as simple as driving a few miles over the speed limit or pirating movies from online.  I am guilty of those myself.  However they can lead to pushing the driving limits by 15 over the speed limit or stealing just some loose change from a friend.  Sounds a bit more serious doesn't it.  Eventually you could have someone accidently hitting someone else with their car and then fleeing the scene.  Or perhaps shoplifting.  You see where this is going?

The person who has the courage and compassion that it takes to help another to stop hurting themselves or others most likely will save a life.  Death is final and not letting a person get that far is a huge endeavor that is harder than you can know, but worth the victory at the end.  Think of all the things that a person who starts to live life purposefully the wrong way might end up doing.  If you can bring them back and away from that life, you are helping them to avoid sinning a lot more.  So you save them from both death and a "multitude of sins."

"Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."

James 5:17,18

James 5:17,18

Something that was touched on in the last post, but not really explored, was the power of prayer by those who live life as close to God as they can.  That is expanded on here and where we can look at it more fully with a Biblical example.

"Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit."

Elijah.  A man, a human being.  Just like you and me, he was human with all the abilities and disabilities of a human.  Elijah had the blessing in life that we have as well as the temptations and trials we have.  In that, there was nothing special about him.  However, he kept God first in his life and nourished that relationship with God that we are encouraged to nourish too.  This simple human being was able to pray for something that is truly impossible for humans, and with it being in God's will, it happened. 

This shows the power of prayer.  A power that you and I can use if we would just trust in the One we are praying to.

James 5:16

James 5:16

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much.

Let's take a look at this verse from a simple perspective.  Confess means to admit to doing something.  Trespass is to do something wrong.  Effective means to have something do or work out the way it is supposed to.  Fervent means to passionately not give up.  Righteous is a type of person who has a good heart and lives the best that they know how.

Now let's take our analyzed vocabulary and put that back together.

You are to admit everything you did wrong to a fellow believer, and them admit where they messed up in life to you.  Then you are to pray for each other so that each of you will be healed.  The good prayers that result in something positive come from those who are passionate in their worship and talks with God.  These people are good people who live life as best as they can for God.  Their prayers can lead to more than those who are not truly seeking God's heart.

Wait, healed?  Did we read that correctly?

A something has been unearthed here.  Let's talk about it.  

When a person messes up in life, they are in the end hurting themselves (and often those around them.)  It can be physical, emotional, mental or even social injuries that are a result of that sin.  However, there is always spiritual wounds.  Prayer allows God to cleanse you on the inside.  To gently wash your bruised and battered soul.  From tiny scrapes to gaping gashes.  If there is other injuries to you, He will work on those too.  Just keep in mind that God is a God of Choice.  You will most likely still have to suffer the consequences of your actions.  You won't be alone though.  God places fellow imperfect believers around us to encourage and be encouraged by.  He gave us His Holy Spirit too.  You aren't alone no matter the tough places you end up traveling.

James 5:15

James 5:15

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

In the last post we talked about anointing.  Something this text helps us to understand is that phrase "prayer of faith will save the sick." 

In the Bible is a story about a little girl.  She had become very sick and close to death.  Her father sent for Jesus to come heal her in hopes of saving her.  While Jesus was coming, she passed away.  Her grief-stricken family began their mourning.  Jesus kicked them out, went inside, and raised her back to life.

He knew that the family had no faith in him.  They had to leave.  Faith is a powerful verb.  Something we practice daily in our lives... or don't practice.  If you pray for someone with the faith in God that He can do something, He won't let your prayer or that situation go to waste.  Good will come of it.  In the case of this girl, He saved her in two ways.  The first was physically.  She didn't die in the end (you know what I mean... I can see you about to pull a smart remark on me.)  The second was her soul.  Do you doubt that the girl would choose to not believe in Jesus after He woke her that day?  Her heart she most likely freely gave Him. 

Then there is always that group of people, even in today's society, who claim that the bad stuff that happens to us occurred by the action of God.  No one suspects that perhaps the devil is responsible for the bad stuff.  Nope.  God gets the blame.  Quickly, I must simply comment that God is a God of Choice.  We wouldn't love a dictator.  He let's bad people have the choice to do bad things and everyone gets stuck suffering the consequences of their actions. 

During ancient times, it was assumed that if something bad happened to you then God was punishing you for a sin you committed.  The worse the situation, the worse the sin you committed. 

