Category Archives: James

Where to find God

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Gone FishingSometimes it seems like God is hiding. We pray and … nothing. I discovered something in Psalm 146 that might help us find Him the next time He seems away on vacation.

Psalm 146 talks about the “oppressed”, the “hungry”, the “prisoners”, the “blind”, “those who are bowed down”, “the foreigner”, “the fatherless and the widow”. Right in the middle of this suffering and oppressed group of people it says one line about the righteous that seems out of place. Why would this statement about “the righteous” be found among a list of oppressed and broken people?

Perhaps because when Righteousness walked the earth in human form He gravitated toward that group of people. Jesus spent His time among the sick, the sorrowful, those who knew their need of a Savior but felt far from God as He was presented by the religious system.

True Righteousness will always walk among the poor, reach out to the lost one, run to embrace the one who has been among the pigs, wreaks of the slop trough and comes acknowledging, “I am not worthy”.

Jesus could have come as a king, lived in comfort and opulence proclaiming His message to the masses from a solid gold chariot drawn by a team of magnificent horses. Certainly this would have made his divinity seem more palatable, more believable. He could have maintained a respectable distance from the dust and filth of humanity but it was from dust He chose to make man. He chose to once again get His hands dirty to redeem man.

What a remarkable love that caused Him to descend to the lowest depths in order to make it possible for us to ascend to the highest heights. What a Savior! What a God!

So where are we likely to find God? Right at the point of our most desperate need – among the poor in spirit, the broken, the contrite and humble. If that is where you are, go and do something to bless someone who is worse off than you and I guarantee you will find God right there beside you.
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James 1:27
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.

How to reap a harvest

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power in a seedWhen we sow a seed of sin it promises pleasure and it delivers. There is immediate gratification or we would not be tempted by it. But that short-lived rush of reward is followed by a long term harvest of guilt, insecurity and often pain, not only for us but for countless others as the waves of sin’s impact spread. Once we start the wave we lose control of how big or far reaching it will be. Sometimes we can do nothing but stand back and watch in horror as it builds into a tsunami of destruction rolling over our loved ones and even innocent bystanders. Continue reading →

Don’t be a Christ follower.

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followerIn our society “Christian” has come to mean a bigoted, narrow minded, hater. So a growing number of “Christians” are looking to rebrand themselves. I’m OK with avoiding the term “Christian” since it initially was a term used more by the pagan world than by the Christians themselves. Other than Peter’s use of the term one time we don’t see Christians referring to themselves as “Christians” in the New Testament. A term that is coming in vogue is “Christ follower” – I am a Christ follower. 

I don’t want to nit pick (though I am going to anyway) but I suggest that you might not want to just be a “Christ followers”. In the New Testament that too was not a term they used. In the NT they preferred the term “disciple”. Another popular term was “servant” – I am a servant of Jesus Christ. OK, both of those words may be a little foreign today so use “follower” if you want when explaining your stance to non-believers but don’t begin to see yourself merely as a “follower”. Here is why. Continue reading →

Why so many struggles?

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Struggles strengthen us to soarJudges 3:4
(These hostile enemies of Israel) were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.
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We know the Lord could easily erase every struggle and make our lives smooth sailing into glory. But He allows it to “rain on the just and the unjust”. Christians get sick, have money problems, relational stresses, auto accidents, are victims in tragedies, on and on. In fact, as one first century accuser said, “You Christians have more problems than the average person. How can you believe a God who takes such poor care of you in this life is able to take care of you in the life to come?” Continue reading →

Enchanted But Unchanged

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happy churchMark 6:20
Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.
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Sometimes it makes me nervous when I hear folks say they like to come to church because it makes them “feel good”. Obviously, it makes sense that a believer would feel good when they spend time with God’s people, worship the Lord and sit under the influence of the Word and the Spirit. But I sense from some folks that their experience is more like that of Herod.

