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There is much to be learned from the books of the Bible as we study them by topic and by subject rather than just reading them as statements in a letter. A letter is a cohesive whole and it is fully possible that what I say in chapter one may later be commented on in chapter 5 with more detail. As I recently read the book of James, I saw these themes emerge. I now present the themes of the book of James for your edification in love.

Faith

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

James 1:3

Our faith is to be tested by the circumstances we face in life. Sometimes it is God that arranges life so that He can test our hearts and our faith. Sometimes it is the Devil who is allowed to tempt and to test us. This is what we see in the garden of Eden. God made a tree as a test. He said, “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest you die”. Love has to test the objects of its love, in order to know if they love Him back. God also allowed Satan to test Adam and Eve, with the same test that God Himself had tested them with. Only this time, Satan introduced a lie, saying “you shall not surely die”. Of course, Satan is the father of lies and will always try to twist what God has said in His Word.

Whether the test comes from God or from Satan, you can be sure that God is allowing it all, to bring forth the glory of Jesus Christ in our lives. Jesus Christ was tested and tempted in all manner as we were, yet without sin. God has great expectations for the tests and trials that we face. God believes in us, that we can pass every test, the way that Jesus did, by strict reliance on the Word of God. Jesus said, “It is written”. He relied on the written Word of God and it gave Him the victory over the tests He faced.

Testing and tempting is nothing more than pressure applied to our lives and our circumstances. Pressure is good for gemstones like diamonds. It helps them develop and form completely into solid, beautiful stones that everyone can appreciate and enjoy and be edified by. Testing is also like heat being applied to gold. When gold is heated to a high temperature, the impurities of it start rising to the top, where they can be removed. Let us say with Job, “when I am tried, I shall come forth as gold”! No trial seems pleasant at the moment but AFTERWARDS they yield fruit in our lives. Fruit for the healing of the nations. Fruit that can bless and build up the fellow members in the body of Christ. So don’t be afraid of the testing, but rather, embrace it and know that you can either pass the test or fail. If you pass, it will develop your character. If you fail you can then repent to God of that failure and learn to overcome when faced with the same trial. Trials will most likely be repeated until we pass the test. Then new trials will emerge. This is the pattern of our lives from the cradle to the grave. Learn to love the tests. It is revealing who truly belongs to God and who doesn’t. It’s a shaking that must take place, so that those who are founded on the rock of the Word of God will be on display for all to see.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

James 1:6

If we expect to pass the tests of life, we must set our faces like flint, as did Isaiah the prophet. When we find a promise in the Word of God, we must consider it and believe on it and embrace it and hold fast to it. God designed His Word to be embraced and believed on by all people. It is a sad commentary that so few will take God at His Word. Even out of all the people that read the Word of God, very few will apply that Word without reservation to their lives. It is much easier to doubt what God has said than to believe Him. But why? Is God not faithful? Is He not trustworthy? Hasn’t He performed His Word in the past? Doesn’t He change not? Doesn’t He have a perfect heart of love as revealed by His name Abba, Father? Oh, we have been lied to by the world. We have been told that we need to trust in ourselves, in money, in lies, in doctors, in men and in anything BUT the pure, unadulterated Word of God that is forever settled in heaven.

God says, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips”. Jesus Christ is that covenant, issued in love, issued in blood. Without faithfulness to His Word, the whole Godhead collapses. God’s Word is His bond. He lets His yes be yes and His no be no. God’s Word was such a strong foundation that it allowed the heavens and the earth to be formed in the beginning. It was strong enough to create the angels and all of mankind. It was worthy enough to create the animals and birds that we see in the earth up to today. Oh, the Word of God is worthy of our trust! Those that have trusted the Word of God with their WHOLE HEARTS have not been ashamed, have not been confounded, have not made haste. There are testimonies, oh yes, there are testimonies to God’s faithfulness to His Word.

