Hey everyone this is Matt here about to drop some wisdom upon you about James 1, our first chapter.
1-8
So James is written by, guess who, James and he starts off talking about troubles and trials. he tells us to be happy about our troubles because they will grow us in our faith if we remain faithful to God. James also tells us that to ask God for wisdom and believe and should not doubt him because after all, he knows every thing.
9-11
The next section refers to wealth. Poor believers should be happy that God thinks of them highly and rich believers should be happy when bad things humble them. As pastor Rob said just because your not healthy, wealthy, or prosperous doesn't mean that God does not love you. James just said that God loves the poor as well as the rich, so don't be thinking that you need to be a billionaire so very bad, because God loves you no matter what.
12-18
Now James moves on to discuss temptation. Temptation does not come from God, it comes from your very own desires, the things you want. If you follower your desires, they will lead you to your spiritual death. God blesses the faithful and all things good come from God and he will never change.
19-25
James preaches always be more willing to listen then to speak. God gave you two ears for listening and one mouth for speaking. Don't get angry because anger aint yo friend. Its not ever going to help you in your walk with Christ. He also says listening and doing nothing is pointless. In other words you can read the whole bible, memorize it in fact, and accomplish nothing if you don't use it. It would be just wasted knowledge.
26-27
This little bit talks about guess what... the first G in our series... Ok times up Glory! More specifically worship. Verse 26 basically says that you shouldn't brag about your offerings and think that your all that because of them. DO NOT BE LIKE THESE TWO CLOWNS this is what not to do."Hey man, I gave 100 dollars in church this morning" "Oh yeah that's nothing I gave 500 dollars, I'm so more religious then you..." God does not want an offering if its just to show off for someone else. It has to be sincere and from the heart no matter the size. Then verse 27 simply says to help those in need and stay pure from worldly sin.
So that's the end of Chapter one of James. Tomorrow will be chapter 2. Place your comments down below and feel free to criticize me. Tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Also leave your favorite verse(s), and any questions you have about the chapter. I'm putting this up 1/6/13 (Sunday) but really its meant for 1/7/13 (Monday). Take care, brush your hair, I'll see you guys down in the comments.
This blog is for the youth at Impact Church, or anyone else that wants to join us to read through the Bible together.
16 comments:
Great post Matt. Liked how you broke all the verses down. Are there going to be other "G"s in our series?
My favorite verses:
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. James 1:14
God cannot tempt us with evil so what temptation is, is when we chase our own desires.
19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20
Follow this, and you won't put your foot in your mouth. And anger don't be anger our of man's desires because it does not glorify God.
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:22-25
I love these verse because it is all about application of the Word! We can study the Bible all we want but nothing will happen. It is about what we do with our knowledge that counts.
A little prayer request. I've been coughing a lot every morning and its been keeping me up at night. Pray I get well soon. Thanks!
Matt I really liked how you broke the verses down as well. That helped me a lot. I loved this verse and underlined and wrote notes throughout the chapter. My favorites were:
James 1:2-3, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."
When we're going through a difficult time we should be thankful that God is taking the time to work on us and make us better. Also, we need to remember that when we're going through those rough times, instead of getting angry and upset we need to have a commendable attitude to praise the Lord.
I also like 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."
I love this verse because it reassures me that I am allowed to ask God for wisdom. I forget that sometimes and think, "God doesn't care if I do good on this test, or I can't ask God to help me know Him better. That's silly." But the truth is God cares very much and wants us to ask Him for help on gaining more wisdom either about Him or even silly things like a test in school.
Finally, I liked James 1:9, "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position."
We should be humble in every aspect of our lives but especially when it comes to the bible because no matter how much it appears you know the theology or facts concerning the bible, we really don't even understand half of all God is capable of. Therefore we should be meek, humble, and willing to learn and be taught more about the Word of God.
I'm sorry you're not feeling well Joe and I will be praying for you. -Taylor Rayborn
I thought I commented already but I guess it didn't work. I liked James 1:2-3 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2, 3 ESV)
I'm really having a tough day but I'm tryin to keep this verse in mind and glorify God because I'll come out stronger on the other side
Hey guys I really need prayer right now because I have a skin thing called eczema that won't go away and I really need people to help me by praying about it. Marissa is also sick too and needs prayer. I'm praying for you Joe.
And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:15, 16 ESV)
Nathan, we have been praying for you. We're noticing it has gotten you down and we want it healed and gone, and Nathan back to his normal self!!!
When I said first G I ment from service on Sunday, there are five total but we aren't necessarily going to use them all. Very good points and verses and ill pray for your Heath.
