Chapter 1
The half-brother of Jesus, James, begins this letter with a statement of joy. Under the counsel of God’s Holy Spirit, James tells Christians to be glad when temptations to sin come to mind, because they can serve as an opportunity to strengthen their faith in Christ. These temptations do not come from God, but from our own sinful ways. If we choose to look to God during our troubles, He will surely supply the strength and patience needed for us to endure. Through every trouble, God desires to care for us, and He does! Our job is to trust Him with the process. Our waiting for God’s healing is never in vain. Those who remain patient with God will receive His promises. During our waiting, James advises Christians to grow in their faith, to not be lured by sinful desires that tempt our bodies. Temptation, when nurtured by our sinful habits, will result in sin and a constant decision to choose sin over God will lead to death (life separated from God). James then reminds his brothers and sisters of the faith to seek God with a whole heart. Like children, we can ask our Heavenly Father for anything. Let nothing go unsaid, for nothing is left unheard. Avoid being mixed regarding God’s love and wisdom. Faith and constant doubt cannot coexist, resulting in one to be unstable in all activity. Being indecisive about God will only stunt our commitment to Him. Understand that God is forever good and wants the best for you, never doubt that. God is our supplier; no money, or status can aid us in our spiritual growth. These materials pass away and will soon amount to nothing, but every gift from heaven is perfect, and remains forever. As chosen people, we must listen to God’s truth with a full intent to utilize it for life and teaching others about Jesus’ love, death, and resurrection (all to save us from a death we deserve). Replace any anger and sinful habits with a desire to know and hear our God more! Do not just attend church, go out and be the church. Make God’s word your guide and practice, any other way/religion will create a deceptive heart. God’s will for us is this, to help the afflicted and give to them with a pure heart.
KEY VERSES: James 1:2-3 ~ “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” James 1:19 ~ “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” James 1:27 ~ “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Chapter 2
James continues his message by transitioning toward the common issue of favoritism shown in the church. A wealthy man, due to his status, will use that toward an advancement of praise and comfort. The poor man will not have access to these same “comforts.” As Christians, we are to show no favoritism toward one person or another. God shows no bias toward worldly respect. Treat everyone who enters the church as living in equality under the grace and mercy of God. This partiality also relates to acts of sin. We are to not treat one sin as more wicked than another. If someone cheats on their spouse, that’s sin. If one murders, that’s sin. If you steal from another, you are still sinning all the same. Jesus calls us to fulfill God’s law in one way Christ by “loving your neighbor as yourself.” Let His Holy Spirit lead you over any sinful habits. Never believe your struggle with sin is more or less of a sin than someone else’s. Walk in great faith, doing your part to grow in God’s plan for your life. James gives the example of having the faith to pray for a hungry, cold, and afflicted man or woman, but failing to provide any food, clothing, or shelter for them (things we all have an opportunity to give). This kind of faith cannot survive without works of love and kindness the Holy Spirit gives us for service. An example of this can be found with Abraham, demonstrating faith when he willfully gave his son Issac up on an alter to God for sacrifice (as God instructed) before God stepped in, acknowledging the genuine faith Abraham produced (Genesis Chapter 22). This was to show any reader of the Bible the willfulness God had to give up His son, Jesus on the cross for us. Rahab, the prostitute in Joshua Chapter 2, demonstrated her newfound fear of the Lord by helping two of God’s people from being spotted by those who wanted to kill them. We cannot pray to God for an opportunity for work, success, or new beginnings without getting up from our beds and intentionally searching for and working hard toward our goals. We are made in the Lord’s image, co-laborers with one another. Our faith must work toward the goodness God calls us to stand firm in. If our faith does not operate with acts toward showing God’s goodness, then we are useless toward the plans God intends for us. The salvation we can receive from Christ has nothing to do with our works (a gift from God), our outward expression of faith in Christ however should be conducted by representing Him well in our speech and action toward one another (our work). Be active in church and continually grow in the wisdom God freely grants us.
KEY VERSES: James 2:1 ~ “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” James 2:8 ~ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.” James 2:10 ~ “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” James 2:18 ~ “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Chapter 3
Every Christian is called to openly express their faith (see Acts 1:8). However, James advises not every Christian to make a living teaching God’s word. Many genuine Christians may possess an open heart for God’s glory initially. Soon, however, the pride may takeover, causing every speech to be potentially filled with selfish intention. We are told that teachers of the God’s word will receive a stronger judgement (account of our lives well spent, though every genuine Christian is under grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection) when we are face-to-face with our Lord when we leave earth. A wise Christian will look toward the counsel of God (through the Bible and prayer) as well as trusted Christians to consistently produce truth when teaching God’s word. James warns Christians about the tongue’s overwhelming power. Like a bridle placed in a horse’s mouth causing its whole body to be turned to the left or to the right or how a small rudder can steer a huge boat, so to can a person’s tongue (a small part of the body) cause extraordinary joy or sorrow in an instant (holding so much power). This includes the influence one teacher may possess over the church. No man is without a sinful tongue. Our speech remains damaged by sin until Christ returns and wipes the world clean of sin, as spoken in the book of Revelation. Praise be to God however that all who are under His grace can receive correction from the Holy Spirit. In a world filled with unrighteousness, our words can quickly cause great damage. Rather than accepting the sinful nature of our words, lets pray for God’s guiding word and learn to better our speech and fill our words with refreshing love and not bitter insults. Let us humbly approach our Heavenly Father, ask Him daily for the wisdom He is already so willing to grant you and me. Our sinful nature will tempt us to seek power and greed with our words, creating rifts in relationships and brokenness where friendship should thrive. James refers to this as vile behavior. Using the Bible’s teachings on speaking good rather than evil, we can transform our speech into gentle and merciful words which give life and purpose to many goals and dreams.
