Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 65.
immersed in James.
Within a few decades of Jesus' death and resurrection, his followers had spread out
to different parts of the Roman Empire.
James, the half brother of Jesus and a highly respected leader in the Jerusalem
church, sent a general letter to these scattered communities, reminding them
to walk in the way of God's wisdom.
James highlights practical ways that followers of Jesus should demonstrate
their faith in everyday life to help the dispersed communities, James took
up the well-known pattern of teaching from Israel's ancient wisdom, tradition.
Wisdom, literature places great value on how we live in God's world.
It therefore emphasizes action, admonishing the reader to follow
the good way revealed by God and live it out in community.
In the letter from James, we see that God's new people in Christ
are faced with a choice that has always confronted God's people.
Which path will we follow?
One path leads to life and wellbeing while the other leads to death and destruction.
James challenges his scattered brothers and sisters to firmly
embrace the path that leads to life.
James teaches that choosing this way of life includes not only practicing
such virtues as patience, humility, endurance through trials and generosity
to the poor, but also renouncing anger and boastful pride, avoiding
the tendency to judge others and not using the tongue destructively.
The core idea that characterizes this lifestyle is don't
just listen to God's word.
Do what it says.
James emphasizes the strong call on believers in Jesus to
renounce their favoritism of the rich and neglect of the poor.
James had become aware that these communities were following the
cultural norms of first century Roman society, which gave places
of privilege to the wealthy.
He explains that the way of Jesus is different.
Those who hoard their riches will be judged while the poor
will inherit God's kingdom.
James casts all this instruction in an especially effective form.
Just as his content is closely related to First Testament wisdom
literature, his style is too.
James presents pity sayings and short reflections similar to those found in
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, for example, you must all be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
James May have drawn his material from messages he had delivered in a synagogue.
He frequently uses public speaking techniques common at the time, such as
sparring with an imaginary opponent.
Someone may argue, some people have faith, others have good deeds, but
I say, how can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds?
Since it is a combination of wisdom sayings and brief teachings.
This letter from James does not develop sequentially as Paul's letters do.
Rather it flows freely from topic to topic, urging careful attention to various
concerns, followed by a call to live out his instructions in practical ways.
James wants his fellow Jewish believers to live out the highest ideals
of their own spiritual heritage, just as Jesus revealed it to them.
He calls them back to a scriptural principle that the glorious Lord Jesus
Christ had confirmed as foundational.
It is good when you obey the royal law as found in the scriptures.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The book of James.
This letter is from James, a Slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am writing to the 12 tribes, Jewish believers, scattered abroad.
Greetings,
dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it
an opportunity for great joy, for you know that when your faith is tested,
your endurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed.
You will be perfect and complete needing nothing.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you.
He will not rebuke you for asking, but when you ask him, be sure
that your faith is in God alone.
Do not waiver.
For a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea
that is blown and tossed by the wind.
Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they're
unstable in everything they do.
Believers who are poor have something to boast about.
For God has honored them, and those who are rich should boast
that God has humbled them.
They will fade away like a little flower in the field.
The hot sun rises and the grass withers.
The little flower droops and falls and its beauty fades away.
In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.
Afterward, they will receive the crown of life that God has
promised to those who love him.
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say God is tempting me.
God is never tempted to do wrong and he never tempts anyone else.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
These desires give birth to sinful actions, and when sin is allowed
to grow, it gives birth to death.
So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God, our father,
who created all the lights in the heavens.
He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word, and we, out of all
creation, became his prized possession.
Understand this my dear brothers and sisters, you must all be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives and humbly accept the
word God has planted in your hearts for it has the power to save your souls.
But don't just listen to God's word.
You must do what it says otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves for if you
listen to the word and don't obey it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.
You see yourself walk away and forget what you look like.
But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what
it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
If you claim to be religious, but don't control your tongue, you are
fooling yourself and your religion is worthless, pure, and genuine
religion in the sight of God.
The father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and
refusing to let the world corrupt you.
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in
our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?
If you favor some people over others, for example, suppose someone comes into
your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in
who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you
say to the poor one, you can stand over there or else sit on the floor.
Well, doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments
are guided by evil motives?
Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters, hasn't God chosen the poor
in this world to be rich in faith?
Aren't they the ones who will inherit the kingdom?
He promised to those who love him, but you dishonor the poor?
Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court, aren't
they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
Yes, indeed.
It is good when you obey the royal law.
