{"id":6671,"date":"2019-12-19T20:00:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T03:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=6671"},"modified":"2019-12-07T00:09:56","modified_gmt":"2019-12-07T07:09:56","slug":"james1_1-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/james1_1-12\/","title":{"rendered":"What Helps Me Persevere"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ufeff<\/span>

James 1:1-12\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of James.\u00a0\u00a0Possibly the earliest of all the New Testament writings, the book of James is estimated by scholars to have been written in approximately 45-48 AD.\u00a0\u00a0James is one of the hardest-hitting and most easily applicable books you will find in the Bible.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 1:1-12.\u00a0\u00a0This passage has special significance for me.\u00a0\u00a0When I was a new Christian, James 1:2-12 was the first passage I ever tried to memorize.\u00a0\u00a0Almost 25 years later, it\u2019s still a passage I come back to over and over again in my heart.<\/p>\n

James 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0The author of James is most likely Jesus\u2019 half-brother James.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, after Jesus was born, Jesus\u2019 parents Joseph and Mary finally consummated their marriage and had other children.\u00a0\u00a0One of those children was James.\u00a0\u00a0James grew up in the same home and family as Jesus, but did not believe that his half-brother was the Son of God (John 7:5).\u00a0\u00a0His heart remained hardened and unbelieving until Jesus rose again from the dead and appeared to James.\u00a0\u00a0After that, James became a believer and started referring to his half-brother as \u201cthe Lord Jesus Christ\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0James would go on to become the leader of the church in Jerusalem before being martyred for his faith in 49 AD.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Like James, you may have \u201cgrown up with Jesus\u201d without truly knowing Him or believing in Him.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Maybe your parents took you to church when you were young, maybe you went to a Christian school, or you grew up hearing all the Bible stories.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not until you have a personal encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ that your faith truly comes alive.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Praise God.\u00a0\u00a0If it happened for James, it can happen for you too.<\/p>\n

James 1:2-4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 2-4:\u00a0\u00a0Perseverance is the biggest theme of verses 2-12.\u00a0\u00a0Is there an area in your life \u2013 a relationship, a ministry, a project, a challenge you\u2019ve taken on \u2013 where you need to persevere?\u00a0\u00a0In these verses we learn some vital lessons on why we need to persevere and how to persevere.\u00a0\u00a0The first perseverance lesson I learn here is this:\u00a0\u00a0it helps me to persevere when I understand why I am going through what I\u2019m going through.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Here James affirms that God allows trials in our lives to develop us.\u00a0\u00a0God is in the people building business.\u00a0\u00a0Whenever you go through trials and you are tempted to give up, remember that is not God being cruel to you; rather, God is refining you into the image of His Son Jesus, making you stronger, wiser, tougher.\u00a0\u00a0God is also in the story writing business.\u00a0 He’s also\u00a0writing a greater story than anything you could write for yourself.\u00a0\u00a0If you want to become that mature, complete person God is moulding you into, and if you want to read the complete story that God is writing through you, you need to stick it out till the end.\u00a0\u00a0You need to persevere.<\/p>\n

It helps me to persevere when I know that God is not finished with me, and that I\u2019m His work in progress.\u00a0\u00a0If God hasn\u2019t given up on His work in me, then why should I give up on my work in Him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

James 1:5-8 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-8:\u00a0\u00a0Why, in a passage on perseverance, does James all of a sudden start talking about wisdom?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s because\u00a0it takes wisdom to persevere.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Practically speaking, you don\u2019t persevere by mindlessly doing the same thing over and over again unto failed results.\u00a0\u00a0Rather it helps me persevere when I have a new perspective.\u00a0\u00a0So if you\u2019re tempted to give up, ask God, the giver of wisdom, for a new perspective on your situation.\u00a0\u00a0And when you ask, do so wholeheartedly and without doubt, because God loves to bless those who bet wholeheartedly on Him.<\/p>\n

James 1:9-11 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 9-11:\u00a0\u00a0Is James anti-rich?\u00a0\u00a0Is God anti-rich?\u00a0\u00a0No and no.\u00a0\u00a0Rather the message from these verses is that, no matter what my situation is, whether I am living in plenty or in poverty, I need to stay humble.\u00a0It helps me to persevere<\/strong>\u00a0when I humble myself \u2013 that is, when I remember that God alone is sovereign, when I surrender my difficult situation to Him, and when I hang on most tightly to Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James\u00a01:12\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 12:\u00a0\u00a0God doesn\u2019t give out prizes based on how you compare to others.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, a prize goes to everyone who perseveres.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not just a token participation award because many participate at first and then quit.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a crown of life reserved for those who stick it out with Jesus till the end.\u00a0\u00a0It helps me to persevere when I know God has a prize waiting for me at the end.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0As Paul would write, \u201cForgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.\u201d (Philippians 3:13-14)<\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, just as You persevered till the very end, I pray that I would persevere till the very end too, hanging onto You.\u00a0\u00a0I surrender the difficult situation I\u2019m facing today to You.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You that You are sovereign, that You are not done with Your work in me, and that the best is yet to come.\u00a0\u00a0Please give me wisdom and strength to persevere.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today we begin the book of James.\u00a0\u00a0Possibly the earliest of all the New Testament writings, the book of James is estimated by scholars to have been written in approximately 45-48 AD.\u00a0\u00a0James is one of the hardest-hitting and most easily applicable books you will find in the Bible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is James 1:1-12.\u00a0\u00a0This passage has special significance for me.\u00a0\u00a0When I was a new Christian, James 1:2-12 was the first passage I ever tried to memorize.\u00a0\u00a0Almost 25 years later, it\u2019s still a passage I come back to over and over again in my heart.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nJames 1:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0The author of James is most likely Jesus\u2019 half-brother James.\u00a0\u00a0In other words, after Jesus was born, Jesus\u2019 parents Joseph and Mary finally consummated their marriage and had other children.\u00a0\u00a0One of those children was James.\u00a0\u00a0James grew up in the same home and family as Jesus, but did not believe that his half-brother was the Son of God (John 7:5).\u00a0\u00a0His heart remained hardened and unbelieving until Jesus rose again from the dead and appeared to James.\u00a0\u00a0After that, James became a believer and started referring to his half-brother as \u201cthe Lord Jesus Christ\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0James would go on to become the leader of the church in Jerusalem before being martyred for his faith in 49 AD.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6674,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671\/revisions\/6674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}