The Daily Devo with Steve

There are few literary tools as powerful as an analogy, or an example.  Today.  James is talking about patience.  And we know what that is, patience; we know what that means.  But there is a type of laborer that has a unique insight into the real meaning of patience, and that is a farmer.  And James uses a farmer as an illustration for us today, as an example of how our faith might look. Look at v7-8.

What is patience in the context of faith then?  Well, thinking about this farmer example, it isn’t just doing nothing, it is sowing seed.  It is preparing the field.  It is working that field, fertilizing, watering, spurring on the growth, and doing everything you can.  It is doing all of that while recognizing that there is something that only God can deliver - rain.  God is the ultimate arbiter in the  world of farming...but He isn’t the only contributor.  It takes the farmer’s work and preparation, along with God’s part, to make the harvest good.  And sometimes God doesn’t deliver.  Does that mean God isn’t there?  No, not at all.  It just means that God didn’t reward that set of preparation.  Does it mean that the work the farmer did wasn’t right?  No, it just means that God didn’t reward that set of preparation.  Does it mean that God doesn’t care about the farmer?  Again, no...it isn’t about the harvest.  The farmer’s joy is in the preparation...the farmer’s development is in the preparation...the farmer’s growth and learning and life is in the preparation.  And, the farmer is keenly aware, at all times, that the ultimate harvest is outside of his control...and that is the reminder that we get today from James.  James has been talking about the rich and how they tend to cling to self-sufficiency because of the fact that they have money, and James us showing us that, like the farmer, we have to learn to live life in full recognition that God delivers the rain...God is responsible for our sufficiency.  And, while God may not always bring the farmer the rain, or the rich the next business deal, or you or me what we want, He can be relied upon for certain things, without fail.  Primary among these is His presence...God promises to be there if we remain faithful...as James says back in chapter one, faithful without wavering...that is our goal.  It is a hard goal, but he is encouraging our growth in that direction.

So, today, I pray that I would see opportunities to lay seed in my life...that I would see my work and my duties as just that, a farmer preparing the field.  And, then I pray that I would release the burden of feeling like I am responsible for outcomes, and that I would be content in my work and with God’s ability to do what He will with it.  That’s a great way to live life, and that’s the real key to contentment...doing the work, letting go, and letting God.

This is a tough section because it really denounces the rich.  However, we must really take this as a piece of what James is saying, not as a whole thought.  James, in chapter 1, was saying that a common practice was for the people of the church to give the ‘rich’ people the greatest access to God...the best seats in church, preferential treatment from the leaders of the church, etc.  And, in this time, as probably has always been the case, riches were a status symbol and the rich had a different set of rules and laws and opportunity.  This was infuriating to Jesus, and it is something James wants to take on.  But any time we talk about money, we have to remember that it isn’t money that’s the issue, it is our hearts.  The always have been and there always will be people of great means that have God and people with great means who don’t, just as there are plenty of people with nothing materially who have God and many who don’t.  Money isn’t the issue.  But, money and resources DO create a different problem that people WITH these resources must learn to take...and that is self-sufficiency.  And, to be clear, I am one of the ‘haves’ by virtue of the fact that I am typing my journal entry on a computer in an air-conditioned home and I am recording the accompanying podcast on a microphone through that computer, using the Internet to post and share these things - I am a have.  If you are reading this, you are right there with me.

What’s James’ point then?  Well, I believe his point is that he wants us to know that the folks who are rich and who lean on their own resources and their own sufficiency, without relying on God and leaning on Him as if He could take it all away in a moment’s notice (because He can), those people stand to face judgement.  God wants us to trust Him, to lean on Him, to rely on Him, and to look to Him for our provision.  That provision includes money, but it includes so much more.  So, even in light of the fact that I live as a ‘have’, as do you, in this world, I must cultivate that ability to desire God’s presence and to lean on God’s provision and plan for my life.  Money is a ‘tangible’ resource, we can see it and touch it and experience it directly, so it is just the easiest thing for us to point to in speaking of God’s provision...but God offers so much more.

Today I pray that God would show me all of the ways He is providing for me, that He would help me see all of the ways that I am blessed apart from money and material things...I pray God would help me to appreciate how thoroughly He has ingrained Himself into my life, so that I might be more trusting, and more reliant on Him going forward.

It is likely that today’s reading is addressed to a group of well-to-do folks inside of the Christian community who are kind of living their own lives and living kind of a “Sunday Christian” kind of lifestyle.  James is addressing their tendency to assume they control their own destiny, that they live their lives in a way that reflects a sense of sufficiency apart from God.

