As I have gone through the book daily, I have written my "conversations" with the Lord. I pray it is a blessing to all who read further.
James 1:1a “James, the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Lord, this statement is not unlike the statements made by the other apostles in their letters. What makes this so different is that James is your half-brother!
What was it like growing up in your household? It must have hard been for James (in the flesh of course), to be in a family with a perfect oldest brother. Did your mom tell all of you over and over that You were the Messiah? If so, from other places in scripture, it does not appear that they believed her. Did James only believe after Your resurrection? Did your mom and stepdad treat you as the “favorite” in front of Your siblings? They would have had every right to since they knew who You were. These are things to ponder for sure, because when you were picked on, Your character as God demands that you be gracious and loving. How different it might have been if you were born as a middle child or the youngest…just musing here. I know why you were the first born.
For James to say here that he is a, “servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” is truly humbling and amazing.
James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,”
Lord, I know there is more to this thought, but You know how weird this statement sounds to those who are unbelievers, new Christians, carnal Christians, and those who are in the flesh (even temporarily)! Why in the world would we count it PURE JOY to be hit with trials? After all, our culture in the USA is all about ease and comfort! When trials and difficulties come, it’s time to whine and complain and feel sorry for ourselves and to get others to feel sorry for us too. And besides, You are saying “whenever”. That means we will …not might or if . Yes, Your Word can be, “foolishness” to those who are unbelievers, and just plain confusing to believers if we stop there.
The truth is, there’s not one of us on this fallen planet who has not had a trial…even You! Babies when they have a full diaper or are hungry think they have a major trial. Children when they have to learn obedience and to share consider that a huge trial. Adolescents in their years of turbulent relationships, ups and downs, and finding their place in the world…WOW, yeah, those are trials to them and to those around them big time! But they do not compare with adulthood and all of its responsibilities, or folks dealing with terminal illnesses, crime, fallen finances, and eviction from their homes, and war. No wonder You say in Your word, “Man’s days are short and full of trouble.”
Without the rest of the book James, one might easily fall into deep despair! Thank You, Lord that you do not leave us there. You are a great and very loving God!
James 1:3 “…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
Lord, You may know folks who love to take tests, but I do not know of even one. I certainly do not relish them because. I guess it is because there is the fear that I’ll be found lacking and that definitely injures my pride. Then I realize how prideful I still am and have to confess that too. So is testing for my ultimate good? Yes indeed…but I still don’t look forward to it, and I should, so please help me Lord to embrace it.
Lord, do really need perseverance? Absolutely I do, and I know that in my head. Do I want to go through testing to get it? No, I don’t, in my flesh. I want that life of ease and comfort we talked about already, no tests, no trials, only blessings. How blind, selfish, and ignorant I am in the flesh, and how arrogant to think that somehow my life should not include the things You had to endure while You were here on my behalf. To date, no one has threatened to beat or kill me, and my beloved church has not turned against me or failed to recognize who I am. For the most part, if I do something nice for folks they appreciate it; they do not threaten to stone me! So why would I complain about a little testing?
In my life and in the lives of the students an parents you send me at work, I have seen you work wonders and answer prayer upon prayer in trails.
Some examples are:
When my son had his kidneys out in 1979 to prepare him for the transplant, the doctors told me that if I didn’t get him to take deep breaths the pneumonia he had would kill him. In despair and tears You led me to the hospital gift shop to find a book of Christmas carols. I sang carols to him, but You used, especially “Silent Night”, by getting him to sing, to start him back on the road to health. Thank You, Lord.
Then when we were about to do the first transplant, You re-established our compatibility on the night before the surgery. As the weeks progressed, the kidney was dying and my son became deathly ill. My husband came home to take me too the hospital the next day to basically say good-by. That night I prayed that if this was a test to see if I trusted You not only for my salvation, but also with the life of my son, I did trust You. As we were coming up in the elevator the next morning, I heard our son singing quite loudly, “Jesus loves me this I know!” Somehow during the night, You, Lord began an amazing healing process that would make even the doctors believe in You! Thank You, Lord
You allowed an act that I thought was an ultimate kindness given to a dear friend to be a horrible offence to her. It broke out relationship even though I sought forgiveness with tears. You taught me in this, that I can only be responsible for my own actions, not for the repentance of others. You also toughened my hide some, too. Thank You, Lord.
We went through a period when my husband was under the influence of prescription drugs addiction because the doctors who had operated on him were trying to cover a mistake they had made in a surgery with medication, and You brought him out of that too. Thank You, Lord.