So if someone was sick, then they had committed a sin to be in that situation in the first place.  By being prayed for, God is not just healing you physically but also emotionally, spiritually, and in the case of being judged as a sinner and thus becoming sick... socially.

James 5:14

James 5:14

Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Something that I have had to adjust to when I started teaching English overseas in South Korea was their view on being sick.  In the United States, it is common for kids and adults to get a cold.  When you do, typically there is a day or two when you have to take some time off.  However most people muscle through and just take some aspirin or something.  Even if you go to the doctor, you will still have a week or two of sniffling and coughing.

In South Korea though, it is quite different.  That first day your day feels funny and you start to lose your voice, you go to the doctor.  He gives you meds and generally you are feeling better within the hour.  If you don't go right away, the meds are not as effective.  Also, your co-workers will get on your case about seeking medical help quickly. 

So how sick do you have to be before calling the elders of the church for anointing and prayer?  It can be a matter of opinion or culture as to the answers you might get for this.  I see no reason why you can't go for a cold.  People with cancer have been cured.  People with injuries that would take months to heal have had recoveries that were mere weeks instead.  Yet things not so serious, but still enough to affect how you live your life, might be worth taking before the Lord too.  Why not?  God wants to help us.

James 5:13

James 5:13

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.  Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing psalms.

I am finding that this Book of James is an inspiration for how to live a Christian life.  We have been given advice for how to live and what to avoid in the formation of our character.  When you think there is nothing more new that you can learn, you find yet more gems to treasure.  God is so good!

In this post, we are looking at three beautiful versus. 

The first covers two aspects of your life.  Think about how you are doing right now.  Either you are not doing so well or you are happy with life.  Whichever way you feel, verse 13 tells you what to do.

I want to draw your attention to the Psalms.  David, when he wrote them, wrote out either prayers where he told God his inner thoughts when things weren't going very good in his life or he wrote out praises to God.

We can do the same thing!

Everyone suffers.  This covers a multitude of problems.  Physical wounds or pain.  Emotional turmoil or uncertainty.  Social stress or drama.  Disruptions that take away your smile.  These all are suffering.

I was watching a TV show once.  In this anime, the main female character was struggling to be the best school student council president she could while maintaining a job after school to help her family pay the bills.  She felt embarrassed about her job and didn't want students at school to learn of it for fear that she would be a less effective student council principle.  During the course of the show, one boy learns her secret and works quietly to support her through various school events.  She doesn't understand his feelings for her and decides that he is a pervert that she owes her thanks to for his help at various school events.  He accepts her view, but hopes to change it over time.  He actually saves her life several times without her realizing fully the situation. 

At the end of the show, they are at the top of a building where the festival fireworks can be seen.  She does not recognize that her feelings for him is love, but does know that to be without him would be hard for her.  He realizes that she is realizing that she loves him and is grateful that his feelings for her is finally reaching her.  He makes the comment that has nagged at me since, and I think can be applied to the first part of this post's Biblical text.   He said, "You were suffering this whole time weren't you?"  He recognized that she, not understanding why she felt the way she did around him, was stressed and uncertain.  In an essence, she was suffering. 

Suffering comes in all forms.  Do not hesitate to pray to God for what is on your mind or heart, no matter how small or confusing it may seem to you.  Prayer is the way that you talk to God.  If you value a relationship with someone important to you, you talk to them and they to you.  God values the relationship that there is between you two.  He eager looks for ways to reach out to you.  I know He is super attentive to anything you say to Him with all the eagerness and love that our loving Lord has for us.  So even if you want to just scream about the unfairness of life, might as well say it to Someone who can do something to help you... you cares about you.

The second part of the text can be seen in the same way. 

If you are cheerful, sing psalms.  Sing praises to God!

When I am really happy, I find myself wanting to sing or listen to music.  Since my ability to sing is not the stellar sound that wins grammys, I have a tendency to listen instead.  However sometimes, when no one is around, nothing can keep me silent.

Cheerful doesn't have to mean though that something wonderful has happened or you had a life changing experience.  It can mean also that you are content with life.  That the day went well.  That life is good.  If you are in the cheerful mood, talk about why to God. 

