Category: James 1

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…

Imagine that you want to get people together to form a camera club, or a hunting party, or a hotrod association. You find a place to meet, and you kick in a few bucks to cover the cost of name tags and the like. Then you go out and start the work of getting people to join. I may be going out on a limb here, but I’d bet that the main reason people should join the new group is not, “Hey, if you join our club you get to face trials!”

Being a Christian isn’t always “fun.” Sure, we have a reason to fellowship with other believers. We enjoy going to church. There are always those wonderful potlucks where the food is amazing and unending. But there are also Christians who are alone, hungry and persecuted.

James counsels us to think of trials as joy. Is he nuts? Who in their right mind equates trials as joy?

Continue reading “Joy – James 1: 2”

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

James is a Jew.

I just wanted to say that because as a Gentile, I sometimes forget that the Jews are still God’s chosen people. Both Matthew and Mark record the story* of the Gentile woman who wanted Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus responds by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24b) Her response demonstrates that she, too, has faith in God and because of her faith her daughter is healed. Jesus’ response demonstrates that he loves all people.

Continue reading “Heritage – James 1:1b”

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…

I’ll begin this meditation by sharing how I see Scripture.

The first time I looked at the book as a child it seemed to me to be an insurmountable mountain. Such a big volume! So many words!! Later, while in high school, I took up with our local Young Life group and was challenged to read the whole Bible. (Just three chapters a day and you can read the whole thing in a year!)

In college, I majored in Religious Studies for a year at a secular university. At the time, I had no idea what I was getting into. The secular mind looks at every such book as an artifact of the past, a historical relic. The challenge for the secular mind is not to understand the Bible but to dissect and bisect the text into little pieces. Then, as though one had the omnipotence of God Himself, decide which bits should be believed and which should not.

Continue reading “Brothers – James 1:1”