James 2:12-18
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. What kind of actions demonstrate faith in God?
Let the bible speak for itself. James teaches us to act: 1) With compassion
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 2:15-16
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 2) Without being judgmental
James 2:2-4
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 3) With God-centeredness (In obedience, submission and dependence)
James 2:21
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:13-15
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 4) Without self-centeredness
James 3:13-14
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. James 4:1-3
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 5) With integrity
James 5:4,6
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. *** In summary, let's continuously evaluate our actions, asking ourselves:
Does this action:
- Show compassion to others?
- Pass judgement instead of empathizing?
- Seek God's approval or satisfy myself?
- Follow God's principles for living? Labels: Journey Through James
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|
Heyo, just a short post here. Today, my family and I went to watch 'THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL". Yeah, the alien show. Some parts were truly disgusting and others parts were catastrophic. However, when i saw all the disasters happen ( when the whole vast swarm of bugs spread all over the Earth ) I wasn't scared. Because I know that my GOD is greater than all that, he can do even more. So, I'm not scared of the aliens. :) Cya! MY HOPE PARTY COUNTDOWN: 3 MORE DAYS ( AH! )
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James 3:2-12
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks How then can we demonstrate faith through our speech (tame our tongue)?
James 1:19-21 teaches us these:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 1) Be quick to listen
Practise active listening. Read between the lines to discover the real intention beyond the words. 2) Be slow to speak
Withhold judgement. Dont jump to conclusions. Withhold advice unless you are sure you can understand what is in the person's shoes. And that your advice/comments is solicited. 3) Be slow to anger
Dont get emotional. Deal with facts, not conjunctures. Direct to the wrong behaviour, not the person. No personal attacks. 4) Be renewed in mindset
Dont follow the ways of the world, humble ourselves, accept God's Word planted in us and ask what would Jesus do. Labels: Journey Through James
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|
Breaking News - Luke 2:8-20, Isaiah 9:6-7Christmas is good news and good news is Christmas. - God WITH US
"Do not be afraid"
Luke 2:10
Matthew1:23
- God SAVES
"A saviour has been born to you"
- God HEALS
"On earth peace to man"
|
|
I remember the classical story of the blind men being tasked to describe what an elephant is like, based on the part of the animal he is feeling/touching. They came to conflict because each is describing the elephant based on his own experience. Faith is something like that process of feeling the elephant.
The danger is that sometimes, we take our own encounter, judgement, experience or feeling as the absolute, instead of basing our decisions on the Word of God (bible), which we Christians accept as God's truth. That's when we end up like the blind men. James 1:16-18 warns us not to be deceived. God does not change. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, which is found in the bible. How then can we act out in truth?
The answer is found in James 1:22-25 1) Listen to it (the Word)
You have to study the bible for yourself. Don't accept anything as truth until you have verified with the bible and are convicted by Holy Spirit. Test the spirit behind every form of teaching. Else you may end up like people during the time of the Crusades where Christians were stirred up to arms because they don't have access to the bible and were indoctrinated with extremist views by their religious leaders. Some have described them as Christian terrorists. 2) Do what it says
Don't deceived yourself. The truth does not live in you until you do what it says. Head knowledge is not heart knowledge. Knowing a truth does not mean you have learnt it, until you apply it. 3) Look intently into it
Always have a heart of reflection and evaluation with God about how you have acted out the truth. Is it what God really wants to Word to be applied? 4) Continue in it
Truth does not live in you until it becomes part of you. And the bible promises that for those who follow these commands, "they will be blessed in what they do". Labels: Journey Through James
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|
A faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted.
