"Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This is the judgment that every believer will go through after the rapture. Notice that the judgment isn't about our sins, or concerning our salvation. We are all saved period and that will never be taken from us. However this judgment concerns everything we have said and done since the moment of our salvation. The foundation laid for each of us was Jesus Himself, and it's what we built on that foundation that will be judged.
I want to point out that God isn't going to just judge the quantity of our work, but He will also judge it's quality. Therefore someone who has spent their entire life in missionary work or volunteering in soup kitchens or something like that, but whose heart had not really been in it, and who wasn't truly doing it for Jesus, won't be rewarded for it. Yet another person who out of love and concern for their fellow man because of what Jesus did for them, helped a neighbor, will be rewarded for that act of kindness. So this is about our hearts and our attitudes as well. If we tell others about Jesus because we're trying to earn brownie points with God, then it will be burned away as dross; but if we tell others about Jesus because we love Him, and because we want to see that person saved, then that will be judged worthy or reward.
I think the biggest question I had when I first heard about this was "how does someone build on that foundation?" That is answered in God's word too. The first way we build on the foundation is by something I'm quite sure you're all sick and tired of hearing me say. It's God's Truth though so I'll say it yet again. We build on it every time we read, study, and reflect on God's Word and talk to Him about it. Again if we are "reading the bible" out of a feeling of "duty" then that won't build on the foundation and will be burned away as dross. If however we are reading and studying His Word because we love Him and want to know more about Him and know His Will for us, and know more so we can speak intelligently to others about Him, that will build on the foundation and be rewarded.
So the first two ways and the foremost ways we build on the foundation is
1. by reading, studying and reflecting on God's Word and
2. through prayer.
In other words, by working to become mature in Christ.
I want to say a little more about prayer here though because many types of prayers will survive the fire as will the time spent praying them. Anytime we spend time praying for others or praying for God to help us understand His Word or His Will for us etc will survive the fire.
The next thing that builds on the foundation is
3. telling others about God. That includes things like witnessing, discipling others, teaching others, teaching Sunday School, or bible class, or even doing what I'm doing right now. It would include answering other people's questions about God and anything else that has to do with this. Again though it must be being done out of our love and gratitude to God for our salvation and not because we think we "have to" or because we want to look good to others.
The next area that builds on the foundation concerns how we live our lives after salvation. Anything we do regularly that is in line with God's will for our lives will build on the foundation. For example,
1. wives submitting to their husbands, raising their children to know the Lord and His Ways, honoring their husbands and being a good godly wife to them, even something as simple as keeping their house clean because they know that's what Jesus would want them to do;
2. husbands loving their wives the way Christ loved the church--with a sacrificial love, raising their children to know the Lord and His Ways, being responsible for the spiritual development and growth of their wife and children;
3. having a good work ethic and working for the Lord and not man--in other words, when you do your best even though you could get away with doing less because you know that's what Jesus asks of us; when you put up with being treated badly, not getting that promotion etc because you know that your real boss is God and not a man and that your reward for your work will be much better then any raise a man could give you.
4. Managing your money in accordance with God's Word. Being a good steward of all He's given you. Paying your bills on time etc.
5. Giving money toward God's work in the world. Supporting your minister/church or whoever or wherever you are fed; giving to Christian charities that help others, for example two of the places I give to are Teen Challenge and Moody Radio. Supporting missionaries and their work. Supporting Christian pro life organizations that work with mothers to help them keep their babies, train them in parenting skills, get them the things they need and help pay for their medical care etc. Any place or person that you support that is doing God's Will would come under this.
6. Another area of our lives that would survive the fire would be areas where we take good care of our bodies so that we can be healthy and fit so we can serve the Lord as well as we can. Again here it makes a difference what your attitude about it is and why you're really doing it. If you're doing body building so you can look sexy, that's not going to survive the fire. If you're exercising so you can do the things that the Lord wants you to do, that will survive.
7. Another area would be how we dress and the impression we give others when they first see us as well as when they get to know us. If we're dressing according to God's Will which is to dress modestly and we're doing it because we know it's God's Will and we desire to obey Him and please Him, that will survive the fire.
8. Anything we do for others out of concern for them or to help them will survive the fire because the Lord tells us to help others.
9. Obeying the authorities over us, our government, the laws etc will also survive the fire as the Lord tells us we are to obey the laws unless they contradict God's Word. For children, obeying their parents will survive the fire for they are told to obey their parents.
10. Time spent at church or in His worship will survive the fire IF we are there for the right reasons. Again if it's "duty" or to "look good" then it won't survive, but if we're there because we love God and want to be where He wants us then it will survive. It doesn't matter what kind of church it is, where it is--such as in an "official church denomination" or in your own home--if you are meeting to worship God it will survive the fire. Now this one brings up a whole can of worms however since there are definite things we are to do and things we are not to do as far as church goes. We are not to tolerate false teaching of any kind, so if you're attending a church that does teach heresy and you have done nothing to stop it and are still there, then that won't survive the fire. Which brings us to the next point.
11. Times we've tried to steer people away from error and or heresy and or sin will survive the fire if we're doing it in love and because we love God and don't want others to miss out on anything.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
12. Time spent encouraging others and helping them get through hard times, helping them to keep their focus on God will survive the fire as well.
I'm sure that we could add many other things but what it boils down to is why we're living the way we are. What are we most concerned about? Are we more concerned with what others will think of us, or are we more concerned with what God will think?
The things that are going to burn up are all the time we've wasted, the times we've spent in frivolous things, times we've spent on selfish things. The time we've wasted "looking out for ourselves" instead of others.
Now the Lord doesn't expect us to spend 100% of our time working. He does want and allows us to have times for just refreshing ourselves. I know for myself though that I have often taken that "time for refreshing myself" to the extreme and that won't be honored.
So these are some of the main areas that will survive the fire and for which we will be richly rewarded. However it's about more then just rewards, it's also about how we are going to spend eternity. (notice I said "how" not "where"). We'll get into that tomorrow though as this is already quite long. I do want to leave you with a few more verses that speak about this judgment to reflect on though:
Luke 12:48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Matthew 10:40-42 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
2 John 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
Hebrews 10:35-38 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
Hebrews 11:25-26 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
Luke 14:12-14 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
The Bema Judgment of Believers on Fresh Hope
Bible Studies, Friends and Fellowship
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Growing up
“We are all as an unclean thing.”
— Isaiah 64:6
The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God’s sight; and as he charged his angels with folly, much more must he charge us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How priceless a gift is his perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defileth.
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings
What he says here is very true but I felt led to add both an admonition and an encouragement to it today. What he is basically trying to get across is simply how very far from the perfection of God even our very best is. Although we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin in this life, the Lord tells us that we are not to simply accept that give up trying to do better.
Romans 6:1-3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:11-12 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
We are told over and over that we are no longer slaves to sin, we can now choose who we serve, sin or God, and that we are to choose righteousness over sin. Paul likens it to being an athlete in training which is really appropriate because this life for us is a school and we are in training for what we will be doing throughout eternity.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
We are told to remember our blessed hope because it is then that we will receive our new bodies which will be totally free from the stain of sin and those bodies will match the new spirit that was given us at salvation. So at the moment we receive our new bodies our "old spirit or nature" is totally done away with, it will no longer exist and the only spirit within us will be the new spirit that God placed in us at our salvation.
