The"American
Wisdom Series"
presents
Pamphlet #5124 KCJames3-1
How
do you see yourself when you look in the "mirror"?
Do you see yourself as a sinner
unworthy of the grace of God and so you are preoccupied with your sins
and/or your repentance?
Do you see yourself as a victim,
a "poor me baby" who has many problems in his or her life, and so you are
preoccupied with your trials and tribulations?
Do you see yourself as persecuted?
Do you see yourself as being a good
Christian because you go to church and do good humanitarian deeds and basically
treat others according to the golden rule, and perhaps you are preoccupied
with your holiness?
Think about your answer as to how
you see yourself because in today's study we are going to see what it means
to be a doer of the word!
Yes, the time is at hand in this
final generation, "for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh", as James says
in James 5:8, and these times demand that you know the answer to the first
question.
James told us his answer to the
question in the very first verse of the letter he wrote to the 12 scattered
tribes of this final generation.
Here it is again, just in case you
missed it:
James
1:1
James, a servant
of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ...
James sees himself as a "servant"
of the living God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That of course is why he can easily
say "count your trials and tribulations as joy"!
Have you not read of all the trials
and testings of those servants like Abraham and David and Daniel and Paul,
etc., etc., who have served the living God?
Were you not thrilled and overjoyed
when you read about their endurance and victory in overcoming?
So then, we really count their temptations
as joy, don't we?
What will be written in your book
concerning your trials and tribulations?
Why should it be a surprise to some
Christians that there is a time when all servants of God are tempted?
There came a time when even Jesus
Christ was tempted in the wilderness for 40*
days by the devil!
So let us learn from Jesus' example
and know full well that it is not God who does the tempting.
Between Satan and our own fleshly
lusts there is plenty of temptation to go around.
* Did you know
that numbers in scripture have spiritual significance? They help us to
partake of that "hidden manna", giving us a deeper level of understanding
in our Father's Word. For instance, each time the number 40 is used throughout
the Bible it denotes probation or testing. It rained 40 days and 40 nights
at the time of the flood. Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years. Moses
was on the mountain 40 days. Christ was tempted of satan 40 days in the
wilderness, etc.
Here are a few other numbers and
their meanings:
5 = Grace
6
= Man
7
= Spiritual Perfection
8
= New Beginnings
10 = Law or Ordinal Perfection
as in the 10 Commandments
12 = Governmental Perfection as
in 12 Tribes, 12 Apostles, etc.
If you have a Companion Bible
you will find more on the significance of numbers in appendix 10.
So, do you think there is ever
a time we should blame our Father for tempting us with evil?
James
1:13
Let no man say
when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Do you know of any loving parents
who like to tempt their kids with sin or perversion or place their children
in harms way or in situations which cause them grief and distress?
Of course not.
So let's be mature and not try to
blame our heavenly Father for our problems and trials and tribulations,
but rather recognize that God does allow Satan to tempt us, the one who
is the evil tempter.
Remember how our brother Job suffered
great affliction and testing at the hand of Satan?
Satan thought for sure that Job
would crack and curse God to His face and blame Him.
But you know what?
God knew his servant Job could handle
it, and He knows you can handle your temptations too.
1 Cor.
10:13
There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear
it.
Count it all joy, James says!
God is faithful and gives us the
victory if we stay in Him.
Of course we can let our own lusts
and desires occupy our minds to the point we draw away from the Word of
God!
It can happen!
So don't let it!
Exercise discipline in His Word
so you can walk in the Spirit and then you won't take action on those lusts
and desires.
Galatians
5:16
This I say then,
Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
However, if you allow yourself
to be preoccupied or double minded and you begin to draw away from the
Word, then temptation can entice you and soon overcome you.
James
1:14
But every man
is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
It is important to understand
just what "lust" is and isn't because Christians are real easy to put on
guilt trips.
I remember one poor fellow I counseled
who was laden with so much guilt it wasn't funny, though I must confess
that the story he told was.
It went like this:
"It all started when I
was about age 13 or 14", he said, "and the church I attended was one where
people kneel and stand and kneel and stand, and so forth. Well," he continued
on, "in the process of all this kneeling and standing I began to notice
that some women's behinds were better looking than others. But I was told
that Mat. 5:28 meant that to look upon a woman to notice those sorts of
things were the same as committing adultery with her in your heart and
so from early on I began to feel guilty whenever I looked upon a lovely
woman."
