There was one point which James emphasised in the opening verses of this letter: get the right perspective on life! He opened with a discourse on faith and trials that reminded readers that trials are there to show the true colours of a person and mature their faith. The following discourse was about temptation and the reminder of the human condition, that is, its fallen sinfulness. In closing this discourse, he said these words:

“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.”

Do not be deceived! My dear brothers and sisters, it is imperative that we get our perspective right. For whatever reason, we seem to get this association that when trials and temptations come that God is punishing us or disciplining us for something we did wrong. No! Far from it, trials come in order to build us, not tear us down; rather than discipline us, temptation is the result of our own fallen sinfulness that we have not committed to God’s control in our lives.

What did James say? “Every good and perfect gift is from above…” All good things come from our Father God. Jesus said (Mt. 7:9), “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” He continued to say (Mt. 7:11), “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” God desires to give us the good things; He intends to give us the good things, yet so often, as it is, in life we miss all the good things because our perspective is focused on all the bad things that happen! We see the hard, the bad, the worry of life but miss all the good, the perfect, the joy of life that is right in front of our eyes! Wake up, you are blessed by God, each and every one of us is blessed with good and perfect gifts from above!

Our Father God isn’t, like us, human. He doesn’t have mood swings “like shifting shadows“. Our God is steadfast and true, His character never changing, His truth is firm and will stand for all eternity. God doesn’t have days where He thinks, “I’ve had such a bad day, I’m going to make David’s day bad as well! Here’s a car accident, a broken arm and, hmm, you can lose your wallet as well!” God isn’t like that…and praise Him that He isn’t! Yet, again, when bad things happen we look at God and say, “God, why did you do this to me?” (Yes, God is sovereign, all-powerful, and in control, but I’m going to save this discussion for another day.)

Instead, out of God’s grace, mercy, and love He chose us and gave us a new life through “the word of truth” - that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. “God loved the world, enough to willingly sacrifice His own Son to death, His One and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.” (My translation - Jn. 3:16) There was nothing that we have done, nothing that we do, nothing that we can do that will earn us eternal life. It is only out of the free will of God’s grace, mercy, and love that He chose to give us life - eternal life - through the sacrifice of His One and only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus went through the pain, the suffering, the torment, the humiliation of all that the crucifixion was out of His love for you and I. Just go read about the crucifixion and what they did, Jesus willingly underwent all of that, just because of the love the Father and the Son have for the people of this world.

For what end did God give us life? James says “that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” What does that mean? What do firstfruits represent? Firstfruits were an indicator of the harvest that was to follow. It is somewhat astonishing and amazing to think about what that means. Just take a look at yourself and think about who you are, the harvest of God’s children that is to follow is like you. Personally, if God is willing to take a broken, weak, confused, sinful person like myself, then there are no boundaries for entrance into the family of God. If I am representative of the harvest to follow, then praise God that anyone and everyone is welcome in the house of God.

The firstfruits that we have in the Bible, let’s look specifically at the 12 disciples. You have a tax-collector, fishermen, ordinary men who became the 12 Apostles, the firstfruits of the word of truth. They weren’t educated men, they weren’t high standing officials in government, they weren’t wealthy merchants, they were mere men like you and I. What about the book of Acts? There is a jailor, there is a slave girl, a wealthy female merchant, Paul the Apostle, a Ethiopian eunuch; the point I am trying to make is that all are welcome, there are no divisions or categories which people must fall into - all are welcome in the family and household of God.

Does your perspective line up with God’s perspective? Or do you see life though dark-tinted glasses missing out on all that God continues to bless you with? Open your eyes, pray that the Spirit would open your eyes to see the wonder of God’s creation, love, and abundant blessing in your own life. Don’t get me wrong, life is hard and something we doubt, but let us remind ourselves over and over again that our God is good and desires nothing more than to give us what is “good and perfect” for our benefit. Yes, sometimes that means going through some trials but He does so to build us up. Sometimes there are temptations, but He has given us strength and His promise that He will aid us (1 Cor. 10:13) in our time of trouble.

I am sad to say that the past month has seen this truth being quite evident in my own personal life, the depth, the pain, the torment that this parasite has caused…I wish I could escape this reality. The words of James speak true and speak deep into the heart condition of humanity:

“Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

The daily struggle of humanity against temptation and sin. As James has so nicely articulated, temptation begins with our uncontrolled desires, followed by succumbing to the temptation giving birth to sin and, sin, ultimately leading to death.

