Category: James

“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”

I have heard some people say that Christians (or perhaps religious people in general) have just been brainwashed to believe a certain set of ideas. When you really look at it, perhaps we have all just been conditioned to think a certain way so we view the world through that lens. Atheists would say that what you see is what you get — there is no God/god or spiritual explanation for our world.

The problem with this thinking is that one could easily claim that a non-believer has been brainwashed to think only in practical or earthly ways. They eliminate God because they have been conditioned to think this is a higher form of thought. So which is it?

These verses tell us not to be misled (or brainwashed). What follows gives us insight into what it would mean to be misled: if you think that God does not have good gifts for you (perfect ones, in fact) and if you think that God changes or has it out for you, you’ve been misled. Your ideas about God are wrong. It’s interesting to me that a lot of people have these exact beliefs about God.

If that sounds like a crazy idea to you, consider the possibility that you have been brainwashed into thinking of God as an angry old man or as a distant force out there somewhere. I challenge you to seek what is true. These verses claim that you are God’s prized possession. What if that were actually real? God hasn’t changed since before time, and he isn’t about to start now. He’s always been for you. Maybe today it’s time to start buying that idea and stop being misled once and for all.

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

These verses are another “Heads up, Christian! I’m about to say something extra important!” moment. Understand this. Okay, I’m paying attention. Grabbing my notebook and pencil to start taking notes. What do I need to understand? Be quick to listen. Ok. Slow to speak. Hrrrmmm. Slow to get angry. (Flashes to multiple examples of anger from last week, breaks note-taking pencil…)

Anger is bad for you. Filth and evil are bad for you. God’s word has the power to save you. So why is it so hard to listen, keep our mouths shut, not get angry, and stay away from filth? Just a thought, but perhaps it is because our culture says the exact opposite to us every single day. Speak your mind, don’t let anyone walk on you, watch this TV show called “Filth and Evil.” The Christian life is the total opposite of American expectations. And in James’ world it must have been happening too.

The only way to accomplish this revolutionary, other worldly attitude in which you listen, hold back and maintain peace is to humbly accept the word God has placed in your heart. What is that word? There could be a lot of answers, including his laws and his promises. But to me, there is just one important word: love. God has said, “I love you. I have more for you. The world has nothing but fake, shiny things that disappoint as soon as you get your hands on them. Come with me and I’ll show you a better way.” Today will you join me in humbly receiving an undeserved love that transforms?

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

Memory is a powerful thing. Imagine what life would be like if as soon as you stepped away from looking in the mirror you completely forgot what you looked like. How would that impact your sense of identity? What images would you use to think about yourself? Whether you like looking in the mirror or not, you still know what you look like and this gives you a sense of who you are. You know you look, think and act differently than others because you are a unique you.

When we read the Bible and then promptly act in ways that are completely the opposite of what it says, we lose our sense of ourselves. We lose the identity that grounds us in God, which is our most free self. You completely forget who you are when you do not apply the word of God to your life. If you want to be truly free, you have to stare long and hard in that Bible-mirror and take in all that you see. Only then can you make changes, just like if you notice your bedhead you can fix your hair properly.

God’s promises and his laws reveal things about who we are and the ways sin is harming us. If you want to know who you are and who you can become, read the Bible. Engage with God as you relate to him in his living and active words. Imagine if your mirror were also a hair stylist. You could look in there in the morning, recognize some hairs that need to be put back in place, and then ask the mirror to fix it for you. All you would need to do is be willing to look carefully, ask for help and then hold still. The Holy Spirit operates in the words of the Bible to transform us when we invite that process. So take a good, long, hard look today and ask God to show you the places where you are not free. Let him untangle your hair one strand at a time.

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

These are some of the best and worst verses in the Bible. It’s one of those rubber-meets-the-road moments when you are forced to look at whether or not your actions line up with your beliefs. There are a whole lot of us that say one thing and do another (hint: all of us…), so we need to really examine who we are claiming to be. If I’m advertising myself as a person of deep faith in Jesus, I better be able to watch my mouth. If I don’t I am just kidding myself. Whatever I’m calling “religion” is completely worthless. What comes out of your mouth is the measure of your inner spiritual life.

If you want to actually follow God, he gives a pretty clear instruction: take care of marginalized people and be different than the world around you. In our current political and social climate, caring for people in distress is actually a dividing issue in the church. No matter how you vote, as a Christian you are called to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. And being different means that you don’t try to cozy up to power or money or anything else our culture values.

Following Jesus isn’t about who you are when everyone is watching. It is about who you are behind closed doors, with your most intimate relationships and even when you are all by yourself. Yes, there is grace for you when you sin and lose control of your tongue or turn a blind eye to someone in need. But lack of cultivation in these areas will dry out your inner spiritual life, and pretty soon it’s all just for show. If you want to know God in the deepest parts of your soul, control your tongue. If you want to truly be a representative of Jesus, care for those hurting around you. The ones that have no one else. That is where Jesus is.

Take a moment to read James 2:1-8 before reading the devotional below.

Funny how we tend to act differently around different people. At a conference I attended in Chicago, Joyce Meyer challenged us on favoritism when she said that if a poor-looking person asked us for a ride home we might complain or say no, but everyone would probably be more than willing to give her a ride home! As we are seeing on the political scene right now, when Christians cozy up to money and power we lose what it means to be followers of Jesus.

Do you have relationships with materially poor people? If you don’t, you don’t know what you are missing. Those with nothing to lose are some of the most honest, caring and humble people I have ever met. I chose to live and serve in an inner city specifically so that I would spend time with people different than I was used to. The front row of our church makes me so proud every single Sunday because of these verses in James. Sometimes they are a little too rowdy and I’m pretty sure Jesus absolutely loves it.

Imagine if we wandered the streets looking for people who had nothing and we handed them a set of keys to a brand new mansion (where nothing ever breaks!). God is so generous, and he is also incredibly unimpressed by earthly wealth and status. If you are chasing money, power, status, fame, or the next best thing then you are running farther and farther from God’s kingdom. The best inheritance goes to the ones who will appreciate it most.