Righteous Living – Page 40 – Three Minute Bible

January 25, 2020March 27, 2020

Distractions – James 2: 5

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?”

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.

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020

Time Machine – James 2: 1

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

Imagine for a moment that you have been transported back in time to the days just after Jesus was raised from the dead. God has picked you, yes YOU, to be responsible for the shepherding of a thousand newly converted believers. The believers you are responsible for are all Jewish converts.

Now, answer the following question: When your believers accepted Jesus as Messiah, were they immediately changed into people who reflected God’s values?

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020

Wisdom Wednesday – Labyrinth

For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.

— Proverbs 2: 6, 9

The problem with being human – that is, being human without knowing God – is that we don’t understand the difference between right and wrong. That is not to say we do not ever do what is right. It just means that we do not know what is right.

As a human, we can say this is good and that is bad, but our knowledge is imperfect. (Ecclesiastes 11: 5) We do not know what lies beyond our vision. We cannot know how all things turn out. Because we cannot know the ending, we cannot know for certain if something is good or bad. Everything depends on how it turns out at the end.

January 21, 2020January 22, 2020

Two Pictures – James 1: 27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I can relate to James. I like the way his mind works. What we are reading in his letter is the mind of God expressed through the lens of James’ life. (Keeping in mind that all of this is orchestrated by God’s Holy Spirit!)

In the prior verse, James describes the very worst kind of religion. It is so bad that he calls it “worthless.” In today’s verse, James goes to the other end of the spectrum. Today he shows us the kind of religion that is “pure and faultless.”

January 18, 2020January 25, 2020

TWCTRAYDNKATROTT – James 1: 26

I love this picture of the goose. He seems to be saying, ”Are you talking to me?!” – JE

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

A little while ago, in verse 19, James laid out a roadmap to spiritual success in God’s eyes. He said we should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. (We examined these three principles in the posts titled: Stop the Spinning! – James 1: 19 Part I, Pause Button – James 1: 19 Part II, Spiritual Gemstones – James 1: 19 Part III, and The Patience of God – James 1: 20.) Today he returns to the principle of “be slow to speak.”

Are you religious? Wondering what James was thinking when he chose that word, I looked it up in Strong’s Concordance. The Greek word James used was, thrēskos. It suggests a pious and public kind of attitude towards God. Such a person might cry out to God loudly in the street, or find other ways to show others how religious they are.

January 17, 2020January 17, 2020

Dinner Time – James 1: 25

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

The Greek word for “looks intently” is parakyptō. Strong’s Concordance says that the word suggests a person is stooping or bending over to look into something. I was trying to think of an analogy for this kind of looking and I finally found one. Have you ever found yourself gazing into the refrigerator looking for something to eat?

January 16, 2020January 20, 2020

Mirror Mirror – James 1: 23-24

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

The human mind contains an incredible array of built-in abilities. One of those abilities is being able to recognize faces.

Faces are especially interesting. A person’s eyes are incredibly unique and able to convey hundreds (maybe thousands!) of expressions. The rest of our face frames the eyes and adds more information to our expressions.

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020

Wisdom Wednesday – A Tale of Two Mowers

For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Proverbs 2: 6-8

Does anybody want wisdom anymore? Is that even a “thing” these days? How about knowledge? What is that, anyway? People seem to claim different things as being true. They want me and you to accept what they claim is knowledge regardless of whether it makes any sense or not. Which brings us to “understanding.” Whose do we use, anyway?

The problem in a society where everyone wins and no one loses is expectations. When people who never lose grow up they continue to expect to be treated as a winner, even if their ideas are losers.

For example, let’s take two neighbors; Harry and Larry. Harry is a humble man, attentive to the Lord, and always looking for the “right” thing to do. Larry, who lives next door, is generally full of himself. As far as he is concerned, he is always “right” and doesn’t need to bother with learning from anyone else.

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020

Ain’t Foolin’ Nobody – James 1: 22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Did I mention that James is … er… somewhat blunt? I did? Good. ‘Cause he is.

James packs a lot of truth into his brief staccato sentences so we might need to unpack some of this. Not that it is complicated or anything. It is just that what he is talking about is something we might be doing at this very moment.

Are you being “quick to listen” or are you “merely listen[ing]?”