Don’s Daily Devotions

Thurs 25th June – Read James 3:13-14

V13: Addressing his readers – and us – directly, James asks who regards themselves as wise, as having good understanding ? (we should remember James 1:5 here.) Let them show it by their Christian lives, by walking in obedience and faith, by God’s grace – this would be true wisdom
in practice – and let it be with “meekness” – humility, for it is always and only from God, and by His enabling grace.

V14: Verses like this may make us wonder if James is addressing true believers, or directing them to unbelievers who may be in their assemblies, but I think it best to see them as warnings to believers of our own weakness and failings (remember 1 Corinthians 10:12.) And where professing Christians do display the things he speaks of here, jealousy, ambition, selfishness, let them not deny it and boast of their obedient lives, for they deny by this the truth they profess to live by. James ” pulls no punches”, and constantly challenges us as to our Christian walk.

Wed 24th June – Read James 3:9-12

V9: And how inconsistent our use of our tongue can be – we “bless God” – in praise and prayer and thanksgiving and worship – yet in the next breath we may ” curse people” – not necessarily literally, but to speak ill of them in so many ways – and those we so malign are ” made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26.) Can we not see the irony of this?

V10: So, our mouths can be properly used and sadly abused. This should not be so. These verses may seem very simple, even obvious, but may none of us “skim them” or take them glibly. They challenge us all.

V11: Such inconsistency is really ” against nature”, where the same source of water cannot produce both fresh and salt water.

V12: Similarly (in an image used by Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:15-18) fig trees or vines cannot produce the fruit of a different plant, but only that which is proper to themselves – so it should be with our use of our tongues as Christians, but sadly so often we are inconsistent. Again we see how much in this letter does recall the Sermon on the Mount. Was James there, we might well ask?

Tues 23^rd June  –  James 3:5-8

V5:  Applying James 3:3-4, James says the tongue is such a small thing compared with our whole body, yet it can do such harm! First, he specifies misuse of the tongue to boast and assert ourselves (Of course, the tongue is not “independent”, sins of speech come from within us – compare Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:18-19.) And to illustrate the damage such a “small thing” can do, he uses the image of a forest fire, which just a small spark may set raging.

V6:  So, the tongue is a fire – so much sin comes from the misuse of our tongues – what we say, how and why we say it can be like setting our whole lives on fire, and behind such sin is always ” Hell” – i.e. the Devil himself, the tempter, leading us in to sin in this way.

V7-8:  Man can tame every sort of creature – to domesticate them or control them in some way – but no-one can perfectly control their tongue. Who can say they have not used their tongue to hurt others, or to lie, or use regrettable language , or to boast, or gossip or talk behind someone’s back, or in so many other ways! The tongue is restless, poisonous, he says. Surely, these verses are challenging and humbling for us all!

Mon 22nd June – James 3:1-4

V1:  James warns against seeking to be teachers of God’s Word thoughtlessly – perhaps to be thought well of, or to gain more prominence in the church. This is not something to be desired like an earthly profession, it is for those called and gifted by God. His main emphasis is the responsibility of the teaching role, those who teach will have to give an account of how they have fulfilled their ministry.

V2:  None of us avoids ” stumbling” in our Christian lives, we all fail many times and in many ways, but James now focusses on misuse of the tongue. Anyone who never stumbled in this would be ” a perfect man”, able to control their whole being. He is not saying there may be such Christians, of course, rather , that there are none able to control their tongue perfectly.

V3:  Another of his vivid illustrations -a creature as large and strong as a horse can be controlled by a small bit in its mouth…

V4:  And similarly, a large ship, even in a strong wind, can be controlled by the relatively small rudder. His point, of course, will be made in the next verses.

Sat 20^th June        –      Read James 2:21-26

V21-22:  He takes the great example of Abraham, looking at the test of his faith in Genesis:22. The verse does not mean that Abraham’s works justified him in making him right with God, but that his obedience was the outcome of the living faith he had – the evidence that He was justified by faith! ( See Hebrews 11:17-19 ) In this, “his faith was active along with his works” – the Greek literally says his faith ” was a fellow worker “ with his actions – so his act of obedience “completed his faith” – again, literally “brought it to fullness, or maturity”, showing that faith to be real.

V23: He quotes Genesis 15:6 – a text Paul quotes in various places, where Abraham’s faith , in believing God’s promises and obeying His call, is declared to be “counted to him as righteousness” – an anticipation of what saving faith in Christ as our sin-bearing redeemer does. Abraham’s relationship with God by faith was so intimate he was called ” the friend of God” ( 2 Chronicles 20:7.)

V24:  So, he says again, bare faith – faith with no evidence in the life – is not what makes us right with God – there must be the fruits of living faith in our lives. So, Jesus own words in Matthew 7:16.

V25:  He adds a very different example, Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, yet saved and counted among the people of God after she hid the spies Joshua sent into Jericho. Now this verse in James 2 only speaks of her “works”, but in Joshua 2:9-12 it is clear that what she did came out of faith in the living God that she had already come to – a remarkable work of God’s grace. So her acts ” justified her” in the sense of being evidence of the real faith she had .