Think back again to the passage I just posted from Paul about how we are in training. I'm sure you've all familiar with the facts of life that if you don't use your muscles they will deteriorate and you'll get flabby and be out of shape. Even the world tells us that our minds are the same way--if we don't use them, then our ability to remember things will deteriorate and so will our ability to process and understand information. So just like a muscle you have to keep your brain in shape. We're all aware too that when a baby is born they aren't born knowing everything or being able to do all that an adult can do--they can't even crawl yet much less walk! Every moment a baby is awake they're learning; they're absorbing all the information around them, they're using their muscles as they wave their arms and legs around, etc so they're actually with the help of good parents training their bodies and minds. As they get older the training continues. Every parent wants their child to do their best and use all the abilities that God gave them, so they certainly don't want their children to get lazy and stop studying or even to stop playing because "play" is how they exercise their bodies too.
The reason I bring this up is because the new spirit the Lord puts in us at salvation is very much like a newborn baby. It's at a tremendous disadvantage too because it's been born right beside our old spirit which we've been "teaching and growing" every since we were born. If it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our new spirits wouldn't stand a chance against our old fleshly spirit! God expects us to nurture our new spirit and grow it up to maturity. That's what Paul is talking about. We have to feed our new spirit with God's Word in order for it to have the knowledge and tools it needs to defend us from our old spirits.
This is why it's so true that the more time you spend in God's word, reading it, studying it, and reflecting on it, while talking to the Lord about it, the stronger and more mature your new spirit becomes. That's what becoming mature in Christ is all about. We want our new spirits to be mature when we receive those new bodies to match it! More importantly though, God wants us to be mature by then! While we will all have a wonderful life in eternity, God will not be mocked even then.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We will all be saved, yes, but our future in eternity will be dependent upon how much we mature here. This is our one and only chance to grow our new spirits, train them and make them strong in the Lord. This is what this is talking about:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now for the encouragement. To put it simply and bluntly, the more time we spend in God's Word, talking to Him about it, reading, studying and reflecting on it, the stronger our spirit will be and the less we will sin; the stronger our connection to the Holy Spirit will be and the quicker we will hear Him as He guides us and teaches us. So while we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin as long as we are in these bodies, we do not have to be wallowing in it! We can be victorious over it to a great degree! No, we won't be perfect, but the more and more mature we become, the closer to perfect we'll get and the easier it will get too! Again, it's just like a baby growing up. When they're first learning to walk, they fall down a lot, and as new baby Christians or any Christian who hasn't worked to become mature in their faith, (by studying God's Word etc) when we first begin to say no to sin and fight against it, we'll fall down a lot. However, the more we study and talk to the Lord, the more mature we get and the stronger we become until little by little, we're not falling down so much anymore; and then after yet more time, we rarely fall down at all!
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
We are living in the last days. There is no doubt about that anymore. God is calling us all back to His Word. This is our very last chance to grow to maturity in whatever time we have left here in this school. Have no doubt about it, the Lord is testing each of us to see if we are committed to Him and willing to obey Him by spending time each day studying, reading, and reflecting on His Word and talking to Him about it so that we can become mature. When we do that then the Lord changes us to be more like Jesus every day.
— Isaiah 64:6
The believer is a new creature, he belongs to a holy generation and a peculiar people—the Spirit of God is in him, and in all respects he is far removed from the natural man; but for all that the Christian is a sinner still. He is so from the imperfection of his nature, and will continue so to the end of his earthly life. The black fingers of sin leave smuts upon our fairest robes. Sin mars our repentance, ere the great Potter has finished it, upon the wheel. Selfishness defiles our tears, and unbelief tampers with our faith. The best thing we ever did apart from the merit of Jesus only swelled the number of our sins; for when we have been most pure in our own sight, yet, like the heavens, we are not pure in God’s sight; and as he charged his angels with folly, much more must he charge us with it, even in our most angelic frames of mind. The song which thrills to heaven, and seeks to emulate seraphic strains, hath human discords in it. The prayer which moves the arm of God is still a bruised and battered prayer, and only moves that arm because the sinless One, the great Mediator, has stepped in to take away the sin of our supplication. The most golden faith or the purest degree of sanctification to which a Christian ever attained on earth, has still so much alloy in it as to be only worthy of the flames, in itself considered. Every night we look in the glass we see a sinner, and had need confess, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Oh, how precious the blood of Christ to such hearts as ours! How priceless a gift is his perfect righteousness! And how bright the hope of perfect holiness hereafter! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It has no dominion; it is a broken-backed snake; we are in bitter conflict with it, but it is with a vanquished foe that we have to deal. Yet a little while and we shall enter victoriously into the city where nothing defileth.
Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening : Daily readings
What he says here is very true but I felt led to add both an admonition and an encouragement to it today. What he is basically trying to get across is simply how very far from the perfection of God even our very best is. Although we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin in this life, the Lord tells us that we are not to simply accept that give up trying to do better.
Romans 6:1-3 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:11-12 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
We are told over and over that we are no longer slaves to sin, we can now choose who we serve, sin or God, and that we are to choose righteousness over sin. Paul likens it to being an athlete in training which is really appropriate because this life for us is a school and we are in training for what we will be doing throughout eternity.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
We are told to remember our blessed hope because it is then that we will receive our new bodies which will be totally free from the stain of sin and those bodies will match the new spirit that was given us at salvation. So at the moment we receive our new bodies our "old spirit or nature" is totally done away with, it will no longer exist and the only spirit within us will be the new spirit that God placed in us at our salvation.
Think back again to the passage I just posted from Paul about how we are in training. I'm sure you've all familiar with the facts of life that if you don't use your muscles they will deteriorate and you'll get flabby and be out of shape. Even the world tells us that our minds are the same way--if we don't use them, then our ability to remember things will deteriorate and so will our ability to process and understand information. So just like a muscle you have to keep your brain in shape. We're all aware too that when a baby is born they aren't born knowing everything or being able to do all that an adult can do--they can't even crawl yet much less walk! Every moment a baby is awake they're learning; they're absorbing all the information around them, they're using their muscles as they wave their arms and legs around, etc so they're actually with the help of good parents training their bodies and minds. As they get older the training continues. Every parent wants their child to do their best and use all the abilities that God gave them, so they certainly don't want their children to get lazy and stop studying or even to stop playing because "play" is how they exercise their bodies too.
The reason I bring this up is because the new spirit the Lord puts in us at salvation is very much like a newborn baby. It's at a tremendous disadvantage too because it's been born right beside our old spirit which we've been "teaching and growing" every since we were born. If it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our new spirits wouldn't stand a chance against our old fleshly spirit! God expects us to nurture our new spirit and grow it up to maturity. That's what Paul is talking about. We have to feed our new spirit with God's Word in order for it to have the knowledge and tools it needs to defend us from our old spirits.
This is why it's so true that the more time you spend in God's word, reading it, studying it, and reflecting on it, while talking to the Lord about it, the stronger and more mature your new spirit becomes. That's what becoming mature in Christ is all about. We want our new spirits to be mature when we receive those new bodies to match it! More importantly though, God wants us to be mature by then! While we will all have a wonderful life in eternity, God will not be mocked even then.
