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What does genuine faith actually look like?
In Episode 5 of Practice the Word, we continue through James 2 and move into James 3 to examine two powerful tests of our faith: what we do and what we say.
James makes a challenging statement: “Faith without deeds is dead.” But does that mean our works save us? We unpack the relationship between faith, obedience, and works—and why genuine faith becomes visible through the way we live.
We look at Abraham and Rahab, two very different people whose actions demonstrated what they believed. Their stories remind us that grace reaches everyone and that obedience doesn’t create faith—it reveals it.
Then James turns from our actions to our words.
A tiny rudder can steer a massive ship. A single spark can ignite a forest. And something as small as the tongue can shape relationships, families, churches, and lives.
What does your speech reveal about your heart?
This episode challenges us to examine gossip, anger, criticism, encouragement, and the words we use when we’re under pressure. We also discuss the responsibility of teachers, why those who teach Scripture are judged more strictly, and why believers must carefully weigh what they hear and teach.
This week’s Doer Challenge: choose one act of obedience you’ve been delaying and do it. Then spend seven days intentionally examining your words.
Let your hands demonstrate your faith. Let your mouth reveal a heart being transformed by Jesus.
00:00 Welcome to Practice the Word
00:20 Episode 5: Faith, Works & the Tongue
02:12 Can Faith Exist Without Evidence?
03:14 Show Me Your Faith by Your Deeds
05:14 Works Don’t Save—They Demonstrate Faith
07:55 Even the Demons Believe
08:52 Believing in Jesus vs. Having Faith in Jesus
10:55 Do We Truly Fear and Revere God?
14:29 Information vs. Transformation
15:37 Faith and Works Are Partners
16:29 Abraham: Faith Made Visible Through Obedience
19:20 Faith Alone Saves, but Saving Faith Never Remains Alone
20:38 Rahab: Grace Rewrites the Future
24:01 Faith Without Works Is Dead
26:18 James 3: What Does Your Tongue Reveal?
27:03 Why Teachers Are Judged More Strictly
29:29 The Responsibility of Teaching Scripture
31:44 Your Tongue Can Steer Your Life
33:20 One Spark Can Burn Down a Forest
34:24 No Human Can Tame the Tongue
36:57 Gossip, Slander & Controlling Our Words
38:42 The Holy Spirit and the Tongue
40:00 How Do Christians Mature in Their Speech?
41:05 Can Fresh and Salt Water Come From the Same Spring?
43:42 What Comes Out When You’re Under Pressure?
46:07 The Doer Challenge: Make Your Faith Visible
48:08 Final Questions & Prayer
00:20 Episode 5: Faith, Works & the Tongue
02:12 Can Faith Exist Without Evidence?
03:14 Show Me Your Faith by Your Deeds
05:14 Works Don’t Save—They Demonstrate Faith
07:55 Even the Demons Believe
08:52 Believing in Jesus vs. Having Faith in Jesus
10:55 Do We Truly Fear and Revere God?
14:29 Information vs. Transformation
15:37 Faith and Works Are Partners
16:29 Abraham: Faith Made Visible Through Obedience
19:20 Faith Alone Saves, but Saving Faith Never Remains Alone
20:38 Rahab: Grace Rewrites the Future
24:01 Faith Without Works Is Dead
26:18 James 3: What Does Your Tongue Reveal?
27:03 Why Teachers Are Judged More Strictly
29:29 The Responsibility of Teaching Scripture
31:44 Your Tongue Can Steer Your Life
33:20 One Spark Can Burn Down a Forest
34:24 No Human Can Tame the Tongue
36:57 Gossip, Slander & Controlling Our Words
38:42 The Holy Spirit and the Tongue
40:00 How Do Christians Mature in Their Speech?
41:05 Can Fresh and Salt Water Come From the Same Spring?
43:42 What Comes Out When You’re Under Pressure?
46:07 The Doer Challenge: Make Your Faith Visible
48:08 Final Questions & Prayer
#PracticeTheWord #BibleStudy #BookOfJames #FaithAndWorks #TameTheTongue #ChristianLiving #FaithInAction #BibleTeaching #ChristianPodcast #Jesus
Creators and Guests
What is Practice The Word?
Practice the Word is a Christ-centered podcast for people who are ready to stop sitting on the sidelines of faith and start living the Word of God in everyday life.
Hosted by believers who love Jesus, serve people, and understand the real-world trials of business, family, ministry, hardship, and obedience, this show is for anyone who feels called to step out of the boat and walk with Christ more deeply.
Each episode encourages listeners to read Scripture for themselves, trust the Holy Spirit, serve others with sincerity, and become doers of the Word — not hearers only.
Through biblical conversations, personal stories, interviews with Christian leaders, and practical encouragement, Practice the Word exists to point people back to Jesus, remind them that every day is a gift from the Lord, and challenge them to live fully surrendered to Him.
Whether you are new to faith, returning to God, wrestling through a difficult season, or ready to go deeper, this podcast is an invitation to get off the fence, open the Bible, and practice the Word.
00:00:02:00 - 00:00:20:12
Unknown
Welcome to Practice the Word, a podcast helping everyday believers become everyday doers of the word. Through scripture stories and honest conversations, we'll talk about what it means to follow Jesus with courage, sincerity, and obedience in real life. Let's get started.
00:00:20:14 - 00:00:44:15
Unknown
Welcome, everyone, to episode five of Practice The Word. Today we're going to challenge you. Please stay tuned so that we can read James chapter two. If you remember, James is Jesus's brother and he prayed so much that he is known for camel knees. And if you've never looked up or googled camel knees, I encourage you.
00:00:44:16 - 00:01:06:03
Unknown
I challenge you to do it today because that is exactly what his knees look like. There's another word that they called for James. His name was just James because he was so justified in the Lord. He wanted everything done right. So today we're going to tap on our mouths. Do you have a problem with your mouth? Do you speak when you shouldn't speak?
