My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. –James 2:1
I’m quite a bit behind in the study due to illness that made its way through our house. (Doesn’t it always with small children?) And with a sudden need to purchase a new vehicle, which took up all my free time outside of work and caring for family.
As a result, I just reached the day’s lesson that talks about about treating everyone equally and not showing favoritism. This message seems particularly meaningful and applicable at this time. With the recent school shooting tragedy in Ohio, media attention is once more focused on bullying. Was the shooter a bullied outsider, as some have said? It’s true that even if he was, that is not an excuse for what he did. He’s still responsible for his own actions.
However, an event like this should make each of us stop and consider:
Are we actively doing anything to prevent tragedies born of resentment and loneliness from happening in our own neighborhood? Have we taught our children that God created everyone and loves them…and then taught our children to love like He loves? Have we taught our children that to have a friend, you must be a friend? And to treat others like we want to be treated? If we have, then there’s no reason for someone to say of a child in one of our schools “Oh, he doesn’t have any friends.”
As adults, do we actively seek out people who need our help and who need our friendship? Do we sit visit with the same people at work every day and ignore others? Do we make everyone we come in contact with, whether it’s a waitress or our boss or a bus driver or a celebrity, feel equally like they are special in our eyes? There are some simple things we can do, like greeting someone who is walking alone, that might be a small thing to us…and make a huge difference to them. We should apply such means of showing people that we love them, whether small things or large, equally and without regards to looks, race, or whether they may ever be able to return the favor, as we teach our children to do the same.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sorry for the Delay
All,
I am sorry that I haven't posted for awhile. It's been a whirlwind going from unemployed to having a new job. A whirlwind of activity and busy-ness, but definitely a blessing! I am so thankful to have a job. And it is a job that I am really enjoying, as well. God definitely closed one door to open another wonderful one in His timing.
In addition, this past week, everyone in our house has been sick at one time or another (or several at a time...and a couple sick with two different things at once). Nothing serious, but time-consuming. Tummy bug and some kind of cold-like-upper-respiratory-thing made the rounds. So I've been being Doctor Mom (or patient at the same time for a few of those days). I've been resting this weekend and will be back to blogging tomorrow on Monday.
Thank you all for your patience. I'm really sorry for the gap in posts!
I am sorry that I haven't posted for awhile. It's been a whirlwind going from unemployed to having a new job. A whirlwind of activity and busy-ness, but definitely a blessing! I am so thankful to have a job. And it is a job that I am really enjoying, as well. God definitely closed one door to open another wonderful one in His timing.
In addition, this past week, everyone in our house has been sick at one time or another (or several at a time...and a couple sick with two different things at once). Nothing serious, but time-consuming. Tummy bug and some kind of cold-like-upper-respiratory-thing made the rounds. So I've been being Doctor Mom (or patient at the same time for a few of those days). I've been resting this weekend and will be back to blogging tomorrow on Monday.
Thank you all for your patience. I'm really sorry for the gap in posts!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Poor in Spirit
Let the brother of low degree rejoicein that he is exalted. -James 1:9
A large portion of our study in the second week focused on the poor and how they are blessed to know that one day they will be exalted. The flip-side of this is that the rich must realize that their riches are only fleeting, and someday all of it will be taken from them, whether by calamity in this life...or by its ending. No one keeps their worldly possessions forever.
The emphasis here should be on the rich realizing the transient nature of their wealth. Many well-meaning Bible teachers put forward the opinion that being rich is somehow evil in and of itself. Neither this, nor some inherent righteousness about poverty, is supported in scripture. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was also insanely rich in worldly goods. Joseph counseled the Egyptians to store up wealth, keeping it safe against the time of famine that was to come. Clearly, riches themselves are not the problem.
The problem is with our attitude about riches. If our attitude is one of selfishness and an unwillingness to share, then we are sick with a hardened heart against our fellow man. If our attitude is one of stern self-reliance and trusting in our wealth, then we have hardened our heart instead against God and refused to recognize his provisions or our dependence on him.
Jesus said, "Blessed are the POOR IN SPIRIT."
Until we were discussing this lesson in small group, I had never really understood what that meant. I'd read it, wondered about it, but never really heard or thought of an answer that satisfied the question, "What is Jesus talking about 'poor in spirit'?"