One time I was chilling and saw a butterfly.  A simple thing but a definite joy nevertheless.  I can say with all certainty that I was cheerful in that moment and could have written my own psalm about it. 

Another time I was riding in a taxi from town back to the school I live and work at.  As we drove along, I looked out at the mountains trimmed with hills.  I smiled at the golden rays lighting both trees and sky.  The sight of my school up past the village filled me with eager joy.  Such a simple sight that can be seen every single day made me cheerful and that is an appropriate time to sing a psalm.

So don't hesitate to find some Christian music.  Play it with a smile.

James 5:12

"But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath.  But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No" be "No," lest you fall into judgment.

~James 5:12

We have been talking so far in the texts before this one about the importance of humility, patience, and perseverance as well as the dangers of judging others, boastfulness, and self-righteousness. 

This falls right into line with the self-righteous act.

In today's society, to be known as self-righteous is a very negative reputation to carry.  It generally means that you are viewed as being full of yourself.  That you think you are a very good person who does everything so perfectly.  Sometimes right down to the not-so-humble humble act.  People who make themselves a "martyr" or always seem to be the leaders of what is right and what shouldn't be done. 

Evidently there is another way to go about being the best Christian out there.  By swearing in such a way that you have more integrity than the person you are having this honor battle with.  Or perceive to be a threat to your reputation by their very innocence or other such excuse.

I suppose it could look something like this.  "I swear by the holy temple in the New Jerusalem that ... is the right decision to make."  And then someone else would say, "I swear by the Most Holy of Holies that is in the holy temple that... is a better decision than that."  Obviously not so obvious... obviously ;)

The point is simple though.  That you should be able to say what you have to say without backing it up reputationally with important people or fancy swear words in order for people to believe you.

In movies, there is generally that dramatic moment when one person decides to trust the hero when the hero swears on the name of (his kids, his dead wife, his father's grave, etc) something important.  Our character should be solid enough that this is not necessary for others to take us at our word. 

Saves a lot of heartache and drama, don't you think?

James 5:10,11

James 5:10,11

My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

Indeed we count them blessed who endure.  You have heard of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

There are a lot of people that we can look to as role models on how to behave and the type of character to aim for in the departments of enduring suffering and having patience.  The Bible is full of examples of what to do and what not to do. 

The people in the Bible we should look particularly at are the prophets.  People who taught others about God and who told the people what God wanted them to know.  These people spoke in the name of the Lord.  Sadly, many of these same people went through difficult times.  Some of those times were due to the people's  stubbornness.  And then people like Jonah, where the people happily listened, had the prophet being stubborn. 

In the end though, we all agree that those prophets were blessed.  It didn't matter what hardships they faced, the way that God worked through them was always amazing.  You know what God wants for our lives and what He can do with our lives if we let Him.

Yes we mess up.  Yes we keep running back to Him.  And God will always be there with open arms because He loves us.

James 5:9

Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.  Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

~James 5:9

Quick review for just a moment.  In James 4:11,12 we saw that we are not to judge others because by doing so we are judging, not humans, but the law.  That only God can judge others.  Before those verses we were told to be humble.  After those versus we were told to not plan out glorious lives or to boast as that is a sin just like judging.  Then in James 5, so far we have seen that God will judge those who have been oppressive to others.  That our job is simply to be patient and to trust God.

Now we have a new verse to add to that.  Don't grumble.  Specifically don't grumble about another person.  This is a form of judging people.

So an example that might help bring this one home is sort of like the following.  Before I tell you this story, I'll reassure you that it is about my own life and therefore I am the one that was at fault.

One summer, my church decided to have a social for the 4th of July.  I think it was either the weekend before or the night before.  The whole community was invited.  Our small church got everyone involved in this outreach project.  Building community with the community is outreach by the way.  I was asked to sing a patriotic song for the occasion.  Terrified me ran to my mother and she took pity on me so agreed to sing with me so I wouldn't be up there alone.  Knowing how easy it is for my voice to go offtune, we practiced and practiced that song until we were solid all the way through.  I was actually eager to perform up front. 

Then the day came.  We arrived and the person coordinating the music asked me what song we were going to do.  When I told her, she said a fellow from the community was going to do that song and to please pick another.  I tried to explain I hadn't practiced but she was insistent I could sing any song I chose.  So mom and I practiced another for about ten minutes and then went outside to wait our turn.  Many people sang and were congratulated afterwards that night.  No one said a word to mother and I.  I didn't blame them.  We had been seriously off tune and I couldn't even hit half the notes in the song since they were so high.