00:01:06:09 - 00:01:34:10
Unknown
You just go off on times that you know you shouldn't. Well, that's the Holy Spirit convicting you to keep your mouth shut. So today we're going to share with you what James is talking about. And prayerfully, you will be encouraged and challenged as we are because we all need to tame our tongue. So, Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we thank you that for the ability to practice the word father as we take on this Bible study in James chapter two, Holy Spirit, we invite you in.
00:01:34:11 - 00:01:55:01
Unknown
We ask that you would be in our conversation and in our so that everything that we talk about will give honor and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, touch the listeners today. If there is one that doesn't know Christ today, I ask you, Holy Spirit, to speak to their heart in conviction. So they cry out to the Messiah and the soon coming King.
00:01:55:01 - 00:02:02:05
Unknown
Jesus is Lord. We give you all the praise and all the honor and all the glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.
00:02:02:05 - 00:02:12:00
Unknown
I think we've gotten all the way to the point in James now where James is basically, I would call him a very good administrator of what Jesus was setting up.
00:02:12:00 - 00:02:33:08
Unknown
So he was taking the Jewish part of the law, and he was making it more into a current world, into the church age. And I wrote down some notes before we read the first verses of this. And, and I thought, the thing that's going to come up, what we're going to see over this whole episode is faith that can be seen in words that reveal the heart, because we've been talking about it the whole time.
00:02:33:12 - 00:03:00:12
Unknown
And, you know, imagine someone claiming to be alive, and yet they never breathe, right? Their heart never beats and they never move. And that is what James is asking that question spiritually. So can faith exist without evidence? Basically. So then he immediately shifts to another test. So in that test is what does your mouth reveal? And I think it's so cool.
00:03:00:13 - 00:03:14:12
Unknown
You know, James says your works reveal your faith. We talked about that right in your words, reveal your heart, works faith, words heart. And now we're into James 218. Brian, if you want to go and read
00:03:14:17 - 00:03:23:22
Unknown
we're going to pick back up with verse 18 and it says, but someone will say, you have faith and I have deeds.
00:03:24:00 - 00:03:44:02
Unknown
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. So this is kind of funny because James, is he setting up like a hypothetical scenario and he's anticipating what somebody is going to say and they're going to say, well, look, you know, you're really good at the works, and I'm really good at the faith.
00:03:44:03 - 00:04:00:02
Unknown
I mean, you, Brian, you have all the free time and you have all the talent and you're just so good. It would just make more sense for you to do all the work. And I would just kind of sit over here and I'll have all the faith, right. And in that way, we'll be partners in this journey of being a Christian.
00:04:00:02 - 00:04:19:23
Unknown
And and James is saying, no, no, no, that's that's not how that works. You cannot have one without the other, right. And we've seen people like that before, right? In churches. You know, a lot of people just sit back and they just want to get involved, the faithful attenders, but they don't want to get involved. And James is like, that's not really how it should be.
00:04:20:02 - 00:04:40:03
Unknown
You should put your faith into action. Right? That makes sense. Yes. And there are a lot of people that sit on the sidelines today. I mean, if we interview pastors and churches today, they will tell you it's the same people who do the nursery. It's the same people who do the choir. It's the same people who do the greeting.
00:04:40:05 - 00:04:50:18
Unknown
There's the same people over and over. And there's never, rarely ever new people who branch out and do something different or something new.
00:04:50:20 - 00:04:58:10
Unknown
And side note, doesn't it make you feel good in a weird way, that the same problems we have now were the same problems they had back then?
00:04:58:11 - 00:05:14:01
Unknown
Yeah, not a lot to change. People are people, right? And so I just imagine in my mind, James is probably writing this to that church because I have the exact same issue, and he's trying to push people and prod people to kind of get out of your comfort zone and like, put your faith into action. Yes. Yeah, yeah.
00:05:14:03 - 00:05:40:12
Unknown
And we go back to that one plus one equals two model. So James is challenging. Show me your faith. Right. Show me your faith. And faith is invisible, but works makes faith what it makes it physical is the proof. That's right. So, James never James never says work saves. So that's what we've got to demonstrate here, right? A lot of the world will say that he says works dim most straight.
00:05:40:14 - 00:06:00:05
Unknown
So. So I thought I heard a really neat analogy. We've been using a lot of fruit analogy. Right. You know, when a tree grows fruit. Right. That fruit that the Bible talks about, you know, the tree doesn't eat its own fruit. It's the animals and the people that come around it. And that's, that's that that is good fruit that we give.
00:06:00:08 - 00:06:25:14
Unknown
So, you know, we talk about the triangle connection here, where James goes from where the sermon on the Mount into the Old Testament. So here is here's the Jesus connection here in Matthew 16. And it says, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works. And the notice here is Jesus. They may see James.
00:06:25:14 - 00:06:51:16
Unknown
Show me. Right. Same teaching. He's saying the same thing. It's funny how we see that all throughout James. It's almost like he's he's he's not regurgitating. That's a terrible word. But that's kind of what he's doing. He's regurgitating the sermon on the Mount that he heard Jesus say in his own words, which is really, really cool. And, you know, even in even with those two things working together, even with salvation, you know, salvation is a gift.
00:06:51:16 - 00:07:15:06
Unknown
It's a free gift. But even then, you have to have works that you have to receive. There's something for you to do with salvation. You have to receive it. You have to believe in Christ, and you have to receive salvation, the free gift. So you even with that, it's works. You know there's something to do. Even in the most simple and simple gift of salvation, you still have to receive it.
00:07:15:06 - 00:07:34:03
Unknown
That's right. So think about it this way. So you have invisible. Invisible. So we've talked about that right. So if you go back to 3 or 4 and you and you go watch it. Right. We talked about what do we talk about. We talked about obedience. Right. So faith is invisible until obedience comes into play and it makes it visible.
00:07:34:08 - 00:07:55:13
Unknown
So as a believer we have to take the unseen, which is our faith that comes through our prayer, our studying, the reading of the word. We're a to that word. We go out and work that word and it becomes visible to the world. Right? So that is what James is trying to show these people. So I think this is a good segue to 19.