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We will all be saved, yes, but our future in eternity will be dependent upon how much we mature here. This is our one and only chance to grow our new spirits, train them and make them strong in the Lord. This is what this is talking about:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Now for the encouragement. To put it simply and bluntly, the more time we spend in God's Word, talking to Him about it, reading, studying and reflecting on it, the stronger our spirit will be and the less we will sin; the stronger our connection to the Holy Spirit will be and the quicker we will hear Him as He guides us and teaches us. So while we will always be sinners and be defiled by sin as long as we are in these bodies, we do not have to be wallowing in it! We can be victorious over it to a great degree! No, we won't be perfect, but the more and more mature we become, the closer to perfect we'll get and the easier it will get too! Again, it's just like a baby growing up. When they're first learning to walk, they fall down a lot, and as new baby Christians or any Christian who hasn't worked to become mature in their faith, (by studying God's Word etc) when we first begin to say no to sin and fight against it, we'll fall down a lot. However, the more we study and talk to the Lord, the more mature we get and the stronger we become until little by little, we're not falling down so much anymore; and then after yet more time, we rarely fall down at all!
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
We are living in the last days. There is no doubt about that anymore. God is calling us all back to His Word. This is our very last chance to grow to maturity in whatever time we have left here in this school. Have no doubt about it, the Lord is testing each of us to see if we are committed to Him and willing to obey Him by spending time each day studying, reading, and reflecting on His Word and talking to Him about it so that we can become mature. When we do that then the Lord changes us to be more like Jesus every day.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
As I was studying to prepare for today's post, I realized that I haven't mentioned something that would probably be helpful to you all. You may already be aware of this for for those who aren't, I thought I'd better mention it.
When you are studying a book in the bible or even a topic, it's important to remember a couple of things. First, it's not really a book. James, as well as the other "Books" is a letter. Now letters are written to specific people so in order to understand what's being said, it helps to know who the letter is being addressed to. In other words, who is James writing to?
Is he writing mainly to Jewish unbelievers trying to convince them that Jesus is Lord?
Is he writing mainly to Gentile unbelievers trying to convince them that Jesus is Lord?
Is he writing to those who are already saved, mainly elders who are already spiritually mature? (Keep in mind that back then they would have never allowed someone to be a deacon, elder etc. that hadn't been saved for quite some time; those positions were only filled by people who were spiritually mature--people who both walked the walked and talked the talk; who could and did teach and disciple others etc.)
Is he writing to those who are saved in the congregations? Remember that back then they didn't allow people to lie about what they were. You were either saved or you weren't or you were pretending to be and were a false teacher. They most certainly didn't teach or show "tolerance" for false beliefs, false teaching etc among their members.
The next thing you need to look for is what the main point of the letter is. What is it the apostle is trying to get across to this group of people? What is the theme?
Once you know who the letter is being written to, and what the theme of his letter is, it will help you determine what the writer means when he writes some things.
In the book/letter of James that we're studying now, James is writing to people who are already saved. His theme is spiritual growth and maturity These folks are apparently still somewhere near the beginning stages of their Christian walk and he's attempting to show them how to become spiritually mature. He's sharing with them what kinds of things will hold them back in their growth, what will help them move forward, what kind of things they can look for that are hallmarks of spiritual growth and what kind of things would show that they're going the wrong way-that instead of growing spiritually, that they are stagnating or back sliding.
I guess you could almost look at this letter as though James was a teacher who had prepared his class for a test that was about to be given and he was now going over the material one last time and giving them a pep talk too to let them know he was sure they'd do just fine on the test tomorrow.
Because of that, James is a wonderful book for us to study, since we are all saved, and we are all looking to grow and become spiritually mature. In many ways, you could even say that James is a "how to" letter to us! He packs a lot of wisdom into a very short space! So knowing this, we can continue on.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
Today I'd like to look at this thing about "joy" a little more, picking up where we left off with the verse from 1 Peter. Even today's devotionals were about this subject so I'll start with a verse from them:
John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
I know most of us really don't like looking at "commands" and we certainly don't like calling them commands either, yet there it is. You know, over the years I've noticed something about God's commands to us, even the ones we don't like. All of them are for our good, not His. Even this next command which has to do with joy:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
God doesn't "need" us to pray. he already knows what we have, what we need and what we want--better then we ourselves do! So our prayers don't help Him. He doesn't need us to be joyful or to give thanks either. Again, it's not going to do a thing for Him. So why does He say that? He commands us to do these things because these things will help us. Like any good father, He knows what's best for us, what will truly make us happy and healthy etc, so He has made rules for us to follow so we can be joyful and happy all the time.
We don't have to follow His rules. We will still be saved if we don't follow His rules, so our salvation isn't at stake here, but something very important IS at stake. Our relationship with Him. Think about it on an earthly level. As a parent I too made rules for my children to live by and I expected them to follow my rules because they loved me. Sometimes they didn't though. When that happened, I didn't stop loving them, and they didn't suddenly stop being my children. Even the child that seemed to constantly rebel against the rules didn't stop being my child. It did affect our relationship with each other when they didn't obey me though. I would get upset, they would get rebellious and defensive. Generally they would either avoid me as much as they could and when they couldn't avoid me, they'd attempt to avoid the subject of what was wrong.
It's the same way with our Heavenly Father after we're saved. When we don't obey His rules it affects our relationship with Him. We find that we're no longer "abiding in Him" or "remaining in Him", because we're trying to either avoid Him or avoid the subject of the area we're in rebellion about. Often if this isn't taken care of we'll start trying to do things on our own instead of relying on Him and so our relationship will deteriorate even more. Again, we're still saved, but our relationship with Him isn't healthy and full anymore. So let's go back and look at those verses again now that this is clear:
John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
He has told us what so that our joy is complete? He has told us that the way to remain in His love is by obedience to His commands. Ouch! Now this Christian walk is starting to sound a little difficult! Now we have responsibilities. We are to obey His commands, but what do we get out of this? He says that if we do, His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete. Now that is quite a promise don't you think?
Does that word "complete" ring a bell? Remember where we heard it last?
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So here we again have joy and completion linked together again and Jesus and/or our faith in Him is also an integral part of both passages. If you think about it, that verse from 1 Peter has all these things as well because our goal is the completion of our salvation:
1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So now we see that this joy is linked to Jesus and our faith in Him. Remember, this is a "living hope" a living faith, not just some head knowledge. We're talking heart knowledge if you will. We're talking about the joy from our relationship with Jesus, but not just from our side of that relationship, but from His side of it too. Now let's look at some other verses this time from Hebrews. First we learn something pretty amazing--
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered
Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered! If that's how Jesus learned while He was on earth, why do we think we're so different that we could learn some other way? We've already seen how important obedience is in our relationship with Him, so if it's that important, to keep our relationship to Him close and good, doesn't it stand to reason that obedience is going to be one of our big lessons to learn?