Why do I tell this story?  Because I grumbled and grumbled about the lady who made me change songs.  I was angry that some stranger was given precedence over me.  I was angry that guy never showed.  I was angry at being forced to humiliate myself when I already can't sing well to begin with.  All those reasons might seem like good reasons, but they are not.  I sinned why I grumbled about the things that went wrong in my opinion.  That is what we are asked to not do.

James 5:8

James 5:8

"You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

We should be patient.  That is something that seems to be a repeated message from God to those who He is talking to.  I remember once when I was a little girl, my mother had bought Maple Nut Goodies.  It is a delicious treat that my grandpa is very fond of.  She opened the bag at my grandparents house and offered me one politely.  I accepted and enjoyed while watching her offer one to my brother.  He accepted and she offered one to my uncle before moving onto my grandpa.  It felt so formal and slow, that I didn't wait.  I made a mad dash for the candy, spilling some on the table.  Needless to say no one was happy with me.  It was later explained to me that if I had just waited, that I would have been offered more once everyone else had had a chance to enjoy the candy too. 

In the same way, I can see God working to carefully set up our lives so that we learn the most we can that He wants to teach us.  Unfortunately, like that young child (me), we make a decision (sometimes quickly and sometimes not) that is before God's time and possibly in a way that He knows isn't best.  Still, He is a God of choice and let's us experience the results of our choices.  Sometimes, those around us also experience the effects of our actions as well. 

That is just the first four words.  Next is just as important.

Establish your hearts!  Choose if you are going to follow God or not.  If you are, start today.  It is something that you shouldn't wait to do.  When God comes, He already knows who is on His side and who didn't accept His Love.  That point is too late.  Before then is when you must choose and have your decision made.  Faith alone won't work either.  God is defending you, someone who has messed up many times in life, before the rest of the universe.  You must do your best to live life the way you know He wants you to.  And when you mess up, run back to Him as soon as you realize it.  Always run back to Him.  These are the ways that He can show others, "See, my child wants me to take care of him/her.  My child wants my Love and the Life I can provide."

James 5:7

James 5:7 - We went from texts talking about not judging others to a slightly new angle.  Being patient.  It says in this text that we are to be patient for the "coming of the Lord."  It uses the illustration of a farmer patiently waiting while his plants to grow.   The fruit of the earth has to be nourished with early rain and then more rain later on. 

I would dare to say that many characters in the Bible were not patient nor waited for God's will.  Abraham wanted a son sooner rather than later.  Jacob wanted the birthrate sooner rather than later.  Thank goodness David waited to let God give him Israel instead of killing Saul the many times he could have.  Thank goodness that Joseph didn't try to gain more with Potipher's wife, instead trusting God to guide his future.

Things might seem to have happened at a timely moment for you to "seize the day."  You might feel like you are justified in forming the opinions on others that you want to form.  It may seem fair to call someone names and give them titles such as "liar" or "hypocrite" with the mental thought that they have no feelings to hurt (or no right to feelings in the first place.)  All of those things are wrong. 

It is God who judges, and it is God who will take care of us and bring us to a better future.  You have to pray, listen, and trust in Him.

James 5:1-6

James 5:1-6

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!

This is a warning to a group of people who are rich.  The question is what did they do wrong and why are they being punished.

Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.

Here is a clue.  This particular group of wealthy people have a corruption problem.  Maybe excepting bribes or not paying their employees fairly?  Let's keep reading.

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.  You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Things generally get corroded or rusty or dusty when they are not used.  It sounds like someone stockpiled wealth and didn't use it.  Maybe the next part will help clarify this.

Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

Here is it.  People who gain wealth or livelihood through such means as these are who this warning is for.  It doesn't matter if you run a local newspaper and hire boys and girls to deliver on their routes.  It doesn't matter if you are a small town farmer or business with a few men working for you.  It doesn't matter if you have a secretary working overtime in your office.  It doesn't matter if you are a large corporation with thousands of workers.  If you pay them as little as you can, with as little benefits (if any) that you can, or even fire people without paying them for what they did do... then this dire warning is for you.