KEY VERSES: James 3:2 ~ “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.” James 3:8 ~ “but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:17-18 ~ “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincerer. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Chapter 4
When sin appears out of the temptation in our hearts, it wages war with our lives. Our emotions become entangled with selfish ambition against God and one another. Our flesh (our sinful bodies) will make us feel as though we lack something; therefore, we will desire things in a selfish way. We want something; therefore, our flesh says we must have it. Remember, the desires of our flesh will ALWAYS lead to problems. James is informing us to resist the temptations of the flesh and pursue Jesus’ command (“love your neighbor as yourself”). To follow Christ and meet His command, we must humble ourselves and seek Christ daily in prayer and do not doubt in yours minds that He is with you. His Spirit (which enters our lives when we put our faith in Him) draws near when we put away our pride and lust. To humble yourself means to accept His forgiveness of your past sins with open arms. Those who choose to be content with their sin will be considered friends of sin, which goes against God’s will. James then reminds Christians to speak good things about each other, not in a way that leads to gossip and judgement. No judgement we put on a loved one could ever draw them closer to God’s grace intended for the undeserving (that includes all of us). “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.” (4:12). We are not in the place of God; we do not determine the way the world rotates from today into tomorrow. James gives the example of a merchant saying he will go and sell goods at a certain location and make a great profit. This merchant’s grand ideas lack the involvement and intension of glorifying God. What right do we have to make our own plans for our own gain with no aspect of God’s glory in mind? Our lives are but a blip in time. Who are we to declare perfectly how each day will go? I don’t know about you, but my plans get altered all the time. James is reminding Christians to look toward the One who is outside of time to determine how our day will be. Look towards the creator of the universe, who has known the good works we will do (for Him) since the very beginning. “Lord willing, I will do this.” “I will go there because I believe I can serve Jesus best there.” Do not boast in your own plans, because God’s will surpasses ours every time. One of the greatest commitments to Christ we can make is to set a plan for our day that first honors Him and then give Him the complete editorial rights to that day.
KEY VERSES: James 4:7-8 ~ “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” James 4:10 ~ “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:14-15 ~ “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’”
Chapter 5
Wealthy men and women who cling to their earthly riches (money and status) will soon be separated from their beloved gain. James warns the rich that their idolatry (worship of possessions) will soon burn up along with them if they do not seek genuine repentance. All the food that their gold and silver could buy will only satisfy their lusts temporarily. Soon both their food and riches will rot away with the world. The Lord hears the cries of those mistreated by the rich, those who labor for the self-indulgent and are not given their fair wage. Their greed does not go unnoticed as we can read prominently in the book of Psalms. James advises the righteous to remain patient in their afflictions. As a farmer waits during both dry and rainy seasons for his fruit to grow, so should the Christian wait patiently for the Lord’s promise. We must not grow tired and begin to accuse one another of fault because we have yet to see God move certain situations around. The Lord is the true judge whose always nearby. James uses the prophets from the Old Testament as an example of strong faith and patience toward God’s promises (what God says He will do according to the bible). How they waited and endured through much suffering to see the promise of Jesus, even though Jesus was born after their lifetime (by hundreds of years in fact). All the same, the prophets continue to rejoice in heaven. James then tells Christians to remember the story of Job. Job was a righteous man who lost everything (home, cattle, children). Though Job endured much, receiving little answer to why he suffered, he remained faithful to God. In the end, God restored to Job double what he had lost. May the Holy Spirit grant you and me this amount of patience to endure our hardships in this life. We are encouraged to ask God for anything, by humble and genuine prayer. Elders (spiritual leaders of a church congregation) should assist in prayer, asking for Christ’s healing work to be done in the lives of the congregation, both physical and spiritual. We are encouraged to rejoice during times of goodness and sadness, because God is good through it all. James closes by telling all Christians who have committed sin, been double-minded, and who have judged falsely to repent and receive forgiveness from a loving God. Everyone has fallen short to God’s standards. Through Christ, we can receive healing from the suffering of sin which has stolen much from our physical and spiritual living. Through Christ’s righteousness can we be declared worthy of our prayers being heard. As the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament book 1 Kings (chapters 17-18) prayed for rainfall over the land to cease and then three and a half years later for rain to pour and both prayers were answered, we to are encouraged to ask big in our prayers to our Father in heaven. According to God’s good purpose shall our prayers be answered. No matter what we see in this life, let us boldly declare the righteousness of Christ within ourselves and know the beauty which awaits believers in heaven. If any of our fellow Christians wander away from the truth, let us bring them back in love and save their souls from being consumed by a sinful world.
KEY VERSES: James 5:8 ~ “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:11 ~ “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” James 5:16 ~ “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”