After discussing, here is what I think that means:
To be poor in spirit means to live with the mindset of someone who is poor. No matter what your financial station is, to keep the mindset of one who lives in poverty. That is to recognize that you NEED God. When we're coasting along and everything's okay financially, we're very tempted to say, "I got this..." when really, we don't. We've got some temporary handle on the situation...but God's really the one in control. We need to acknowledge His lordship and the fact that we need Him every day, just as much as we would acknowledge it if we were down to our last dollar and needed to buy groceries for the week. We should realize, every day, THAT'S how desperately WE NEED GOD.
A large portion of our study in the second week focused on the poor and how they are blessed to know that one day they will be exalted. The flip-side of this is that the rich must realize that their riches are only fleeting, and someday all of it will be taken from them, whether by calamity in this life...or by its ending. No one keeps their worldly possessions forever.
The emphasis here should be on the rich realizing the transient nature of their wealth. Many well-meaning Bible teachers put forward the opinion that being rich is somehow evil in and of itself. Neither this, nor some inherent righteousness about poverty, is supported in scripture. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was also insanely rich in worldly goods. Joseph counseled the Egyptians to store up wealth, keeping it safe against the time of famine that was to come. Clearly, riches themselves are not the problem.
The problem is with our attitude about riches. If our attitude is one of selfishness and an unwillingness to share, then we are sick with a hardened heart against our fellow man. If our attitude is one of stern self-reliance and trusting in our wealth, then we have hardened our heart instead against God and refused to recognize his provisions or our dependence on him.
Jesus said, "Blessed are the POOR IN SPIRIT."
Until we were discussing this lesson in small group, I had never really understood what that meant. I'd read it, wondered about it, but never really heard or thought of an answer that satisfied the question, "What is Jesus talking about 'poor in spirit'?"
After discussing, here is what I think that means:
To be poor in spirit means to live with the mindset of someone who is poor. No matter what your financial station is, to keep the mindset of one who lives in poverty. That is to recognize that you NEED God. When we're coasting along and everything's okay financially, we're very tempted to say, "I got this..." when really, we don't. We've got some temporary handle on the situation...but God's really the one in control. We need to acknowledge His lordship and the fact that we need Him every day, just as much as we would acknowledge it if we were down to our last dollar and needed to buy groceries for the week. We should realize, every day, THAT'S how desperately WE NEED GOD.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Single-Minded Purpose
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." -James 1:5-8
God promises to give wisdom to those who ask for wisdom, providing we ask in faith. Providing we are not double-minded. What does it mean to be double-minded? What does it mean to ask in faith?
Elsewhere in his writing, if we don't mind skipping ahead a little to tie things together, James tells us, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). So, having faith implies having works. When you ask in faith for wisdom, what that means is to ask for wisdom intent to act on it. Asking for wisdom in faith means that when that wisdom comes, we are fully expecting to take that wisdom and behave according to what is revealed to us.
That seems like a simple thing, but consider that God's wisdom may call for acting in a way that is inconsistent with what makes sense to us. When Gideon sought wisdom by laying out a fleece to get a sign from God, it made so little sense to him that, after receiving a miraculous result, he repeated his experiment to make sure of the results!
The Bible is very clear that God's wisdom and our wisdom will not necessarily equate:
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:9
When we ask in faith, we must be willing to act on what is revealed to us. To do anything other than that is to be the double-minded man that James spoke of.
God promises to give wisdom to those who ask for wisdom, providing we ask in faith. Providing we are not double-minded. What does it mean to be double-minded? What does it mean to ask in faith?
Elsewhere in his writing, if we don't mind skipping ahead a little to tie things together, James tells us, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). So, having faith implies having works. When you ask in faith for wisdom, what that means is to ask for wisdom intent to act on it. Asking for wisdom in faith means that when that wisdom comes, we are fully expecting to take that wisdom and behave according to what is revealed to us.
That seems like a simple thing, but consider that God's wisdom may call for acting in a way that is inconsistent with what makes sense to us. When Gideon sought wisdom by laying out a fleece to get a sign from God, it made so little sense to him that, after receiving a miraculous result, he repeated his experiment to make sure of the results!
