James 1: 1-12
Welcome back!
We are going to be studying James this spring and I am very excited about it. James really builds on all we studied, learned and applied to our lives in Philippians. It just seems to be a natural progression in our study of the scripture.
Before you get started by reading todays notes, why don't you sit down and read James 1 and write down what you see that you have never seen or things you would like to understand more about.
James was apparently written by James, the brother of Jesus. It begins by saying to slaves or bond servants in Christ Jesus. He is writing to Jewish Christians scattered thoughout the country. It is not an evangelistic letters. In other words it is not calling people into a relationship with Christ rather it speaks to those that have already made a personal commitment to Christ.
If you have never made a commitment to Christ you can do that right now by praying this prayer.:
"Lord, I come to you and ask that you forgive my sins and come into my heart and life and make it what you want it to be. Thank you that my sins were covered by your blood from the cross."
If you have already prayed that prayer listen to what God wants to say to you as you study the book of James:
Read James 1:1-12
James is encouraging us to count it all joy when we encounter trails. Look at verse two because I want to show you something. My translation says:
"Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trails."
-"Consider" means "think about "
-"Encounter" means "not engulfed by"
-"Various" means "polka dot"
Allow me to paraphrase:
"Think about joy when your life is polka dotted but not engulfed by trials."
That is right, it is a guarantee that your life will be "polka dotted" with trials, but God will not allow you to be engulfed by them. I am old enough to know without a shadow of a doubt that this is true! Therefore, I wore polka dot socks to our study. :)
You see, when you get to the end of this life, your life will be a beautiful picture of polka dots, and you will be able to look at each dot, and say, "God taught me this in the midst of that dot," or "He got me through that dot," or "I see why that dot is there now!" Praise His Name!
James tells us what to do when a trail comes upon us and we need to pay attention.
First, we are to pray for wisdom and knowledge. You are not going to panic or retreat! You are going to come to God almighty and pray that he give wisdom and knowledge about what He wants you to see, do or say.
Paul says in scripture that he prayed that the eyes of his heart would be opened by God so that he could understand the mysteries of heaven. We are to do the same thing. It is easy to do everything but go straight to God. Don't we often go there last when nothing else has worked. He needs to be the first place we go and he will answer us when we call to Him alone.
James uses the word "faith" twice in this passage and when we look at it we see that we have to be a person of faith but we also have to come to God in faith, believing that He will hear us accomplish His purposes in our lives. Faith means that we do not come to Him in doubt. A doubting person is a man with "two minds" or "two souls". We are to love God with our one heart, soul and mind. When we do come to God, we see that He is generous to hear us and give us all we need to get through any thing this life has to offer.
Until next week, it is my prayer for you that you love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind.
We are going to be studying James this spring and I am very excited about it. James really builds on all we studied, learned and applied to our lives in Philippians. It just seems to be a natural progression in our study of the scripture.
Before you get started by reading todays notes, why don't you sit down and read James 1 and write down what you see that you have never seen or things you would like to understand more about.
James was apparently written by James, the brother of Jesus. It begins by saying to slaves or bond servants in Christ Jesus. He is writing to Jewish Christians scattered thoughout the country. It is not an evangelistic letters. In other words it is not calling people into a relationship with Christ rather it speaks to those that have already made a personal commitment to Christ.
If you have never made a commitment to Christ you can do that right now by praying this prayer.:
"Lord, I come to you and ask that you forgive my sins and come into my heart and life and make it what you want it to be. Thank you that my sins were covered by your blood from the cross."
If you have already prayed that prayer listen to what God wants to say to you as you study the book of James:
Read James 1:1-12
James is encouraging us to count it all joy when we encounter trails. Look at verse two because I want to show you something. My translation says:
"Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trails."
-"Consider" means "think about "
-"Encounter" means "not engulfed by"
-"Various" means "polka dot"
Allow me to paraphrase:
"Think about joy when your life is polka dotted but not engulfed by trials."
That is right, it is a guarantee that your life will be "polka dotted" with trials, but God will not allow you to be engulfed by them. I am old enough to know without a shadow of a doubt that this is true! Therefore, I wore polka dot socks to our study. :)
You see, when you get to the end of this life, your life will be a beautiful picture of polka dots, and you will be able to look at each dot, and say, "God taught me this in the midst of that dot," or "He got me through that dot," or "I see why that dot is there now!" Praise His Name!
James tells us what to do when a trail comes upon us and we need to pay attention.
First, we are to pray for wisdom and knowledge. You are not going to panic or retreat! You are going to come to God almighty and pray that he give wisdom and knowledge about what He wants you to see, do or say.
Paul says in scripture that he prayed that the eyes of his heart would be opened by God so that he could understand the mysteries of heaven. We are to do the same thing. It is easy to do everything but go straight to God. Don't we often go there last when nothing else has worked. He needs to be the first place we go and he will answer us when we call to Him alone.
James uses the word "faith" twice in this passage and when we look at it we see that we have to be a person of faith but we also have to come to God in faith, believing that He will hear us accomplish His purposes in our lives. Faith means that we do not come to Him in doubt. A doubting person is a man with "two minds" or "two souls". We are to love God with our one heart, soul and mind. When we do come to God, we see that He is generous to hear us and give us all we need to get through any thing this life has to offer.
Until next week, it is my prayer for you that you love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind.
posted by Glenda at
4:23 PM
4 Comments:
I LOVE the Polka Dot illustration! It sure makes those trials seem a lot prettier. :) I'm really excited about studying James and can't wait for Wed!
YES! I'm glad you're back in session. I always love catching up with W.O.W. I love the polka dot illustration too. When I see polka dots now, I'll think about this. I guess that's just about every time I log onto my blog! :)
Good lesson, Glenda! I'm sitting here getting ready to go to bed and this is a wonderful lesson to ponder. THanks for putting this on the web each week.
I agree with the other girls...I'm not going to look at polka dots the same again:)
People should read this.
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