Very nice Taylor, you should consider leading a book sometime for us!
Yes Nathan, we are and will be praying for you and Marissa and Joe. Also slow down we're not there yet:) (I say this jokeingly)
I really like how you wrote about James 1 Matt! You made jokes and talked about the "5 G's"!
I really liked verses 5-6 and verse 22.
Verse 5-6:
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. (6) But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the see that is blown and tossed by the wind. (NLT)
I like these verses because first it talks about how when we need something we should not be afraid to ask God for help. But when we have to trust God COMPLETELY. God will answer us, it might not be when we want him to or how we want him to, but he will answer us. When he does though that is when we have to trust him because the answer we get may not be what we were looking for so we just have to understand that God has the perfect plan for us.
Verse 22:
But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are only fooling yourself. (NLT)
I like this verse because it talks about why we should want to tell people about God and make an "impact" on their life and the world. This verse says that we should not just listen to what the bible has to say, but that we should act on what we learn and tell others about God so they can be saved too!
Nathan I have been praying for you, I hope your eczema gets better soon and I will also pray for Marissa too.
Joe I will continue to pray that you feel better soon too!
Great job matt:) i highlighted pretty much the entire chapter but here are a few that stuck out to me.
Verse 1: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the tweleve tribes in the dispersion: Greetings.
I know this isn't the most intriguing verse but i love how James starts off the book by saying that he is a servant for God and Jesus. He could have easily said that, " i'm special because God called on me to teach you because i'm better then you." Instead he says that he is God's servant.
Verses 2-3: count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of faith produces steadfastness.
I liked how in these verses it doesn't say to count some things as joy, but ALL things. That's really hard to understand especially when you are going through a hard time. But this verse has a promise. It says that the testing of faith produces steadfastness. Struggles will help us grow closer to God. It also helps us trust Him more.
Verses 5-6: if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
These verses talk about how if we ask God for wisdom with no doubting He will give it to us generously. I liked what Taylor said about not wanting to ask because it seems silly or unimportant but God always cares. I struggle with not doubting but when i read this i thought about how in Matthew 14 Peter says, Lord if it really is you command me to come out of the boat. He starts out fine but the second he started doubting he started sinking. That's how i think about my faith. Things are great and i'm walking fine until a wave comes and then i doubt whether God will help me. I've been learning to trust God lately with everything from friendships to dance rehearsals and my relationship with him is growing. It's hard to have a good relationship with God if we don't have trust.
Verses 22-23: Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror.
These verses command us to live out the word of God. If we don't live for God then we are useless to the kingdom. We would be no better then people who say they are Christians then they go murder someone. God calls us to live out His word. This doesn't mean we can't make mistakes. We are all human ( i hope) and will never be perfect but we should always try to reach people for the kingdom.
Verse 27: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I like how this verse tells us what kind of religion is right and pure before God. It says we need to visit the less fortunate and to not be worldly. That's super hard to do especially in the world today. Society tells us one thing but God tells us another. Sometimes it's hard to do the right godly thing when all your friends are doing the wrong thing. I don't always do the right thing but am working hard and praying about it. I'm praying about this for all y'all as well.
I'm praying for y'all that are sick. I hope you guys feel better soon. I have a friend who really needs prayer right now so if y'all could pray for her and for me that would be great:) ~abby<3
Nathan I will be praying for you and Marissa.
verse 2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds."
This verse is cool because its telling you to be joyful when there is a problem in life. And when you are joyful during a problem, you gain steadfastness." I think It's amazing how God wants us to act in life!
I love this chapter. It made me think because i read verses 5-8.
It sais that if you pray believing that you will receive, you might receive. But if you pray without hoping that you will receive, then you will not receive.
Things I pray for sometimes are about me and they are things that God may not want to happen. For example, If I had a try out for the football team and I prayed to God that I would make it, and I don't, It was most likely not God's will or I wasn't believing that it would happen when i had prayed. It has to be God's will for prayer to happen.
Well anyway. I love how Matt broke all the verses down. :)
I have a prayer request. Two of my friends treat there parents very disrespectfully. So pray that they will change.
I will also be praying for Nathan and Marissa.
I know it's late and I've already posted today but I was reading over everyone's posts and I realized that there are a lot of people sick this week and we have a lot of prayer requests and I was thinking about how cool it is that God allowed us to read about loving Him in trials and tribulations and also calling on God when we need help, this week. I think this just proves how amazing He is. He knew that we all were going to have a tough week and would need some extra encouragement so He allowed us to choose James. I will be praying for everyone and I hope you all feel better. -Taylor Rayborn
Post a Comment