V26: So, just as our body devoid of our spirit is just a dead thing, a corpse, faith without the evidence of the works of obedience to God is just as dead, an empty, lifeless thing. God grant us true living faith, evidence in our lives, to His glory.

Fri 19th June – Read James 2:18-20

V18: Again, he imagines someone saying ” You have faith, but I have works”, as if these were two different ways of being saved. But when he says “show me your faith without (apart from ) your works” he means this can not be done – there is no true faith without some evidence in the life. Rather, such works prove faith to be real – and fruitful. (Compare John 15:2)

V19: If by faith someone means simply ” I do believe there is a God” – again James is being ironic when he says “you do well” – for the very demons believe – indeed they know – God exists, and tremble in fear of Him and of the judgement that waits for them -but how far this is from saving faith!

V20: Does he need to demonstrate that professed faith without any evidence is a useless thing, a mere intellectual belief that has not touched the life?. So in the OT Psalm 14:1 says ” The fool says in his heart “there is no God”” – that is, whatever he professes with his lips, he lives as if God did not exist. God grant us lives that show the reality of our faith, and of Christ’s work in us.

Thurs 18^th June  –  Read James 2:14-17

V14:  James is not saying, as Luther thought, that someone can be saved by their works, but that true faith will always show itself by works – by a life of obedience and service, the evidence that we are indeed Christ’s. James is saying that professed faith which is barren of such works is surely not real, not saving faith at all.

V15-16:  Again, he gives a vivid example. Imagine a Christian who is poor and needy, and another Christian bestows on them a pious blessing – and nothing else! No practical help, no outworking of Christian love. As James says, what good is that? Let us be sure that we don’t only “talk the talk”, but by God’s grace truly “walk the walk” too.

V17:  So, James is emphatic that ” faith without works is dead”. It is not a true, living faith at all. This is in no way at odds with what Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:8-9, for he is not saying that these works can earn salvation, but that they are evidence of our being saved.

Wed 17^th June   –   Read James 2:10-13

V10:  Of course no-one can actually claim to have kept the Law (except Jesus Himself ) for ” all have sinned” (Romans 3:23.) To break even a single commandment is to stand in breach of the whole Law.

V11:  It is no good priding ourselves that we have not broken any particular commandment (which usually has the ‘sub-text’ – “I’m not as bad as …” ), for to break any one is to have broken the whole law in God’s sight. No-one can stand before God in their own righteousness, only in Christ’s.

V12:  Christians are to realise that they too will be judged – but for them, it is under ” the Law of liberty” – for those who know Christ as Saviour the Law is not a bondage but true freedom – the freedom to serve and follow Him, and find their true satisfaction in Him.

V13:  We constantly need mercy, and if we know God’s mercy in Christ, we must show mercy to others – ( so, Matthew 5:7: Matthew 6:12,) always remembering God’s mercy comes first. Those who show no mercy ( for they do not know Christ’s mercy) are still under judgement, but God’s mercy in Christ has “ triumphed over judgment” in the cross, where God’s holy judgement was satisfied in Christ’s atoning death.

Tues 16^th June  –  Read James 2:5-9

V5:  Though James is at times stern in rebuke, they are still ” my beloved brothers” ( see Ephesians 4:15.) He points out that God’s sovereign choice often fixes on those who are poor and needy in the terms of this world and makes them ” rich in faith “, and gives them a wonderful inheritance in His eternal kingdom, His promise to all who believe, and love Him – always in response to His call of grace. (Compare 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.)

V6:  He seems to address a situation he knows about, where such partiality has been shown. He reminds them that the rich and powerful are the very ones who persecute believers – the court here may well be a “debtors’ court”. It remains true that often those rich in this world’s goods often, at the very least, sneer at and despise Christian values and those who live by them.

V7:  He says such also blaspheme the name of Jesus, and all that it means, the name we bear as believers. These verses remind us how far the values of this broken world differ from those of God’s kingdom. Are we living by kingdom values?

V8-9:  Quoting the second great commandment, which Jesus Himself said summed up the whole manward aspect of the Law, ( Matthew 22:38-40.) he really addresses those who think they keep it, ( I take ” you are doing well” to be ironic ) yet show such partiality as has been spoken of, to say they are actually breaking this commandment, and thus the whole Law – the royal Law of the great King.. ( So, James 2:10) He warns us as believers not to be complacent, of course.

Mon 15^th June  –  Read James 2:1-4

V1: Christians should not treat anyone differently because of appearance, status or wealth. James believed this was happening, and says it dishonours the name we bear as believers, the name of Jesus, who is indeed the Lord of glory.

V2:  He offers a ” test case ” – 2 visitors appear in church (the assembly) one wealthy and well-dressed, the other poor and shabby.

V3-4:  If the rich man is treated well ( almost fawned over, in the picture James paints with words ) but the poor man is – well, treated “shabbily”, then a judgement has been made on mere externals, and the thinking behind it is “evil”, thinking and judging as the world does. The point can and should be applied to more than the specific example here. Do we make distinctions between people and how we treat them because, for any reason they are not ” like us”? Do we make any who visit our services feel uncomfortable for such reasons? How far this should be from Christian behaviour.