Let's see what else Hebrews says about this subject of obedience, trials, suffering, discipline etc, faith, completion (remember, we receive the completion of our salvation when He comes to get us at the rapture), perseverance, and joy:
Hebrews 10:35-38 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
Hebrews 12:1-7 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
So once again we're right back at our relationship with the Lord. When we're saved we become His children. As His children He expects obedience and will discipline us to get it. He also will test us to refine our faith and encourage our growth to maturity. You see, we can't be "complete" if we're not mature. So all of this is entwined together. There's yet other words that are going to become part of this pattern too such as "peace", "holiness", "righteousness", and "our good". Let's look:
Hebrews 12:10-11 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
And how do we come by these things--righteousness, holiness and peace? We are trained by God's discipline and those trials we hate so much! Look again at what James says:
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Let's see what Paul said about being mature and complete:
Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Paul let's us know that even he knows he's not perfect yet, but he's doing his best to be obedient to God and so always presses onward. Then he says something very similar to what James says although we hadn't looked at that yet. he says that god will make this clear to us. Here's how James puts it:
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
We usually take this verse out of context and think it means that God will give us wisdom about anything we ask. While God will do that, in the context this verse is in, James is saying that God will give us wisdom about the subject he's talking about. So let's read it in context:
James 1:2-5 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
So James and Paul are telling us that if we want God's wisdom about our trials and how they can and should be faced with pure joy, and what those trials will do for us, that we must ask God for wisdom about it.
This is a good place to end for today and I hope we'll all ask the Lord to give us His wisdom about this subject, that He will open our eyes and ears that we might see and hear what He has to say to us about this.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
I know most of us really don't like looking at "commands" and we certainly don't like calling them commands either, yet there it is. You know, over the years I've noticed something about God's commands to us, even the ones we don't like. All of them are for our good, not His. Even this next command which has to do with joy:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
God doesn't "need" us to pray. he already knows what we have, what we need and what we want--better then we ourselves do! So our prayers don't help Him. He doesn't need us to be joyful or to give thanks either. Again, it's not going to do a thing for Him. So why does He say that? He commands us to do these things because these things will help us. Like any good father, He knows what's best for us, what will truly make us happy and healthy etc, so He has made rules for us to follow so we can be joyful and happy all the time.
We don't have to follow His rules. We will still be saved if we don't follow His rules, so our salvation isn't at stake here, but something very important IS at stake. Our relationship with Him. Think about it on an earthly level. As a parent I too made rules for my children to live by and I expected them to follow my rules because they loved me. Sometimes they didn't though. When that happened, I didn't stop loving them, and they didn't suddenly stop being my children. Even the child that seemed to constantly rebel against the rules didn't stop being my child. It did affect our relationship with each other when they didn't obey me though. I would get upset, they would get rebellious and defensive. Generally they would either avoid me as much as they could and when they couldn't avoid me, they'd attempt to avoid the subject of what was wrong.
It's the same way with our Heavenly Father after we're saved. When we don't obey His rules it affects our relationship with Him. We find that we're no longer "abiding in Him" or "remaining in Him", because we're trying to either avoid Him or avoid the subject of the area we're in rebellion about. Often if this isn't taken care of we'll start trying to do things on our own instead of relying on Him and so our relationship will deteriorate even more. Again, we're still saved, but our relationship with Him isn't healthy and full anymore. So let's go back and look at those verses again now that this is clear:
John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
He has told us what so that our joy is complete? He has told us that the way to remain in His love is by obedience to His commands. Ouch! Now this Christian walk is starting to sound a little difficult! Now we have responsibilities. We are to obey His commands, but what do we get out of this? He says that if we do, His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete. Now that is quite a promise don't you think?
Does that word "complete" ring a bell? Remember where we heard it last?
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So here we again have joy and completion linked together again and Jesus and/or our faith in Him is also an integral part of both passages. If you think about it, that verse from 1 Peter has all these things as well because our goal is the completion of our salvation:
1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So now we see that this joy is linked to Jesus and our faith in Him. Remember, this is a "living hope" a living faith, not just some head knowledge. We're talking heart knowledge if you will. We're talking about the joy from our relationship with Jesus, but not just from our side of that relationship, but from His side of it too. Now let's look at some other verses this time from Hebrews. First we learn something pretty amazing--
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered
Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered! If that's how Jesus learned while He was on earth, why do we think we're so different that we could learn some other way? We've already seen how important obedience is in our relationship with Him, so if it's that important, to keep our relationship to Him close and good, doesn't it stand to reason that obedience is going to be one of our big lessons to learn?
Let's see what else Hebrews says about this subject of obedience, trials, suffering, discipline etc, faith, completion (remember, we receive the completion of our salvation when He comes to get us at the rapture), perseverance, and joy:
Hebrews 10:35-38 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”
Hebrews 12:1-7 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
So once again we're right back at our relationship with the Lord. When we're saved we become His children. As His children He expects obedience and will discipline us to get it. He also will test us to refine our faith and encourage our growth to maturity. You see, we can't be "complete" if we're not mature. So all of this is entwined together. There's yet other words that are going to become part of this pattern too such as "peace", "holiness", "righteousness", and "our good". Let's look:
Hebrews 12:10-11 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
And how do we come by these things--righteousness, holiness and peace? We are trained by God's discipline and those trials we hate so much! Look again at what James says:
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Let's see what Paul said about being mature and complete:
Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Paul let's us know that even he knows he's not perfect yet, but he's doing his best to be obedient to God and so always presses onward. Then he says something very similar to what James says although we hadn't looked at that yet. he says that god will make this clear to us. Here's how James puts it:
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
We usually take this verse out of context and think it means that God will give us wisdom about anything we ask. While God will do that, in the context this verse is in, James is saying that God will give us wisdom about the subject he's talking about. So let's read it in context:
James 1:2-5 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
So James and Paul are telling us that if we want God's wisdom about our trials and how they can and should be faced with pure joy, and what those trials will do for us, that we must ask God for wisdom about it.
This is a good place to end for today and I hope we'll all ask the Lord to give us His wisdom about this subject, that He will open our eyes and ears that we might see and hear what He has to say to us about this.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Re: Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
Ok, let's start at the beginning then.
James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
Did you notice that James calls himself a servant of God and Jesus? The word translated servant means "bond slave". He is saying that he no longer owns his own life. Instead of determining his own future, he now belongs to God who bought him as His slave when He died for him on the cross.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So James doesn't just consider himself as God's slave. This isn't some special position that only the disciples and apostles filled. Instead, it's a position that all who have been saved are in. You and I are servants of God. Our lives are not our own. We hear that all the time and even say it, but do we really understand what that means??? This is the kind of attitude we're all to have every day, yet it's rare of any of us to even consider what God might want us to do that day. Most of us just continue to do whatever it was we normally do without giving it another thought. So this is for sure something we should reflect on and integrate into our daily lives.
James is writing this to his fellow Jews who have once again been scattered all over the world. This is still very relevant to us though because he's not writing it to just "regular Jews", he's writing it to Jew's who have been saved, just like him. These Jews are now Christians; they're "followers of the Way".
Acts 24:14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.
So don't think this book isn't written to us, it is! Now comes his most astounding sentence:
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
This is just amazing! We are to consider it "pure joy" when we're going through trials! He had to have known that every person reading his letter was going to say, "What???" "How????" so that's what he deals with next. But first I want us to notice that he addresses this sentence to his "brothers". He doesn't put himself above them in any way nor is is talking down to them or even lecturing them. He's talking to them about a common experience they've all had and that he himself has had. Notice after he tells them that we should consider it pure joy, he says, "because you know". In other words, he's not telling them something new, he's just reminding them of what they've already learned through experience as has he.