As found in the scriptures, love your neighbor as yourself, but
if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin.
You are guilty of breaking the law for the person who keeps all of the laws
except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws.
For the same God who said, you must not commit adultery, also
said, you must not murder.
So if you murder someone, but do not commit adultery, you
have still broken the law.
So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be
judged by the law that sets you free.
There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others.
But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
What good is it?
Dear brothers and sisters?
If you say you have faith, but don't show it by your actions, can
that kind of faith save anyone?
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing and you
say goodbye and have a good day, stay warm and eat well, but then you don't
give that person any food or clothing.
What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.
Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Now, someone may argue, some people have faith, others have good deeds,
but I say, how can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds?
I will show you my faith by my good deeds.
You say you have faith for you believe that there is one God good for you.
Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror.
How foolish can't you see that?
Faith without good deeds is useless.
Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right
with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see his faith and his actions worked together.
His actions made his faith complete.
And so it happened just as the scriptures say, Abraham believed God and God counted
him as righteous because of his faith.
He was even called the friend of God.
So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Rahab the prostitute is another example.
She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and
sent them safely away by a different road, just as the body is dead without breath.
So also faith is dead without good works.
Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church for
we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Indeed, we all make many mistakes.
For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also
control ourselves in every other way.
We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in
its mouth and a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot
chooses to go, even though the winds are strong in the same way.
The tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire, and among all the parts of the
body, the tongue is a flame of fire.
It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.
It can set your whole life on fire.
For it is set on fire by hell itself.
People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish,
but no one can tame the tongue.
It is restless and evil full of deadly poison.
Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those
who have been made in the image of God.
And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.
Surely my brothers and sisters, this is not right.
Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?
Does a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine?
Produce figs.
No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring.
If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable
life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom I.
But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in
your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying.
For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.
Such things are earthly, unspiritual and demonic for wherever there
is jealousy and selfish ambition.
There you will find disorder and evil of every kind, but the wisdom
from above is first of all, pure.
It is also peace-loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.
It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.
It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.
And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and
reap a harvest of righteousness.
What is causing the quarrels and fights among you?
Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you.
You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it.
You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it.
So you fight and wage war to take it away from them.
Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.
And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong.
You want only what will give you pleasure.
You adulterers.
Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?
I say it again.
If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
Do you think the scriptures have no meaning?
They say that God is passionate, that the spirit he has placed
within us should be faithful to him.
He gives grace generously as the scriptures say.
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
So humble yourselves before God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Come close to God and God will come close to you.
Wash your hands, your sinners, pur.
Purify your hearts for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Let there be tears for what you have done.
Let there be sorrow and deep grief.
Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy.
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up in honor.
Don't speak evil against each other.
Dear brothers and sisters.
If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing
and judging God's law.
But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.
God alone, who gave the law is the judge.
He alone has the power to save or to destroy.
So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
Look here, you who say, today or tomorrow we are going to a certain
town and will stay there a year.
We will do business there and make a profit.
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?
Your life is like the morning fog.
It's here a little while, then it's gone.
What you ought to say is, if the Lord wants us to, we will
live and do this or that.
Otherwise, you are boasting about your own pretentious plans
and all such boasting is evil.
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Look here, you rich people.
Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
Your wealth is rotting away and your fine clothes are moth eaten rags.
Your gold and silver are corroded.
The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire.
This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you
on the day of judgment for listen.
Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay.
The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears
of the Lord of heaven's armies.
You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your
every desire you have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.
You have condemned and killed innocent people who do not resist you.
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return.
Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains
in the fall and in the spring.
They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.
You too must be patient.
Take courage for the coming of the Lord is near.
Don't grumble about each other brothers and sisters, or
you will be judged for look.
The judge is standing at the door for examples of patience in suffering.
Dear brothers and sisters, Look at the prophets who
spoke in the name of the Lord.
We give great honor to those who endure under suffering.
For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance.
You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end.
For the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy, but most of all, my brothers
and sisters never take an oath by heaven or earth or anything else.
Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.
Are any of you suffering hardships?
You should pray.
Are any of you happy?
You should sing praises.
Are any of you Sick?
You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray
over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.
Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick and the Lord will make you well.
And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and
produces wonderful results.
Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly
that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years.
Then when he prayed again, The sky sent down rain and the
earth began to yield its crops.
My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from
the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the
sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring
about the forgiveness of many sins.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.