Category: James
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Difficult People
James 4:1 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” It’s so important that we realize that the Bible is to be taken personally. This is particularly true when we see the word “you” used. One such place is the verse above. …
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Words and their Meanings
James 2:14-17 “if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic . . . But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full…
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A Test of Spiritual Condition
James 3:10-12 “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” Perhaps…
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What’s Wrong with the World?
James 3:6 “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.” I heard an interesting sermon the other day around the topic of what I might rephrase “What is wrong with the world?” This pastor had a perspective on this issue that I…
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The Power of the Tongue
James 3:5 “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.” There’s a three-word phrase that you’ve probably heard that describes what it is that many people are seeking in one way or another: “power, fame, and fortune.” So often these things are looked at as things that are “out there,” for they’re…
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Glorious Friendship
James 2:23 “Abraham believed God . . . and he was called a friend of God.” Abraham was called a friend of God. It’s hard to determine which is the more magnificent aspect of this statement: the condescension of God or the elevation of Abraham. Think for a moment about your best friend. Why is that…
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Do You Believe What God Has Said?
James 2:23 “Abraham believed God” The Bible tells us that Abraham believed God. Of course, like many people, Abraham believed there WAS a God. He also, again like many people, believed certain things ABOUT God. But what set Abraham apart from the crowd, even the so-called “believing” crowd, was that he actually believed what God…
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Wisdom from Above
James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” When someone approaches you with a concern or complaint, especially if that concern or complaint is about you or something you have said or done, what’s your reaction? Are you…
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The Law of Liberty
James 2:12 “the law of liberty” Do you know what a paradox is? One dictionary defines a paradox as “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.” The Bible is full of such things. For example, in Matthew 5:6 Jesus tells us…
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A Living Faith
James 2:14-16 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for…
To Encourage You 