What did James know that will help us
My appreciation for folks who want me to do better has grown over the years. When someone used to tell me that my writing was "Too deep," my ego would take that as a compliment, not realizing, I'd wasted God's gift to us in the form of time. So that led to my suffering a dire lack of God's gift to us in the form of money. That led to a suffering from God's people over a lack of resources. God's time, God's money, God's resources, see we don't have any of those my friend, they are given to us, and the closer you walk with Jesus the more you realize, He's a gentleman we aren't. Do we need help, well it would appear so...
14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
So that you won't feel slighted, your writer is deliberately leaving in two paragraphs from the previous entry, why(?)- for emphasis and for staying on the point, James uses language as he now realizes, seems to me later in life, that words can and should move faith- think about the essence of faith, my sense is, it's a primal sentence - "Follow Jesus."
We focus on the wrong aspect of what we believe is worshiping God all the time, and not because we want to, it's not deliberate, rather it is subtle, very subtle, and respectfully, the Devil who wants you to buy that he doesn't exist, hasn't stopped working on that artful lying.
Sometimes you just have to say something over again, and the nature of Satan is to suggest that such won't help with getting your message across. Trust me to share with you, mercy, is far from my heart most days- and I love Jesus, so you have to ask, "How can that be?" It is that I am human - a sinner, saved not by being exceptional, saved not by being a witness, saved not by anything, ANYTHING, that I would be able to say I did- saved only by God's grace. Some very quickly add, that you must have faith- and I'd quickly insert that there is no additive to grace, once you've been saved, by grace, trust me, faith is not nearly the struggle it used to be. Mercy, on the other hand, well, that's a tad bit more complicated, as we'll discuss in pursuant writings.
So James begins what may be one of the most important points about following his brother that's ever been made- we see the issue as faith, James was meaning the issue as what we do in our lives.
We want to separate faith into a compartment that operates when we open it. Jesus fully makes it apparent, there is no compartment, once you choose to ask Him to forgive you of your sins, you belong to Him, and His sheep hear His voice. Does the sheep who has found a nice clump of grass want to do anything but eat it? Does the sheep standing by still waters and enjoying a nice cool drink when it's hotter than hell, want to quit drinking? Little wonder the Psalmist then made it clear that we were to move, that he walked not in comfort and gracious nice castles, he walked in the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus calls us to understand we are changed, and that change is gonna do His will, ultimately that can be by becoming a gracious and loving and forgiving and understanding follower, or it can be by being chastised, but it will be.
May God add his blessings to the reading of this. Amen
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