James 1:1-8 NIV 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
- To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
- Separated from family
- Separated from homes
- Separated from God
- Persecuted in a foreign land
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
- Everyone encounters trials in life.
- Paul portrayed his Roman imprisonment as “the things which happened to me” (Phil. 1:12).
- It is the same term used in the story of the good Samaritan of the man who “fell among thieves” (Luke 10:30).
- The word consider “should rather be translated, ‘think forward, consider, regard.’
- No one enjoys trials nor does God expect for us to
- James does not say if you encounter trials, but when you encounter trials.
4 Letperseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
- We must learn to look at the experience from God’s perspective and recognize the trial not as a happy experience in itself but as the means of producing something very valuable in life.
- Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
- The thing which amazed the heathen in the centuries of persecution was that the martyrs did not die grimly; they died singing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
- A prayer to be said When the world has gotten you down And you feel rotten, And you’re too doggone tired to pray, And you’re in a big hurry, And besides, you’re mad at everybody … “Help!”
- In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26)
- Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34)
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
- And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
- Unless there is within us that which is above us, we will soon yield to that which is around us.
- For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3)
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
The Good News
- It’s not because God doesn’t want to help
- Doubt prevents us from trusting Him to help
- This grieves (not angers) our Heavenly Father (Luke 15)
- But He is always waiting for us to turn our hears towards home…