If those in your care (and anyone whose lives you touch are in your care) are unhappy or miserable, then you should be helping them.  Forget those "techniques" for making them work harder by making them struggle.  It is pointless and unChristian.

You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

Here is it.  If you are self-centered and do things to only make you feel happy, then you might fall into the group.

You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Those under you have no choice but to go along with your decisions that affect them.  In the recent movie that was released, Les Miserables, there is a young lady working in a factory.  She is working hard when the other ladies at the factory learn she has a young child.  They, out of their spite, accuse her of being a whore when in reality her husband left her.  The foreman and the owner of the clothing factory come onto the scene.  Another important person comes along and demands the attention of the owner.  So the foreman asked what was going on and then kicked the young lady out onto the street.  The young lady had no other way to earn an income and ended up selling her hair, her side teeth, and finally her body in order to support her daughter.  Later the factory owner found her near death, learned how his actions led to her current state, and promised to care for her daughter in her place.

What you do affects those around you.  Sometimes in very drastic ways.  Beware of that and know you will be judged.

James 4:15-17

James 4:15-17

Planning one's life is something we all do in some way or fashion.  In the last post, I already explained that planning to do great things is rather pointless.  But there is always a loophole isn't there?  Surely if when we say to another person, "I'm going to travel China and become a famous singer," it would be okay as long as I added the words, "If the Lord wills it," at the beginning.  Yeah, no.

That is actually what you should say at the beginning.  It is the reason behind it that is wrong still.  You are boasting.  It doesn't matter if you bluntly boast like in the last post or arrogantly boast as I showed here.  Boasting is evil.  You can read that in James 4:16 at the end of the text.  We were called to be humble. 

Personally, when someone boasts a lot, I tend to start to withdraw from them.  Their words create negative feelings: inadequacy, jealousy, lustful admiration... but for everyone it is different.  People are quick to congratulate, but after too much it has the opposite affect that God's people should be creating in others.

So if you know that you are supposed to life a good life a certain way and how to go about that whether it is your words or attitudes... then don't.  You have sinned.

And a quick reminder.  Sin is deadly.

James 4:13,14

James 4:13,14

Something I do a lot in my life is plan.  I make plans all the time and then plan more plans for how to get there.  I have plan A, plan B, and plan C with several possible plans for each of those plans.  Before I travel, I print out maps and decide what I want to do and the different combinations of how I could do each part of what I want to do.  Simply creating a lesson plan for teaching one class generally has a few backup plans or just a different route I might take towards the same objective.  In the end, despite my "flexibility," I am still planning my future for today, next month, and next year.

Yet we are cautioned against this.  Yes being prepared has it's place, but that shouldn't be our focus.  You may know just how you are going to live your life so that you have wealth and stability by a certain time in your life. 

Something to remember is that in our lives, we really don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.  Whether good or bad, stuff happens that change the course of history.  Personal and global.  When compared to the rest of the universe, your life seems but a simple blink of an eye.  Lasting a moment and then gone as if it never happened. 

Before you protest that you are a human and truly important, I will confirm that you are right and priceless to God.  However, a blinking eye is also important and without the ability to blink then we humans would be miserable creatures.  Your eye thanks you for blinking.  But one blink isn't going to make a big difference.  You blink a lot in your entire life.  One blink out of all those blinks... one life on Earth out of all that the universe holds... is just a "vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

James 4:11,12

James 4:11,12

We are not to say things to or about other people that is unkind.  Anything from saying something didn't seem fair or so-and-so was neglecting in something is out.  Purposefully saying mean things or "innocent" gossip is out.

When you treat others negatively, even in the self-righteous or "innocent" way, you are judging them.  When you judge others, you are in fact judging and speaking badly of the law.  That is a hard concept to grasp.  Whatever you do to others, you do to the law and thus in a way yourself. 

It is not your place to judge.  Only God can judge for He is the one who gave us the Law to begin with.  He is the only one who can save and destroy.  You have no right to judge those around you.

James 4:7-10

James 4:7 - Give yourself to God for Him to do as He pleases with you.  If you ignore the Devil, then like anyone would do, he will have to back off.

James 4:8 - If you get close to God, He will come close to you.  If you have messed up in life, then confess and let God have those burdens.  If you have conflicting thoughts and feel like a hypocrite, then bury yourself in God's word and clear out any distractions or activities that divide you from God - then give yourself to Him once again.