In that sense, I have likened temptation like a parasite. It grows as it feeds on a person and their desires, slowly, growing bit by bit and unless it is cut off completely from the source of its growth, will continue to steal life from it’s host. Sin doesn’t start out as sin, it starts as small and it grows. It starts with a desire, maybe the desire to be able to support one’s family. A completely legitimate reason, then it grows, if one were rich it would be easier to be support one’s family…and something perfectly honest and good can suddenly turn into a desire leading into a path we never intended. It is our human nature which allows sin’s parasite to get a hold.

What, then, do we do? Do we become stiff-necked, straight-lined people who have no desires and no passion? *yawn* I don’t think so, that’s how we were made and that’s not how life is meant to be either. In one of the old declarations of the church, it states the purpose of humanity: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” These words were written almost 400 years ago! We aren’t meant to be without desire and passion, it gives no glory to God if we are glum and dull.

Going back to the question, what do we do? In my own personal experience, I must say that it is a daily struggle. There are areas in my life where I can say, all praise and glory to God, that I have overcome; but there are some areas where I continue to struggle. I do pray, one day, I will overcome yet for the time being I continue to struggle. There are days where I have success, but that is not to say I have overcome, and there are other days where I have failed.

The days where I have succeeded are generally marked by a few things: firstly, a day set in prayer, secondly, the meditation of Scripture, thirdly, a conscious decision to fight temptation and sin; and if any of these three are lacking, it is a struggle. The first two, prayer and Scripture, serve a couple of purposes: 1) it sets my mind and focus on the things of God, 2) it puts me in a place of accountability before God, 3) it is my source of strength and grace, 4) and it places me in the presence of the Almighty God. The third is most crucial because even with prayer and meditation of Scripture, without a conscious decision to fight against our own human nature, it will fail. Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Mt. 26:41) and Paul said, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Rom. 7:15)

The encouragement and challenge are one and the same: fight. Do not fight on your own, God has promised to give us the Holy Spirit which enables us and empowers us, however, it requires us to humble ourselves and ask. In prayer and petition, in the meditation of Scripture, set yourself, in humility, before the throne of grace that He might pour over you the blood of Jesus Christ to protect you and guard you from unrighteousness. My dear brother and sister, fight.

It has taken a month for this to really sink in. It’s not that I didn’t understand the truth of this verse or the principle that lay behind it, but the reality and depth of this verse didn’t hit me fully until Sunday past. In this verse James says:

“…but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.”

James has just said that God Himself does not tempt people and, now, tells us clearly and simply that our temptations are birthed by our own evil desires. There’s not much else to it and, yet, this took me a month to fully grasp.

In ancient times, there was a season for battle and kings would take their armies and go to war. However, one king, one season, did not lead his armies to war but allowed his generals to lead in his place. This king remained behind in his palace, one fateful evening, walking along his roof-top where he spied upon a beautiful woman bathing unsuspectingly. Being the king, he had her brought to him and, eventually, she conceived a child.

Upon hearing this news, he created a conspiracy to cover this up, as the woman was married, recalling the husband from the battlefield to have a holiday with his wife for his faithful service. Too faithful was the man and never took the holiday, rather he remained in the courts of the king and, when that failed, returned to the battlefield with haste. Orders were given to place the man in the centre of the battle, a place of honour, where he, essentially, would die in the heat of battle.

The king was safe, the woman, now, a widow, after a period of mourning, was taken to the king as his new wife. After a year, the child was born and all celebrated with no hint of what had conspired under their noses. Yet, one day, with the child playing in the courtyard, the king is sought by a dear, close friend. The king, happily, draws into a place of seclusion to speak with this dear friend who tells him a story of injustice within his kingdom. The king flares up at the injustice and, almost, calls upon his royal guard to go hunt down the man, when his friend with tears running down his face grabs hold of the king, looks him in the eyes and says, “You, my brother, you are that man.”

The king falls to his knees, realising what had just conspired. His friend falls beside him and there is silence. The king begins to shake and tears start rolling down his cheeks, he tears his robes and the full weight of what he had done, a year ago, floods back into his memory.

