James asked the question: What use is it . . . if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? He continued with a second question: Can that faith save him? Let’s make the sense of it a little more clear: Can “that kind of faith” save him? Allow me to offer an even more accurate translation: That kind of faith can’t save him, can it? Perhaps, it’s a good idea to determine the kind of faith we have.
Most of us have experienced at least one life-changing event, if not more, the kind of event that has hammered us for years and may still crush the spirit. If you are among those, there is hope in your hurt. Don’t miss this opportunity to find that hope. You may be moments away from cutting loose the past and enjoying the present.
Our treatment of others is to be based, not on external factors, but upon one factor and one factor only – a factor that James called the royal law. James presented this law as the ideal measure of Christian expression and action. Yet, is its practice to be considered as a realistic expectation? Let me think.
As long as Jacob had one more ace up his sleeve, one more rabbit to pull out of the hat, one more alternative to rely upon, he gritted his teeth and pulled up his boot straps. But at length he realized that the well had run dry. At last, Jacob, the trickster, ran out of tricks. When Jacob had nowhere to go but God then he finally started getting somewhere.
Two thousand years ago God added a new letter to our alphabet in the Virgin
Conception. God had to add a new letter because no existing letter could spell
Immanuel, which means God with us. Therefore, if you want to find Christmas you’ll
have to journey beyond zebra.
All these things are against me, Jacob cried out. Can you believe that such an assertion
could come from the lips of a person who supposedly trusted God? Yet, how often we
feel exactly as Jacob! He had become convinced that everything had worked counter
to his longings, when in fact, everything had happened directly in his favor. The same
is true for you. This ancient story rushes headlong into our lives and changes
everything. Don’t doubt it.
Do you want to get the most ever out of Christmas? Then forget – at least for a while – what’s out there to buy for others, or what’s out there for others to buy for us, and spend time focusing on the people who normally cross our paths during the Christmas holidays. Paul shows us exactly how to make that happen. Prepare yourself for something extraordinary.
I have a distaste for the word religion. In fact, I object to the use of the term, especially when it comes to Christianity. Yet, James used the words religion and/or religious three times in two consecutive verses. Yikes! What do you think he meant? Is Christianity nothing more than a religion? Are you religious, and is being religious enough? I wonder. Do you?
Did you know that the habit of offering thanksgiving to God can produce mental and
emotional healing? Someone has said that truly grateful people bubble and overflow,
bringing refreshment not only to others but to themselves. Perhaps it’s time to let
loose with a celebration of thanksgiving. Someone just might discover that life is
worth living well – and that someone just might be you.
The secret of power is the secret of character, says Griffith Thomas, and the secret of character is the indwelling of God. Though Pharaoh was a pagan he recognized in Joseph a man who communed with a high and mighty divine being. When we live with God, people know it! When we live with God, our whole being is affected. Because he lived with God, Joseph became a person who could git-r-done! We can be that person too.