Key Topics – Page 95 – Three Minute Bible

December 28, 2019December 29, 2019

A Monster Named Desire – James 1: 14-15

…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Inside each of us is a monster. In this passage, James gives the monster a name. He calls it, Desire. This particular monster has a twin, whose name is Desire, too. This other desire is good. The Good Desire longs to be with Jesus and do his will. The Bad Desire… Well, Bad Desire is one that leads us away from God’s will.

The monster named Desire is hard to recognize because it is so adept at changing size and shape. Look around inside your head and your heart. Are you burning with desire? Is there something you want more than anything else? Is it a good desire or a bad desire? When we are content, Desire shrinks down into the shadows. Desire hides, but it never leaves.

December 27, 2019December 29, 2019

Tempting or Testing? – James 1: 13

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…

Let us be clear on this point: Tempting and testing are two different things.

Testing is a processed used to measure or strengthen. (e.g. – I took a test to see if I qualified for a job I wanted. See James 1: 12)

Tempting is an attempt to entice a person to do what they know is wrong. (e.g. – A coworker tried to tell me it is okay to steal supplies from work.)

God is okay with testing people. Testing has a wide range of uses in the Bible. God is not okay with people doing what they know is wrong.

James is clear on this point and we need to be, too.

December 26, 2019December 27, 2019

Trials – James 1: 12

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Why do we receive the crown of life? Is it something that we earn? Is it something that we can earn?

James’ letter stands out as unique in the New Testament. James presents a “no-nonsense” approach to believing in Jesus. But remember, James himself is unique.

No other New Testament writer grew up with Jesus in the same family. No other writer knew Jesus as a child. No other writer gave Jesus such a hard time when he was alive – before his resurrection. James carries a special perspective on Jesus and a special kind of guilt for his past behavior.

December 25, 2019December 26, 2019

Wisdom Wednesday – Merry Christmas!

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3: 15

The Perfect Gift

Today’s “Wisdom Wednesday” text is not from the traditional wisdom literature in the Bible. Instead, we are looking at the wisdom of God in action.

Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior. The reason we need a savior is that Adam and Eve could not resist the wiles of Satan. Having sinned, they became spiritually dead, separated from God. At the same time, they were able to see something they had been protected from while they were alive in God. They could now see evil. The tragedy was (and is) that people do not always recognize evil for what it is.

December 24, 2019December 25, 2019

Santa’s List – James 1: 10-11

But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

James’ letter is a lot like Santa’s List. Most of us have heard about Santa Clause, and how, like God, he knows if we have been “naughty” or “nice.” The modern legend of Santa goes back to a real-life believer in God, a man whom we know as Saint Nicholas.

Like St. Nick, James is concerned about how people behave toward each other and whether or not having material possessions is clouding their judgment. Why would this be a problem for the early church?

December 23, 2019December 24, 2019

Affirmation Monday – John 3: 17

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The Greatest Gift

Today is Monday, December 23rd. We are only hours away from the commemoration of the greatest affirmation of God’s love ever given; the birth of his son, Jesus. Every year at this time we are reminded of an amazing fact. About two thousand years ago a poor, young Jewish girl, engaged but not married, became pregnant and gave birth to a boy child. Her betrothed accepted the mother and child as his own and before the child was born took them with him to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. The child would grow to become a man, and the man would become famous throughout the land as a healer and a teacher. He was someone who might be the long-promised Messiah.

December 22, 2019December 23, 2019

Psalm Sunday – Psalm 1: 3

That person [the one who delights in the law of the Lord] is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Good Soil

There is something you may have heard about called the “prosperity gospel.*” I acknowledge this because it is a hot topic for many Bible-believing Christians. In the study of James that we just started James dives right in by talking about “trials of many kinds.” Paul, in his letter to the Romans (Chapter 5) starts with a discussion of sufferings and how believers are to “glory in our sufferings” (vs 3). So there is a potential for confusion. Some verses, like today’s, offer the hope of prospering while others talk about the reality of suffering. Yet I firmly believe that “all scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).

So what do we make of this?

December 21, 2019December 22, 2019

Position – James 1: 9

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.

James presents us with an interesting challenge here: What is the difference between “circumstances” and “position?”

The term “circumstance” generally refers to something both external and material. Oftentimes it refers to a person’s financial situation. People without money are in “poor circumstances.” But James recognizes that being poor in material things has little to nothing to do with one’s “position” in life.

Why?

Does James have some special insight here? I think he does.

December 20, 2019December 21, 2019

Double-Minded – James 1: 7-8

That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

I should have included this verse with yesterday’s post. Still, there may be something here for us. Let’s take a look…

James has opened his letter talking about “trials of many kinds” and how from a godly perspective they should be considered “pure joy.” He then writes that he wants believers to be “mature and complete, not lacking in anything.” Immediately he focuses on wisdom. We don’t know why, but James thinks it is important. All we have to do to get godly wisdom is to ask. The caveat is that we need to believe when we ask, Then James contrasts belief with doubts. He says the doubter is like a “wave on the sea.”

In today’s verse, he talks about people who should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Who are these people? Who asks something from the Lord but does not believe?

December 19, 2019December 20, 2019

Opposites – James 1: 6

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James has just written that God is generous in giving to those who ask for wisdom. He makes the point that God is not looking to find fault. God simply wants everyone to have wisdom.

But then James adds this little caveat: “.. you must believe and not doubt…” He compares someone who doubts to a wave on the sea, tossed around by the wind first one way and then another. So what is he talking about?