Daily Meditations on the Bible
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
— John 3: 14-15
I’ve written about this passage before in “Complications” but it deserves a second look as an affirmation verse.
Salvation isn’t complicated. The people who were saved from the venomous snakes in the wilderness were saved from death if they simply looked upon the bronze snake.
Continue reading “Affirmation Monday – Easy to Believe”
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
I was just reading an interesting article about candle burn marks on the wood beams and walls of ancient buildings. The article goes into a long history of the candle and its association with funerals, church rites, and daily life. No one knows for certain what the burn marks were for but they may have been there to ward off evil spirits. As I read through the rather long text I was taken back in time to the fourteenth century and reminded about how much I take for granted in this day and age.
At night our house is full of light. Little glowing lights are found everywhere. From the nightlight in the bathroom to the alarm clock on the nightstand. Need to make your way to the kitchen at one in the morning? No problem! Even the thermostats have glowing lights on them. There are little light markers everywhere not to mention the glow given off by the streetlights outside.
Continue reading “James 2: 26 – Candlelight”
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
The scripture James refers to is found in Genesis 15: 6. God has just told Abraham that he will have a son who is his own flesh and blood. God tells Abraham to count the stars in the night sky if that is possible and he will have an idea how many offspring he will have. The text says that “Abraham believed God.” Does this mean he simply said, “Oh yeah, God. Sure. I believe you,” or did he accept it as a foundational truth that what God said would happen?
We don’t see the evidence of Abraham’s belief in what God told him until God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. At that point, we know what it means when scripture says he “believed.”
Two things resulted from this belief.
Continue reading “James 2: 23-24 – God’s Friend”
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
How do you tell if the light is on or off when the refrigerator door is shut? Answer: You can’t. It is not possible to prove a negative.
How do you prove that there is no green cheese on the moon? Answer? You can’t. Until you look under every single rock on the moon, you cannot prove that there is no cheese there.
Continue reading “James 2: 20-22 – Proving a Negative”
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Who is James arguing with?
Have you ever listened to someone talking on the phone? You can hear one side of the conversation, but not the other. Listening to one side only leaves us guessing at what the person on the other end of the line is saying.
Reading James’ letter is a bit like that.
Continue reading “James 2: 19 – Phone Call for James”
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
If you ever have had a puppy dog for a pet, you know how they like to play tug-o-war. It doesn’t matter if it is a $15.00 toy from Pets-R-Us or an old sock. Given the chance to chomp down on something, growl fiercely, and throw their head back and forth, they will take it every time.
Like a puppy with a sock, James has sunk his teeth into this idea of faith and deeds.
Grrr-rrr-rr—rrrr—rrrrrr—rrr!!
He just won’t let go!
So here we are, talking about faith versus deeds again.
Like a puppy who wants to play, James growls out a challenge: Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds!
Let’s accept his challenge. Let’s show James our faith. And we will do it without deeds. How does that work?
Continue reading “James 2: 18 – A Puppy Named James”
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Where do we start here? What is faith? Is faith alive? How can faith be dead? What is James talking about here?
James uses a word that gets everyone’s attention. “Dead” is a word that everyone understands. Dead is dead. From a worldly point of view, a dead body isn’t going anywhere under its own power. Dead means there is no life in it. Dead means that it is, like Beethoven, decomposing.
As a metaphor for faith, “dead” brings to mind something without life or motion. A dead person or animal ceases to have any worth.
Continue reading “James 2: 17 – Checkup Time”
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
In “Hearts and Deeds” we listened to Paul’s statement that we are saved not by works but through faith.* We compared this to James’s emphasis on what we do. Today James restates his case. This time with a directness that borders on being blunt.
In essence, James wants us to think about the connection between what is in our hearts and what we do. Can a person believe and yet act like they don’t believe?
Continue reading “Splash! – James 2: 14”
Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait expectantly.
— Psalm 5: 2-3
David, the psalm writer, knows about needing help. Invited into King Saul’s service as a boy, it isn’t long before the king becomes jealous of David. God and David already have a close relationship. David has a simple, child-like faith. God looks on that faith and honors it by blessing what David does. David the child defending the army of Israel with a sling was an example of that relationship.
Because David relies on God, God blesses David. Because God blesses David, the people of Israel honor David. Because Saul has lost God’s blessing (see 1 Samuel 13) Saul is jealous of David. Jealously leads to strife and strife leads to Saul trying repeatedly to kill David. During all this time David remains faithful to Saul and respects God’s anointing.
Continue reading “Psalm Sunday – A Prayer Medley”
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
As we gently sift through the words that James wrote down so many years ago, we get a sense of his deep love for those he is writing to. Something has happened to trigger this letter. We do not know what it is or how James came to hear about it. His letter testifies to the fact that he did hear, and he is doing something about it.
Somehow the poor are being dishonored by his brothers and sisters in Christ. This is wrong. James makes that clear. Now he begins to walk us through the reasons why it is wrong.
Who is poor in ”the eyes of the world?”
Continue reading “Distractions – James 2: 5”