Study Through James - Part 3

Well... you may have noticed that I spiced this blog up a bit. ;-) I thought it needed... some sprucing up. Anyway, how do you like the background? I tried to make it simple so nobody would be distracted from the word of God, yet add a nice touch to make this blog look more inviting. =)
Also, I have added a couple of things to my sidebar: a Bible passage of the month, and a poll.
Anyway, on to our study of James:
Today we will be looking at James 1:13-18. (by the way, do you get the feeling we're going to be studying James for a while? =P )
James 1:13-18:
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

So... this is an interesting passage of scripture. Verses 13-15 are really interesting to me. When we are tempted, we should not say that God is tempting us. God *cannot* tempt us. The reason? God has nothing to do with evil. Now, there is a point I want to make: God *can* test us. But test and tempt are two totally different things.
The definition of test, according to Webster's 1828 dictionary is:
That with which any thing is compared for proof of its genuineness; a standard.
Now the definition of tempt is:
To incite or solicit to an evil act; to entice to something wrong by presenting arguments that are plausible or convincing, or by the offer of some pleasure or apparent advantage as the inducement.
Do you see a little bit of a difference between the two? ;-)
God does not*tempt* us, by means of enticing us with evil things, which Satan and his demons do. God, rather, *tests* us. When He tests us, He is finding out if we are genuine. He is refining us into pure gold when He tests us.
But at the same time, although God does not tempt us Himself, He allows Satan and his demons to tempt. Also in this way, God refines us. This is an example of God allowing Satan to tempt us:
Job 1:8-12

⁸ Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

⁹ "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. ¹⁰ "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹ But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

¹² The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

God allowed Satan to go and tempt Job.

Verse 15 of James 1 is also very interesting. James is trying to show how sin works. Although he gives an unbelievably fast, upbeat pace. Read verse 15 again: "Then, after [evil] desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
So... first, evil desire is conceived. We have an evil desire. We have a sinful nature. We, as humans, naturally have evil desires. These evil desires, if we are not careful and do not ask God to help us, conceive into sin. These evil desires are temptations... "little" things that tempt us, and make us want to leave Christ. Things that sure do *look* enticing. Oh sure, they look fine. They look respectable. Surely that wouldn't be wrong! Well... check the Bible. Often, if we think things are fine, we should check the Bible and make sure. Is it really? Well, if we don't ask God to help us, and if we don't pay attention, and we fall into the trap of those little enticing things, well, then you've got yourself into sin. And let me tell you something: once you fall into sin, it takes a heap of a lot of trouble to get out of it. Because once you do something once, it immediately gets easier to do it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And soon, as verse 15 says, "...when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." We really have to watch ourselves when we are tempted.

And again, let us review verses 16-18. "16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."
This is pretty flat out and plain. All good gifts are from above. I think this can count as two things: Gifts as in gifts that we are given; example: the gift of playing the piano, the gift of being able to draw, etc. Also, this can mean gifts as in things He gives us physically: food, clothing, homes, etc. I don't know the original Greek word, so I don't know what these "gifts" are implying. What does everyone else think?
I love the term "heavenly lights". Rather random, but I just really like that. Also notice, "...who does not change like shifting shadows." In other words, God doesn't change. He is holy and perfect, and He never, ever changes. He is forever the same: holy, just, perfect, and merciful.
In verse 18, we see the term "birth". I love this quote: "Those who are born twice die once, and those who are born once die twice." In other words: Those who are born physically, and then born again through Christ only die physically; and those who are only born physically die once physically, and die a second time in the second death in hell. Anyway, God has picked us out (isn't that an amazing thought?) to be His children, that we might live with Him forever. That we might be "firstfruits".

So... I hope you enjoyed the post!! =) Sorry if I was long and drawn out. =P

In Christ alone,

~Madison

Study through James - Part 2

Hello everyone! This is the second part of our study through James.
We will be looking at James 1:9-12. This is what it says:
"9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossoms falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
So... this is an interesting passage. Verses 9-11 talk about the value of earthly things. In verse 9, James says that a brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. Did you just read that right? Yes, you did. Think of a child in a third-world country, that has no idea when his next meal will be, and yet he trusts in God!! Now, that is a person in high position. He is in high regard in God's eyes because he has faith in God, and trusts Him. But, as for the man who only worries about money... well, that is not a good place to be. James says that this man will wither away. Now, first of all, this is not saying that just because you have more money that you're bad. This means that whoever follows after money more than God will fall away. This brings to mind a few verses: Matthew 6:19-21: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where the moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I think this is what James is saying, basically. Also, think of the parable of the man who all he did was store up in barns. He only thought about earthly things.
Now, I know, all of us are good little Christians, and we NEVER do things like that. ;-) Yeah. Think about it. I know, it is hard, but think about it. Don't you sometimes, or even often, think more about earthly objects rather than heavenly things? Are we working to earn earthly things or heavenly things? This is a very easy trap to fall into. We want to look as good as the Jones', so we worry about earthly objects. Truedette? Foshizzle. :D (sorry, inside joke... my bro and my old pastor. :P lol)
Verse 12 I think is talking a little bit more about storing things up in heaven. If we stand through the trials for Christ, we will have a crown one day. And this isn't any 'ol gold, earthly crown. This is the crown of eternal life. Which is the best crown of all!!

Now, I have one other thing to share with all of you, that I thought you might like to hear. :) The church we have been going to is doing a study through 1 John. This week we looked at the rest of chapter one and a bit of chapter two. But the pastor, Mr. Peter, was talking about a trap we all fall into. He used this example: Perhaps you have heard of the Slough of Despond from Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan. This is where our conscience is weighing us down. All we think about is how sinful we are. Mr. Peter was saying how in a way, we think that if we think about this, somehow it will push us closer to Christ. But rather, it weighs us down, bogs us down, and we don't get anywhere in life. He used an interesting example for this: On Saturday, he had a job he had been putting off for months. There was a bunch of insulation under his house that he had to clean out. He had 18 garbage bags of insulation he had cleaned out. Well, he had to get under a crawl space under his house, and in some places, it was very, very narrow. Anyway, when he had all his bags of insulation, he thought he didn't want to pull them out one at a time, so what he did, is he got a rope, and he tied 12 bags of garbage to his ankle, while he crawled along in this tight space. This is like the Slough of Despond, when we wallow in our sins, seeming to refuse to acknowledge that we are forgiven! We have bags and more bags of garbage tied to our ankles, like chains, and they hold us back. They keep us moving slow, and they hold us back. In the Slough of Despond (or under the crawl space of your house, whichever ;-), we should get a knife, and cut off all of those bags. We should look towards the light, and find the hidden steps. We should keep our eyes on Christ. (as a note, Mr. Peter was not saying that we should not examine ourselves, and he made it very clear that we should. But at the same time, we should not just dwell on the fact that we are sooo sinful, as Christ as ransomed us)
Anyway, I just thought all of you would enjoy that. :)
Hope you enjoyed the post!! :)

In Christ alone,
~Madison