00:07:55:17 - 00:08:20:00
Unknown
Right? Right. Let's read 19. It says you believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. So this is like this is a strong statement because he's like, look, even demons believe and they tremble, right? Demons have excellent theology, right? You know, they know Jesus is the Son of God. They know he died, right?
00:08:20:01 - 00:08:51:23
Unknown
They know he rose from the dead. They know judgments coming, but they still are rebels, right? Right. So simply believing facts about Jesus is not the same as having saving faith. James is saying, right. I had a question when I was putting notes together that I wanted to ask because as I've taught Bible studies and things and talked to new Christians and even older Christians, I find that a lot of people don't really understand what faith even is.
00:08:52:00 - 00:09:11:02
Unknown
Right? I was going to ask you guys that question. Is there a difference between believing in Jesus and having faith in Jesus? And if you say, yeah, can you explain to me what the difference is in believing in Jesus and having faith in Jesus? Did he prep us for these questions? I don't know for left field on that one putting you on the spot.
00:09:11:08 - 00:09:34:09
Unknown
Yes you are. I believe if you're if the question is believing in Jesus is is the same as believing Jesus, do you? Is there a difference between somebody that says, I believe in Jesus and somebody says, I have faith in Jesus? I think there is a difference. Okay. I mean, I do I think there's what would be the difference if you had to.
00:09:34:12 - 00:09:54:06
Unknown
Well, I think it's the different the different level in relationship. Okay. I see that. I can believe in Brian. I can believe in you. But you might not have faith in me, but I might not have faith in you, depending on what it is. Right? I mean, my belief in you may just be surface. You know, you're there, you occupy that space, right?
00:09:54:07 - 00:10:09:17
Unknown
But to trust in you, that you're going to take care of my child, or you're going to be at the, you know, being in an event or be at church on Sunday. That's right. Right. My my trust is not there, right. Because I don't have a relationship.
00:10:09:19 - 00:10:21:14
Unknown
So when we read the Bible, you know, a lot of times the translation from the Greek to the English is just doesn't capture the true meaning of what the Scripture is trying to say, because it says many times, just believe and you'll be saved.
00:10:21:15 - 00:10:38:13
Unknown
But really, the word is really faith. And it's exactly what you said. That's right. It's a trust. Yes. It's a it's a deep trust. It's more than just believing. I believe Jesus is real. Well, great. But do you have trust in him? The way I've always described it is it's trusting him no matter what, no matter what comes.
00:10:38:13 - 00:10:55:22
Unknown
Right? Because like, it's you just read. Even the demons, even the demons believe in shudder. But they don't have faith, right? Right. That's right. And this is what this is all about is saving faith, right? Right? Right. Yeah. And, you know, even to to hone in on that word, tremble, you know, some translation says tremble. You know, here it says shudder.
00:10:55:22 - 00:11:15:07
Unknown
But my question is, do we tremble? Do we shudder? They do. But do we? We should. We should always. Okay. It's almost as if they have more of a reverence for God to. Maybe that's most people do. That's right. Yeah. That's right. That's a, that's a challenging thought. It is. Do we really tremble. Do we fear God. Right.
00:11:15:08 - 00:11:38:19
Unknown
Where do we have the all of God that that these that the demons have. Yeah. And I think I think you just read probably one of the strongest, heaviest verses in the Bible. It is it is a massive one. Demons possessed. A and I use this in quotations, basically a perfect theology. They possessed it. That's right. They knew it.
00:11:38:20 - 00:12:01:10
Unknown
It was ingrained in them. They knew it. They knew God exists. They knew judgment is coming. The resurrection happened. Yet what do they do? They never worship him. So that's an important thing, because James is making a connection here, because what he's trying to do at this point, from what I'm seeing, is now he's trying to connect the Old Testament back to the Jews in Jerusalem.
00:12:01:10 - 00:12:27:17
Unknown
So he's trying to tell him, if you go to Deuteronomy and James is quoting Deuteronomy here, and he says, Hero Israel, every faithful Jew knew it. So what is James saying? He said, even demons affirm that truth saving faith is never informational only. So a demon has information, but what they lack is faith in that. That's right. So it's a huge difference.
00:12:27:17 - 00:12:43:23
Unknown
It's a huge difference. And yeah, well, I was just going to say, you know, I'm a big Elon Musk fan because I like rockets and things like that. You know when rockets are launching I text you live streams to it and you never watch it anyway. Kind of hurts my feelings. But anyway, we'll put that aside for now.
00:12:44:01 - 00:13:08:23
Unknown
But Elon Musk, you know, he was on the the I think the Babylon be that Christian satire. And they were talking about Jesus and Elon Musk. He was like, no, I love Jesus. I agree with all of his teachings. You know, I think loving one another, that's great. If the world did that, that would be great. And so somebody like Elon Musk is in the same boat as the demons in a sense, because Elon Musk is not a Christian.
00:13:08:23 - 00:13:27:16
Unknown
He doesn't have faith in Jesus. He believes. Right? He agrees with it. That's right. And faith is so much deeper than that. And I guess that's what James is really trying to say. Like, if you really have saving faith, it's going to push you to like, do something. That's right. If you if if you believe it that much, yes, it's going to push you into action.
00:13:27:17 - 00:13:48:21
Unknown
You know, Jesus said, you do this and they will know you by how you love, right? That's an action. That's a verb. That's right. That is not sitting on the sidelines and just, you know, waiting for someone else to do your calling. That's right. But it is an action. That's right. They will know you by how you love each other.
00:13:48:22 - 00:14:08:06
Unknown
That's right. The world's watching us. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think somewhere in James, it's. It says several times the judge is at the door. It does say that the judge is at the door. You know, we are living in the last days. Jesus is coming back. We never even thought that we would live in the days that we're living in now.
00:14:08:11 - 00:14:29:08
Unknown
We never imagine that we can. I think we can all attest to say I never thought we would see things right. But James, he knows that. And how many thousands of years ago has that been? And he's saying, then, judge, the judge is at the door. Surely now the judge is at the door, right? Yeah. So I think you made a great point about information.