Jesus said to Peter “Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?”. We have to be willing to trust the Word of God over everything else, including that which we see and feel and understand with our natural understanding. The Word of God is deep. Deeper than what we feel and deeper than what we understand. We must allow the Spirit of God to convince us of the truth of God’s Word. The church and the Holy Spirit are the two witnesses of God in the earth. What the church and the Holy Spirit have in common is that they rely on the Word of God, they rely on Jesus Christ Himself. He is the ROCK. He is the sure foundation. All other words and ideas are sinking sand. Only the eternal Word of God is a sure foundation. Has not Christ proven that one can live a life trusting in only what GOD HAS SAID? Yes, Christ has proven that. He trusted in the Father up to and including the cross. He said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. That’s our Jesus. Faithful to the Word of God and the Father that spoke it, even unto death. Oh, it takes humility in order to walk this faith walk! We must trust in the Word of God above what we think. This is the only way to life.

We have the mind of Christ, if we so choose. The mind of Christ is a continual decision to ALWAYS DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER. Always. We must continually continue in the Word of God. Just because we’ve been faithful in the past is no guarantee that we will be faithful in the future. We must cultivate the mind of Christ as our mind. The mind of Christ is unshakable. It is not moved by what the world says, by what the enemy says. It only moves to more perfectly and more intensely embrace WHAT GOD SAYS. It continually meditates in what God says. The mind of Christ DOES NOT GIVE UP WHEN OPPOSITION ARISES! Opposition is normal! The world does not live by the Word of God. Satan does not live by the Word of God! The world and Satan hate God and His Word and also all those that live by the Word of God. Know ye not that the Word says that all that live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution? There is a violent shaking going on in the world today! Do you not feel it? Do you not sense it by the Spirit of God? Love God and keep His commandments. Keep His Word in your heart. Trust Him with EVERYTHING, even unto DEATH. That is the life and mind of Christ. We can do it, if we so choose. Commit your ways unto the Lord and your thoughts will be established.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

James 1:12

When we boldly choose to have faith in God, it is not a one time decision. It is a decision to run the race of faith with ENDURANCE. Wars and rumors of wars will come, but will we be found faithful to the Word of God? If you fail God by believing a lie over His Word, don’t give up! Get back up again! Repent and continue running the race, looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith! That’s right, we are called to walk in the faith of Jesus Christ. Not our own faith. Christ has laid the foundation that trust in God unto death is possible and overcoming and triumphant! Very few that start the race will faithfully finish it. When tribulation arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD, many faint. Many are choked by the cares of the world. I tell you this, though a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it shall be well for him or her that ENDURES WITH GOD TO THE END.

We can help our brothers and sisters to endure, but we can’t run the race for them. Each man or woman will stand or fall based on his or her OWN FAITH. The best thing we can do to encourage our brothers and sisters is to run the race of faith faithfully ourselves and testify to what we are doing by actions and words. Show forth the fruit of God in your lives. Surely there is true fruit to share, to encourage the body of Christ and to encourage those in the world to come out of her and BE SEPARATE. Be separate by the mind of Christ and the faith of Christ. Trust in God with your WHOLE HEART and lean not on your own understanding. Our lives are living letters, known and read of all men. If we fail, it is known. If we are victorious, it is known. God knows. The holy angels know. The world knows. Satan and his demons know. We are a theater show for the world to see. Let’s give them something worth seeing, yes, let’s show them the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, enduring to the END and receiving that crown of life. The promise of eternal life is to the overcomers, not those who give up.

In the last day, will we be able to say to Christ: “Jesus, I walked in YOUR FAITH with all my heart and I did it unto the death. I did not faint or give up when I was tested, but I endured by not loving my life unto death. I proved that your Word is true by walking in faith, all the days of my life”?

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

James 1:12

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

James 2:5

The Word of God is clear. It is those that are RICH IN FAITH. These are the people that love God. Faith in what God has said proves that we love God. Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments”. His commandment is that we would walk by faith and not by sight. His commandment is that we would walk in love for God and others.

The Word of God declares that without faith it is impossible to please God. We must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM. Faith is known by diligently seeking God. We must have a solid foundation in Christ and then continue to stabilize our lives in Christ by GOING YET DEEPER IN HIM. Increasing in the knowledge of Christ. It is not once saved, always saved. It is not once faith always faith. It is “endure to the end and you shall be saved”.

When Paul’s faith was tested, he had this testimony: “I believe God that it shall be even as it was spoken to me”. Paul was rich in faith. Paul loved God. Without faith, it is impossible to prove that we love God. No faith, no love. Much faith, much love. When we believe what someone is saying, it shows that we respect them. All we can do is give God OUR WHOLE HEARTS. Believing His Word, living His Word, dying for the sake of HIS WORD. Our first parents failed God and died spiritually, all because they took the word of the fallen angel Lucifer above that which God has said. They gave in to temptation rather than have faith in God. We don’t have to continue in that error! The Bible says all have sinned, not that all will continue to sin! Choose you this day who you will serve! Our choices determine our destiny, so choose wisely! Choose life that you may live!