~ Adrian RogersEverything in life is based on faith.- You must have faith that the lift you are travelling on is serviceable. You dont check the maintainence notice above the lift buttons everytime you enter a lift, do you? - You must have faith that the bus driver is qualified by the bus company to drive. You dont ask for his driving licence, do you? Yet the Bible exerts that the faith you have (whether towards God or things in your life), will be tested. Example. Doesnt the recent horrifying coach accident on the Malaysian North-South Highway test our faith in the tour bus operators? Feeling a bit uneasy now if you are travelling to Malaysia on coach? James 1:2-15 tells us that the testing may come in the form of external trials (especially in terms of MONEY) or internal temptations (our old sinful nature). How do I handle the testing of my faith?1) Persevere! God wants to make you complete and mature. 2) Dont doubt! Ask God for wisdom! Dont be double-minded and unstable; you will not receive anything if you are like that. 3) Rest in God's promise! You will receive the crown of life after you pass the test. Labels: Journey Through James
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Sharing on this series of devotional thoughts from the book of James. Author
James, Jesus's half-brother (1 Cor 15:7, Gal 2:9) Context
What a turnaround from the day James told his half brother (Jesus) what to do if He wanted to be know publicly! Full of unbelief and convinced that Jesus was nothing more than his eldest brother, James told Jesus to take His disciples and go up to the Feast of the Booths and do His works there. Jesus might have found more disciples there, but James would not be numbered as one of them - at least, not until Jesus rose from the dead (see John 7:2-5, 1 Cor 15:7) Convinced from that point on that Jesus was the Christ, James would lay claim not to his physical relationship to Jesus but to his spiritual relationship as a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became a pillar of the church, a leader of the council of Jeruasalem, and a friend of Peter and Paul. But most of all, he was a friend of Jesus, a covenant friend for whom he would be martyred around A.D. 62. Sometime around A.D. 50, James would write this one epistle that would show what the gospel is like, when it is lived out. Theme
Saving faith in Christ is manifested subjectively to men by good works. There is no conflict with Paul's idea of salvation by faith. Only 2 of them are looking from different perspectives. | Paul | James | Saving Faith
Titus 3:8; Eph 2:10 | Practical Faith
James 2:14,17,24,26 | | Godward/vertical | Manward/horizontal | | Internal | External | | Spirit | Body |
I shall titled it:
Authentic Faith is Exercised (Be a Practising Christian) Labels: Journey Through James
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I went to watch Four Christmases today. And I didn't like it. The jokes were very sexual and explicit. And still, people were laughing at it. WHAT SORT OF RUBBISH IS THIS? I was rather disillusioned by it. All the rest of the people seemed to be laughing happily, yet I wasn't. My heart really was filled with mixed feelings. Its like, what has this world come to? Look and today's media, and what kind of perverse messages they are propagating to the minds of people. There was also one part where they sort of made fun of the Christian Faith, and it was really insulting. GOD WE REALLY NEED YOU. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU. We REALLY need to PRAY GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD, I may look like a fool in making this stand of mine, but I just want to live my life which is honourable before you. I don't want to follow the bad things others do, even if the whole world is doing it. And Lord, I want to stand firm in you, no matter what. And Lord, I DON'T WANT TO SEEK MY ACCEPTANCE IN MY LOOKS. YOUR WORD SAYS THAT EACH OF US IS FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY CREATED. samuel
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Supernatural Power for Troubled Times - 2 Kings 2:1-14Deuteronomy 21:17 How can we live a life of supernatural power?- BETHEL - A Return to Intimacy
Ask in HUNGER
Exodus 7:16
Proverbs 27:7
HUNGER is our spiritual thermometer
- JERICHO - A Removal of Impotency
Accept HEALING of the the HEART
2 Kings 2:19-22
Proverbs 20:5,21:1,4:23
- JORDAN - A Response to impact
Act in FAITH and KINDNESS
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James 2:12-18
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. What kind of actions demonstrate faith in God?
Let the bible speak for itself. James teaches us to act: 1) With compassion
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 2:15-16
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 2) Without being judgmental
James 2:2-4
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 3) With God-centeredness (In obedience, submission and dependence)
James 2:21
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:13-15
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 4) Without self-centeredness
James 3:13-14
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. James 4:1-3
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 5) With integrity
James 5:4,6
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you. *** In summary, let's continuously evaluate our actions, asking ourselves:
Does this action:
- Show compassion to others?
- Pass judgement instead of empathizing?
- Seek God's approval or satisfy myself?
- Follow God's principles for living? Labels: Journey Through James
|
|
Heyo, just a short post here. Today, my family and I went to watch 'THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL". Yeah, the alien show. Some parts were truly disgusting and others parts were catastrophic. However, when i saw all the disasters happen ( when the whole vast swarm of bugs spread all over the Earth ) I wasn't scared. Because I know that my GOD is greater than all that, he can do even more. So, I'm not scared of the aliens. :) Cya! MY HOPE PARTY COUNTDOWN: 3 MORE DAYS ( AH! )
|
|
James 3:2-12
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks How then can we demonstrate faith through our speech (tame our tongue)?
James 1:19-21 teaches us these:
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 1) Be quick to listen
Practise active listening. Read between the lines to discover the real intention beyond the words. 2) Be slow to speak
Withhold judgement. Dont jump to conclusions. Withhold advice unless you are sure you can understand what is in the person's shoes. And that your advice/comments is solicited. 3) Be slow to anger
Dont get emotional. Deal with facts, not conjunctures. Direct to the wrong behaviour, not the person. No personal attacks. 4) Be renewed in mindset
Dont follow the ways of the world, humble ourselves, accept God's Word planted in us and ask what would Jesus do. Labels: Journey Through James
|
|
Breaking News - Luke 2:8-20, Isaiah 9:6-7Christmas is good news and good news is Christmas. - God WITH US
"Do not be afraid"
Luke 2:10
Matthew1:23
- God SAVES
"A saviour has been born to you"
- God HEALS
"On earth peace to man"
|
|
I remember the classical story of the blind men being tasked to describe what an elephant is like, based on the part of the animal he is feeling/touching. They came to conflict because each is describing the elephant based on his own experience. Faith is something like that process of feeling the elephant.