For most of us, I think that in many ways describes how we live.  I know it is often true of me and of my life.  When things get hard, I definitely turn to God.  When things are great, I am a little more hit-or-miss.  I would definitely say that in my spiritual development over the last few years, I have learned to praise God and to count my blessings and to lean into His Grace in both good and bad times, but there is always that tendency towards autonomy when things are going great.  I think that is a remnant of sin that lives in me that I will always have to battle; similar to yesterday’s tendency to lean into the passions of this world, and away from God’s plan for my life.  I think that’s the linking idea between the first 12 verses in this chapter and the these last 5 - our tendency to drift from God because of the sin living inside of us.

James gives us a hint at a part of the solution though.  As we’ve discussed before, we know James is a believer in salvation by faith, so we know he believes we can’t save ourselves; but we also can clearly see from his text that he is a believer in action as well.  He would tell us that God saves, but we have a job to respond.  Here, the very last verse offers a subtle hint as to how to combat these sinful tendencies.  James says we are to do what is right.  That’s it.  Very scientific.  But, think about it for a second, and we talked about this yesterday, and I think James hit this idea from multiple angles - the more times we do what is right, the more times we step up to the plate and make the good decision over the sinful one, the more we train ourselves to do so.  The more we do this, the more momentum we experience in our lives, and the easier the next right step gets.  We are going to deviate at times, for sure, but 5 steps forward and 2 steps back is still 3 steps forward...and that’s the point.  Today, let’s end the day up a step - that’s the goal.  Let’s focus on both making steps forward, and let’s focus on counting our current blessings, not taking for granted what God has done, is doing, and will certainly do in our lives.  Let’s make today a momentum-builder.

I feel like these verses this morning are really an extension of what we were discussing yesterday, that these verses key off of James 3:16.

Today James takes this idea further, that this jealousy and selfish ambition end up causing ‘war’ inside of us...that we end up with urges and desires that push us in a direction we shouldn’t go, and that we end up becoming like the rest of the world, that is, without the Holy Spirit.  So, as we give into world temptations, as we follow our unchecked passions, as we yearn to have more and more, we drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit, and thus, we can’t sense God and experience God in the same ways we otherwise would.  It is almost like he is saying that we become numb to that sense of one-ness with God when we pursue worldly things that are not part of God’s plan for our lives...this is definitely something I can attest to experiencing.  When we get so hung up in chasing down a goal, or a certain outcome, we lose the ability to maintain perspective.  We get so lazar-focused on that thing that we can’t hear others’ advise, and we certainly can’t hear God.

His solution?  Resist temptation, resist following your desires until you’ve vetted them, prayed over them, considered them, and humble ourselves before God...meaning, come to terms with who we are, that we’ve fallen short, and renew that connection with God so we can hear His voice again in our lives.  This isn’t a one-and-done deal...this is a lifelong journey.  This IS what some would call, “the good fight”, the constant struggle to maintain focus on what matters most.

This is a great reminder today...a great reminder that we should be constantly fighting to maintain the perspective of God’s purpose in our lives, and God’s agenda, and that we should probably get comfortable with the idea that this is a battle we’ll always have to wage.  James did at least say that if we resist the devil he will flee us...I don’t think he means completely, but at least there IS hope that as we journey down this road in the RIGHT direction, each progressive step can get easier than the last.

Talk about a few verses that read like they are straight from Proverbs!  Today, James hits us with some ideas related to wisdom, and how wisdom actually looks in our lives.  There are only 5 verses, but there is a ton here to unpack.

So, James starts off with a challenge - as if he is saying, “Are YOU a wise person?  You want to know how to tell?”  James is suggesting that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition are the antithesis of wisdom, that their existence in our hearts is a telling sign that wisdom is lacking.  Think about that for a second though, as that is a pretty big idea.

I have often thought of wisdom has having 2 components, knowing what to do AND having the integrity, the courage, and the fortitude to actually act in accordance with that knowledge.  Another way to say it might be that wisdom is knowledge in action; not just knowledge, but knowledge that is applied into real life.  James may be suggesting that a root cause of failing to either know what to do or to having the integrity to actually apply that knowledge is a deep-rooted issue - jealousy, selfish ambition.   As I think about that though, that makes a ton of sense.  If not for comparing myself to others, rather than to the person God has designed me to be, I am sure there are a TON of mistakes, both willfully committed mistakes and unknowing, that I would have avoided.  The drive that comes from competition can be a healthy drive, but it is definitely a two-edged sword, and it is absolutely true that I can push myself to the edge of what’s wise in the name of trying to conquer, trying to succeed against others, trying to be the best.  If you just think about it for a second, is there really anything more evil than that little internal moment of celebration that we have all had at some point or another when another person has failed; when their failure meant we had success, or we were a leg up?  Celebrating another’s failure isn’t loving in any way...it is selfish.  Yuck!  That’s human nature at its worst.