So he tells them to consider it "pure joy", not partly joy and a bunch of hassle, not something to complain about, not something distasteful that we have to get through whether we like it or not, but instead, to consider it "pure joy". This is just about incomprehensible to most folks now I think. At least it sure was to me! I mean no matter how you look at it, like when you have to get a shot to protect you from a virus, you may have to do it, but you sure don't look forward to it with pure joy! So how in the world can we do that??? Why in the world would we do that???? Let's look and see.
James 1:3-4 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Ahhh! So that's it! We should consider it pure joy because we know that the trials will lead to our spiritual maturity, and as we become spiritually mature we become "complete, not lacking anything"! So we're not to see our trials as a calamity, or as something "bad" or as a punishment from God or curse of some kind etc. We're to see them instead as a test of our faith. One thing to keep in mind about this is that God doesn't test us to see if we'll fail, He tests us to help us succeed! One thing I have learned from experience with the Lord is that He will keep on testing you in an area over and over and over, until you DO succeed! He never gives up on us and He never leaves us.
If you'll recall when my husband first got laid off we were doing another study that had something to do with trials and I mentioned that I knew that it was a test for me and that I was determined to pass it because I didn't ever want to have to go through another test on that particular subject again!
At the time I said that, I knew that the trials we were going through was a test for me, but I didn't realize that all our trials are tests. So I'm just learning this too.
Most kids in school don't like tests and I think that hangs onto us even as adults. We often even view tests themselves as trials and now God's telling us to view the trials we're going through as a test, which reads "trial" to us, with pure joy!
But He tells us that when we've passed each trial we become more mature and when we have finally become spiritually mature we will lack nothing and be complete. Now THAT, I agree, is something to look forward to! And you know when we'll be totally "complete"? At the rapture!!!! The rapture is the completion of our salvation!
Peter mentions this too and compares our faith with gold:
1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
So now we know that our trials will produce spiritual maturity in us by refining our faith, and that it will then bring praise, glory and honor at the rapture! Did you notice I underlined the words "proved genuine"? That's because the word that's translated that way actually means "to test for the purpose of approving"! So the Lord is going to keep testing us till we all come out with straight A's!
You see, we have a 'living hope". Our hope isn't in some dead words on paper, but rather in a living God who loves us and wants what's best for us. He has lots of plans for our time in eternity with Him and in order for us to enjoy it to the fullest extent, He needs to get us all through our schooling here. I've always looked at life on earth like a school, and the more I study God's word, the more I see that it really is! Because we have a living hope though, we are responsible to respond to the things that happen in our lives with faith. When we do that, we're basically putting our faith into practice. So a sound faith built on a firm foundation is going to result in sound practice. This is the kind of faith, or living hope if you will, that enables us to face our trials with joy because the trials refine our faith and prove it's reality, it's value.
1 John 5:3-4 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Then when the unsaved see us living our faith and facing our trials with joy, they want what we have, and so we bring others to Christ as well. It's all because the focus of our faith isn't in some abstract thing, but is instead in the person of Jesus, who is very much alive and who speaks to us through His Word, who guides us and never leaves us, who loves us, that we can have this "pure joy" even during trials.
Let's look again at how Peter puts it, but this time let's look at it in context:
1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I wanted to share this with you again because I just love how one of my commentaries explains this and wanted you to see it too:
I really wanted to cover more today but I can see this is getting pretty long so I'll stop for now and pick it up again tomorrow. Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
Did you notice that James calls himself a servant of God and Jesus? The word translated servant means "bond slave". He is saying that he no longer owns his own life. Instead of determining his own future, he now belongs to God who bought him as His slave when He died for him on the cross.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So James doesn't just consider himself as God's slave. This isn't some special position that only the disciples and apostles filled. Instead, it's a position that all who have been saved are in. You and I are servants of God. Our lives are not our own. We hear that all the time and even say it, but do we really understand what that means??? This is the kind of attitude we're all to have every day, yet it's rare of any of us to even consider what God might want us to do that day. Most of us just continue to do whatever it was we normally do without giving it another thought. So this is for sure something we should reflect on and integrate into our daily lives.
James is writing this to his fellow Jews who have once again been scattered all over the world. This is still very relevant to us though because he's not writing it to just "regular Jews", he's writing it to Jew's who have been saved, just like him. These Jews are now Christians; they're "followers of the Way".
Acts 24:14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.
So don't think this book isn't written to us, it is! Now comes his most astounding sentence:
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
This is just amazing! We are to consider it "pure joy" when we're going through trials! He had to have known that every person reading his letter was going to say, "What???" "How????" so that's what he deals with next. But first I want us to notice that he addresses this sentence to his "brothers". He doesn't put himself above them in any way nor is is talking down to them or even lecturing them. He's talking to them about a common experience they've all had and that he himself has had. Notice after he tells them that we should consider it pure joy, he says, "because you know". In other words, he's not telling them something new, he's just reminding them of what they've already learned through experience as has he.
So he tells them to consider it "pure joy", not partly joy and a bunch of hassle, not something to complain about, not something distasteful that we have to get through whether we like it or not, but instead, to consider it "pure joy". This is just about incomprehensible to most folks now I think. At least it sure was to me! I mean no matter how you look at it, like when you have to get a shot to protect you from a virus, you may have to do it, but you sure don't look forward to it with pure joy! So how in the world can we do that??? Why in the world would we do that???? Let's look and see.
James 1:3-4 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Ahhh! So that's it! We should consider it pure joy because we know that the trials will lead to our spiritual maturity, and as we become spiritually mature we become "complete, not lacking anything"! So we're not to see our trials as a calamity, or as something "bad" or as a punishment from God or curse of some kind etc. We're to see them instead as a test of our faith. One thing to keep in mind about this is that God doesn't test us to see if we'll fail, He tests us to help us succeed! One thing I have learned from experience with the Lord is that He will keep on testing you in an area over and over and over, until you DO succeed! He never gives up on us and He never leaves us.
If you'll recall when my husband first got laid off we were doing another study that had something to do with trials and I mentioned that I knew that it was a test for me and that I was determined to pass it because I didn't ever want to have to go through another test on that particular subject again!
At the time I said that, I knew that the trials we were going through was a test for me, but I didn't realize that all our trials are tests. So I'm just learning this too.
Most kids in school don't like tests and I think that hangs onto us even as adults. We often even view tests themselves as trials and now God's telling us to view the trials we're going through as a test, which reads "trial" to us, with pure joy!
But He tells us that when we've passed each trial we become more mature and when we have finally become spiritually mature we will lack nothing and be complete. Now THAT, I agree, is something to look forward to! And you know when we'll be totally "complete"? At the rapture!!!! The rapture is the completion of our salvation!
Peter mentions this too and compares our faith with gold:
1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
So now we know that our trials will produce spiritual maturity in us by refining our faith, and that it will then bring praise, glory and honor at the rapture! Did you notice I underlined the words "proved genuine"? That's because the word that's translated that way actually means "to test for the purpose of approving"! So the Lord is going to keep testing us till we all come out with straight A's!