We’ve gone through layoffs, financial ruin, loss of possessions, many more surgeries and years of disability both for my son and husband, countless hours in the hospital and at the dialysis units in Rochester, NY and the list goes on and on…but EVERY time, YOU proved faithful!
Were the tests hard to go through at the time? Absolutely they were! Did You teach me patience and perseverance through each one? Absolutley! Thank You, Lord, for Your wisdom, loving grace, and mercy that You have not allowed me to stay in the “baby” state I was in as a new Christian. I am able to encourage others and to help build their faith because of my trials. Thank You, Lord, for testing my faith. Through it You have shown me Your love and faithfulness and You show me where I still need to trust and grow. As always, YOU know best.
James 1:4 “Perseverance must finish its work ”
Perseverance must (not should) finish its work. Lord this obviously is not a suggestion, but a command. Perseverance is not a trait that is common today, especially in the areas of our youth, marriage, or even jobs for that matter. When things get a little tough folks take their own lives or the lives of their unborn, divorce their mates leaving a broken family and children in the wake, and quit work or refuse to work and go on welfare.
The Enemy is screaming, “Give up! Life’s not worth this. This situation is unfixable and you are a fool to think that someone would want to, or could, help you! You are a loser and there is no hope for you, so you might as well end this pain and escape while you can!”
Lord, how different Your Word’s message is. While the Enemy sits back and laughs with hideous glee at our failures, Your Word speaks of hope! “…that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” What a different statement than the Enemy’s! What a blessing. Trials are not the curse we perceive them to be, but are much like the pain athletes must endure to become fit enough to excel at their sport. Help me again, Sweet Jesus, to embrace them not fight them.
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask of God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
Good morning, Lord! I see something this morning I’ve never seen before…at least I think I do. You are saying that if any of us lacks wisdom IN OUR TRIALS and TESTS, aren’t You? I’ve always read this verse as a whole separate principle. Of course we need wisdom to deal with the details of our trials, but we also need Your wisdom to be able to count them as pure joy!
Within ourselves and by ourselves, we do not have it. Lord, You are so precious and giving. You say here that all we need do is ask and You will give us Your wisdom generously. You don’t give little bits and pieces, but You pour it on us like an unending shower.
Because I am a mom of three boys, now men, this speaks volumes to me. When my children were growing up, especially in the second to twelfth grade years I suppose, they would find themselves in a trial. Some were small like being picked on during playground time or standing at the bus stop. Some were bigger like having to have a swallowed quarter extracted, or trying to decide whether to join the Navy or not, car wrecks and broken relationships with their girl friends. Some were huge like having multiple seizures after dialysis and having to be in the hospital for weeks to regain your health and personality, or having two more failed kidney transplant attempts.
Those times were hard and I had desperately wanted to give them wisdom You had given me. When they asked in their own way, I wanted to dump a truckload of it on them. You don’t pick on us or laugh at us for asking, nor would I have.
James 1:6a “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt,”
When we ask for wisdom in our trials and tests, we “must believe and not doubt”. Lord, do You mean believe that You will give that wisdom or that we must believe that which You give is IS Your wisdom? I know that sounds vague, but that’s why I’m asking.
My thoughts are:
· If I don’t believe You have wisdom, why would I ask You for it?
· If I believed that You had wisdom, but would not give it, why would I ask You for it?
· If I am asking the God of all creation who sees me as His child and the jewel of His creation and I know He loves me, and You hold all things together with your WORD, for wisdom; why would I not believe what You gave me? You are all knowing after all.
Do You mean to trust Your wisdom like when You told Joshua and Your children to march around Jericho 7 times and then shout and the great and mighty walls would fall down? Or maybe when You told Gideon to go against the mighty Midiantite army of tens of thousands with 300 men with pitchers, trumpets, and torches and You would give them victory? In both circumstances, Your leaders and Your children were is desperate times, and You certainly gave them Your wisdom, but in human thinking Your plan seemed laughable. Yet in both cases You worked out Your plan, with Your Miracle, in Your power, and You got the glory!
I often have students, (Your children), in my office who find themselves in seemingly impossible circumstances in which neither the school, nor I personally, can help. I tell them if the school or I could help, we would get the glory; but instead You are up to something great and wonderful in their lives and if they ask for wisdom, You will give it. Then, when their situation is worked out perfectly, You alone will get the glory. You want and deserve all of the glory and we will freely give it to You!
No comments:
Post a Comment