00:14:29:13 - 00:14:49:00
Unknown
Heaven isn't impressed by information. Right. It's only it's only impressed by the transformation. So you can have all the information you want. You can read all the books you want. You can quote all the scripts you want, but if it doesn't. If it doesn't transform the heart, what does it matter? And I think that's kind of where we brought it from James one one to this point.
00:14:49:01 - 00:15:18:04
Unknown
And and he this is a this is another contention James is making. And he's making in Proverbs repeatedly says wisdom isn't measured by what you know. It is measured by the path you walk. And what is James saying? Faith works exactly the same way. Right. So he's now he's he's introduced in that triangle that he's going he's bringing the Jewish people back into this, this transformation thing.
00:15:18:05 - 00:15:37:15
Unknown
That's right. So it doesn't matter. The law you can quote it doesn't matter if you go into the temple. It doesn't matter if you give a perfect offering right at this point. It only matters if it's transformative in your life. And what is your tree producing? Right. So I think this is a good segue to go into the next one talking about Abraham.
00:15:37:16 - 00:15:57:20
Unknown
Just one last thing on that. You know, faith and works our partners. And I think that is that is where a lot of people miss it. Is that faith and works their partners, their yoked. You know, as one way to say that and and you know, when you take when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you also receive his suffering.
00:15:57:22 - 00:16:29:07
Unknown
You receive his suffering. You receive his accountability, his responsibility. That's right. Yeah. That's good. So now we'll read verses 2324. It says, you foolish person. You know, James didn't pull any punches. He just called him calling for you. You fullest person. Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Well, here it is. Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
00:16:29:09 - 00:16:55:04
Unknown
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the Scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
00:16:55:06 - 00:17:17:13
Unknown
Wow. That's good. That's a deep stuff there, you know? And it brings up one of the biggest misconceptions, because you've got all these I call them heavyweights of the New Testament. And you got people will have we've had this discussion before about James and Paul and Peter and Paul and and and they don't disagree on this. Now, they say it a little bit differently, but they agree on the principle of it.
00:17:17:15 - 00:17:43:05
Unknown
You know, Paul asked, how is someone justified? James is asking, how do we recognize genuine faith? That's right. So there are different questions. Same gospel. Right? So yeah, yeah, a lot of people would read that and be like, well, that, that says that we're saved by works, right? Right. It's not exactly what you said. We're saved by faith, but genuine faith, if it's genuine, will produce.
00:17:43:06 - 00:18:04:04
Unknown
That's right. Works fruit. And this is not something new. Now, we we see this all the way back in Genesis. So in Genesis 15, Abraham believed, right? We know that if you read Genesis chapter 15, then years later and you get to Genesis 22, and what did Abraham do? He what? He. Obaid he became obedient. He demonstrated it right?
00:18:04:05 - 00:18:28:14
Unknown
What he believed. Right. His belief. And then he put into practice obedience. And his obedience proved what already existed. And didn't we just talk about it? James just gave that line of examples to the invisible. To the invisible. Right? Yes. So it is. And and and real quick. I know he's got something to say, but let's go right back to the sermon on the Mount, Matthew seven.
00:18:28:14 - 00:18:59:00
Unknown
And I'm going to I'm going to keep making that triangle at nauseum, because in Matthew seven, in the sermon on the Mount, good trees produce what? Good fruit, right? Fruit doesn't create life. It proves life. And that's exactly James argument, right? It is is giving you a path now as a new believer, or even if you're converting from Judaism to Christian or you're an atheist coming.
00:18:59:00 - 00:19:20:15
Unknown
James is giving you a thought pattern of the history prior, and he's bringing it current now. And like you said earlier, this, this, this. So this applies to us today. Yeah. And basically James is saying don't just hear the word live the word, you know. Yeah. He live it out. Live it out. Right. It's a lifestyle. That's right.
00:19:20:20 - 00:19:43:04
Unknown
That's right. Cause faith alone. Faith alone saves. But saving faith never remains alone. Right. We gotta remember that. And that's huge, because we're getting ready to come up to one of one of Anita's favorite ladies of the Bible. Right. And, you know. And I'll let you take it right here. Well, can I read a quote real quick before we read?
00:19:43:06 - 00:20:09:17
Unknown
Absolutely. It's I've got two of them from from one of the commentaries I read. I like David Guzik. Thank you. That's good. He has a lot of quotes from old, old timers. So this is from Adam Clark from 1832. Wow. He said, here is a proof that faith cannot exist without being active in works of righteousness. His faith talking about Abraham in God would have been of no avail to him, had it not been manifested by works.
00:20:09:18 - 00:20:38:17
Unknown
Wow. And then Charles Spurgeon. Yes. The grace that does not change my life will not save my soul. That's right. Wow. So deep. Those guys back then? Yeah. They were. They were on point. They all right? Verse 25 and 26, in the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute, considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction, as the body without the spirit is dead.
00:20:38:18 - 00:21:01:07
Unknown
So faith without deeds is dead. Wow. So I want to I want to say, I don't know if need to has quite a bit on this. And she knows a lot about Rahab. So, you know, go back to the original couple verses. And James is really talking about Abraham, right? He's bringing up a he's bringing that up. So James intentionally picks the exact opposite of Abraham here.
00:21:01:08 - 00:21:34:23
Unknown
Right. So Abraham's Jew, he's a patriarch, male, respected. That's right. Rahab the exact opposite. Right. Rahab is a Gentile prostitute. Female outsider. So what James is doing right here is destroying every excuse. So you don't have to be this perfect person. Look, look, look at the other end of this. Yes. Grace reaches everyone. And I want to remind everyone back at the end of chapter one, we talk about the mirror that there is.
00:21:35:00 - 00:21:59:06
Unknown
Exactly. James is making the play again. That it doesn't matter who you are, right? It does not matter. You could be Abraham. You can be Rahab. That's right. And that's good. So now he's he's he's bridging that gap. Right? Yeah, yeah. And I mean, basically, you know, it's amazing how he brings her up of all people. But I think that's it.
