We would all benefit by reading the Book of James again, and again, and again: the more I read, the more I want to read. (I say this about every Book in Scripture but I can’t help but find Scripture exciting; the more I understand, the more He reveals to me, the more reveals, the more I want!)
James is such an incredible book. Thank you, God. I love you, I really do, it’s insane how you come down unto your sheep, the least likely to be a Saint in the eyes of the world, we are yours.
The beginning of James 1 tells us to hold tightly to joy when encountering trials. Why? Because our suffering reveals evidence of who we truly are. Every time we are tested; endurance is being generated within us, giving us the strength to resist sin and become repelled by self-idolization. The more strenuous the trial, the better; over time we bounce back from difficulties with less effort, increasing our ability to attain Godly perfection. From Glory to Glory. (We attain Perfection not because of our works, but because of our dying to ourself, God’s Works.)
Trials produce Spiritual stamina and Mental toughness.
A fitting Analogy is the defintion of toughness in relation to Material Science:
“The ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. Toughness is the strength with which the material opposes rupture. One definition of material toughness is the amount of energy per unit volume that a material can absorb before rupturing. “
If we receive only a little trauma, we will not be able to let go of Self to the extent trials would carry us. We often can forget that God chastises and punishes those He loves, we are, after all still in the flesh. He declares we, who are His sheep won’t fold under Fire’s baptism, nor run from the entrapment of an oppressor, because the oppressor is only helping us through to the finish line, this material life is a speck in eternity..
If we lack Faith or if we doubt God, we can’t withstand the fiery trials: if faithlessness occurs long enough, we won’t understand the weakness and sinfulness of our flesh, we will instead boast in it and protect it through the ego and denial.
Without Faith they AVOID trials, they avoid pain; they avoid growth; they are soft because they have nurtured THEIR OWN SELF AND WILL to the point of disintegration and atrophy, undoing any integral parts they may have had, now, broken into fragments, unwhole, unholy; therefore, they are then tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, spinelss; never coming to Knowledge of Truth, double-minded, and unstable.
Lord, my God in Heaven, Creator of Spirit, and Matter, You are Magnificent, I can clearly see the Testimony that You give us all the time. Thank You for Eyes to See.
Blessed is all who endure under trial: we will receive a crown, as we are hidden in the King.
Remember; God uses evil to accomplish His Will in an evil world, but God has no evil in Him & evil NEVER comes from Him..
Lord, I love the way You have James come to me in a moment of my life when I am at a crossroads, of complete uncertainty and seemingly helplessness, reminding me that I’m right where I need to be.
Pain has become my friend, constantly reminding me that I’m alive. I am told by James and believe James when he says: “receive the word, implanted, which is able to save your souls. “
The Word saves. Gods Will saves. He writes His Word (implants) in our heart and mind.
In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth, by the word of Truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
I must admit, I struggle over the fact that I am truly weak. My flesh is raging against the Spirit; I hate that. I really hate it, in my core, in my soul.
My flesh and its deeds make me sick, but I know it’s all for a purpose, I must be patient because being impatient with God reveals that I think I know better than Him. & You know I don’t. God, You are the only One Who makes me able to be patient because You are patient with me.
Verse 21: “For your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness, morally dirty, and rank growth of wickedness, instead welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. “
Meekness isn’t humility because humility is toward oneself, restraining self; whereas meekness refers to the treatment of others.
Meekness allows a person to overlook or forgive perceived insults or offenses. It is not a synonym for weakness… it is the gentleness of the strong, whose strength is under control.
Verse 23: “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves, and on going away, immediately forget what they look like. “
God, I give my entirety to you because I am not my own, please keep me.
Jesus, I wash myself in your Blood, You wash me in Your blood, baptizing my with Your Fire and Spirit. You alone can lift me through this, You will lift me through this, I know You will because I know You, & I am known by You.
Verse 25: ‘those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and press on, being not only hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.”
Verse 26: “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. “
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us”
(1 John 5:14).
