Sin – Page 11 – Three Minute Bible

March 14, 2020March 14, 2020

James 4: 2b-3 — Water

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What is it you really need? Do you know? Needs are things we sometimes take for granted. For example, we need water but we don’t always want water. But take away your favorite beverages and plain water starts to look pretty good. Imagine you no longer have access to coffee or tea, sodas or fruit juice, or any other of the hundreds of possibilities. Now water looks great!

Here in the Northwest, we have a seemingly unlimited supply of water. But suppose you find yourself stranded in the middle of Eastern Oregon, miles from any town. Now you need water.

What else do we need, but sometimes lose sight of in the midst of all our daily distractions?

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020

James 3: 16-18 – Discernment

Picture of a small boy sticking out his tongue

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

At the end of my post yesterday I asked this question: “Why is it good to be able to discern who is wise among a group of believers?”

In James’ letter, he tells us about the dangers of the tongue and the importance of taming it. I agree, and I agree that I need to tame mine first. Yet where the tongue is not reined in, James warns that it can ignite a great forest fire. It can corrupt the whole body. If it can corrupt an individual’s body can it also corrupt the church body?

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020

James 3: 9-12 — Gob and Nob

Twin boys with blond hair. One is smiling the other looks afraid.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Purity of speech is a beautiful thing. To speak only what the Father wants us to say is to speak light into the world. Sadly, our world is hopelessly corrupt. No one is righteous… (Romans 3: 10)

Imagine for a moment, two children that happen to be identical twins. Both are boys. Both look alike. But inside they are different. One is very good, and the other is very bad. Let’s call the good twin, Gob and the bad twin, Nob. How are their worlds different?

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 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 4, 2020March 5, 2020

Three Angry Men – Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

In the story of the Parable of the Prodigal Son,* there is a minor character that we don’t get to meet until the end of the story. After the prodigal is welcomed home by his father, his dad throws a party for him. The older brother is out in the field and is incensed that his wayward brother should be honored in this way. Even when his father comes out to him to beg him to come into the party he refuses. I think it is safe to say that the older brother was angry.

Our definition of anger in “Anger’s Cause” goes like this:

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

The older brother expected that the younger brother would get what is coming to him. After all, he had demanded that his father give him half the estate and then ran off and squandered it. Who knows what he did with all that money! Then he has the nerve to come home and ask for a job from his dad.

February 29, 2020March 1, 2020

Anger’s Judgement – 1 Corinthians 6:1-3

If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

So far we have talked about what causes anger, and about the power of anger. The main thesis has been that anger by itself is neither good or bad, but is a sign of a deeper pain. In “Anger’s Power” we discussed the good or bad part. Anger based on a violation of God’s values is more righteous than anger based on a bruise to our ego. Today I would like to look at ways we can evaluate the anger we are confronted with in ourselves or someone else.

There is a touching story in 1 Samuel about the friendship between David and the son of King Saul, Jonathan. Saul has been stricken by a wild jealousy of David. The jealousy has roused a fit of powerful anger in Saul and he tries several times to skewer David on a spear. David escapes only to be reconciled to Saul by the efforts of his friend Jonathan.

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020

James 3: 2 – A Show of Hands

We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

How many of you (dear readers) are never at fault in what you say? I am taking James at his word when he writes “never.” So when we say, “… never at fault…” we mean someone who is not at fault and has never been at fault.

Hmmm… I’m not seeing a show of hands.

Let’s try the other side of the coin: How many of you have been at fault in what you say at least once in your lives?

Ahhh! Now I see everyone’s hand!

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.