I've Moved

I've moved the blog to http://dailywalkintheword.com

Mixup of posts

Sorry that Day 2 is showing first on the list of posts. Trying to figure out how that happened. We're on Day 9.

Day 2 - James 1:2

If you took my suggestion yesterday and read through the whole book of James you probably have some questions. The book of James is really a book that is a test of your true faith. By that I mean that we sometimes confuse good works and doing what God commands us to do as a means of getting to heaven. "I've been a good person, why wouldn't God let me in to His kingdom when I die." That's not what the Bible says is the way to get into heaven. We've all seen John 3:16 displayed. Remember the guy at every major sporting event who had the wild colored wig on and either had John 3:16 painted on his chest or was holding a sign?  Well, he was just trying to get the message out, in a sort of unorthodox way maybe, that says "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish". So let's think about it in practical terms. If the only way to get to heaven was through our good works, how much good works is enough? If Jesus was perfect and we use Him on one side of the equation and you take the most despicable person you can think of on the other side, where are you on that line. Where on that line is the dividing marker of who gets in and who doesn't? That's why God sent Jesus to die for our sins on the cross. There isn't a way for you to be "good enough". You have to do what John 3:16 says. Confess in your heart that you're sorry for your past sins, acknowledge that Christ came to wipe away those sins by dying on the cross and agree that you're going to make him the Lord of your life. That's it, if you pray that with an earnest heart, God says He will let you in His kingdom.  That's why it's called being born again.  You are starting a new life in Christ and shedding your old one. It's a do-over of sorts.  Once you make that choice, and you start to really feel like God is at work in your life, then the works part starts meaning something. I invite you to do that right now if you've never done it before. Doesn't have to be fancy, just talk to God and tell Him how you feel. After you've done that, this is where the book of James comes in and why I love it. It's telling us how God wants us to live our everyday life and testing us as to how well we're doing against God's standards. It doesn't matter what you say, you have to be tested the way you live, the things you do. In other words, talks cheap or actions speak louder than words. James, when he wrote this was writing to people who had already confessed to being Christians in the way that I described previously so as we go through the book you'll see that he often times refers to them as brothers or brethren. That's what he means by that. We're brothers in Christ. 


So today let's take a look at James 1 verse 2.
The Message 

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

New American Standard

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

Nothing like starting off with the hardest first. Trials...never really considered it a joy to go through trials before I was a Christian. Now I know that going through trials makes me better, makes me depend on Him more, which is what He wants. We all try to do everything ourselves...and usually fail miserably. Other things are out of our hands. Like when the doctor gives us that cancer diagnosis.  We can do all the things that we "humanly" can do like eating the right things, trying the natural supplement method of healing, even do the medical things that the doctors recommend, chemo, radiation, surgery. But in the end, who's in control. Of course God is. Then we get to the "why me", and if God is a loving God why does he allow bad things to happen. Very real questions and some hard answers. In the Bible, God uses the example of the grape vine quite a few times. If a grape vine is left unattended, it becomes wild and unruly and doesn't produce very good fruit.  However if each year the vine is pruned back it grows the next year twice as much and produces much more fruit.  Trials are like that. It's God's way of making us more fruitful.  Sure doesn't seem like it at the time but think back on some of the trials you've had and how has God used them. Maybe you've had cancer and beat it. Have you used that experience to encourage someone else who's going through the same thing?  If not, why not? You've been there...done that. Who better to help that person who is struggling with their trial. Have you gone through a divorce? Had very sick kids? Or the worst, had someone close to you die? See, that one is one you don't have to be afraid of if you've accepted the Lord into your life. You know where you're going to spend eternity when God decides it's time to bring you home.  I know with absolute certainty that I'm going to see my mother and my wife's mother when I get to Heaven. I had that conversation with both of them before they died and know they had given their hearts to Jesus. That's a comforting thought.  That's why I started this study. So you too, can have the assurance of where you're going when you die. Think about it. If you still have questions about this, you can comment here or email me. bbrown4352@gmail.com

Day 9 - James 1:11

James 1:11

The Message

You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

New American Standard

For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

You know I can’t help but think about Bernie Maddoff with this verse. Pursuit of the “prosperous life” at all costs. Then how quickly the beauty and appearance is destroyed. Just took one SEC investigation into his ponzi scheme and his whole world fell apart. He’s in prison, his son who was in business with him has committed suicide, all of his wealth has been taken over by the courts. What a waste. He obviously was a smart man. Why couldn’t he do a legal, legitimate business. A fair guess would be that he wasn’t adhering to God’s word.

Everything is temporary. One of our pastors used to say he’s never seen a hearse with a U-haul trailer attached to it. We come into this life with nothing and we’re going to leave with nothing. Oh, we can leave “stuff” as an inheritance for sure and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I’ve also seen a lot of “trust fund babies” who have no concept of reality when it comes to money or how God intends for us to use the resources He gives us. This verse is just one more that deals with putting your full trust and reliance on God and not on yourself.  You know what topic is mentioned more times in the Bible than any other? You would think it would be sin or anything relating to the 10 commandments. It’s money. There are over 800 references to money alone, so guess what the number one issue is in divorces. Not adultery. It’s money. More fights are started over money issues than any other by a wide margin. My theory is that if you are walking with the Lord in every aspect  of your life, the Lord will bless you with just the right amount of money that you can handle. If you show that you can handle the little amounts he will gradually give you more.  God does not tempt. Only satan tempts. But Got will only give you so much as to not get you in trouble.

