James

James is a letter from God's Word, sent to the churches of God's people scattered throughout the world in the first century. James, the author, was challenging the people of God to live lives of authentic Christianity. In Chapter One, he encourages them to pray for wisdom, to stand steadfast during trials and tribulations. He warned the church about the danger of temptation, and in James 1:17-22, he calls on the church to be doers of the Word and not simply hearers only. He called them to be obedient and act on the truths that they had learned from God's Word, not just to simply hear the Word for hearing's sake. Hearing the Word of God is important. Eight times in the Gospels, Jesus admonishes His followers to hear God's Truth. Eight times in The Revelation, the Holy Spirit, through John, calls on disciples to hear God's Word. Hearing is important, but hearing is only important if we are applying what we learn; we hear, but never share. A lot of the time, we can determine if we are hearers only by looking at the things that we do or don't do. If we know the truth of God's Word but choose to disobey that teaching and live our lives by our own desires, we have not shown ourselves to be doers of the Word. We have taken the truth in, but we have not applied the teachings that we know. The church of Jesus Christ has been compared to a fresh flowing brook, with the water representing the truths of God and His Word that have been revealed to us through various means. By contrast, some of us believers are like a stagnant pond. Water (truth) flows in, but it never has any effect. It never changes lives. It never flows out again and thus begins to back up and stagnate. James encourages his readers to apply God's truth in their lives and allow the truth of God's Word to change them. We are called to let the truth of God change our hearts, our attitudes, our speech, and our lives. Be doers of the Word and not Hearers only.

Blessings,

Pastor Hal