If It’s Good...It Comes From God!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

Who do we credit for the good, positive and beneficial things in our lives?  Is it the government?  Certainly many people get a great amount of benefits from governmental programs.  Is it our upbringing?  Yes, some folks are more blessed in this area than others.  Or, are we responsible for our own good fortune in life?  Have we simply worked tirelessly to create our own positive circumstances?

Absolutely all of things can have a positive effect on our lives, but they are not responsible for the good things in our lives.  James tells us that EVERY good gift comes from above...God is ultimately responsible.  And for that reason we need to grateful for what he has done.

To be grateful, we must first recognize the real source of our blessings instead of giving credit to another.

But secondly, we must truly recognize the good gifts in our lives.  In this economic downturn it is easy to focus on all of the burdensome things taking place in our respective lives:  the loss of a job, the loss of a home, illness that is expensive, etc.  However, as real as those things are, and as difficult as they can be, God is still blessing us....because God is in Control!

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 

The secret is to take a step back from our problems and to see the big picture so that we might be able to recognize all of the positive things in our lives.  We have God’s word that gives us hope, promises of help and examples of where our loving Father has helped the faithful in the past.  We have a loving Savior that sacrificed so much by giving his life to have the opportunity to have our sins taken away.  We have the hope of spending an eternity with our Creator.  And we have the power of prayer to petition our loving Father.

God has blessed all of us so much!  We just have to learn how to recognize all that God has done!

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

Temptation....An Exploitation of Weakness!

James 1:13-16 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: (14) But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. (15) Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (16) Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

In the sports world, to best prepare for competition, the successful participant takes time to analyze the opponent’s weaknesses and works on a strategy to exploit their shortcomings.  Football teams spends countless hours reviewing tape of opponents previous games. Fighters carefully study their opponent’s movements, timing, rhythm, physical strength and how the fighter lost previous fights.  All of this information goes to develop a winning strategy.

Make no mistake about it....Satan is our competition. And he is a brilliant strategist!

Ephesians 6:11 ...that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

Satan will literally do anything to get us to give in to his temptations.  But so often, the best approach is the most simple approach....and that is the basis of our text today.  Like a great sports strategist knows his opponent, Satan knows us!  He knows our weaknesses and he knows what will tempt us.  James tells us that we can be drawn away from God BY OUR OWN LUSTS.  Those silly, generally insignificant enticements, can cause us to give into sin.  

Satan is our competition...but it is NO game!

1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

This is not game to Satan.  To him it is life and death!  He is looking to devour us...to destroy us...to KILL us.  Sin and temptation is his weaponry!  James tells us that if we continually give in to those weakness, when it is finished brings forth our death.

Since Satan is so determined and focused, we  too should equally take this competition just as serious as he does.  But to be a winner in sports...especially on a consistent basis, we must not only study film on opponents, we must also continually examine film of our own performance. We MUST come to understand and accept our weaknesses that our opponent WILL exploit.  Once we understand our vulnerabilities, be must work diligently to build up, strengthen and protect against our weakness.  Like an accomplished athlete, that will take time and effort!  Notice how Jesus did it when he was faced with Satan.

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

The key to winning against Satan comes with an engrained knowledge of God’s Word...thus the time and effort!

Ephesians 6:10-17 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (13) Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; (15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

Heaven....Promised to Them that Love Him!

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

Yesterday, we looked at this verse from the perspective that we can receive a crown of life when we endure temptation.  But there is one other valuable truth that needs to be discussed.  This verse  gives two separate characteristics of a person that will go to heaven:  Enduring temptation AND Loving the Lord.

Heaven has only been promised to those that Love Him!

James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 

Loving God is not the only prerequisite to gaining heaven, but the Bible is clear that you cannot get into heaven without first loving him.  But we must be clear about the true nature of loving God.  Loving God is not just a favorable impression of him.  Loving God is not just having a warm and fuzzy feeling for him.  Loving God is not just being high on one’s priority list.  But rather, the Bible describes Love in a very unique manner.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Jesus himself says that loving God is not a casual or passive endeavor.  Instead, we must love him with all that we are.  He went on to say that loving God is the most important thing that we do.  But that still does not really describe HOW to love God.  To best understand that, we need to better understand how he loves us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

God so loved that he GAVE!.  If we are going to love God in return, in a similar manner, our love must also be giving.  While time does not allow to fully discuss the idea of loving God in this way, here are a few scriptures that give us insight.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

In a very broad manner, to love in a giving way means that we should give up control of our own lives by denying what we want, what we think, what we desire and replace it with God wants, what God thinks and what pleases our Father.  

Life is an Endurance Race!