00:21:59:06 - 00:22:19:21
Unknown
Just to validate and confirm what you said. That's right. It doesn't matter when when they're on the side of the Lord. They're on the side of the Lord. Right? So, I mean, there's no there's no argument there. So, yeah, I love how he brings her up there. What about in the book of Matthew and I think is so and this is missed.
00:22:20:03 - 00:22:46:14
Unknown
This is so missed. I posted this on social media a couple of months ago. But, you know, Ray Matthew, when he's listening to Jesus is Genealogy. He lists Rahab in the genealogy, right? Yeah, yeah. So so you kind of see now where James is pulling this from, right? We're pulling it from it, you know, and, and and and it means so much to me because grace doesn't erase her past.
00:22:46:15 - 00:23:09:13
Unknown
Right. Grace rewrites her future. That's what we got. Remember? Because what is your passage or testimony? And when grace is introduced through that obedience, it's now rewriting your future as a believer. So your testimony becomes that right? Wow. So in James example of that. Yeah. I posted today he went from a daughter to an asylum. Yeah. That quick?
00:23:09:14 - 00:23:26:22
Unknown
Yeah. And I wrote down some things. Like he could have brought up Joseph. Joseph facing temptation with Potiphar's wife. He could have wrote about, you know, Jobe. I mean, there were so many things he could have used right there in that sentence, but he used Rahab of all people. He used Rahab. Yeah. That was on purpose. Yeah, absolutely.
00:23:27:03 - 00:23:51:01
Unknown
Absolutely. I wrote in my journal. God specializes in writing beautiful futures with broken histories. And what did he do with James? What did he do with Rahab? And you could just keep naming them in line. Yes. And and, you know, again, it gets the invisible to the obedience to what becomes visible. That's right. So that's beautiful. Yeah.
00:23:51:03 - 00:24:01:19
Unknown
in James 226, it talks about the body without spirit. Faith without works and what James James says dead, not weak, not immature.
00:24:01:20 - 00:24:31:03
Unknown
Dead. He doesn't water the fact that it is dead. And there is a and there's a reason he does this because now what he is doing. So we go back to the Gospels, right where Jesus is constantly bringing up parables, where they're also fulfilling the law, the prophecies that are happening. And right here is a direct connection to 37.
00:24:31:03 - 00:24:57:00
Unknown
And he's using why is that? Dry bones, bodies, no life until God's breaths enter. Faith without works is like dry bones. Yes. That's so good. So when we say. And what James is trying to push, dead faith looks alive from a distance until you look for movement. Right. So we can easily see somebody. And they talk the talk and they walk the walk.
00:24:57:01 - 00:25:20:01
Unknown
Right. But what becomes visible through obedience? That. Yeah, he's like, just right. It is. And Uganda gotta take into. And I was thinking back through this. And why is he so heavy on this. Right. And I'm thinking, you know, how many times did they see the, the outer courts and how many times did they see the pomp and circumstance happen?
00:25:20:03 - 00:25:40:14
Unknown
But then how many times did they see the priest take the good part of the fat? Right. They're just taking it all. Think about Eli's sons. Was he lost sons. They were taking. We're taking it from the temple. Samuel was the prophet. Right. You remember? Okay. So you're the expert. Here we go. The architect covering is stolen.
00:25:40:15 - 00:26:00:12
Unknown
Right. So, the Ark of the covenant. The sons were wicked. The sons were wicked. I mean, I know the story, but in appearance. But in appearance there were priests. But they were wicked. So in in this theme keeps moving on through the Bible all the way up to James now. So basically what he's saying is, is we got to put a weight on this thing, right?
00:26:00:13 - 00:26:18:19
Unknown
Just because it looks right doesn't necessarily it is right. So we're going to base it on what fruit. Right. That's right. So that comes from the heart. Comes from. Yeah. And from the heart is made. Yeah. The mouth and it's made out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth of speak. That's right. Yeah. We're going to chapter three.
00:26:18:20 - 00:26:45:21
Unknown
Yep. So, so going to chapter three. James has spent the first two chapters teaching that genuine faith produces genuine actions. Now he's going to focus on one of the greatest tests of spiritual maturity, which is your tongue. It's easy to claim to be spiritual, but James says our mouths and our attitudes reveal what's really happening in our hearts.
00:26:45:23 - 00:27:03:22
Unknown
Okay, so we're going to read verse one through four, I believe is to begin. It says not many of you should become teachers. They must have been some people that could not control their tongues in that church. Not many of you shall become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
00:27:04:00 - 00:27:25:08
Unknown
We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who has never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their 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, they are driven and are driven by strong winds.
00:27:25:08 - 00:27:47:19
Unknown
They are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. We read start, start at first one again in James. I'll stop you. Okay, not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach it again. What does he say? We that we who teach. Yeah. So first James begins with himself.
00:27:47:19 - 00:28:06:04
Unknown
We, you and I. Right? He starts with we? Yes. So he's starting with humility. So Vinita always has this saying, if I gotta break bad news, I start with a positive, then a negative, and then with a positive. So that's called the sandwich method. That's right. There's a name for that. Is it? Yup. She's used it many times on man.
00:28:06:04 - 00:28:15:00
Unknown
It's always a. Never mind. Okay. So we're talking about humility right. So so so if she starts out with something really good, watch out. I should watch out. Something that's coming.
00:28:15:00 - 00:28:21:06
Unknown
James starts out with we. So. Humility. Right? He's. He's showing this in the way he's teaching.
00:28:21:06 - 00:28:44:04
Unknown
And teachers influence generations. That's what the warning is, right? So you're you're I mean, we we can go all throughout what Jesus said. But teachers influence generations. So he's setting a standard right now. You're setting a step up here. Now you're going to be a teacher. This is what's going to have. And you know, one sentence can shape theology forever.
