James 1:1-12 ~ A Study

Confession: I'm a BIG procrastinator! Maybe I work best under pressure, but I sure don't enjoy it! Even this non-mandatory blog post I've been thinking about all day, and I'm just sitting down to write it at 20 to 1 in the morning, go figure! My bible study suffers greatly because of this from various angles, but when I get into the word I just love it! So I'm here today to share with you my thoughts from James Chapter 1:1-12. As you'll see, this only scratches the surface, but hopefully you'll get something out of it, but I'm hoping I will too and further my desire to crack open the word with fresh want every day!

After reading the chapter I pretty much went through it verse by verse (kjv):

1:1 Notice how James calls himself a servant, even though he was the half-brother of Jesus, before anything Jesus is our Lord! The 12 tribes he mentions makes me unsure of whether he is addressing all Christians or those with a Jewish background, but nevertheless, the the verses apply to all of us.

:2  'When'  -trials are inevitable
'Divers' -they will be various
Having joy during trials and temptations may seem strange, but once we realise that they produce faith and patience, we can't help being joyful! Something interesting I found was that the word for 'patience' is 'hupomone,' meaning 'under' and 'stay' or - active endurance. We must endure, and not run from, the trials if we are to understand the joy faith can give us.

:3 This verse tells us trials produces patience, not faith. Faith is produced by 'hearing by the word of God' (Romans 10:17)

:4 'Entire' -mature and complete
'Wanting' -lacking
Patience suggests the process will be slow, but it also marks the person who is 'complete.'

:5 Trials require wisdom, especially the wisdom to differentiate between perseverance or elimination of the trial by faith. How will we combat the trial? Perseverance or getting rid pf what is trialling us?
'Upbraideth' -reproach -despising request
All we need to do to obtain wisdom is ask for it! Don't fear coming to God, he loves you and wants to help you!

:6 All out requests should be in faith, with a heart that believes the word of God.

:7-8 Double minded refers to a lack of faith, which means we have an unstable or no foundation.
If we had no faith we wouldn't ask for wisdom. If we had no unbelief we wouldn't doubt God's ability, which is what double minded is -the middle between faith and unbelief.
A commentary I have read reminded me of Mark 9:24 'Help my unbelief.' Here is a declaration of belief by showing he wanted to believe and therefore wasn't double minded, as an example.

:9-11 The lowly will rejoice as they are lifted up by God and are able to forget the state of their lives. The rich will rejoice as they are equally brought down to the same level as the lowly, and are able to experience humility, forgetting their earthly riches and able to focus on Christ and heavenly riches.
These riches can be seen in the flowers of v10, which only last for a season before withering away. Like the flowers, our earthly riches will fade away. Here we also see a warning: if we spend our lives focussing and putting everything into worldly and earthly possessions and riches, we will fade away just like they will.

:12 'Blessed is the man,' a phrase from the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7, which continues the list. Here James focuses on those who endure temptation and trials, (notably we do not necessarily suffer for it) and are thus rewarded the crown of life, which is an eternal reward.

If you made it this far, thank you! Let me know what you think, and I'll have the rest of my study up asap! Lots of love!
Sana x

What I love about being a Christian: Fellowship

This past December a few friends and I took ourselves to Aviemore for a skiing weekend. No skiing actually took place due to the lack of snow (unless you count the disasterous attempt at cross country skiing on the final day) but I can say with confidence that, in hindsight, I'm ever so slightly glad that skiing never happened. I look back on that weekend, and while some may think bitterly on no skiing, I can only feel a great sense of joy as I think about the wonderful company we kept by the fire playing games and sharing stories. I knew a lot of the people there, but some where just recognisable faces and a couple were complete strangers. By the end of the weekend, every single one I could call a friend. As C.S Lewis once said: "Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a fire?"

I had such post Aviemore blues when I went home for Christmas, and was too excited to see everyone again at the new year conferences. New year ended up being so packed that I hardly caught glimpses of my Aviemore buddies, but I was still content with their presence, that's how much I love them all! I was so thankful for the friendship, the laughter, the food, the bible studies, the games, the unceasing happiness, that I just had to write about it!

I believe that friendships amongst Christians can go deeper that regular friendships. When meeting someone with the same faith as you, you instantly have something in common and that something is so positive and profound that it is so easy to get on with anyone right away! It's deeper than having a common interest in books or music because what you share is the most important thing that anyone could ever share. Even without knowing the person, you are brothers and sisters in Christ and there is nothing more wonderful! It can be so refreshing to know that God and the Gospel are as important to someone else as it is to you and it seems to make everything you do together and talk about all that richer.

I've found that fellowship with other Christians surpasses the norma route of friendship. When you meet someone for the first time, you can usually determine whether or not you will get on with them. For Christians, we don't have to worry about any of that beforehand. As brothers and sisters in Christ there is no doubt that we'll get along. Along the same lines: there has been many a time that my parents have opened their home to a complete stranger, and I have also stayed at, or been invited to, the homes of people I barely know.

Paul's epistle to the Romans is an example of this whole 'frienship with strangers' thing. In Romans 1:11-12 he writes:
           'For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end              ye may be established: That is, that I may be comforted (encouraged) together              with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.'
Paul had never met the saints in Rome before and yet he 'longed' to be with them. I've heard this longing described as a homesickness - such is the joy of fellowship! By 'mutual faith' we are brought together by the gospel.

Everything we do together as Christians is so special. Whether it's games night, a coffee date, a meal, a bible study or just hanging out, we are content in one another's company in a group or just between two. We get asked out for dinner at least once every week (as students at least) and these times of fellowship build relationships without the aid of drinking or going to clubs like a lot of people rely on for a good time. Some look at Christians or the church and they see no enjoyment to be had. The world is so consumed with material posessions such as riches, TV or the next big craze that it doesn't realise that that is all so futile and can never last! It seek snippets of happiness before striving for the next snippet and on and on and it's heartbraking to watch as souls chase worldly entertainment to the grave.

Don't get me wrong, Christians can fall under the same spell. Right this moment I'm having a staring competition with a bunch of leftover doughnuts and they play tough! Happiness is something everyone desires but as a Christian I understand that these are temporary pursuits amidst a breathtaking endless joy that is still there during times of sorrow. Philipians 2:2 describes a unity which brings joy:
             'Fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one                             accord, of one mind.'
The 'like-mindedness' could be used to describe the saints being like-minded with each other or with God, both bringing forth joy in fellowship and glorifying Him.

I've written an awful lot, so if you've read this far then props to you! I'll finish here but I'd like to quickly thank all my old friends and new for inspiring me to write about this. God willing, there will be many more times we will spend in fellowship together. Thank you.

Sana x

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Quick note: I'm planning on making this 'What I love about being a Christian' a wee series on the blog. It would just be an encouraging natter about the topic for myself and anyone else. If you have any helpful suggestions or anything you'd like me to write on (in any form also) I would be happy to hear from you! Thanks again!