My dear brothers and sisters, look in the mirror. King David was, said to be, a man after the heart of God, yet even he succumbed to the wiles of his evil desires. To read the full story above see 1 Samuel 11-12 and David’s response is found in Psalm 51.

Again, don’t kid yourself into thinking that God is the one who tempts us. Don’t be stupid. We are free beings able to think and act of our own accord, we are not puppets on a string with every movement controlled as God desires. If King David, revered through the ages as one of the most faithful men of God, fell how much more should we be on guard against our own desires?

A common misconception about Christianity and faith in God is that is the miracle cure to whatever problem you might have. So very, very wrong! As we’ve seen through the introduction of James, life is one of trials and hardship for those who faith in God. Let the hard times roll! It’s almost the slogan for the Christian.

However, the misconception goes further to say that God is the bad guy. All this stuff, it’s all God’s fault. Well, in some ways, it is. God, ultimately, is in control and all-powerful. Without getting too deep into why bad things happen if God is such a loving God, just imagine loving parents who don’t ever discipline, scold, allow their children to be released into the harsh realities of the real world. (If you want me to talk about it more, ask and I’ll put in on the list for my next series.)

James says:

When tempted no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone…

James seems to provide a fairly logical explanation, but I gather for most people these days it just doesn’t cut it. I could rant about why people don’t like an explanation James gives but I’ll contain myself. The logic that an all-powerful God who claims to love humanity yet doesn’t lift a finger to remove injustice and suffering doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. Yet, ironically, on the flipside, people cannot come to terms with submitting control of their world to this all-powerful God. It’s a vicious never-ending cycle that the human mind will never comprehend and accept.

The simple truth that James states is God is not evil. God may have been the creator of all things, but He himself is not evil. I heard a great explanation of what evil is - that is, the absence of God. Where God is not, Satan stands in God’s place and assumes influence where God is no longer. Though, it must be said, Christians face temptations and it is only by the permission and allowance given by the all-powerful God (see the story of Job) where temptation and hardship are allowed.

I keep edging to answer the question of why an all-powerful God would allow such things but this will end up being an essay. In short, the simple answer is faith. Faith is an act of trust that this all-powerful God knows what He’s doing and that, while painful, in the end has the best intention in mind for each and every person. Now, it’s up to each and every person to accept that fact and place their trust, place their faith, in God and allow Him to work His wonders in their lives. Beyond that, I can’t expect to satisfy any desire to have an answer to the question.

Next time I’ll be look at source of temptation.

As our faith is tested, proven and set in perspective, James then says:

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.

James seems to bind together the various things that he has been talking about in this sentence. The need for faith to be tested and proven; seen in the true light of godly perspective. These James has covered in his previous verses. After all these things, James says, one is then approved through the giving of the crown of life.

As I look back through my own life, I have no doubt that there have been trials and tests of faith. Yet, a question that has always been in my mind is whether I am truly worthy of the crown of life James talks about. For all the “good” and “success” that my life has reaped, it has also produced much rubbish that simply negates and even at times overwhelms any sense of goodness that I have achieved. All the same, the promise of God is, to those who seek after Him and love Him, one of grace and mercy. Even James’ words have in mind God’s grace and mercy which gives perseverance in trial and strength to stand in testing times.

What is the crown of life? It is no less than the gift of eternal life. The promise of spending the days of life in the presence of our Holy God and Father. The idea of spending eternity with God can seem somewhat dull without a full understanding and perspective of God. Further, as James mentions, it has no appeal to those who have no love for God. When there is an understanding, a knowledge, a relationship with the Almighty God, nothing less that spending time in His presence could satisfy the believer.

I find it sad that, the truth is, many of us, myself included, find it difficult and straining at times to be satisfied with spending time with our Heavenly Father. To wake up in the morning and our first desire is to spend time in relationship with Him; to desire to open His Word - the Bible - and hear His voice; to fall to our knees and open in communication with Him; to simply bask in His presence. On the human level is completely illogical; people in a loving, deep relationship simply desire to spend time with one another. People spend time with that which they treasure most. As a reflection, the question should be asked whether, truly, God is our treasure?