00:28:44:05 - 00:29:04:06
Unknown
How many times have you heard something you have not weighed? What a pastor, teacher, fellow believer, somebody else and not wait it right. We just simply go to church on a Sunday and we hear a message and we do not. Way it yet it is our soul on the line, right? We talk about that all the time and judgment.
00:29:04:07 - 00:29:29:23
Unknown
You know, you're not necessarily going to call witnesses to your judgment. So I can't sit here and say, well, pastor X said this and I followed his example. Right. We have to weigh it. So Proverbs, life and death are in the power of the what? Yes, the tongue. Tongue. And then James expands on that, that proverb, you know, influence increases responsibilities, basically saying, so as a teacher, when you teach Brian, what is that saying to you?
00:29:30:00 - 00:29:45:09
Unknown
I got away what I'm doing. I've got a study and I've got to pray about it. I gotta fast about it. I think I told you this one time, I literally become afraid sometimes when I'm teaching because I'm like, man. And that's one of the things I always pray, God, don't let me say anything that's not right. Right.
00:29:45:10 - 00:30:05:12
Unknown
And because it's such a serious responsibility, because you can lead people down a path that is not right. I've been let down paths right throughout my spiritual. We all have. We all have, you know, and and the person that did that holds some responsibility. Sure. For. I do too, because maybe I didn't dig into what was being said.
00:30:05:13 - 00:30:29:11
Unknown
But you just can't be. You can't go adrift with every wind of doctrine. You know, I think there's another version. That's right. So it is a serious responsibility to be a teacher. Very serious. Yeah. I wrote down in my notes, what are we doing with what the word has taught us? In other words, you know, James, teaching us this to be careful, you know, even be careful what we we hear and be careful what we teach.
00:30:29:13 - 00:31:02:12
Unknown
You know, that's why even with parents, they have to be careful how they teach their kids. Because parents or teachers, whether they want to admit it or not, they're teaching their children one way, you know, or a good way or a bad way. That's right. By the word or not by the word, there's only two ways. And so it is it's a very serious thing to consider because we are, you know, judged more harshly than, than than, you know, just an average Christian.
00:31:02:13 - 00:31:22:00
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, you're right, because James is a teaching size. This is not about the size of the crowd. It's not the size of the group. You know, he's teaching control here. So we have to be careful how we teach it and and how we're we're proposing the Christ in our testimony. Right. Because a lot of times, as humans, we want to make it about us.
00:31:22:01 - 00:31:44:15
Unknown
Yes. When it should be about him. Right. So in in Matthew 12, the Jesus connection here, which is wonderful when you go, oh, so, so Jesus talks about out of the abundance of the heart, what happens? The mouth speaks. You just said it twice. And and James is agreeing with this and he's telling you words reveal the unseen heart, the tongue and what he's talking about the rudder.
00:31:44:15 - 00:32:05:20
Unknown
And he goes through all this stuff. But the tongue is the steering wheel of soul, right? Right. And and it steers the person. So if we speak hate, we're going to be hateful. If we speak life, we're going to be life. And it's hard. It is. Your tongue is not only steering other people, it's kind of steering your own self.
00:32:05:22 - 00:32:24:22
Unknown
Yeah. That's right, that's right. Yeah. That's so true. Yeah. Life and death is in the power of the tongue. It's not life to other people, but it's life to your own soul. That's true. You. You know, not to be new agey, but you should speak positive. Absolutely. Because it does have an impact on you, right? Right. You know, if you speak life.
00:32:24:23 - 00:32:58:02
Unknown
That's right. That's right. That's right. Absolutely. Yeah. And a lot of people don't. They don't really know how, you know, Jesus said sowing and reaping were all will last, will never end. Sowing and reaping will always be. So if we think about that. What are we sowing even with our mouth? With our words? You know, if God created the earth with his words and were made in his image, aren't we carrying powerful words?
00:32:58:04 - 00:33:20:07
Unknown
Yeah, we are the words of life. Right as Peter. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. So? So read James 353. James three five. All right. Because I think he went to six. Right. I went through four. Yeah. Read James three five real quick because this is a direct thing of what she was just saying. So he was talking about how, you know, these little things like a rudder steers a ship and things like says.
00:33:20:09 - 00:33:40:08
Unknown
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. And you know, there's a reason he says that here. I mean, have you've been to Israel? So you know how wind it is dry? It is. Israel lives in a in a perpetual drought.
00:33:40:08 - 00:34:10:15
Unknown
But you no one spark here can destroy thousands of acres. And what he's making one careless sentence, one careless word can destroy families, churches, friendships, businesses. Another person's life. And we have to weigh it. Reckless words pierced like swords. And that is. It is so true. We see it so many times in what we do. You know, the tongue can burn down in minutes what took decades to build?
00:34:10:17 - 00:34:24:21
Unknown
Yeah. And we have this same that we've used many times. You know, trust is earned by the teaspoon but lost by the gallon. Right. Just pull out bucket. And that's what he's saying here. The tongue can burn down in minutes. What took decades to build.
00:34:24:23 - 00:34:39:07
Unknown
the tongue also is a fire a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hill.
00:34:39:09 - 00:35:04:22
Unknown
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind. But no human 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 human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Man that is strong.
00:35:05:00 - 00:35:21:06
Unknown
No man contained the tongue. No. Can you imagine their faces when he's speaking this? When they're reading it? Yeah. When? When James is speaking this to the church. And can you, can you? Can't you just see their faces? You know, somebody was somebody talking about you. All right. You know, some people were so arrogant, and they probably not.
00:35:21:06 - 00:35:46:10
Unknown
What? He's not talking to me. They probably who he was talking about. It's. It's very wine. That's right. It's exactly right. And that's why we had to be so careful. Going back to the Scripture that Jesus said, sowing and reaping will always endure. It'll always be around sowing and reaping. Again, here we are. You know, whatever we sow with the tongue, we will reap.
00:35:46:12 - 00:36:10:18
Unknown
You know, I say this because very. I won't call any names, but there was a lady and she, she, she lived on this street and it was a very busy street. But across the street this church had bought like 15 acres of land. And she would talk so ugly about that church. She hated that church. She would throw eggs at the church.
