Category: James
-
Will It Be Worth It All?
James 5:8 “Be patient . . . for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” Hebrews 11 has come to be known as “the faith chapter.” In it we are given numerous examples of believers who, through the ages, lived by faith. They were people like Moses who chose to wander in the wilderness…
-
Plan A or Plan B
James 4:15 “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” There’s a verse in the Old Testament that was the basis for a song we used to sing in a church I attended many years ago. Its refrain went like this: “I cannot go beyond the word…
-
Plans
James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— 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.” So,…
-
On the Matter of Judging
James 4:11-12 “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he…
-
Humble Yourselves!
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” As I read the command above from James 4 the first thought that comes to my mind is “How on earth do you do that?” And then the next thought that comes to my mind is, “Well, what was Jesus’ example? Did He…
-
The Way Up
James 4:8-10 “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” You’re probably familiar with the term, “in the gutter.” It’s an idiom that is…
-
Drawing Near to God
James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” The verse above talks about a condition of being near to God. Have you ever wondered what that might be like? Is it something about which you are interested? One of the effects of the sin that has touched every life is…
-
Resist!
James 4:7 “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” One of the things that we need to understand about the Bible is that the enemy of our souls knows what it says better than we do. From the very beginning, Satan began his temptation of people by drawing attention to the Word of…
-
The Proud
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So, as you read the verse above, which side of the word “but” would you rather be on? The Scriptures give us many examples of those who were on the wrong side. Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest king of his day. At least that’s how…
-
Spiritual Adultery
James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” You’ve heard the expression, “If the shoe fits . . . “ It’s an idiom that means that if something is suggested about…
To Encourage You 