Today, I am going to be looking for that inclination to value myself over others; to value my own needs and desires above others.  I am going to look to spot moments of selfishness.  Today, incidentally, my family is back in town again, so today is the day where I really get to apply yesterday’s challenge in conjunction with today’s; to be courageously complementary, and perhaps even pay a complement to a competitor whom I admire, to actively push back on jealousy.  I will have to be looking for a way to do that today.

It is great to be back...man, no more breaks for a while!  Today we are digging into James chapter 3, and we’ll just read the first section, verses 1-12.

The big idea from this section is really just that our worlds matter...a lot.  There are a few great analogies illustrating this, perhaps my favorite being the one about the fact that large ships are steered by small little rudders, and that we are in the same way guided by our words.

We talked about this a week or two ago, how important our words are, and how impactful they can be on those around us.  Not only that, but our words can really direct and guide our own lives.  We can very much speak ourselves into feeling, speak ourselves into acting, and speak ourselves into being.  I think about 2 big takeaways pretty much right out of the gate as I am writing this - thinking about my words to others, and thinking about how I talk to myself.

I have already thought about this one recently, so I will just reiterate that I think we pretty much universally undersell how impactful our words are on others.  I am very stingy with complements and praise, and that is something I really must get better at...just genuine praise of others and to others.  This is just a habit, so it can be cultivated.  My family is starving for this from me...I am sure of that.  And James hits me over the head with this on this morning.

The other end of that is how I speak to myself.  I am really hard on myself, and it wears me down over time.  I mean, there really isn’t any reason for it either.  And I love what I heard someone say one time, “Would you say those words to another person?”  To which I would answer, “Well, no.”  Then they said, “Well then, why would you say them to yourself?”.  It really is a great question...so true.  Why would I?  That isn’t productive, it isn’t helpful, and it isn’t loving myself as I am called to do.

Today is all about my words.  I am going to grant 3 complements by the end of the day, and I am going to wear a rubber band on my right arm to snap it on myself when I catch myself speaking negatively or thinking negatively about myself or my performance in a certain area...I am going to catch myself and I am going to snap it on my arm to force myself to become conscious of this more regularly.

out of town announcement and thought

Alright, we are back on the topic of works and works being the evidence of faith in our lives again today.  Now, based on who James is, based on the company he kept, and based on the whole of the New Testament teaching, we have to make assumptions about what James is really trying to say here in this text, because it really appears, on the surface, that he is saying something contradictory to what the Gospels and Paul teach about faith by belief vs. faith by works.  I am going to go ahead and read the text so we can all be on the same page with this, and then we’ll discuss it.  James 2:14-26.

James is using this idea to reinforce what he has taught us about not judging people by their appearance, and not favoring people based on the advantage they can provide to us.  Today he is stressing that we should not only withhold judgement, but that we should act on behalf of those who are most in need.  And we have to recognize the difference between salvation, which isn’t what he is talking about when he is saying Abraham and Rehab are saved by their faith, and redemption in this life.  Abraham and Rehab aren’t in Heaven with God for all eternity because of what they did.  We don’t receive salvation with God, eternity in Heaven, because of anything other than faith.  But, our lives are redeemed, meaning God works in us and through us and on us when we act in faith.  Faith in action is how we invite God into our lives.  Faith in action is how we get to experience God.   This is what I refer to as redemption; it is God coming into our lives on a personal level.  Essentially, I think James is telling us this, “You want to go to Heaven, then faith is your ticket.  But if you want to experience God in this life, taking action is the key.  We must DO in order to SEE - action is our invitation to God to show up in our lives.

So, for today, I am going to do as I did in the last reading - challenge myself to action. I didn’t get the “pay it forward” done, so that’s my challenge today - to pay it forward in some way.   And not only that, but that action will be my reminder to look for an even deeeper more meaningful opportunity to act out my faith; I will be on the lookout for what God brings my way today.

Today’s main idea, at least for me, is so good...I mean, this idea that James paints for us such a great point.

I am not going to read this 13 verses because that is a little longer than what I want to read while also keeping this journal entry shorter.  But, as always, I would encourage you, when you see the passage in the title, flip open your Bible and do a quick survey of these verses, or open the Bible app and listen to them...it takes 30 seconds, but it really helps to tie the passage with the idea that I am presenting.

