James was deeply concerned about splits in congregations. Desire for power and selfishness were driving wedges between groups of believers. He wrote of the difference between worldly and heavenly wisdom, shared the types of characteristics believers needed to pursue and practice, and then told his readers those acts would cultivate…
What a contrast we see here from the world’s wisdom of envy and self-ambition. Look at these characteristics… — Pure: rejecting anything that compromises the goodness of God — Peace-loving: committed to unity with fellow believers — Gentle: a willingness to meet others’ needs — Compliant: willing to defer to…
HYMN DAY! What a powerful message in this simple hymn by B.B. McKinney. “Let Others See Jesus In You” is written in such a way even a child can understand its meaning. And oh! how I pray that when I reach heaven’s gates, I will discover someone else is there…
Envy can rot the heart. Envy gives rise to selfish ambition, a desire to win at all costs even if someone else is hurt along the way. The focus is totally on self-gratification, self-recognition, self self self. The world certainly screams the message that “self” is most important. But James…
Whenever we think of being wise, we think of people who are particularly skilled or knowledgeable. But James wasn’t all that concerned about how much knowledge a person possessed. What he wanted people to think about was their actions: the things they did to and for others, meaning the works…
Wise words. Oh, to be found guilty of speaking wise words! Wisdom is spiritual insight. It’s being able to speak and act guided by the truth of God. Hang out on Facebook or even in a coffee shop and you’ll encounter lots of different viewpoints. Some are being shouted in…
Inconsistent speech. Oh my, the trouble it can cause. We stand in service and raise our voices in praise of the God and King, and then as we leave the building we mutter about what so-and-so was wearing or complain about the organist who hit a sour note. *cringe* James…
Charles Wesley wrote some wonderful hymns. “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” was written in 1738 on the first anniversary of his conversion to Christianity. In 1888, a man named Ralph Hudson took lines from three verses of Wesley’s hymn text, mingled them with the phrase “Blessed be the…
I’m good at stumbling. I can trip over a piece of lint. But James didn’t mean physical stumbling. Here, “stumble” means to offend, err, or make a mistake. Unfortunately, I can be pretty good at that, too. It’s so easy to speak—to bandy about our opinions and our feelings and…
There is power in words. I can still recall statements from decades ago, some that edified and some that decimated me. I’m sure you can, too. When those statements come from people in authority, they seem to carry more weight with us. Those in authority should “know,” so we tend…