Yet, in all this, God still approves of us. Out of His grace and mercy, out of the depth of His love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the opportunity to be in relationship with us. To remove us of the stain which hindered that relationship - that is, sin. It blows my mind, it does every time I think about it that our God loves us so much and would desire to reach out to us in the most unimaginable way - through the death of His only Son. To me, it says that God doesn’t approve us because we love Him or that we’ve proved ourselves, rather, it says that God approves us because He first loved us.

Amazing, isn’t it? For all that we do and all that we are, it is all because of Him. In the gospel of John, Jesus paints this picture of what life is like in comparison to a grape vine. We are branches and Jesus Himself is the vine. Unless the branches are connected to that vine, they are dead. In the end, it’s all about Him.

After James’ opening verses, his following words may seem quite confusing:

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.

What the? The opening verses of trials and prayer are now turned into a practical example of how one should understand their position. The person of humble circumstances, to put it bluntly, is one who lacks material necessity and possession, the poor. Is James trying be funny? What high position? No. Quite the opposite, James is talking about the riches of one’s faith to see themselves from the perspective of God rather than the perspective of man.

It makes me think, how often do we look at people through our own eyes rather than look at them through the eyes of God? Do we look down on those who have little and pass judgment? Be honest with yourself. I, certainly, have made judgments about people based on their material standing. Just wait, James has a couple of words for those who are rich.

To those who are of humble circumstances, let these words be encouraging. God has blessed you with faith, hope and love which all come in abundance and without condition. To each person through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God seeks to renew them to a new position in life unlike anything they could ever imagine. A position in life that cannot be taken away or altered by any circumstance in this earthly world. A position is based on the eternal things of God rather than the temporary.

In a world that is constantly changing, who knows what tomorrow holds? However, regardless of who we are and where we stand, God is unchanging and his perspective is eternal. Likewise, James calls us to be those with an eternal perspective, setting aside our material position to focus on that which is eternal. We could go on, hour after hour, about what the eternal perspective looks like but in short let me say that each of us needs to get an eternal perspective on our purpose in life. In our study, in our work, in our interaction with people - our perspective needs to be eternal. Personally, I believe our eternal perspective is tied up with the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

As promised, the words to the rich:

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.

It always strikes me when the Bible talks about the rich or anything involved with money, there’s always so much to say. Anyway, now James has turned the table. The rich should take pride in their low position. It really sounds like James is confused. Yet, this time, unlike with the poor, James explains what he means. The rich will pass away like a wild flower; that is, death. So, the poor will die as well, what’s the big deal? The point James is trying to make is, again, about perspective. The rich should realise their low position that their wealth is, but, temporary.

James doesn’t use any soft illustrations to make his point, he uses life illustrations to drive his point about the temporary nature of life and how our perspectives should be set correctly. When we gain an eternal perspective on life, everything changes. When we recognise that all that we have is temporary and instead focus on the things of eternity, our lives should change likewise. Whether we are poor, rich or somewhere in-between, there is more to life than simply what we see.

I praise God that He is One who gives generously to all who ask, but…

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt…

James has begun his letter by encouraging Christians to allow their faith to be tested and refined by trials. Through perseverance their faith grows and strengthens over time. If anyone is lacking wisdom, James encourages them to ask, for God is One who gives generously…but when asking you must believe.

When I read that, I ask the question, why would you even ask if you doubted? I’ve tried to find illustrations and pictures of how this could be clarified, but why would you even bother asking if you didn’t think you were going to get anything? Even, in the case, when you think - it might work out - you generally don’t go ahead and ask…you shy away and don’t utter a word. If there isn’t any sense of belief at all, you won’t ask.

When you go shopping and you are looking for a particular item you don’t just ask anyone, do you? You don’t expect another customer to know where it is, so do you don’t ask them. You ask one of the employees/staff because you believe they know where the item is or can help you find it.

So, why would you ask God for help if you had any doubts that He could help? Why would you ask God for anything if you had any doubts? It really makes no sense, does it?

James goes on to describe a person who doubts:

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.

The person who doubts is, as James describes, someone who cannot make up their own mind; someone who is easily convinced, (daresay) coerced, accepting what the next person says. Paul writing to Timothy says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” Christians, rise up! Stand tall! Stand strong! Stand firm!

This is not an issue of gender and who makes decisions, this is an issue of being the people of God. James and Paul call each and everyone of us to be people who have a faith that is grounded and tested, a faith that allows us to stand firm in what we believe in and not be bumped around in the pinball machine of life.