The passage starts with James condemning the practice of judging people by how they are dressed when they come into a worship setting...meaning, don’t give people who have the trappings of wealth better seats in service than others, and don’t judge people’s faith based on their outward appearance.  He reminds us that God has quite often used a person’s more lowly standing in society as a leverage point to make a bigger point.  James is telling us not to judge a book by its cover essentially.  There is more to it than that, but it is really this second idea that he camps out on that I want to talk about.

In verses 8-13 he lays out an idea that I am really drawn to...I am going to read these few verses: read James 2:8-13.

What I see James showing us is that we get a choice...we can set ourselves up to be judged BY the law or by Grace.  James calls it the law of liberty here, and he did the same back in the 1st chapter in verse 25.  This is a huge idea.  Do you want to be judged according to how well you execute on the Old Testament Law; the Law for which Jews were accountable for something like 1500 years and that no one, meaning NOT ONE, was able to pull off?  Is that the Law against which you want to be judged for purposes of your salvation and Grace?  No!  Of course you don’t!  Of course I don’t!  I want to be judged by the standard Jesus set...Grace.  I want God to see me as a saint that messes up on occasion, not a sinner who is trying to get back into how good graces.  James is telling us that we should apply that same idea in our own lives, to live by grace, to give grace to others.  He says that the law we apply to others is the law that will be applied to us personally.  Wow, that’s strong.  And what an awesome idea!

Do you give up on people?  Do you just emotionally check-out and leave people hanging after a while?  Do you throw your hands up and declare someone worthless in your mind?  Do you judge some people to be worthy of grace and others not?  These are all applications of this idea...the last, judging some worthy of grace and others not, usually because there is a benefit to me or because I want something from them, is exactly where James started the chapter.  That’s what we must stand against.  If we want Grace to be our standard, we must apply Grace to others routinely in our own lives.   Today, I pray that God would show me an opportunity to do that...to give Grace where there is no opportunity to benefit myself.  Today, I will pay it forward in some way as a physical representation of this idea, and to keep me looking for a deeper opportunity to apply this principle of giving Grace even when I don’t want to, even when it isn’t convenient, and even when it costs me.

As a reminder, we read these verses yesterday, which I do again this morning, and we honed in on the first 3 verses for yesterday’s discussion, while we’ll focus on the last 5 this morning.  So, here is the text and then we’ll dive into the discussion: (James 1:19-27).

Yesterday was all about becoming a doer, taking action.  And, remember, action isn’t how we gain salvation, and James isn’t telling us that we should use others’ actions to judge them...no, this is meant to be mirror, as a self-assessment...we are to examine whether or not there is evidence in our own lives that would lead us to believe God is working in us and on us. That was the first of the ideas from this section.

The second idea is a little more concrete - it is the idea that we should control our tongue.  This could be a direct application of the first idea...it could be, and probably will be for most of us, that a part of our growth is learning to control our words.  Two days ago, back up in verse 19 we are told to be quick to HEAR, slow to SPEAK...I think this just hops on the back of that.  Our words are SO important...not only the negative things we say, but the positive.  For me, I know I don’t leverage my words well enough in my house.  My family doesn’t get enough affirmation from me.  They don’t hear all of the positive things I think about them, what I love about them, and what I cherish about them enough.  Controlling my tongue isn’t JUST not saying what shouldn’t be said, and listening, but it is also saying what SHOULD be said...which can be equally important.  To that end, and piggy-backing on yesterday even more, sometimes what needs to be said isn’t a statement, but a question...questions help us understand, and understanding is required to love.  Let’s be sensitive to this idea of controlling our tongue.

And, lastly, another very concrete idea - that religion that is pure and undefiled is visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  I believe the essence of what James is speaking about here is the idea that we should love and care for and do for those who have nothing to give back to us, that we should love them because God first loved us, which in the context of James’ day was really the widows and orphans because of how society was set up.  Today’s society is different, and marginalization varies from culture to culture and geography to geography, but the idea is to go to the need, to serve those who can’t serve us back, and to give of the abundance God has given us.  And he layers on this second idea, which is that we should pursue moral purity, and we should derive our sense of value through God’s eyes, not the world’s.

So today, in all of that, here is my challenge to myself, to leverage my words in a positive fashion.  I am committing to finding a setting where I can speak into the lives of those closes to me and directly tell them what I think about them, why I love them, why they are awesome, and why I admire them.  I am going to leverage my words for good in a very deliberate and direct fashion.  I will be a doer of James’ teaching.