James 4:9 - "Lament and mourn and weep!"  Let all the guilt, pain, sadness, despair wash over you for not being what God wants you to be.  This way you will remember just how much you need Jesus and how much glory He has.

James 4:10 - Then you will have humbled yourself, for the thoughts of what you have done and why you are entitled to more will have been erased from your mind and heart.  God will see this and be able to take your now empty self and fill you with His love, bringing you closer to Him.

Overall I think these texts mean that if you are willing to be close to God and let Him take care of you, then you will be happy.  If you turn from Him and focus on yourself, then He can't be there for you like He wants to be, which only creates a gap between you two.

James 4:5,6

James 4: 5,6 

"Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?"  But He gives more grace.  Therefore He says, "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

The text before these versus were discussing how the problems in our lives, especially when it concerns those around and in the church, are usually due to our own selfish ambitions and desires.  We strive for things that are not in agreement with God, who essentially has only two rules: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

So when we behave in this way, God's Spirit which is inside everyone sits there watching with a burning passion for us to be His own and only his own.  When we turn to the hobbies, attractions, and activities that He isn't a part of, then His own heart tightens in longing for us.  That relationship He wants to have with us is important to Him.  So despite what you do, if you come before Him humbly then He will gladly help you.  If things are going wrong and you pray to Him about those things that are not right in your life with the attitude of you are right and others are wrong, then you have come to God with a proud heart and He won't give you the grace that you think you are entitled to.

Think how a husband or wife feels when their significant other stays out all evening without ever saying what they are up to.  The one still at home worries for them, is jealous of the time they are losing together, and fears the eventual separation that could occur.  If you are the one staying out, coming home acting like you are all that won't help.  But if you come home showing your worry for them and finding ways to spend time with them, most like the one left behind will have compassion towards you instead of turning away.

James 4:4

James 4:4 - Those of you who love the things of this world more than God creates a gap between you and Him.  Your own choices and actions make you His enemy.

Everyone has something that they value highly.  Good scores in school.  Being the top athlete.  Getting in more deer during hunting season than Cousin Jack.  Perhaps receiving more compliments at church functions for the food you bring over the food others brought (or didn't bring at all.)  Watching every episode of a favorite TV show... and collecting stuff related to it.  Organizing events smoothly and having people know that you are the one who worked hard.  Even being known for being modest and "humble" are things some people are known for during.

When you place such things above your relationship and the time you set aside with God, then you are allowing yourself to become attached to things that are not important... things of this world.  That creates an ever widening gap between you and the One Who Loves you.  As you make this gap wider and wider, you are bringing about your own death.  For if you separate yourself from God, He can't save you.  Also, if you aren't helping Him then you are against Him... and therefore even the "best of intentions" can do more harm than good. 

Be careful what you are doing in your heart.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Spent time with the Creator.

James 4:1-3

James 4:1 - Have you ever wondered where the wars, the fighting and bickering, come from among us?  Did it ever occur to you that perhaps they come from you desire for pleasure?  That each person individually fights for their own reasons? 

This would make me wonder what the true reason deep inside might be for arguing, pointing out problems, bringing up failures, or even turning others to your own side or against another.

James 4:2 - You want what is not yours to have.  You bring harm, and sometimes death, to others that you should call brothers and sisters through Christ because of your coveting thoughts for their abilities, influence, talents, admiration, etc.  Yet you never seem to get it.  This fighting between people leads to nothing that you can enjoy or even desire.

James 4:3 - I know that in the Bible, it says, "Ask and you shall receive.  Seek and you shall find.  Knock and the door shall be open for you."  Yet when you pray and ask God for help on gaining something whether it is an outcome, things, influence, etc... you don't get what you want. 

Have you wondered why?

It is because you asked without actually being on God's side.  If you love God, you will seek a relationship with Him.  That is what two people who love each other do.  In a relationship, you will want to do things that please the other and not do anything to hurt them.  It is a caring and kindness that is focused on the other person.

When you ask for things amiss... it means that you are asking for things for your own pleasure.  It is selfish and self-centered in all contexts.  This goes against all of God's teachings about loving and caring for others.  Doesn't all praise belong to Him?  Shouldn't your actions honor Him?  Doesn't that mean helping those around you so that they do not fall because of your hypocrisy that you commit when you are self-centered? 