So remember at the beginning of this study I said that James is all about tests of your faith.  So how you doing on that money pursuit. Is it number one in your life. If so, you better reexamine because according to today’s verse, pretty soon it’s all going to be fading away.

Day 8 - James 1:9-10

James 1:9-10

The Message

When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer!

New American Standard

But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

Here’s what I think this is saying, and remember when James wrote this there were a lot more poor people in the church than rich, So he says if you're poor, you're socially humiliated, you're economically humiliated. Accept that humiliation because poverty is a short-lived trial, it's just for this life. And those who are poor and in Christ have the hope of eternal riches. In other words, don't look to draw joy out of this world, and you'll never be disappointed. If you're looking for your joy in the circumstances of life, you're never going to have true joy. If you attach joy to any earthly possession, any earthly economic status, you miss the point. Accept your humiliation, it's good for you, it keeps your focus where it ought to be and it makes the spiritual realities and the eternal riches all the more precious.

The rich man, he's got a different problem. Verse 10, "And the rich man glory or rejoice in his humiliation." Most rich people are very concerned that they might lose their riches. But let the rich brother rejoice when he's made low. Let the rich boast when the stock market crashes. Let him rejoice when he loses everything because he shouldn't have any pride in his possessions anyway, shouldn't have any hope in his position. Let him rejoice when he's humbled because humility is good for the spiritual life.

There were a few wealthy people in the early church. Those who were wealthy had to bear a certain stigma. You know, wealthy people kind of like to hang around wealthy people, have you noticed? They're not really comfortable with the riff-raff, the rest of us. But you know, the church just breaks down all that. And if you're in Christ you're stuck with the not many noble, the not many mighty, the base things of the world, the common things, just us plain folks. There's a certain amount of humiliation in that. The rich are therefore blended together in common life with the poor.

And faith does an equally blessed thing for the rich brother. It fills him with the Spirit of Christ. It pushes him together with the lowly and the humble and gives to him a spirit of lowliness and humility. So as the poor brother forgets all his earthly poverty, so the rich brother forgets all his earthly riches and the two realize they're equal in Christ. True humility accepts the poor and the rich. Either way, don't attach yourself too tightly to what you have and don't live your life trying to get what you can't.

Hard lesson for those of us in the business world and especially hard for those of us who are in sales.  Within our job the measure of the world’s success is how much you’ve sold.  It’s very easy to let that become out God, our idol as it were.  Unfortunately a lot of people get their self worth from their sales reports rather than from the love of Christ and who we are in Him.  

I pray today that all of us heed the words of James and be humble no matter what our circumstances and realize that if you’ve accepted Him to be the Lord of your life, the real riches will be when we’re in eternity with Him.

Day 7 - James 1:7-8

James 1:7-8

The Message

Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

New American Standard

For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

So just when I said yesterday I like to take one verse at a time, what do I do, take two verses today. It just seemed to flow together better.

These verses have to do with you doubting whether God will answer your prayer or not. Like I said before, you have to have faith. Remember Hebrews 11:1 from before…”Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

So will God ignore our prayers when we waver? It’s not so much that God withholds answers when our faith is shaky, but that we are not prepared to receive or recognize the answer at such times. To make sense of our sufferings and trials we must believe that God is somehow going to turn pain, evil, and tragedy into eternal good. Without that foundational trust in God, we often don’t recognize the answers God sends. So far when I’ve been praying, I’ve not seen the answer come up on a billboard and I haven’t heard God’s voice over the radio in my car. My answers usually come from God’s word in the Bible. I was having coffee the other day with one of my friends and told him that one way I pray is to ask God to either open the door or close the door and make it so obvious that I know it’s from Him. That has served me well over the years. Try it, maybe it will work for you too. But, as these verses say, you can’t waver in your faith that God WILL answer and you can’t be afraid of the answer.  

Day 6 - James 1:6

James 1:6

The Message

Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves.

New American Standard

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

Someone asked me the other day why I’m doing one verse at a time rather than a chapter etc.  Here’s what I’ve learned.  When we pray to the Lord typically we have our prayer list and we go down through it asking for certain things. Sometimes we take the time to just let our mind be clear and try to listen for God’s answer, sometimes we don’t. My thought is the Bible is how God communicates to us. I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed, and then read a verse or daily devotional and during the day sometime, something happens that reminds me of that verse.  It’s like God speaking to me. When you read a whole chapter, and I certainly wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to think that God couldn’t speak to you through that reading but for me it seems when I take a verse at a time and meditate on it, think about it, maybe look up in another reference what other people have said about it, it means more. It also means that I won’t get through the Bible in a year. I’ll be lucky to get through three of the 66 books in a year but I think it will be worth it. Hopefully you will too.

So this verse today I had to think about awhile. What James is saying here is that there can’t be any doubt that if you ask for it, God will supply the answer. May not be the answer you want or expect but it will be His answer and if you believe that God is only going to allow the things that are in His plan then you shouldn’t be afraid of the answer.  We’ve all prayed for healing for ourselves or someone we know. Sometimes they’re healed, sometimes not. Why? Because it’s part of God’s plan. Then the natural question comes up, well why bother to pray then if God already has His plan? Because there are other verses in the Bible that say “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:8

God is God and it’s His plan. He can change it if he wants to and so He tells us, ask.

Prayer request today is for a good friend of my wife, Lyn, who went blind in one eye from a rare disease. We’re praying for a restoration of sight for her.