00:36:10:18 - 00:36:36:05
Unknown
She just gave them a very hard time. And they would go and take her food, and she would always give them the hardest time. Eventually she got sick. She could no longer speak, she could no longer talk, and the church still served her. Come to her. Loved her. Do you know she finally died? Her house is still sitting there today, vines growing through it.
00:36:36:05 - 00:36:57:15
Unknown
And everything is out in the country. And there's her house sitting. But that church is thriving. So, you know, we encourage you today to be very careful who you talk about. If somebody has hurt you, you know, be very careful how you talk about people because sowing and reaping you will reap what you sow with your mouth.
00:36:57:15 - 00:37:18:21
Unknown
That's why you have to be so careful not to just spill out gossip and things about people. Because clearly here James is telling us not to do it. Yeah, it's one of the worst things in a church or any group of people, any group is when you have people that just can't control what they say. Right, right. And sometimes it's intentional.
00:37:18:21 - 00:37:39:01
Unknown
Sometimes they just they have no filter. Right. You know. Right. But it's it's bad and it's not that's not a character trait of a Christian or it shouldn't be. That's right. That you can't control. And, you know, sometimes we may be the only Bible that they read that they see, that they hear. And you've been in Bible studies.
00:37:39:01 - 00:37:58:18
Unknown
You've been in Bible studies. And and people never mature. They never grow up. They never learn to tame the tongue. And it's just as there's no reverence that they're at church and they need to be quiet. They're just they they come to church cos they cost up at home. So they come to church and gossip. It's in their soul to do it.
00:37:58:19 - 00:38:27:09
Unknown
Right. And so, you know, sometimes, I think we, we, we may not be preachers and we may not be teachers, so, so to speak, but the world's watching us. How we handle ourselves among a conversation or a group of people talking. Yeah. What's our conversation? What are we saying? Right. You know. Yeah. And, you know, it's also not telling you just to stay quiet because somebody might read that and be like, well, I'll fix.
00:38:27:10 - 00:38:42:07
Unknown
I just won't say anything. True. And that's also not what he's saying. That's right, that's right. You've got to take this tool that God has given you and use it for good. Correct. And and I think he'll probably I think this is in James, if you know, to do good and you don't do it that's considered sinner something of that.
00:38:42:07 - 00:39:08:13
Unknown
That's right. So and it kind of fits in there if you you shouldn't just keep your mouth shut. Right. And then to, you know, we're in the book of acts and another Bible study. And we were talking about the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And one of the questions we ask in that is of all the ways that the Holy Spirit could have manifested on the day of Pentecost, all the all the cool ways he could have, he could have given them the ability to levitate and float out of the upper room and down to the the dock below.
00:39:08:13 - 00:39:27:06
Unknown
And people would have been like, wow, that's amazing. The Holy Spirit's here. But of all the ways that could have manifested, he had them their tongue, the tongue speak in tongues, their tongue. And you just wonder if James wasn't kind of hitting in on that too, because he says, no man can tame it, no man. But there's something else that can tame it, right?
00:39:27:07 - 00:39:51:00
Unknown
And that is the Holy Spirit. That's right. That's exactly right. Yeah. I mean, you know, I have to hear in my notes, faith is not just what we say on Sunday, but it's how we live in on Monday. You know, we we go to church on Sunday. We may act a certain way, but what happens on Monday when we go back to our jobs and we're with those people that are not Christians, how do we respond to them?
00:39:51:01 - 00:40:00:02
Unknown
Right. Do we talk to them the way they talk to us? That's right. Because if we do, there's no difference in their heart. In our heart. That's right. And so
00:40:00:07 - 00:40:08:15
Unknown
How do we mature? You know, how, when, when do we when do Christians finally mature and say, you know, I'm not going to do what they're doing?
00:40:08:16 - 00:40:26:17
Unknown
That's that's not that's one of the hardest things. It is I mean, my life, that's something I've always struggled with getting into management and things. I get so frustrated with people sometimes, you know, and I just have to watch what I say because, you know, I could say things in a way that would really hurt somebody feelings and make them feel stupid, right?
00:40:26:18 - 00:40:48:00
Unknown
You know, maybe they were being stupid, right? But you just can't. You have to you have to learn. That's right. And, And God will help you do it. But really, just in general, a good person take Christianity out of the picture. It's just not conducive in any area of life to speak the way James is talking about, let alone in a church.
00:40:48:04 - 00:41:05:03
Unknown
God forbid that these things go on in a church, right? For people that are supposedly spirit filled, it just doesn't make any sense. And that's what James is saying. There's just no no room, no place for it. Right? Well, he's sitting a perfect path where Rich aims 311. One more time. Read that one real quick. And he's kind of.
00:41:05:04 - 00:41:28:02
Unknown
He's laying out here about the about how the how the tongue is such as we're at 311. Yeah. Kim. Both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring. That's right. Because. Because what do we already know? So, you know, Israel depended upon springs for their water. So. And basically what he's saying is one polluted spring could affect an entire village tire town.
00:41:28:02 - 00:41:53:16
Unknown
So James asked, can blessing and cursing flow from the same source? So if your spring is polluted, then what comes out of your heart? If your heart is polluted? What's coming out of your mouth? Pollution. That's right. And you know. And where do we you know, James is heating up Genesis again here. And where humans bear God's image.
00:41:53:18 - 00:42:18:02
Unknown
We have to remember that therefore our words towards people matter. Yes, they matter because they ultimately reflect our attitude toward God. That's right. And you know, every person you speak to bears the fingerprints of the creator. And take it one step further. Noah was a great example of that. Noah builds an art. They stay on the ark. It's gone.
00:42:18:05 - 00:42:39:22
Unknown
You know, they go to 40 days of 40 nights. The water recedes and you would think the first thing that any, any head of household patriarchs going to do when they get off that ark is going to secure shelter. They're going to build a house. But what does Noah do? He builds an altar because worship was what he was taught.