When you pray, don't ask for things that is meant for your own pleasures.  Yes, needs and wants should be brought before Him, but to have asked in prayer for things you know will cause another harm in some aspect or way (whether they deserve it or not... whether they were asking for it or not...) is wrong.

James 3:13-18

James 3:13 - Whoever is wise and understanding should show this by behaving in a good way all the time in such a way that he is meek.  This means you are not acting self-important or in an "I'm right" attitude as is so often common.  I know this can be hard as I am guilty of it myself.

James 3:14 - It can be hard to stay on your best behavior, much less with a meek attitude, no matter how wise you may or may not be.  You must be careful about bitter envy, as it is a self-seeking characteristic, and not let it lay in your hearts.  It can cause you to do two horrible things: boast or even to lie against the truth.

James 3:15 - When a person is envious of another, their "wisdom" is no longer from God but a very earthy, sensual, and demonic wisdom.  It can only lead to ruin.

James 3:16 - Wherever there is self-seeking or envy, there also is confusion and every evil thing in existence there.  I don't need to tell you who controls you if your heart is full of such.

James 3:17 - The wisdom that you should have, and seek if you do not, is from above.  It can be identified because it has many of the same characteristics of God's Love.  It is pure.  It is peaceful.  There will be no grudges or honor battles between people.  It is gentle.  It is willing to yield - please, repeat that one again to yourself - it is willing to yield.  The wisdom from above is full of mercy.  What comes out of it is good fruits.  There is no partiality... so it doesn't matter your socioeconomic status or education level.  It has no hypocrisy, which is definitely something you should avoid.

James 3:18 - "Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

Someone with the wisdom from above will have good fruits such as the fruit of righteousness.  They will constantly be full of God's goodness.  This will be seen when the actions by someone is made peaceable for the outcome of peace. 

Think on this.  Someone whose wisdom you can trust is someone who works for peace gently so that the end result is a peaceful one without grudges.  Gentleness and sometimes yielding is needed for such wisdom to be just that - wisdom from God.

James 3:1-12

James 3:1-12

One profession that we should not have too many people in is the role of a teacher.  Teachers bear a hard burden in that because they instruct others, they will be judged more strictly than everyone else.  It is true that everyone messes up and makes mistakes, so there will be things that teachers must be judged on just like everyone else. 

One of the things we need to be most careful about is what we say.  If you could be in perfect control of what you say all the time, and never say anything mean or wrong, then you would indeed be a perfect human.  However that is just not possible. 

Horses are trained generally with bits that help guide them in the direction the rider wishes to go.  Ships that are powered by the wind are directed by the rudder.  Horsepower or wind power, it matters not, for they are large forces that are controlled by small things.  These small things are responsible for which direction the entire horse or the entire ship travel.  The tongue is the same way and can control which direction our lives go.

A tiny spark can cause great forest fires that a country's leader then declares a national disaster.  The flames affecting so many despite it's small beginnings.  So the tongue can bring the entire person to ruin and the eternal consequences of that mistake not matter how small it may seem.

Humans have tamed and trained every animal known.  Everything that swims, flies, walks, crawls, etc is affected by us.  Yet despite all that we can do with the creatures in our surroundings, there is no hope for complete control over our words.  Our speech alone is like a poison, deadly in many ways.

Yes, we praise God with blessings and music.  However we also hurt the humans around us.  How can we speak both good and bad?  A spring can't have both sweet water and bitter water.  A fig tree can't grow grapes and a grapevine can't grow figs.  So no spring can have both salt water and freshwater.  Think of these things and be more careful with what words you allow yourself to say.

James 2:23-26

James 2:23 - Abraham was a man who lived his life as best as he could as he knew God wanted him to.  Where he failed, he went to God and let Him fill in for his own weaknesses and mistakes.  His willingness to live his live as best as he could with his actions was counted in his favor by God.  So much so that he was called the friend of God.  Think about how you treat your friends.  If you treat them badly, then you must not actually care about them or even like them.  How then can they be important people to you?  God is the same way.  If you love Him, then you will live your life in a way that would not hurt Him. 

James 2:24 - With these examples that we have been looking at, you can see that it was the actions of a person that showed which way he truly believed in his heart.  Either you are for God or against Him.  Either you love Him or you don't.  Living a life of faith should transform your actions and thus prove whose side you are on.