Ok, you mature Christians can't
quit laughing now, while you babes in the Word must understand that "lust"
is not admiring the beautiful natural creations of God, which He Himself
declared as good.
Lust is to "long for" with "eyes
of seduction" and to "put the make on" someone.
Those actions are not the components
of admiration.
Here's the Strong's definition of
lust:
lust
= epithumia, ep-ee-thoo-mee'-ah, Greek 1939; from Greek 1937 (epithumeo);
a
longing (especially for what is forbidden)
:- concupiscence, desire, lust (after).
So don't long for and desire
after that which is forbidden and contrary to the Word of God.
Again, don't be drawn from the Word,
but stay walking in the Spirit and your lusts will not conceive and bear
bad fruit.
[15]
Then
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.
It is a matter of life and
death, both the first death, which could easily occur from some disease
you "pick up", and eventually the second death if you don't repent.
For you see, "the wages of sin is
death [the death of the soul]; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
The choice is all yours!
You cannot be double minded and
serve lust and self and at the same time do the will of God, that is if
you want eternal life!
1 John
2:16
For all that
is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
[17]
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.
Here are the simple words of advice
from James, a servant of God who calls us his beloved brethren:
James
1:16
Do not err,
my beloved brethren.
The Greek word for "err" is
"plano" and it means to "go astray" or to "wander (off)", i.e. to become
deceived.
Can we talk plainly?
"Do not draw away from the Word
of God and screw-up your life!"
You see, it doesn't matter who you
are, even if you are handicapped (which itself can be a gift used to serve
God), you've got certain gifts and talents which your Father gave to you.
What you do with those gifts will
depend on how you see yourself?
James
1:17
Every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
That's right, Rush does not
have an exclusive in the "talent on loan from God" department.
We have all been given different
gifts of the spirit from the "Father of lights" Who gives us those gifts
so we can be a light unto others and to the world around us.
Are you child of that light?
I hope you are not hiding under
a basket somewhere.
How do you see yourself when you
look into the mirror of His Word?
Also, James makes it a point to
tell us that the light of His the truth is eternal, which is forever, the
same yesterday, today and tomorrow, which is what "no variableness" means.
In other words, His light is timeless
and does not phase in orbit or "cast a shadow on a sundial".
[18]
Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind
of firstfruits of his creatures.
This is our Father's desire,
that we take the engrafted word of truth and become firstfruits.
How do you see yourself?
James
1:19
Wherefore, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath:
Although this really applies
to all aspects of a person's life, the subject here is the Word of Truth.
So what James is saying to his beloved
brothers and sisters scattered abroad in these last days, "take the cotton
out of your ears and stick it in your mouth and don't be confrontational,
argumentative, or vengeful about the Word of God."
Some people as soon as someone
tells them something they disagree with they begin to get angry and argumentative.
[20]
For
the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
You can't let the Word of truth
convince someone if you get all bent out of shape when discussing God's
Word.
Your anger and impatience display
ungodliness, hence unrighteousness, and you will appear as a hypocrite
indeed.
Who's going to take you seriously
and listen to you then?
Had you taken the cotton out of
your ears and stuck it in your mouth you might have even learned something.
It is the immature Christian who
expects people to become convinced when and while they are talking to them
and "proving his or her point".
Do you expect a seed to germinate
and grow right before your eyes at the moment you plant it?
Or should you expect to walk away
and let time and mother nature do their thing?
The mature Christian should expect
that the seeds of truth will germinate in a little while, at a later time,
even if they are planted in the most fertile ground.
Be patient.
[21]
Wherefore
lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
If there is anything in your
life, be it lust, anger, the pride of life, whatever, that causes you to
err and not receive the engrafted Word with ears of readiness, as in ears
to hear, and with an attitude of humbleness?
If so, then get rid of it and get
into His Word, for as we just read, therein lies your salvation!
In this final generation when the
multi-media distractions promoting filthiness and perversion are broadcast
by the agents for the prince and power of the air right into our very living
rooms, it is ever so important to stay focused in His Word!
To study the Bible is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
1 Corinthians
10:11 Now all these things happened unto them {the
ancient Israelites} for
ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
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