Well, I am throughly ashamed of myself. I haven't posted on this blog in 4 months. *gasp* I'm really sorry I haven't done anything with this blog. I would keep thinking, "I need to do a post on my other blogs besides my main one." But I never got to it. So, sorry for keeping all of you waiting. :P
Today I will be starting a study on James today. James is probably my favorite book in the Bible. Especially since I relate really well with the "controlling your tongue" chapter. ;-)
Anyway, today we will be looking at James 1:1-8. I will be using an NIV Bible:
"1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
Now, this is one of those "easier said than done" things. We can say, "Oh, yes, we must be joyful when we go through trials!" But when one actually comes, we tend to not have joy. We tend to worry, and not have trust. Say for instance, if someone starts ridiculing you about being a Christian, are you likely to say, "I am JOYFUL that you're ridiculing me!! Thank you so much for ridiculing me, because it helps build my perseverance!" :P Yes, so it isn't easy to be joyful in times of trials. But, I have found that times of trials build us up. They carry us closer to God, and like it says in verse 3, it builds perseverance. It helps us be prepared for the next trial. It just builds us up spiritually.
Also, it is interesting to note that trials are necessary in a Christian life. Verse 4 says, "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." *emphasis added* So, we see that if we are going to be mature and have a complete Christian life, that we must have trials. And note that it says "MUST", not "should" or "can". For a Christian life to be complete and mature, we must have trials to build up our perseverance. For example: Think of an older man or lady that you know from your church. Someone who has lived a long time. When you see them, what do you think? There is a couple of men I used to know, Mr. Roy and Mr. Ike. When I saw them, all I could think about is how joyful they looked! They were always happy, and you could also just look at them and say: they have Christ in them. You could see it on their face. But why is this? They have gone through trials. This gives them the look on their face: the look that they are mature in Christ. But that is because they have gone through trials. I just think that is really interesting. Sorry for rambling. :P I dunno if that made any sense at all.
In verse 5, James says that if any of us lack wisdom, that we should ask God for it. If you have read Pilgrim's Progress, perhaps you remember when Christiana is thinking on how often, we must ask God for something if we want it. Think about it: in real life, if you want something, you don't just sit around wishing you had it. You have to ask for it. Also, this verse reminds me of the "Ask, Seek, Knock" passage in Matthew 7. God will give us what we need, but we must ask Him.
Also, verse 6 is very interesting. James says we must trust God will give us what we asked for. His example is when we don't trust, is a wave that gets tossed about on the sea. Also, he warns in verses 7 and 8 that if we don't trust God, we should not expect to receive anything we ask of Him. In other words, to receive anything from God, we must have faith in God!! That is the foundation of Christianity is faith. If we don't have faith, then we cannot be Christians. So we must have faith in God that He will give us what we ask for.
Well, I dunno if any of that post made any sense at all, but I tried my best. :D
Thanks for reading!
In Christ alone,
~Madison
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4 comments:
Yay, you posted here! =D =D =D
I just randomly thought I'd come and see if you had posted anything and you did this morning!!! I have to agree, I have always LOVED James. It is so applicable for me. I far too often let myself be swept away in the craziness of bad situations and don't keep in mind that it is for my own benefit. When we think of it as for our benefit it is much easier to consider it pure joy. And no, I didn't say EASY, just easier.
Wow, that is also something i struggle with. I often ask for stuff when I pray but not wholeheartedly. I ask but it's like I just don't think it will be granted. SO duh..if I don't think God will do it, He wont. So it's definitely something I struggle with and need to work on big time. I hope you keep posting as you go through James. Can't wait to see what you have to say about the rest of the book.
~Mel
Who isn't a fan of James? Accept Martin Luther, of course. XD
Hey Mel! :D Haha, yup. :)
Yeah, I think James is applicable to everyone. ;-) It just is. lol, yeah, I know, I do the same thing. It is like, "I'm praying for this, but I'm not compllleeeetely expecting to get it." So, yeah, I guess we both need to work on that. ;-)
Hi Kerry! Thanks for commenting! lol, true. Haha! I laughed about the Martin Luther thing. :P Very true. ;-) Of course, Luther didn't quite understand what James was saying. But oh well. lol
Thanks for the comments!
~Madison
Just blogwalking and came across your great blog. Please come check out my blog.
~Thanks~
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