In the midst of trials, often, we only have our faith to hold onto. Everything in life has fallen through and there is no other hope aside from our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that allows us to get through. The security net of life is our faith - without it, it is almost a lost cause.

Currently, life is hard, things are tough, I have deadlines, I have responsibilities, I haven’t been sleeping well…I’m really at the end of my line. I’ve, honestly, got nothing left to go on with. My pastor sent me this:

…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me. (Psalm 50:15)

I opened my Bible to read it and I encourage you to read the entire psalm, it is a call of assembly for the faithful. The interesting this about this verse is that it begins in verse 14: “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfil your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me.” The psalm doesn’t say you can call on me because I will deliver you, it says, firstly, that the faithful will give thanksgiving to God, secondly that the faithful will fulfil their vows - serve their God; only then, when those things are a part of the lives of the faithful will God come and deliver them and even then, they will continue to honour Him!

Let me continue with what follows:

But to the wicked, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?” (Psalm 50:16)

What does James say?

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…

The connection is clear as day. “That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” If you doubt, if you do not have faith that God is who He claims to be, then how can you expect to receive when you ask? God says who do you think you are to even ask, when you don’t believe? This is serious.

Have you ever brought a product where they ask you if you want added insurance/warranty? Well, if you decline and your product breaks, can you seriously expect to take the product back and expect them to fix it? Really, can you? You have no rights or claim to having your product fixed because you didn’t have insurance/warranty. On the other hand, if you have insurance/warranty then you can completely expect them to fix the product.

It is exactly the same with God. If you claim to deny God, reject Him and all the rest, how can you even think about asking Him for a thing? However, thank God that He doesn’t operate like a warranty claim. God is a gracious God and may, if He so chooses, to listen to your prayers. Mind you, I wouldn’t bet on it, don’t hope for a moment on God’s grace and expect something, after all, you don’t believe in God and His grace.

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.

This sort of person that would not believe in God and yet still ask for His provision is the sort of person we call, as James does, double-minded. He has his feet in two camps. He wants the best of both worlds. He wants the pleasures of this world while at the same time, getting the benefits of God’s blessing without submitting to Him. Nobody likes that sort of person, it is the sort of person that is self-seeking and has no commitment to anything. They see one thing that will benefit them and they jump at it.

Foolishly, look at my comments yesterday, it would seem only natural that I should have continued a bit further. So, let me just pick up from where I was and hopefully not lose any of the momentum.

James closes his first statement:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, 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.

I used an illustration of muscles yesterday to look at perseverance. Continuing on from that illustration, if muscles are not left to finish healing, there is quite a possibility that they may damage themselves. Professional athletes are a clear example of this, instead of taking the necessary time to allow themselves to heal, they push themselves too hard and cause serious, even permanent, damage.

If your persevering faith is not allowed to mature and be complete, it can cause serious, I daresay, in some cases permanent damage. Too often, I have seen people, myself included, run too hard in life and then burnout. Not having given the appropriate time to rest and recover. It is a curse of today’s society that people simple don’t stop.

I recently wrote an entry about my day of rest and the importance of it. I want to further emphasise and state the importance of having a day of rest. For the majority of people that happens during the weekend. However, as most of us can probably attest to, you don’t really rest but use it as a time to catch up on the much neglected things in life. Please read my entry as it is super important but I don’t have the space to discuss it further here.

Within the fast-paced society of the 21st century, it is just too difficult not to get caught up in the flow. I look around me and nobody ever really stops. It’s just go… go… go. People, let me urge you, take back your time! In danger of sounding like a slave of the ‘me’ culture, if you truly want to be able to be effective and live the life God created for you, then you need to rest!

People were not made to work 24/7. Our bodies were not made to operate at the capacity that most people drive them, you don’t need a doctor to tell you this! How many people can say they can consistent, refreshing, appropriate sleep day-to-day, week-to-week? From my own observation, not many! Too many people drive themselves too hard, end up getting sick before they get the rest they are supposed to. Even when they do get sick, they still don’t rest.

This morning as I was listening to the radio, one of the radio announcers had a frog throat (lost their voice) and could barely speak! Yet, they still rocked up to work. I doubt that their employers would have given them any strife if they took time off to rest and recover their voice! Honestly, can I say any more? (Yes, I can but I won’t!)