In the last day, will we be able to say to Christ: “I believed the Father’s Word, even unto death!”? We are so privileged to be alive on this earth. Now is the appointed time, Now is the day of salvation. That salvation comes by His Word. When God wanted to save the world from trusting in themselves, He sent His Word, His Son Jesus Christ, who showed us how to love the Father by believing the Father. By putting faith in God and what He says. This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. Faith is His commandment to us this day and every day. When trials come, believe God’s Word. When obstacles come, believe God’s Word. When lies come, believe God’s Word. When sickness and disease come, believe God’s Word. This is our opportunity to shine! This is our opportunity to prove that we love God. We can’t love God without loving His Word. His Word and Himself are inseparable. Love God by loving His Son. Love the Son by following His example of self sacrificial love, even unto death. Especially unto death. Deny yourself, pick up your cross daily and follow Christ. This is how we love the Father, when we love Him by loving His Son and following His Son. This is the testimony of God about His Son Christ: “HEAR HIM!”.

Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.

Jeremiah 36:27-28

Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

Jeremiah 36:32

And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

Exodus 34:1

God remembers what He said. This is evident from these two examples from His Word. When Moses saw the idolatry of the children of Israel, he smashed the ten commandments of stone. When God saw that, He replaced the smashed tablets with new tablets. He wrote His Word afresh on the new tablets. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to make God’s Word fresh to us, each time we sit down and study the Word of God. No longer is God’s Word written solely on tablets of stone or in a scroll. God’s Spirit writes His Word and His laws upon the table and scroll of our hearts.

Secondly, Jeremiah prophesied the Word of the Lord to the king of Judah. The king burned the scroll with its Words in the fire. Yet, God gave the words a second time to Jeremiah to write again in another scroll. God remembered what He had said. Yet, no longer are His Words solely on a physical scroll. His Word is alive by the Spirit with which He speaks. He wants the scroll of our hearts to be unrolled, constantly meditating and thinking on good things, namely His Word!

Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Isaiah 43:26

Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Malachi 3:16

Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Jeremiah 1:12

God is always watching over His Word to perform it. The eyes of the Lord (the Spirit of God) is constantly searching the world for willing hearts that will receive His Word into the good ground of their hearts. God is looking for a remnant, a people that will be fruitful in the good works of Jesus Christ. God not only remembers His Word, He also remembers His people, those that fear His Name. He has promised to remember our sins no more, if we will but repent of them and turn from them to holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. God has said that He will not forget His Word, His promises to His people. God is willing that all people everywhere would become His people through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.

God has already given us the power of His Word manifested directly by His Spirit, the Holy Ghost. He is watching over His Word and His people, looking for those who will activate the power of His Word by FAITH. Believing the promises and Word of God without yet seeing any signs or wonders following. Are you prepared to stand solely on the Word of God? Jesus was prepared to do just that, for when He was tempted by the enemy, He was quick to respond, “it is written”! He based His whole life on what God had written down on scrolls. He had allowed God to write His Word in a living way on His heart. That’s why Christ was effective. He lived not only by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds in a living way out of the mouth of God. God is a Spirit. He is a living Spirit and He speaks words of life. Everything He touches is made alive by the quickening power of His Spirit. Allow God to touch you today, afresh, in a living way through and in His Son Jesus Christ. We can depend on God’s Word. It is a sure foundation for our lives. God remembers what He said. Let us put Him in remembrance today of what He has said and watch what will happen, in direct proportion to our faith. It is a holy cooperation between God and mankind. God speaking His Word and us receiving it into our hearts and speaking its creative power over our lives and others lives. God bless you as you bubble over with the Word of God and the Spirit of God within you. Remember, God wants His Truth in our hearts, that He may bless us and make us a holy blessing to others in His Name. Amen.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

James 4:4

We were not created to be God’s enemies. In the beginning, when it was just Adam and Eve, they walked for a time in friendship with God. There was no sin in the world at that time so there was no occasion to be opposed to God and His holy ways of love. As we all know, they chose to sin against the commandment God gave them. God gave them the commandment not to eat of the tree because He wanted them to spiritually mature in love. It takes a challenge or a commandment for God to test our hearts to know if our love for Him is real or not. In the beginning there was no such thing as sin. Sin entered the world through their selfish choice and spiritual death was the result. Spiritually dead people are God’s enemies. This is the counsel of Scripture.

