To favor people because of appearances is so common that it feels normal. But James tells us that partiality is incompatible with faith in Jesus. God gives us the capacity to see people as he sees them, and to love them as he loves them.

Just as we were given new life by the word of God (James 1:18), so we grow in that new life by living according to the word of God. And that involves two things: Hearing the word and doing the word. James holds those two things together, not to be separated.

In the first 12 verses of James, he's been talking about trials. Now, in verse 13, he switches the topic to temptation. Perhaps better than any other passage in the NT, James lays out a process for how temptation and sin work in our lives.

It’s okay to ask God to take away our trials. But in our waiting, we can also ask him to give us what we need to be faithful and fruitful in our trials. This is the wisdom from above, and it is available to all who ask. 

If you had to pick one word to describe the end of the Kings story, it would be “exile.” Exile is the unhappy but just judgment on the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. But is exile the end of the story?

Josiah’s life shows us the beauty of renewal: hearing God’s Word, grieving over sin, tearing down false worship, and turning fully to the living God. Yet even this unparalleled king couldn’t rescue his people from God’s coming judgment. Why? Because sin runs deeper than our best efforts—it clings to us in guilt and shame, and no amount of personal reform can remove it. The good news is that Jesus does what Josiah could not: He bears our guilt, carries our shame, and takes God’s wrath in our place. This is the hope that truly makes us new.

Manasseh was a wicked king, yet God showed him grace. Still, the effects of his sin lingered on. Ultimately, Jesus is the only one who can fix what sin has broken and make all things new.

The story of “pride goes before the fall” is so common that it has become cliche. And yet, it keeps happening. King  Uzziah's story teaches us about true success, the anatomy of pride, and our hope in Jesus.

Do we have a category in our minds for the fury of God? For the vengeance and judgment of God? The story of Jehu shows us the faithful judgment of God; the certainty of it, the severity of it, and our only hope in light of it.

The salvation God brings is a total reversal. The great famine becomes a great feast, and the least and last in this world are the first to the table. They acted on the possibility of mercy, and they discovered the surprising grace of God.