James....Chapter 1

James chapter 1 talks about trials and the testing of faith.

I feel like this year I have had my fair share of trials and testing of faith. So lets take a look.

Verse 3 "The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. What is steadfastness?" When I think of being steadfast, I think about something that is strong and directed. That there is going to be nothing that shakes whatever it is. So if my faith is tested then I am going to be strong and directed. Towards? God and my faith in Him. See the testing of my faith produces more faith. The more faith I have, well the more testing I feel like there is.

Verse 4 "Lacking nothing" Wow! To be lacking nothing, is pretty amazing. I guess that in reality I will always be lacking something if I try and do things on my own, but the truth is that if I am living out my life in Christ, then I will be lacking nothing. If I have faith that God is real and true, that He is out there on my side, then I am complete. Not complete on my own, but complete in Him.


Verse 12 "the rich man will fall away in his pursuits." What does that mean? What am I pursuing like a rich man? Things that I should not be going after because in all reality it is just me trying to be more popular, or trying to make myself look better, instead of completely relying on God. Maybe one of those could be my job, I want to be known, I want parents to talk about me and how great I am of a teacher. When that become my pursuit, well it is just like a rich man going after money. There is nothing of God in that, and all of me in that.

Verse 14 "each person is tempted when he is lured by his own desires." That is for sure, me. I can claim all I want to that other people make my actions those that are not pleasing to God but what it boils down to is that it is myself. I am the one that has the desire, I am the one that follows through with the desire that is not pleasing to God. Whether it is judgment of someone else, an unkind word, or a thought that really isn't at all pure. These are caused by my own selfishness and my own wants. God gives me a way out, most of the time though I am too stubborn and caught up in my own self to even realize that God is screaming for me to turn around and run to Him.

Verse 19 "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." Quick to hear, so many times I can't wait to get out my words when in a conversation. Or to say...oh that reminds me of the time... you can probably fill in what would come next. But right here James, inspired by God tells us be quick to hear, listen to what others are saying. Some people just need to know that they are heard. I need to apply this to life with my students also. So many times I am on the defensive when they enter my classroom...I am so quick to say what comes in my head and don't even really hear what they are asking me. It is time to be a little bit slower to speak and slower to get angry.


Verse 26 "and does not bridle his tongue and deceives his heart." I think my tongue has gotten me into trouble. I think that there are too many times when God is just telling me to be quiet and I am trying to tell God, that I know better, that I need the opportunity to just tell this person something or blah blah blah....Well right now I think that my heart has been deceived many times by my own inability to just let God handle things.


As I look at this first chapter of James...how does one keep unstained from the world? As I look out at the world and step into it I am bombarded by every single minute of it. I am at a loss for what I should do or who I should be. As I think about truth...well the truth is that there are hard times, and in all reality there are going to be even more hard times. But that is what is turning me into this person that God wants me to be, that is what empties me out of the selfishness and the desires that want to consume me. It is going to take a lifetime, but at least I am not wasting it living for something that will get me nothing.