James 2:25 - Another example would be Rahab.  She took in the two spies from God's people and hid them, then helped them escape.  She could have said she believed in their God and then let them die.  However she said she believed in their God and helped them to live.  That proved her true loyalty and to Whom her loyalty belonged to.

James 2:26 - The conclusion to this is very simple.  Faith without works is dead.  Just like a body without a spirit is dead.

James 2:18-22

James 2:18 - Having faith is something that you prove by what you do.  Your actions speak louder than any words you might express.  It is not one or the other, but both.  A person shows that they have faith by the way they live their lives.

James 2:19 - Believing alone is not good enough.  It is a good start to believe there is one God.  However, even the Devil believes there is one God.  The devil fears God and God's power.  So believing alone isn't enough.  You must strive to live your life as you believe God would want you to.  He is a caring, compassionate God who wants to help us.  That is a good start for how to view and treat those you encounter in your life... including the teacher's assistant or head cook.

James 2:20 - It is foolish to try to ignore this.  It is foolish to push away the knowledge that faith alone isn't enough.  To continue to live as you have without becoming a better person for God is still pretty much a death sentence.  To not want to, nor seek to, is a death sentence.  I know that we all mess up, but to outright say, "My faith alone is enough.  I won't try..."  is wrong.

James 2:21 - Abraham didn't just believe in God.  We all know he had faith in God because he talked to him.  He acted on that faith when he offered his only son as a sacrifice to God when God asked it of him.  He acted.  He had faith and he acted on that faith.

James 2:22 - How you behave and act goes hand in hand with faith.  By having works, faith becomes perfect.  It requires not just the mental part of your brain, but the physical aspect of you as well.  The entire being that makes up you is in tune to God.  Yes, you are human, but you are a human that God has saved because you gave Him your mind and body.

James 2:14-17

James 2:14 - To me this asks the question, can you be saved by faith alone.  It is a huge question.  Can Jesus save you by your faith in Him?  Do you have to do anything?  Must you not cheat on that math test or avoid adding a little "extra" details to your resume?  Or perhaps you have to go to church each weekend and help that one homeless person each Christmas?

James 2:15,16 - For example, let's say you are walking down the street when you recognize someone from church or in your neighborhood.  Perhaps it is just a fellow employee at work.  You ask them how they are doing, and instead of saying "fine", they tell you that they were just fired and have not the money for lunch nor a coat for the coming cold weather.  Think about the awkwardness of someone daring to tell the truth of how they are doing.  That statement I just made caused your heart to jump didn't it.  It is true though.  How many of you mentally sigh when someone says more than, "I'm fine, and you?"  If you listen and reply with, "Oh no!  I hope things improve."  What good did it do them?  Are they better off now than when they confided their desperate position to you?

James 2:17 - This should answer the question on if you can be saved by faith alone.  No, you can't.  Faith in Jesus and His love for you should change how you act.  I have seen some pretty grumpy people turn into disgustingly sweet romantics when they fell in love with a significant other.  It changed their whole attitude on life and interactions with others.  They were not so quick to anger.  Perhaps smiling more with that light-hearted look in their eyes.  Maybe even holding the door for the person behind them.

James 2:5-13

James 2:5-13

God has decided that the poor people around the world would be filled with faith beyond everyone else and that they too will be heirs to the kingdom He has given to those that love Him.  You have been rude and mean to these very people God has blessed.  After all, don't you who have lots of money oppress and make life harder for those with less than you?  Don't you make life hard for them, even in the court systems?  Don't you treat them horribly and condemn yourself by acting unChristian to them who are Christian?  If you truly did follow God and His teachings, including the ten commandments, then you would "love your neighbor as yourself."  But you don't.  By treating those who have nicer clothes and more money or other wealth better than those with less, you are committing a sin and are convicted by God's law as worthy of death.  Just because you keep the whole law (don't murder, don't lie about your neighbor, worship on God, etc) and mess up on this small point, you are broken the whole law and your act is as bad as killing an innocent or not worshipping God alone.  You are judged based on the law and on how you react to Jesus.  You will be judged as you have judged others.  If you were merciful, then you will get mercy.  If you stuck to the rules with others, then even your smallest mistake will kill you.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.