They respect and like to be around people who live godly lives. They may even stand up for them and defend them like Herod did. They like to hear the messages, though sometimes what the preacher says can be a little troubling, still they like to listen. Church makes them feel good but it doesn’t make them live good. It has little or no impact on their daily lives. What a dangerous way to live! Continue reading →

Devil on the run

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Devil tastes defeatLuke 4:13
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left (Jesus) until an opportune time.
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You know Satan wanted to stay on top of Jesus 24/7 tempting and attacking Him.  But after a period of intense temptation Satan left Him alone.  Clearly Satan didn’t want to leave Jesus alone but the Bible promises that if we will do two things the devil has to get out of our face – 1. Submit to God and 2. Resist the devil (James 4:7)  . Certainly he doesn’t do that by choice but he must flee.  If the devil is constantly knocking at your door and never goes away, something is wrong – either on the submission side or on the resisting side. Continue reading →

Pain: Evidence God has plans for you

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Trials against blue skies

Individuals that God uses in a special way are often put through deeper and more difficult trials than others.  We see this throughout Scripture.  You cannot name a single individual used greatly by God that did not face fire, opposition, sickness, hardship, persecution and testing.  In fact, you often see a correlation between the depth of their despair and the height to which God uses them after they have been proven by the testing. The deeper the pit the higher the mountaintop to follow. This is counterintuitive to our way of thinking (and, sadly, also counter to much of what today is proclaimed as “gospel”).  Why would a loving God not treat His children better?

Continue reading →

Do Sinners Experience God’s Love?

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Someone wrote and asked:
In reading I came across this.   What do you think about these statements?
“Because of our rebellion and disobedience we are separated from God and we do not experience His love. As long as we are going our own way and doing our own thing we do not experience God’s love.  In order to experience God’s love we must be ‘born again.'”

ANSWER:
I disagree.  I appreciate what he is trying to say but thankfully you do not have to be born again to experience God’s love.  Continue reading →

The Machine Gun Preacher

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Someone asked me what I thought about the Machine Gun Preacher, Sam Childers, the former motorcycle gang member, now a Christian, who leads armed attacks to rescue children in Sudan.   Is it right to kill people to rescue others?  Is he doing a good thing or just using the methods of the world to try to accomplish God’s goals?  He has even come under fire from people in the area where he is trying to help children.

So is Sam a hero or a villain?  Saint or another misguided follower of the Prince of Peace?

My opinion is ….. drum roll, please … I am glad I do not have to have an opinion. Sam is not working for me. He is not my servant, he is the Lord’s.

Romans 14:4
Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Why is it we think we have to have an opinion on everything no matter how ignorant we are of the topic?  Worse yet, why is it our opinion is always right?  There is not a single opinion I hold or you hold that is not the correct one.  (Because if we thought our opinion was wrong we would change it.)

Opinions are like navels.  Everyone has one.  They aren’t of much value and it is usually wise to not go around showing it to everyone.

I look at it like this.  I will not have to give account to God for anything Sam is doing unless … unless I choose to judge him.  Then I will give account to God for my judgment of him.  The list of things I have already got to give account for is long enough. Why add Sam to my list?

I have discovered I have never had anything I did not say come back to haunt me.  How much trouble could we avoid if we simply kept silent more? Could your life be happier and smoother, and less to talk to God about later, if you followed the advice of Will Rogers who said, “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

Let’s hear it for … silence.
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1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

James 3:2
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

God WILL Give Us More Than We Can Handle

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1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
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Based on this passage I have heard people say “God won’t give us more than we can handle”. I have heard it applied to struggles in relationships, finances, health, most any area of life that can be overwhelming. Not only does this verse not promise that “God won’t give us more than we can handle”, it actually says the opposite.

Paul, the apostle who wrote this, was given more than he could handle. In 2 Corinthians 1:8 he says that while ministering in Asia “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure …” so God will allow more to come into our lives than we can handle.

Why would God allow such a thing? Paul explains that in the next passage.
“This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”. God will regularly “give us more than we can handle” so we can learn to trust Him and not our own strength.

But this passage does not even say God will limit the power of temptation in our lives to something we can handle. It does say that when an overwhelming temptation comes He will provide a way of escape. The way we “bear” up under the temptation is by taking the way of escape.

The conclusion: Though God may not send the overwhelming trials nor the temptations into our lives (James 1:13) He will definitely allow us to experience more than we can handle so we learn to flee temptation and learn to trust Him in times of stress.
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Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”