The danger is that sometimes, we take our own encounter, judgement, experience or feeling as the absolute, instead of basing our decisions on the Word of God (bible), which we Christians accept as God's truth. That's when we end up like the blind men. James 1:16-18 warns us not to be deceived. God does not change. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, which is found in the bible. How then can we act out in truth?
The answer is found in James 1:22-25 1) Listen to it (the Word)
You have to study the bible for yourself. Don't accept anything as truth until you have verified with the bible and are convicted by Holy Spirit. Test the spirit behind every form of teaching. Else you may end up like people during the time of the Crusades where Christians were stirred up to arms because they don't have access to the bible and were indoctrinated with extremist views by their religious leaders. Some have described them as Christian terrorists. 2) Do what it says
Don't deceived yourself. The truth does not live in you until you do what it says. Head knowledge is not heart knowledge. Knowing a truth does not mean you have learnt it, until you apply it. 3) Look intently into it
Always have a heart of reflection and evaluation with God about how you have acted out the truth. Is it what God really wants to Word to be applied? 4) Continue in it
Truth does not live in you until it becomes part of you. And the bible promises that for those who follow these commands, "they will be blessed in what they do". Labels: Journey Through James
|
|
A faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted.
~ Adrian RogersEverything in life is based on faith.- You must have faith that the lift you are travelling on is serviceable. You dont check the maintainence notice above the lift buttons everytime you enter a lift, do you? - You must have faith that the bus driver is qualified by the bus company to drive. You dont ask for his driving licence, do you? Yet the Bible exerts that the faith you have (whether towards God or things in your life), will be tested. Example. Doesnt the recent horrifying coach accident on the Malaysian North-South Highway test our faith in the tour bus operators? Feeling a bit uneasy now if you are travelling to Malaysia on coach? James 1:2-15 tells us that the testing may come in the form of external trials (especially in terms of MONEY) or internal temptations (our old sinful nature). How do I handle the testing of my faith?1) Persevere! God wants to make you complete and mature. 2) Dont doubt! Ask God for wisdom! Dont be double-minded and unstable; you will not receive anything if you are like that. 3) Rest in God's promise! You will receive the crown of life after you pass the test. Labels: Journey Through James
|
|
Sharing on this series of devotional thoughts from the book of James. Author
James, Jesus's half-brother (1 Cor 15:7, Gal 2:9) Context
What a turnaround from the day James told his half brother (Jesus) what to do if He wanted to be know publicly! Full of unbelief and convinced that Jesus was nothing more than his eldest brother, James told Jesus to take His disciples and go up to the Feast of the Booths and do His works there. Jesus might have found more disciples there, but James would not be numbered as one of them - at least, not until Jesus rose from the dead (see John 7:2-5, 1 Cor 15:7) Convinced from that point on that Jesus was the Christ, James would lay claim not to his physical relationship to Jesus but to his spiritual relationship as a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became a pillar of the church, a leader of the council of Jeruasalem, and a friend of Peter and Paul. But most of all, he was a friend of Jesus, a covenant friend for whom he would be martyred around A.D. 62. Sometime around A.D. 50, James would write this one epistle that would show what the gospel is like, when it is lived out. Theme
Saving faith in Christ is manifested subjectively to men by good works. There is no conflict with Paul's idea of salvation by faith. Only 2 of them are looking from different perspectives. | Paul | James | Saving Faith
Titus 3:8; Eph 2:10 | Practical Faith
James 2:14,17,24,26 | | Godward/vertical | Manward/horizontal | | Internal | External | | Spirit | Body |
I shall titled it:
Authentic Faith is Exercised (Be a Practising Christian) Labels: Journey Through James
|
|
I went to watch Four Christmases today. And I didn't like it. The jokes were very sexual and explicit. And still, people were laughing at it. WHAT SORT OF RUBBISH IS THIS? I was rather disillusioned by it. All the rest of the people seemed to be laughing happily, yet I wasn't. My heart really was filled with mixed feelings. Its like, what has this world come to? Look and today's media, and what kind of perverse messages they are propagating to the minds of people. There was also one part where they sort of made fun of the Christian Faith, and it was really insulting. GOD WE REALLY NEED YOU. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU. We REALLY need to PRAY GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD, I may look like a fool in making this stand of mine, but I just want to live my life which is honourable before you. I don't want to follow the bad things others do, even if the whole world is doing it. And Lord, I want to stand firm in you, no matter what. And Lord, I DON'T WANT TO SEEK MY ACCEPTANCE IN MY LOOKS. YOUR WORD SAYS THAT EACH OF US IS FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY CREATED. samuel
|
|
Supernatural Power for Troubled Times - 2 Kings 2:1-14Deuteronomy 21:17 How can we live a life of supernatural power?- BETHEL - A Return to Intimacy
Ask in HUNGER
Exodus 7:16
Proverbs 27:7
HUNGER is our spiritual thermometer
- JERICHO - A Removal of Impotency
Accept HEALING of the the HEART
2 Kings 2:19-22
Proverbs 20:5,21:1,4:23
- JORDAN - A Response to impact
Act in FAITH and KINDNESS
|
|
|
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