00:42:40:00 - 00:43:01:17
Unknown
So through his first act of of in the New Earth was worship. He built an altar, not a house, and he was under a lot of pressure. You know how we speak to people when we're under pressure. I mean, Noah was under a lot of pressure, and still he fulfilled what God had called him to do. You know how we.
00:43:01:18 - 00:43:23:20
Unknown
As long as everything is going good, we seem to speak very well of people, and we seem to speak well of ourselves. But let there be a pressure cooker, a situation in the mix, and we get, you know, we don't get as whole show what's really inside, right? It is show what's really made up. And Noah had this pressure and yet he still stayed obedient.
00:43:23:22 - 00:43:42:06
Unknown
You remember all the people laughing at him, talking about him because he's he's building this art and oh, my God, he's the most craziest man you ever seen. And here they persecute him. Kind of like what we go through during this podcast, all the persecutions that we get, but we steadfast, we steadfast going to get. Amen. And here we are and steadfast.
00:43:42:06 - 00:44:03:17
Unknown
And we're still doing it every day. But in Noah was the same thing. He was under pressure, and still he fulfilled what God called him to do. That that's the key word is under pressure is how do we act when we're under pressure? It's easy to go into a situation where there is no arguments, there's no disagreement. Everybody agrees before.
00:44:03:17 - 00:44:37:03
Unknown
Often. Does that happen? Very rarely. Yeah. And we walk into these situations and we get under pressure and then we vomit out some diabolical, evil, evil words. I do that. Y'all don't do that. Y'all are so holy. Yeah. The the. But you know James three. He he he just regurgitates proverbs so many times. He does he really speech anger I just read speech anger, humility wisdom conflict pride self-control.
00:44:37:05 - 00:45:03:00
Unknown
You know, James isn't inventing new wisdom. He's just reverberating, right? The Old Testament proverbs, he's showing how wisdom looks after meeting Jesus. So he's making what was written in the old, and he's making it relevant to the new. Yes. And, you know, it just, you know, words reveal roots. And like you said, you know what comes out of our mouths matter.
00:45:03:02 - 00:45:24:19
Unknown
It matters on Sunday morning. But it also equally matters Tuesday evening when you get home from work and you're tired. Yes. And you got things you got to do. And, you know, part of that, you know, just grocery rates, futures. And we have to remember that graceful people. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. With the same mouth. We sing praises to God on Sunday.
00:45:24:19 - 00:45:44:15
Unknown
We then criticize people made in God's image on Monday. That's right. And these things ought not be right. No. Right. No, no. Because, you know, next episode, I know we're getting ready for this one. That's where your fresh water is and your salt water for from the same read that you want to read that verse real quick. First of all, my brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grape vine bear figs?
00:45:44:16 - 00:46:07:10
Unknown
Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Sure. Yeah, yeah. And that's why, you know, I said earlier, you know, James is asking can blessings or in curses come from the same water source? It cannot. So that's why it's important that we tame our tongue. That's why it's important we walk a walk of what our faith is. Right?
00:46:07:10 - 00:46:30:08
Unknown
so this week, episode five are do her challenge, which has become pretty pretty. We've got a lot of Dems about it. So people people definitely looking at it and doing it. So we're going to make your faith visible in this one. You know, James teaches the genuine faith becomes visible through what we do, and the condition of our hearts become audible through what we say.
00:46:30:09 - 00:46:59:13
Unknown
So here is this week's challenge. Choose one act of obedience and one area of speech. Right? First, ask God, what is the one thing you have already shown me to do that I have delayed? It may be helping someone in need. Forgiving someone. Apologizing. Encouraging someone. Giving you. Giving generously. Keeping a promise. Serving without recognition. Taking a step of faith you have avoided.
00:46:59:14 - 00:47:29:02
Unknown
Do not merely pray about it. Do it. Make your faith visible through one deliberate act of obedience. Then, for the next seven days, pay close attention to your words. Before speaking about someone, ask, Will these words bless someone made in the image of God? Or will they tear that person down? Refuse to participate. Take in gossip, slander, sarcasm intended to wound another person.
00:47:29:02 - 00:48:07:23
Unknown
Angry. Exaggeration. Sharing something that is not yours to tell. Speaking about someone in a way you would not speak to them. Replace one harmful pattern with one life giving pattern. Offer encouragement. Speak truth. Gently defend someone who is being unfairly criticized. Apologize quickly when your words cause harm. Let your hands demonstrate your faith. Let your mouth reveal a heart being transformed by Jesus and at the end of the week, ask, what did my faith move me to do?
00:48:08:01 - 00:48:31:04
Unknown
What did my words reveal about my heart? Did I leave people stronger or more wounded after speaking with me this week? Do not merely tell people what you believe. Let them see it in your actions and hear it in your words. You close the prayer. Yes. So good. So let's pray and we'll end this episode. Heavenly father, we thank you for the Word of James.
00:48:31:05 - 00:48:51:00
Unknown
God, we thank you, Lord, that your word clearly tells us, God, that we have salt water coming out and we have fresh water coming out of this mouse. God, we need you. Holy spirit, I just ask you to touch every heart across the sound waves right now. Every person that gets to listen to this God, I ask you that you would do a work in them.
00:48:51:00 - 00:49:24:16
Unknown
Sin revival in the land, Lord, for clear conscience, a pure heart, God, and just a loving attitude with a loving vocabulary for other people. God, bring about your love to this country, to these people. We need you, Holy Spirit, have your way. Oh God in us. Lord, we thank you today. You're with your people today. And father, for every person that's hurting or battling something or suicidal God, we pray that you would touch their hearts and be with them in this moment.
00:49:24:16 - 00:49:38:21
Unknown
God shelter them. Just surround them with your big arms, father, and let them know that they have purpose in you. Lord, in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.
00:49:38:23 - 00:49:54:14
Unknown
Welcome to Practice the Word, a podcast helping everyday believers become everyday doers of the word. Through scripture stories and honest conversations, we'll talk about what it means to follow Jesus with courage, sincerity, and obedience in real life. Let's get started.