The situation as it is, none of us will reach full maturity and completion and James goes on to say this:

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.

Wisdom has been often misinterpreted. Most of us would interpret it as knowledge or understanding of how to deal with a situation. Well, yes, wisdom is that but not entirely. Biblical Wisdom incorporates a great deal more; in the OT, wisdom was seen in the practical skills needed for the building of the Temple; it was seen in the Sciences, in understanding the nature of the world around us and how it worked. Wisdom, very simply, is the ability, knowledge and/or understanding in the daily living of life.

As we grow in our faith, it is a journey. A journey that will only come to full maturity and completion when we walk through the pearly gates of Heaven. Until then, it is a journey, it is a process of growing and learning continuously. I have never met an elderly person who knew it all. For all their years of experience, they don’t always have the answers. Of course, there is a great wealth of wisdom to be gleaned from them, their years are not in vain, not at all! Sit down with an elderly person and just listen to their story (and be patient), there is a great wealth of experience that we younger ones can learn from.

Back to James, if any of you, me, anyone lacks the know-how to live life as it is intended…well, why not ask the One who created life. Who better to ask about the meaning of a book than the author? Who better to help you with a new gadget than the person who invented it? You don’t ask a mechanic to fix your TV (unless they knew how). You don’t ask a dentist to check your eyes (ouch)! You get the picture.

If you lacking anything in living life, ask the One who created life itself and allow Him to instruct you. He created life so that it can be enjoyed and desires for you to enjoy it. A person doesn’t invent something and then put it out on the market to sit and do nothing, he puts it out there to be used (and to make money). God created life and gave it to us in order that we might enjoy it. Didn’t Jesus say, “Ask and it will be given to you.”

Let me clarify this, as it is prone to abuse. God doesn’t give exactly what you ask. Let me take the example Jesus used and take it a bit further. Jesus: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” Well, likewise, which of you, if your son asks you for a poison cane toad, will give him a poison cane toad? God won’t give you what is not beneficial to you. If you ask for a Ferrari and you like to drive fast, you think you’re going to get one? Heck, no!

However, God will give generously all good gifts to those who ask.

Next time: Part 3 - having a firmly-grounded faith.

This letter by James, the blood brother of Jesus Christ, is written to the universal church. It is one of the first preserved letters that we have and it addressed issues that any young, actually all, Christians will face in same shape or form. It it both a word of warning and encouragement to each and everyone of us of what the Christian life is like.

In the opening passage of his letter, James addresses something I believe most people overlook in the early life of a young Christian. This issue has been the turning point of so many young Christians that have either spurred them deeper into their relationship with God or deterred them completely from the reality of the Christian life.

Keep in mind that this is directed, especially, at young and new Christians and listen to how he begins after introducing himself.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers (and sisters), whenever you face trials of many kinds…

What is James going on about? The very first thing he says to a new believer is be joyful when you face trials. Seriously, what in God’s name? Becoming a Christian and you face trials? Who, in their right mind, would believe in a God if they were going to face trials? Just stop and think about it, there’s this new club that’s started up in your community and you read their promotional material and it says, “Join now and have a hard time in life…” You aren’t going to join, are you?

Let me make it loud and clear, the Christian life is not easy. To anyone who has an open ear to listen, the Christian life is hard! I’m not going to paint a false picture of what the Christian life is like, it is full of hardships and it usually gets harder as you grow in your faith. The further you develop your relationship with God, the greater the chances that life is going to be tough. I won’t clarify this with ‘but, but, but…’ however, I will say what is your life worth in the light of eternity? I won’t explore this here, but feel free to ask me if you want to know why I choose to live a life that promises, yes promises, hardship.

Continuing on, James says:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. James isn’t playing nice, is he? First, trials. Now, perseverance. You have to persevere? There’s no escape route? This really isn’t sounding all that nice. Yet, let me ask you to think about this logically. (You can think about faith logically? Peter, what are you thinking…hehe)

Let me use the illustration of muscles. In order for muscles to grow, they go through a process of, well, being torn. When you exercise, do weights, any physical work of some description, the fibres in your muscles are stretched and torn. Then, you allow them rest (this is where you get to sleep) and they recover and mend themselves. In doing so, they get stronger.