You see, we have a 'living hope". Our hope isn't in some dead words on paper, but rather in a living God who loves us and wants what's best for us. He has lots of plans for our time in eternity with Him and in order for us to enjoy it to the fullest extent, He needs to get us all through our schooling here. I've always looked at life on earth like a school, and the more I study God's word, the more I see that it really is! Because we have a living hope though, we are responsible to respond to the things that happen in our lives with faith. When we do that, we're basically putting our faith into practice. So a sound faith built on a firm foundation is going to result in sound practice. This is the kind of faith, or living hope if you will, that enables us to face our trials with joy because the trials refine our faith and prove it's reality, it's value.
1 John 5:3-4 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Then when the unsaved see us living our faith and facing our trials with joy, they want what we have, and so we bring others to Christ as well. It's all because the focus of our faith isn't in some abstract thing, but is instead in the person of Jesus, who is very much alive and who speaks to us through His Word, who guides us and never leaves us, who loves us, that we can have this "pure joy" even during trials.
Let's look again at how Peter puts it, but this time let's look at it in context:
1 Peter 1:3-9 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I wanted to share this with you again because I just love how one of my commentaries explains this and wanted you to see it too:
Believers can rejoice because they are (pres. tense) receiving (komizomenoi, “to receive as a reward”) what was promised, namely salvation, the goal or culmination (telos, “end”) of . . . faith. For those who love and believe in Jesus Christ, salvation is past (“He has given us new birth,” v. 3), present (“through faith are shielded by God’s power,” v. 5), and future (it is their “inheritance,” v. 4, which will “be revealed in the last time,” v. 5, and is “the goal of your faith,” v. 9). Since each day brings believers closer to that final day, they are now “receiving” it. All of this—in spite of persecution which deepens and demonstrates one’s faith—is certainly cause for “inexpressible and glorious joy”! (v. 8)
The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures I really wanted to cover more today but I can see this is getting pretty long so I'll stop for now and pick it up again tomorrow. Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials
I bet back when James wrote this that the folks he wrote it to did a double take too! I know we've done studies about the subject of trials before, but it looks like the Lord isn't done with us yet. I've had a specific subject on my mind that I thought He wanted me to do a study on and was ready to start it today. However, I also was strongly feeling I should be doing a study on James. So I figured I'd go take a look at James first and pray and see if i could figure out which one the Lord wanted me to do first.
Well...guess what? The study I thought I was supposed to do and the study on James are actually going to be one and the same!
I just love it when God does something like that! I'm really excited about this study because I just know we're going to learn a lot from it! I hope you'll all join me in it too. What I'd like to suggest is that we all read the first chapter of James today and think about it and tomorrow I'll start the study. Although this is a short book and even the chapters aren't very long, there's a LOT of information packed into this little book and even into this short first chapter. So don't be surprised if it takes us a couple of days or more to cover each chapter. Even if it does though, I still think it's best if we start out by reading the whole first chapter ok?
For this I'll just give us a bit of background that I've learned today. The first thing which really shocked me is that James isn't James!
Yep LOL that's right! I always assumed this was written by the apostle James, our Lord's half brother, and it was, but his name wasn't James. 
Let me share with you what the commentary says though: The human author of this epistle is not easily identified. The New Testament mentions at least four men named James: (1) the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Mark 1:19), (2) the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18), (3) the father of Judas (not Iscariot; Luke 6:16), and (4) the half brother of the Lord (Gal. 1:19). Which one wrote the epistle?
James, the son of Zebedee, could not be the author since he suffered martyrdom under Herod Agrippa I before this epistle was written (Acts 12:2).
It is unlikely that the little-known son of Alphaeus was the author though some, especially Roman Catholics, equate the son of Alphaeus with the Lord’s brother. They claim that James was really Jesus’ cousin through Mary of Cleopas (Alphaeus), the Virgin Mary’s sister. This contention, however, violates a literal interpretation of “brother” and is clearly an attempt to support the invention of the perpetual virginity of Mary. It seems clear from Scripture that children were born to Joseph and Mary after the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is called “her firstborn” (Luke 2:7), implying that others were born thereafter. The Scriptures state that Joseph had no union with Mary, that is, no normal physical relationship, “until” (heōs) after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:25). Repeated references are made to the Lord’s half brothers and half sisters and four of His brothers are named: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matt. 13:55).
James, the father of Judas (not Iscariot) did not figure as an important person in the early church. He could hardly be the author of this epistle.
It seems clear therefore that the author is James, the half brother of the Lord, who became the recognized leader in the Jerusalem church. This conclusion is supported by the authoritative tone of the letter and by the marked similarities in Greek between this epistle and the speech by James recorded in Acts 15.
Though James was reared in the same home with the Lord Jesus, he apparently did not become a believer until after Christ’s resurrection. John wrote, “For even His own brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:5).
James’ encounter with the risen Lord may have brought him to saving faith. Christ “appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:7). Paul later listed James, Peter, and John as “those reputed to be pillars” of the church (Gal. 2:9).
The strongest evidence for the authorship of the Epistle of James clearly favors the half brother of Christ. Furthermore, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Augustine, and many other early writers support this view. .....
....James was actually Jacob (Iakōbos). It is not certain why the English translators chose “James” rather than “Jacob.” “James,” “Jake,” and “Jacob” all come from the same root. Bible translations in other languages tend to utilize the transliterated name from the actual Hebrew “Jacob” (ya‘ăqōb). Could it be that King James desired to see his name in the English translation he authorized?
The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures
So, with that little tid bit of information, let's read the first chapter! I'll post it here, but of course you can read it in your own bibles too!
James 1:1-27 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Re: The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom
The Lord just keeps opening my eyes to more and more about the Fear of Lord every day. In the portion of the bible I was reading yesterday, He pointed out some interesting things about Job that I hadn't noticed before. Let me share them with you:
These verses tell about Satan's first attacks on Job:
Job 2:7-10 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Did you notice that part I underlined? Now if someone were to suggest today that the Lord was responsible in some way for our troubles, I hate to think what others would say! Yet here there is no debate about it. Job says in no uncertain terms that God gave him all the good things he had and that he knew that God had allowed them to be taken from him. We don't like to think such things though because to us now, it makes it seem that God isn't "good" because He let's bad things happen to us. Let's look at what happens to him next and how he reacts:
Job 1:13-19 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Can you imagine if similar things had happened to any of us today how we would respond to them? Wars, raids, fire and hurricanes..no one today would suggest aloud that God had allowed those kind of things would they?
Now, notice the very next verse:
Job 1:20-22 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Once again there is no doubt in Job's mind that God is in control so He has therefore allowed this evil to befall him. Job doesn't sin because he doesn't try and say that God was wrong or bad to allow these things to happen.
What's interesting to me is that for the most part when people today suggest that God either caused something bad to happen or allowed it to happen, that they are labeled as being superstitious. Yet, if we really believe that God is in control, then how can we say that anything can happen without His knowledge and without Him at the very least allowing it? We can't. He either is in control or He's not. He either is all powerful or He isn't. It can't be both ways.
I think perhaps in trying to make God more palatable to the unsaved, the church stopped preaching about how God does discipline, punish, test and prunes us. Instead they focused on how God is love and left out the other part. So we forgot that while He does love us, He also has expectations of us and will discipline us when we don't meet those expectations. The world has taught us a very corrupted definition of love too which doesn't help either. We need to remember that God is not some mushy, tolerant, "give them anything they want" God. He is instead, just, righteous, holy, impartial, jealous, omnipresent, omniscient, powerful, mighty, glorious, majestic, merciful, loving, fearful, perfect and awesome God, that will not share His glory with anyone.