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

James starts this verse with the word “Blessed”.  When you think about it, just about everything that we do in this life is an attempt to be “blessed” or benefitted.  We get married because we think it will benefit us.  We have kids because we think it will benefit us. We change jobs because we think it will benefit us.....and the list can go on and on.  So James is giving us insight on how we can benefit our lives.  The greatest benefit that we can bring to our life is NOT financial, social or material but spiritual!  That is exactly what James is informing us about.

In order to get the spiritual benefit that James is teaching about we must endure!  The “race” that we are talking about is not a sprint but a marathon.  With a sprint, we must exert all of our energy for a short period of time to run as quickly as we can, but afterwards we can quit.  In a marathon, we must conserve energy and be willing to dig down deep to keep going long after we want to quit.

When we desire to live a life that God wants, there will continually be thrown temptations and obstacles in our way to cause us to stumble.  But once we overcome the first temptation, we cannot throw our arms up in victory, because right around the corner is another temptation.  The danger in any temptation is that there is always a possibility of being entangled in sin and being overcome with it.

2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

When we are overcome by sin, the end for us is worse than if we had never become a christian to begin with.  That is why this verse, and so many others encourage us to endure to the end of our lives.

Matthew 10:22 ....but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 

Revelation 2:10 ....be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

When we are able to overcome temptations throughout our lives, we are told that we will receive a crown of life.  That language is figurative of course.  It relates to the time when the winner of a competition, like the olympics, would receive a “crown” of olive branches to signify victory....much like the medals given in our olympics.  The “Crown” that we will receive for crossing the finish line is that of eternal life....Spending an eternity with our Creator and our remarkable Savior.

There will be times that we feel like giving up.  There will be times that we feel like we cannot go a step further.  But with God’s help we can.  And the prize will be worth it.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 

Be Focused....on the Spiritual!

James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Have you ever had several things on your mind, or multiple things on your to do list that you didn’t know where to start?  Maybe you get started on one thing, then get a phone call and that gets you going down another path. Before you finish the second thing you are distracted again.  When you look back, you have nothing accomplished.  too many things tugging for your attention can almost make you dizzy.  That is exactly the image that James is trying to describe in our text today.

When speaking of the spiritual, there are two conflicting areas of life:  God and the world.  If we desire to be christians, we cannot allow the world to so distract us so that we do not give God the attention and service that he deserves.  

Of course we have worldly responsibilities that are God sanctioned.  God expects us to have jobs to provide for our families (2 Thess 3:10).  And God expects us to care for our families (1 Tim 5:8).  But neither of those things, or nothing else of this world, should replace God from being our number one priority.  

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Let us make sure that we are not double minded.  We should be Godly or spiritual minded in all things.  Even when we are caring for things of this world.

Ask...in Faith!

James 1:6 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. 

If you are like me, everyday, we we offer up prayers before our Father and a significant portion of those prayers include us asking for things that we need and want for our lives and the ones that we care about.  In today’s scripture, James gives us some insight on how to make those prayers more impactful.

James gives us two characteristics of successful prayers.  The first is that we should pray with Faith.  This is not just referencing that we should have faith in God.  But that what we are asking for is based upon faith.  Remember that the Bible tells us that faith comes from hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17).  So what we ask for must be in accordance to the will of God.  If our prayers are not being answered, this is the logical place to start.

The second characteristic of a successful prayer is to ask...nothing wavering.  God wants us to have confidence when we approach him.  He wants us to trust and expect in our great Father.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

I heard a story many years ago that I think is applicable.  There was a small town that was having a drought.  It went on for a long time, so the church came together to pray for rain.  However, only one person came to the prayer meeting bringing an umbrella.  

While this story is a bit extreme, it does prove the point.  We cannot pray to God and then immediately get done and say to ourselves...”Well that will never happen”.  God wants us to be confident in what we ask.

If you want your prayers to be more productive, then ask in faith and ask with confidence!

So You Want Patience?

We are using the same text today that we did yesterday, just with a slightly different focus. 

James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

All of my life I have had heard folks say that they needed patience or that they were praying for patience.  As the old saying goes....”Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it”.  

How do we get patience?  How does God grant us patience?  Does he just waive a “magic” wand and you instantaneously become more tolerant of difficulties?  That is not what James says through inspiration.  

James informs us that the trying of our faith works or develops patience.  In other words, we develop patience because we go through difficulties and the overcoming of temptations strengthens us to be able to handle and be victorious over a more difficult situations in the future.  The ONLY way that we get patience is to endure difficulties and win.

So the next time you ask for patience, just realize that you are asking for tough times to come.