In the same way, our faith, in order to grow, need to go through a process of being tested and in this case, tested through trials. Trials will break us and make us crumble, but we learn and we heal and become stronger as a result. Then, another trial comes and if the trial is the same as previously, we are capable to deal with it if we’ve become stronger. Normally though, the trial gets harder and we’re broken again, we learn again, we heal again and again, become stronger. That’s life, isn’t it?

If you have any questions about the Christian life, please contact me and I’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Again, I won’t deny that life is hard. The Christian life is, definitely, hard. Yet, our faith in God gets us through. There’s so many questions that you can ask. However, after 23 years of living the Christian life and seeing many faithful Christians around me, I cannot deny the strength and provision of the God I profess to believe in.

Life will throw its fast balls and curve balls with all its might, but I will break, I will heal and I will stand again to bat another day. For every time I fall, I stand again stronger and I am forever grateful for the God who allows me represent Him at the batter’s plate of life.

This passage, quite interestingly enough, is one sentence (in Greek). With that in mind, this passage can not be neatly broken up and understood in its various verses as we have traditionally done so. While there is worth in the things that are mentioned, it carries more depth within the greater whole. (Also, the writer has an intended message to convey in his writing.)

Without an extensive knowledge of Greek, let me attempt to simply the passage:

God has blessed us to be the children of God, making us holy and blameless through our salvation and forgiveness by grace, elected before all time and marked by the Holy Spirit acting as a deposit until all are redeemed for the glory of God.

This blessing He brought about to reveal a mystery, by His wisdom and understanding, through and fulfilled in Jesus Christ who deserves all praise and glory to whom all things are under his headship, in accordance with His pleasure and good will.

That is a heck of a lot of detail to put into one sentence. Yet, I would urge you to read it as my paraphrase can only do so much. There are two key ideas which I want to focus on:

• Election and Will
• Glory and Authority

Election and Will

This is often a large area of debate about predestination but I want to try and avoid that (for now) and focus on what this means for us. The obvious question is: If God has chosen those who will believe in Him, what is the point of me trying to live life differently?

Paul addresses this and responds in saying that, according to the will of God, as the children of God we are given salvation and forgiven by God’s grace. That we would live a life that is holy and blameless for His glory. The point being that those who call themselves Christians, the children of God, reflect this through their actions, ultimately resulting in God being glorified.

What about evangelism? If God has chosen people to be His children, why is there a need to evangelise? Let me try and illustrate this:

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, there is a scene where Harry is with his godfather, by a lake, being attacked by the Dementors. In this scene Harry sees a figure, who he believed to be his dead father, in the distance which casts a spell driving away the Dementors. That figure is Harry himself. Later travelling back in time, Harry ends up on the opposite side of the lake where he expects to see his father show up and drive away the Dementors, except he doesn’t show. Harry realised that he was the one who would drive away the Dementors, using a extremely powerful spell, which he later comments that he could only perform the spell because he knew that he could (because he saw himself doing it already).

In the same way, sure, God has chosen who will be His children and believe in Him. Yet, in order for people to become His children someone has to tell them. We can’t stand around wondering why our friends aren’t becoming Christians expecting an angel to appear and cause our friends to gasp in wonder. We need to realise that we are the ones who will, through God’s will and election, bring people into His family. Furthermore, we can expect that people will come into His family, because we know He has chosen them. (Boy, this is a hard one to get the head around…)

Glory and Authority

It’s not about us! It was never, primarily, about us. I’ve heard it said, in relation to this passage, that God wants to bless us and it’s all about us…well, no, no it’s not. Yes, God does want to bless us but if you carefully read what Paul is writing, he isn’t talking about us at all. There is one key aspect that keeps coming out in this passage: it is all for the glory of God.

In blessing us and making us His children, God glorifies Himself. Salvation, forgiveness, redemption are all given so that He would be glorified through our righteous living. This mystery Paul talks about is that all things would be under the authority and headship of Jesus Christ, so that He might be glorified.

What does that mean for us? Know your place. It goes for me too. Life isn’t about us. It’s not about ‘me, me, me!’ It’s about ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!’ Trust me, it is one of the most freeing realisations you can come to…it’s not about me! Repeat after me, it’s not about me. Just try it, I dare you.