The more I study on the subject of the fear of God, the more certain I am that it's something we would all be wise to develop! Look at just this one verse and how it says that the fear of God will help us. (I'm going to show it in two different versions)
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Personally, I think using the "fear of God" has more impact then "reverence for God". Mainly because today, people really don't understand reverence very well either.
2 Corinthians 5:10-11 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
1 John 3:1-3 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Some people are beginning to see that God is beginning to judge the earth even now, yet what makes us think that He ever stopped?
You know, it's easy to say that judgment has begun because of the evil people and the unsaved, but we forget that the bible says the judgment begins with us who are saved. That alone is enough for me to want to cultivate the fear of God in myself! I don't really think we can do it ourselves though. Oh we can certainly try and we should, but I think in order to fully know the fear of God, that it's something the Lord Himself has to help us with....
These verses tell about Satan's first attacks on Job:
Job 2:7-10 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Did you notice that part I underlined? Now if someone were to suggest today that the Lord was responsible in some way for our troubles, I hate to think what others would say! Yet here there is no debate about it. Job says in no uncertain terms that God gave him all the good things he had and that he knew that God had allowed them to be taken from him. We don't like to think such things though because to us now, it makes it seem that God isn't "good" because He let's bad things happen to us. Let's look at what happens to him next and how he reacts:
Job 1:13-19 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Can you imagine if similar things had happened to any of us today how we would respond to them? Wars, raids, fire and hurricanes..no one today would suggest aloud that God had allowed those kind of things would they?
Now, notice the very next verse:
Job 1:20-22 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Once again there is no doubt in Job's mind that God is in control so He has therefore allowed this evil to befall him. Job doesn't sin because he doesn't try and say that God was wrong or bad to allow these things to happen.
What's interesting to me is that for the most part when people today suggest that God either caused something bad to happen or allowed it to happen, that they are labeled as being superstitious. Yet, if we really believe that God is in control, then how can we say that anything can happen without His knowledge and without Him at the very least allowing it? We can't. He either is in control or He's not. He either is all powerful or He isn't. It can't be both ways.
I think perhaps in trying to make God more palatable to the unsaved, the church stopped preaching about how God does discipline, punish, test and prunes us. Instead they focused on how God is love and left out the other part. So we forgot that while He does love us, He also has expectations of us and will discipline us when we don't meet those expectations. The world has taught us a very corrupted definition of love too which doesn't help either. We need to remember that God is not some mushy, tolerant, "give them anything they want" God. He is instead, just, righteous, holy, impartial, jealous, omnipresent, omniscient, powerful, mighty, glorious, majestic, merciful, loving, fearful, perfect and awesome God, that will not share His glory with anyone.
The more I study on the subject of the fear of God, the more certain I am that it's something we would all be wise to develop! Look at just this one verse and how it says that the fear of God will help us. (I'm going to show it in two different versions)
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Personally, I think using the "fear of God" has more impact then "reverence for God". Mainly because today, people really don't understand reverence very well either.
7:1 These promises that God will dwell among us, receive us, and be our Father (6:16-18) should motivate us to holiness, as should the proper fear of God. See 5:10, 11; 1 John 3:1-3.
Spirit filled life study Bible. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
1 John 3:1-3 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Some people are beginning to see that God is beginning to judge the earth even now, yet what makes us think that He ever stopped?
You know, it's easy to say that judgment has begun because of the evil people and the unsaved, but we forget that the bible says the judgment begins with us who are saved. That alone is enough for me to want to cultivate the fear of God in myself! I don't really think we can do it ourselves though. Oh we can certainly try and we should, but I think in order to fully know the fear of God, that it's something the Lord Himself has to help us with....
Friday, August 13, 2010
What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words
I am so excited!!!! I wasn't sure even which thread to put this on, since we've currently got 4 of them that are so interrelated, but I think this is the most appropriate one so I'll put it here.
I've been studying all day on the theme of our thoughts, our words, our emotions, and the fear of the Lord. I have to confess that I've been having a really hard time at stopping swearing. Mainly because I haven't been allowing myself to "replace" the words. With nothing to replace them with, it's kind of left me floundering so I asked the Lord to help and show me what to do. He just showed me and I'm so excited! He used something that most would think is totally unrelated lol, but it's perfect!
I had read a devotional a while ago that dealt with how our Lord dealt with emotional pain when His heart was troubled and when He was crucified. It really hit home with me because I live with constant pain. When dealing with his emotional pain, he didn't lash out, he didn't complain, he didn't swear. He prayed and when He spoke, this is what He said:
John 12:28 Father, glorify your name!”
Well, I've been sitting here studying all this time and naturally the pain in my back had gotten worse. My cat came and insisted I take a break to give her her treats and when I stood up the pain shot through me like an arrow and I swore in my mind. I guess that's better then saying it out loud, but not to me, so I immediately told the Lord I was sorry and asked His forgiveness and He immediately reminded me of that devotional. That's when it hit me! I can use that for swearing as well as pain!
What's really strange and why I know this was from the Lord, is because I've honestly never used a swear word or replacement swear if you will because of the pain before! It's just never happened in the last 10 years. But for it to happen now when I've been studying so hard and praying for the Lord to help me learn how to conquer this with His help, was just too perfect to be a coincidence!
So now, instead of replacing swear words with more innocent words such as "shoot", I can simply say, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" and mean it! That not only prevents me from swearing or using any kind of vulgar or coarse words, but it totally changes my emotions and thoughts immediately!!! So that takes care of the problem of that list of "reasons" and things we're feeling too! What an awesome way to do it! Thank You Lord!!!
This is the list I'm talking about that I posted earlier in this thread for those who don't remember:
Receiving one’s self in the fires of sorrow
What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. John 12:27-29 (R.V.).
My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself in the fire of sorrow, He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires. If we try and evade sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be. Sin and sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better. Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self. You cannot receive your self in success, you lose your head; you cannot receive your self in monotony, you grouse. The way to find your self is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be so is another matter, but that it is so is true in the Scriptures and in human experience.
You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that he has ample leisure for you. If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, he has no time for you. If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.
Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year
So it looks like I'm going to be both thinking and saying aloud, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" a lot now, and as far as I'm concerned, the more the better! What better thing to do or ask then to ask Him to glorify His Name in whatever pain, anger, hurt, or whatever, that I'm experiencing at the moment? What better way to change my attitude instantly too!
You know, thinking about all this made me realize something else. When our Lord was flogged, tortured and crucified, I would think that if there was ever in this world a legitimate cause for swearing, or using vulgar or coarse language, that would be it! But He didn't! Not one "bad" word came out of our Lord's mouth. In the gospels we can read every word He spoke from that evening at the last supper until the moment He died, and He did not utter any word that would be offensive to use in front of a little child at any time.
I am not by any means trying to be legalistic here or in any of the studies I do. I am very simply presenting what the Bible says as I try to learn from it what His Will is for how I should live, just as He tells us we are to do. I'm not talking about "rules" and "laws" here. Or at least not "only" about those. I don't know about others, but I want to live in such a way that my life here and now is pleasing to my Lord who gave His life for me. Like a little child, I want to please my Heavenly Father and I want Him to be pleased with me! Being obedient to my Lord brings me great joy! It's when I fail Him that I'm miserable and in tears!
