God of James
"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James..." (1 Corinthians 15:1-7a NIV)
The book of James is the most marked-up book in my "big Bible"...the full-size Bible that stays at home and is, at this moment, open in front of me.
I spent a lot of time inching my way through this New Testament book during a required college class called "Biblical Applications for Human Experience." In spite of its $500-name, it was a great class that taught me how to really dig around a book, examining every comma and conjunction, asking questions, making connections.
Here's what struck me then and strikes me still:
James is one straight-shooting book.
James, Jesus' half brother, grew up with Jesus. They ate together, worshiped together, did chores together, learned together.
While Jesus was alive on earth, James knew Him as his brother, but he did not know Him as His Savior. And maybe this is the first lesson on faith we learn from James: it cannot be inherited; it must be inhabited.
We cannot simply live alongside faith; we have to live inside it.
Having seen Jesus' resurrected body, though, James moved—mind, body, and soul—into faith's house and never left, not even when it cost him his life.
What is this faith that James finally found and considered worth more than his own existence? What does it look like? What does it do?
If James were lecturing in my college class all those years ago, this is what I think he might have said in his characteristic straightforward manner. (James would not have been the sort of professor who would have graded on a curve.)
*Faith keeps on (James 1: 2-12).
"Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds" (James 1:2). In other words, look at trials as joy. Note the "whenever," too: trials are a "when," not "if" part of life with God. These trials will be varied; whatever you're facing right now isn't one of the exclusions to faith's perseverance clause. But when you face these tests, spin them as joy. View them through the lens of joy. File them under "joy." Not because you are glad to be going through them but because you know, with the mind of faith, that they are taking you somewhere better than where you are now. Trials and tests take you to perseverance. And perseverance—the nervy endurance that keeps on keeping on—will take you to maturity. And maturity will take you to completion. And completion will take you to the crown of life.
*Faith does (James 2:14-26).
Faith works. Faith acts. Faith moves...not to get salvation but because it already has it. Not to earn a free gift but as a thank-you for that gift. Not to save but to showcase the Savior. Good works feed faith; without them, faith starves and dies. Works are to faith what the spirit is to the body...the essence and energy of it. And what, exactly, does faith do? It meets practical needs. It cares for the least. It enters into relationship. It nourishes. It clothes. Good works bring faith to the surface.
*Faith speaks...carefully (James 3:1-12).
How can we lift up God in one breath, then put down people made in His image in the next? The tongue is a tiny part of the whole body, but it is like a spark of fire in a whole forest. Speak life..or do not speak at all.
*Faith bows (James 4:1-10).
Faith gets down. Faith puts desires, habits, inclinations, and preferences in order under God's sovereignty and supremacy. This is one of the great trades of faith: when we bow low before God, He raises us high.
*Faith praises and prays (James 5:13-20).
When in doubt, praise and pray. When in certainty, praise and pray. When in sickness, praise and pray. When in health, praise and pray. When in trouble, praise and pray. When in gladness, praise and pray.
Beloved, this is faith. Keep it. Keep on keeping on. Keep doing. Keep speaking life. Keep bowing. Keep praising and praying. The crown of life is waiting.
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God, help my faith to keep on keeping on today. Help my faith to do. Help my faith to speak (carefully). Help my faith to bow. Help my faith to praise and pray. And when all is said and done, let me know this: mercy has triumphed.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!