The Bible is very clear that God's wisdom and our wisdom will not necessarily equate:
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:9
When we ask in faith, we must be willing to act on what is revealed to us. To do anything other than that is to be the double-minded man that James spoke of.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Gift of Following Christ - John 6:65
Sometimes we as Christians wonder how our friends, our family, and our loved ones don't see the same Truth that we see. We wonder how they can look around at the world and not realize that there is a God. Or how they acknowledge that there's some kind of God, yet refuse to accept the gift of salvation that God gives to us through his Son. The answer is that no one can just choose to accept Jesus unless that acceptance is planted in his heart by God the Father.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking of unbelief among his own disciples, the men he was teaching among every day during his earthly ministry, and he says:
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (John 6:65)
We may be more familiar with Jesus' words about coming to the Father, when Jesus says elsewhere in the book of John:
I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
But it is clear that while no one comes to God the Father except through a relationhip with Jesus Christ, also no one comes to acceptance of that same relationship except if the Father gives the person the ability to do so.
Think of your friends who you have witnessed to, of those you hope to see accept Christ and all that He has done for them. And then pray that they will accept...praying that God will give them the capacity TO accept that wonderful gift.
And reflect on the fact that you didn't choose God...at least not initially. First, He chose YOU.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking of unbelief among his own disciples, the men he was teaching among every day during his earthly ministry, and he says:
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (John 6:65)
We may be more familiar with Jesus' words about coming to the Father, when Jesus says elsewhere in the book of John:
I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
But it is clear that while no one comes to God the Father except through a relationhip with Jesus Christ, also no one comes to acceptance of that same relationship except if the Father gives the person the ability to do so.
Think of your friends who you have witnessed to, of those you hope to see accept Christ and all that He has done for them. And then pray that they will accept...praying that God will give them the capacity TO accept that wonderful gift.
And reflect on the fact that you didn't choose God...at least not initially. First, He chose YOU.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Keeping in Memory - I Corinthians 15:1-8
I know you may have looked at the scripture reference today and thought, "I Corinthians? That's not James..."
This is one of the first scriptures that Moore uses in the study. She doesn't jump right into the book of James, but uses these scriptures to provide some background. She focusses on verses 5-8, which list the various people who saw Jesus physically after his resurrection.
However, something else in this passage jumped out at me as I was reading it. Verse 1-2.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you that gospel which I reached unto you, which also ye have received, and werein you stand; By which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."
The Apostle Paul urged his reader to "keep in memory" what he had told them. This would have been extremely important in the ancient world, where most people probably could not read, and even those who could probably did not have a copy of Paul's letters there at hand to read. These letters would have been read out loud in a church, providing encouragement to the listeners. They weren't available to take home and peruse. So, anything you wanted to remember, it had to be memorized.
The final level of participation is to memorize the book of James. That may seem like a daunting task. Some know immediately "THAT'S what I want to do"...others may know for a fact that it's something they simply do not have the time to do, based on many other good activities and commitments in their life, and that's fine.
But there are some who are sitting on the fence...thinking "That sure would be neat, but I just don't know..." or "Well, if I had time," or "If I knew how to memorize...but I don't". You're trying to decide if that committment is right for you.
This post is for you. I'd like to encourage you, if you haven't made up your mind one way or the other, to give it a try. ESPCIALLY if your reason for not doing so runs along the lines of, "I can't."
Paul says "keep in memory what I have preached".
The Psalmist said:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)
In Deuteronomy, the command is given:
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul (Deuteronomy 11:18a)
All through scripture, an emphasis is put on memorizing of God's word. God expects us to memorize His words. He would never command us to do something that we don't have the capacity to do. He will give us the ability if we are doing something in faith to follow one of His commands.
So...if you're fence-sitting, and the fence you are sitting on is made out of fenceposts of "can't", then get off the fence and give the memorizing a try.
I'm not trying to guilt anyone into memorizing. Beth doesn't...I certainly won't. If you know you don't have time to memorize the whole book, then that's just fine. I'd still ecourage you to memorize some of the verses. Whatever stands out as being something particularly applicable to you. As Beth says in her first session, "A little Word is better than no Word."