It's kind of funny but most people are scared (and so was I) by the passages that tell us that we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross, and that in order to find our lives we have to first lose them.
Mark 8:34-35 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
The reason I say it's kind of funny is because it wasn't until I did begin to give up "my" life, my "self" and live for Him, that I began to consistently experience real joy! It took quite awhile, but I finally realized that when we give up our lives and live for Him instead, that's when He gives us a more abundant life! So what He says really makes sense, because when we lose "our" lives for Him, we begin living more abundantly then we would have ever known was possible before!
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I don't ask anyone to do the things I do, or believe what I believe. I only post my studies to help those who are also on this journey or who might be following behind us later and find this helpful. I try very hard not to post just what I think God's Word is saying, but instead try to post His Word and show people where and how I get what I do from my studies. Not so they'll know I'm "right", but so that others can learn "how to study" by following the same principals. I know some folks think I post too many scriptures and I have tried to post fewer, but that's why I post so many so people can see the context of them. Scripture must be read in context, not only with the passage and book it's from but with the entire bible for it to make sense.
Ok, enough of that! Time to go get at least something done around here LOL God bless you all and I hope this helps someone else too!
What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words
I've been studying all day on the theme of our thoughts, our words, our emotions, and the fear of the Lord. I have to confess that I've been having a really hard time at stopping swearing. Mainly because I haven't been allowing myself to "replace" the words. With nothing to replace them with, it's kind of left me floundering so I asked the Lord to help and show me what to do. He just showed me and I'm so excited! He used something that most would think is totally unrelated lol, but it's perfect!
I had read a devotional a while ago that dealt with how our Lord dealt with emotional pain when His heart was troubled and when He was crucified. It really hit home with me because I live with constant pain. When dealing with his emotional pain, he didn't lash out, he didn't complain, he didn't swear. He prayed and when He spoke, this is what He said:
John 12:28 Father, glorify your name!”
Well, I've been sitting here studying all this time and naturally the pain in my back had gotten worse. My cat came and insisted I take a break to give her her treats and when I stood up the pain shot through me like an arrow and I swore in my mind. I guess that's better then saying it out loud, but not to me, so I immediately told the Lord I was sorry and asked His forgiveness and He immediately reminded me of that devotional. That's when it hit me! I can use that for swearing as well as pain!
What's really strange and why I know this was from the Lord, is because I've honestly never used a swear word or replacement swear if you will because of the pain before! It's just never happened in the last 10 years. But for it to happen now when I've been studying so hard and praying for the Lord to help me learn how to conquer this with His help, was just too perfect to be a coincidence!
So now, instead of replacing swear words with more innocent words such as "shoot", I can simply say, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" and mean it! That not only prevents me from swearing or using any kind of vulgar or coarse words, but it totally changes my emotions and thoughts immediately!!! So that takes care of the problem of that list of "reasons" and things we're feeling too! What an awesome way to do it! Thank You Lord!!!
This is the list I'm talking about that I posted earlier in this thread for those who don't remember:
- anger
- frustration
- sudden and unexpected pain,
- sudden unexpected fright,
- fright in general
- hurt-hurt feelings
- habit
- for shock effect
Receiving one’s self in the fires of sorrow
What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. John 12:27-29 (R.V.).
My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself in the fire of sorrow, He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.
We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires. If we try and evade sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be. Sin and sorrow and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.
Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better. Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self. You cannot receive your self in success, you lose your head; you cannot receive your self in monotony, you grouse. The way to find your self is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be so is another matter, but that it is so is true in the Scriptures and in human experience.
You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that he has ample leisure for you. If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, he has no time for you. If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.
Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year
So it looks like I'm going to be both thinking and saying aloud, "Father, Glorify Your Name!" a lot now, and as far as I'm concerned, the more the better! What better thing to do or ask then to ask Him to glorify His Name in whatever pain, anger, hurt, or whatever, that I'm experiencing at the moment? What better way to change my attitude instantly too!
You know, thinking about all this made me realize something else. When our Lord was flogged, tortured and crucified, I would think that if there was ever in this world a legitimate cause for swearing, or using vulgar or coarse language, that would be it! But He didn't! Not one "bad" word came out of our Lord's mouth. In the gospels we can read every word He spoke from that evening at the last supper until the moment He died, and He did not utter any word that would be offensive to use in front of a little child at any time.
I am not by any means trying to be legalistic here or in any of the studies I do. I am very simply presenting what the Bible says as I try to learn from it what His Will is for how I should live, just as He tells us we are to do. I'm not talking about "rules" and "laws" here. Or at least not "only" about those. I don't know about others, but I want to live in such a way that my life here and now is pleasing to my Lord who gave His life for me. Like a little child, I want to please my Heavenly Father and I want Him to be pleased with me! Being obedient to my Lord brings me great joy! It's when I fail Him that I'm miserable and in tears!
It's kind of funny but most people are scared (and so was I) by the passages that tell us that we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross, and that in order to find our lives we have to first lose them.
Mark 8:34-35 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
The reason I say it's kind of funny is because it wasn't until I did begin to give up "my" life, my "self" and live for Him, that I began to consistently experience real joy! It took quite awhile, but I finally realized that when we give up our lives and live for Him instead, that's when He gives us a more abundant life! So what He says really makes sense, because when we lose "our" lives for Him, we begin living more abundantly then we would have ever known was possible before!
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I don't ask anyone to do the things I do, or believe what I believe. I only post my studies to help those who are also on this journey or who might be following behind us later and find this helpful. I try very hard not to post just what I think God's Word is saying, but instead try to post His Word and show people where and how I get what I do from my studies. Not so they'll know I'm "right", but so that others can learn "how to study" by following the same principals. I know some folks think I post too many scriptures and I have tried to post fewer, but that's why I post so many so people can see the context of them. Scripture must be read in context, not only with the passage and book it's from but with the entire bible for it to make sense.
Ok, enough of that! Time to go get at least something done around here LOL God bless you all and I hope this helps someone else too!
Re: What the bible says about swearing & using vulgar words
I guess one way of determining for sure if you could or not, would be to imagine yourself standing face to face with Jesus, feeling and seeing His total amazing holiness and purity, both of which have been imputed to us and which we are to live by and act on, and imagine yourself using each of those words toward Him in exactly the same manner you would normally use them in your life now.
If you can do that without even flinching or cringing a little, then by all means continue to use them. As for me, I cringe just considering thinking about it! Remember, THIS is who you will be saying those things to:
Revelation 1:12-18 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Daniel 7:9-10 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
Ezekiel 1:25-28 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Exodus 15:11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
That God tells us:
Leviticus 20:7-8 “ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
Ephesians 4:22-5:7 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
If you can do that without even flinching or cringing a little, then by all means continue to use them. As for me, I cringe just considering thinking about it! Remember, THIS is who you will be saying those things to:
Revelation 1:12-18 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Daniel 7:9-10 “As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
Ezekiel 1:25-28 Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Exodus 15:11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
That God tells us:
Leviticus 20:7-8 “ ‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.
Ephesians 4:22-5:7 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
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