To be at enmity with God means that one is no longer walking as a friend of God through love and holiness but has became God’s enemy through a selfish choice to sin. It only takes one sin to become God’s enemy. We can walk as His friend for days or weeks or years, but if we sin, we forfeit our relationship with God. For what? For temporary pleasure. It’s not rational to give up an eternal relationship with the living God in order to please ourselves, but that’s just what the world has done. All have sinned. That’s not to say that you have to continue in your sin. All it takes is repentance and then abiding in that repentance through continual obedience. You can do it! You can obey God! It’s possible to walk as a friend of God. Friends don’t stab each other in the back. God won’t stab us. Are we willing to stab God in order to get what we want? That’s called murder. Yet God does not die from our sin. It just causes Him unspeakable spiritual pain in His heart. We need a mediator after we go astray in our sin. We need reconciliation. That comes through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Ephesians 2:15-16

If sin makes us God’s enemies, then righteousness by faith makes us His friends. Abraham was called the friend of God, because he lived by faith. We have a better covenant through Christ than what Abraham had. If he could be God’s friend under the former covenant, then surely we can overcome sin through the new covenant, washed in the blood of Jesus Christ!

Christ came to make the way back to God, the Father. Sin was the problem, so Christ died for our sins. He was raised from the dead for our justification. When we walk in Christ, it’s just like we never sinned against God! The Spirit of Christ washes us and regenerates our formerly dead spirit when we repent to God and put faith in the life and death of Christ. Christ truly becomes the Lord our righteousness. We walk in the footsteps of Christ and in the faith of Christ, who trusted the Father completely in all His doings. That’s the pathway to life for us as well. Christ has killed the hatred between us and God! The former man is dead with Christ and now we are raised to newness of life through faith in Christ! Glory to God forevermore!

Christ died to make forgiveness and reconciliation possible. No one is automatically saved. Christ is an invitation to the sinner to change his sinful ways and be born again by the blood and suffering of Christ. God will not force anyone to put down their weapons of sin. God made a way to influence us to holiness, righteousness and love by personally demonstrating it in His Son, Christ. We must be moved profoundly by God’s generosity and be moved to pick up our cross daily and follow Christ. We must repent of our former sinful ways and choose to deny self, the way Christ did. This is the way to eternal life. Knowing the Father and the Son by living the way they do, by love and holiness.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:5-8

We have two choices. Live in the flesh and die or live by the Spirit and live forevermore. To be in the flesh doesn’t mean that you are living in a flesh body. Everyone does, even Christ. There is nothing wrong with our flesh bodies. It doesn’t make one a sinner to have a flesh body. No, to be in the flesh means to live an unregenerate life, full of carnal thoughts and sins. Having a carnal, sinful mind makes us the enemy of God. Christ came to give us a new mind. Yes, Christ has Lordship over all things, including our thoughts. We are able to bring EVERY THOUGHT into captivity to the obedience of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 10:5. Being born again and then later Spirit filled, we have new thoughts and a renewed mind. We have the mind of Christ. We think the way Christ thought when He was on earth. That is, we must please the Father! We must, we must!

It takes time and effort to learn to walk as a completely faithful witness of Jesus Christ. Most people will sin after being born again. Yet, you don’t have to. 1 John 2:1 says that IF any man sin. IF is always a choice. Sin can’t exist until one chooses to create it through a choice to lust. That’s it. Abide in Christ and YE SHALL NOT FULFILL THE LUST OF THE FLESH! If you sin, repent of that sin immediately and be rejoined to God through Christ. Then, carry on serving Christ faithfully. God requires our whole heart in order to serve Him. God lives with His whole heart and we are made in His image with a heart of our own. What will you do with your heart? Will you obey Christ and bring great joy to heaven, or will you sin and go the way of the devil? The choice is yours, but choose wisely. Christ died so that we can have victory over sin and be God’s enemies no more. God bless you in your holy pursuit of HIM, amen.