Evil – Page 12 – Three Minute Bible

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020

James 4: 7b — Running Scared

A stone gargoyle looks like the devil flees.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Do you believe in the devil? As a kid, I remember being told “ghost stories.” Some of them were pretty scary! Some were scary and funny at the same time. All of them challenged my thinking about ghosts.

It was very common for little kids to challenge each other by saying, “You don’t believe in ghosts, do you?” It was always said in a taunting way that mocked the idea of ghosts. Many a time I agreed that I didn’t really believe in ghosts. The problem was when I was in church they were always talking about this being called the “Holy Ghost.” Everyone at church seemed to believe that the Holy Ghost was real, but … well … what was a ghost, anyway?

March 9, 2020March 10, 2020

James 3: 7-8 – The Pause

A person and camel rest on the desert sand at dusk.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James is taking us by the hand and showing us something that he considers very important. There is no room for hypocrisy when we stand before God. James does not tell us this to shame us or discourage us in our faith. Rather, he wants us to enter heaven victorious in Christ.

March 8, 2020March 8, 2020

James 3: 5-6 – The Demon in Your Mouth

Fire dancer sprays fire from the mouth up in the air.

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. 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 hell.

STOP!

Do not proceed until you have calibrated your brain to think like James.

Each of us speaks from a unique point of view. As much as we would like to think that everyone agrees with us on this or that topic, the fact is that no one agrees with you on everything. God made us so that we are each unique and dependent on Him.

Yes, there are a lot of things we have in common. But there are more things we disagree on. The challenge with reading the Bible is not to fit the words of the Bible into our world view, but to get our heads around God’s view. I suspect that he purposely wrote the Bible the way he did to keep us on our toes.

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020

Anger’s Summary – James 1: 19-20

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Thank you for bearing with me as I wandered through this topical detour about anger. I have learned a lot. I hope you have picked up something valuable as well.

To review, we began with “Anger’s Cause” asking the question: Is it right to be angry? We answered that question with an, “It depends.” It depends on why a person is angry. Then we defined anger as a secondary emotion and described its origin this way:

“Anger is the feeling that results from an imbalance between our expectations and the situation we find ourselves in.”

March 2, 2020March 2, 2020

Hyperopia – 2 Samuel 19: 6a

You love those who hate you and hate those who love you.

Today’s passage is a bit odd for a theme verse. Joab, the king’s commander of the army, has just killed Absalom and saved the kingdom for David. Instead of thanks and praise, David rewards him with recriminations. Here is the passage in context:

“Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, ‘Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.’”

— 2 Samuel 19:5-7

For the most part, David lived a noble life. He was courageous before his enemies, and faithful to God, even to the point of respecting the life of the man who was bent on killing him, King Saul. It was only when he had achieved relative peace and had been established as king over Israel that the wheels started to come off.

February 16, 2020May 24, 2021

Psalm Sunday – Coin Toss

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

— Psalm 1: 6

This sounds like an Affirmation Monday verse, but it also happens to be a verse from Psalms. So today’s verse a twofer! 🙂

The two key points in this verse center around definitions. What does it mean to be “righteous” and what does it mean to be “wicked?”

Righteousness means “doing what is right.” That is all there is to it. Oh… I know … most dictionaries throw in a qualifier about doing what is “morally right,” but honestly who in the secular world is going to decide what is moral? Only God can do that.

February 12, 2020February 12, 2020

Wisdom Wednesday – Wise Eyes

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.

— Proverbs 3: 7

What does it mean to be wise in your own eyes? I’ve heard of “wise guys” but I don’t remember hearing “wise eyes” before.

When we look at ourselves “in our own eyes” there is always a tendency to see what we want to see. When we look at someone else we have the advantage of seeing them from outside their head. Inside our head, our vision is cluttered by all the wants, needs and hopes we have collected all our life.

January 30, 2020January 31, 2020

Flashlight – James 2: 6b-7

Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

In this passage, James pulls out a flashlight and shines the light on who these “rich people” are that he keeps talking about. James is not concerned that Larry might own a bigger tent or house than his neighbor Fred. Rather he is concerned about those who exploit others to further themselves.

He brings the light closer to show us a specific example. The rich who exploit others drag people into court.

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020

Honor or Dishonor? – James 2: 6a

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by men who dedicate their lives to honoring those who have passed on in the service of their country.

But you have dishonored the poor.

Sometimes there is as much in what the Bible doesn’t say as what it does say. John has divided the world up into three groups, but he only mentions two. One group is “the rich,” the second group is “the poor.” The third group is everyone else, those who discriminate between the rich and the poor.

This third group of people are those that James is writing to. James refers to them as his “brothers and sisters.” Since all those who believe in Jesus are brothers and sisters in Christ (Mark 3:35) James is talking to us as well.

January 24, 2020January 25, 2020

God’s Shoes – James 2: 2-4

Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

In this example, James once again applies his very logical brain to a specific issue. The topic at hand is why a believer in Christ must not show favoritism (See verse 2). Why is this important?

Discriminating between rich and poor is not the problem. It is the symptom. It is a sign of a deeper problem that infects the soul.