This is one of the first scriptures that Moore uses in the study. She doesn't jump right into the book of James, but uses these scriptures to provide some background. She focusses on verses 5-8, which list the various people who saw Jesus physically after his resurrection.
However, something else in this passage jumped out at me as I was reading it. Verse 1-2.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you that gospel which I reached unto you, which also ye have received, and werein you stand; By which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."
The Apostle Paul urged his reader to "keep in memory" what he had told them. This would have been extremely important in the ancient world, where most people probably could not read, and even those who could probably did not have a copy of Paul's letters there at hand to read. These letters would have been read out loud in a church, providing encouragement to the listeners. They weren't available to take home and peruse. So, anything you wanted to remember, it had to be memorized.
The final level of participation is to memorize the book of James. That may seem like a daunting task. Some know immediately "THAT'S what I want to do"...others may know for a fact that it's something they simply do not have the time to do, based on many other good activities and commitments in their life, and that's fine.
But there are some who are sitting on the fence...thinking "That sure would be neat, but I just don't know..." or "Well, if I had time," or "If I knew how to memorize...but I don't". You're trying to decide if that committment is right for you.
This post is for you. I'd like to encourage you, if you haven't made up your mind one way or the other, to give it a try. ESPCIALLY if your reason for not doing so runs along the lines of, "I can't."
Paul says "keep in memory what I have preached".
The Psalmist said:
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)
In Deuteronomy, the command is given:
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul (Deuteronomy 11:18a)
All through scripture, an emphasis is put on memorizing of God's word. God expects us to memorize His words. He would never command us to do something that we don't have the capacity to do. He will give us the ability if we are doing something in faith to follow one of His commands.
So...if you're fence-sitting, and the fence you are sitting on is made out of fenceposts of "can't", then get off the fence and give the memorizing a try.
I'm not trying to guilt anyone into memorizing. Beth doesn't...I certainly won't. If you know you don't have time to memorize the whole book, then that's just fine. I'd still ecourage you to memorize some of the verses. Whatever stands out as being something particularly applicable to you. As Beth says in her first session, "A little Word is better than no Word."
Welcome to the Book of James Bible Study
Ladies,
The North Pointe Baptist Church Women's Ministry has just gotten into the meat of our study on the Book of James. The study is James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore. Study guides can be purchased at the church for $15. For anyone reading the blog from remote but not attending the study, a study guide can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/James-Mercy-Triumphs-Member-Book/dp/141587171X/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327676727&sr=1-1
or at your local Christian bookstore.
However, neither this blog nor the study guide will give you the full Bible study. Much of the material is contained in weekly video sessions taught by Beth Moore, and the experience will be neither the same...nor complete...without those sessions. I encourage you to find a church in your area that is using the study and join in with a local ministry to enjoy the study in its entirety.
This blog will not include information verbatim from the study guide or the videos in most cases, so it is not a substitute for actually doing the study. I've tried to not borrow too heavily from the printed material and the videos exactly, both to keep from violating copyright and to keep from boring readers who have already explored that material in its entirety at the weekly sessions.
I hope that you'll find this blog enjoyable and that it will bless you. I look forward to exploring the book of James alongside Beth Moore...and you.
The North Pointe Baptist Church Women's Ministry has just gotten into the meat of our study on the Book of James. The study is James: Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore. Study guides can be purchased at the church for $15. For anyone reading the blog from remote but not attending the study, a study guide can be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/James-Mercy-Triumphs-Member-Book/dp/141587171X/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327676727&sr=1-1
or at your local Christian bookstore.
However, neither this blog nor the study guide will give you the full Bible study. Much of the material is contained in weekly video sessions taught by Beth Moore, and the experience will be neither the same...nor complete...without those sessions. I encourage you to find a church in your area that is using the study and join in with a local ministry to enjoy the study in its entirety.
This blog will not include information verbatim from the study guide or the videos in most cases, so it is not a substitute for actually doing the study. I've tried to not borrow too heavily from the printed material and the videos exactly, both to keep from violating copyright and to keep from boring readers who have already explored that material in its entirety at the weekly sessions.
I hope that you'll find this blog enjoyable and that it will bless you. I look forward to exploring the book of James alongside Beth Moore...and you.
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