James, chapter 2 revisited

As usually happens when I go back and re-read a passage I have already read in the Bible, it teaches me something new. As I mentioned yesterday, James is my favorite book in all the Bible. It is one of the first books I read that really spoke to me on a personal level. Even when I go back to it now I find that God reveals something new in it almost every time. Today I wanted to concentrate on the second part of the chapter concerning faith and deeds.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. – James 2:14-17

Yesterday was a day that relates to this. I felt empowered by the faith of god’s promises for the first time in a long time. As a result, I plowed through the work I had planned for myself in seemingly record time. Unfortunately, I was done by noon and had the afternoon free for myself. Since I do not relax well when this happens, I was left with idle hands for the entire afternoon.

Much like most of my unemployment, I feel paralyzed by inaction when I have nothing to do. I have the fire and the faith to do deeds, but I have trouble putting words to action because I feel there are literally no deeds to do. That made yesterday afternoon a waste, and I am tired of it.

As a result, I am seeking to maximize this unexpected time better. If I can use it for resting and recharging my drained spirit, I will do so. If I can use it to accomplish something else for the kingdom, I will do so. If I can use it as a time of prayer and fasting, I will do so. These are the deeds that I choose to add to my faith, in order to have a more complete life experience.

James, chapter 1 revisited

I am back. Sure, I don't feel any closer to any answers than I did before this most recent hiatus, but I did want to come back for a short time. For those of you who have read this blog for awhile, you know that I began writing here with the book of James. It is, by far, my favorite book in the Bible. I wanted to return to it this week because I was reading it once again this morning. As is often the case with God's Word, it has something different to say to me this time, so here are my thoughts.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But 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. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. – James 1:5-8

If there is one thing I know about lately, it is doubt. I have doubted myself, other people, and sometimes the actual wisdom of God. Shoot, I have even struggled with doubt about the existence of God. I can speak from personal experience that this is indeed true. I have felt tossed about like a wave on the sea of late, but I have no idea where the answers I seek will come from.

Fortunately, we know that true doubt is not necessarily a bad thing. The only problem is when we doubt that God's Word can be trusted. Now I admit that it is probably not a good thing to question the very existence of God, but I have no doubt that if He exists, He is indeed in control. There is no way an all-powerful begin such as Him couldn't be in control.

¹²Blessed 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. – James 1:12

A major theme of this chapter is one of perseverance. My favorite verse in the Bible is James 1:4, referring to how perseverance must finish its work in us. I think that is why I am going through everything I am going through right now. Doubt is something that can be overcome, but only through the perseverance that comes from sticking through these tough times.

An update and a praise

I wanted to come back today and give an update about the blog. I honestly don't know when I will be able to return here, as I am seeking more regular employment. Once it is found, I will likely be able to post more regularly, but who knows. Hopefully I can get back to making this what I meant for it to be when I created it, but right now I am not sure if it has served its purpose or not.

In the meantime, I do have an amazing praise to share. I have an aunt who has suffered with multiple sclerosis for over 20 years. The disease has made her very bitter, and she has been in a nursing home for over 10 years now. I recently heard from my father that she has possibly come to know the Lord, however, which is a huge boost to our family's attitude. Her health has taken a recent turn for the worst, but I am praising God today that she has finally come home to Him.

Apology for my abscence

I apologize for not updating in nearly two weeks. Life has been beating me up pretty hard of late and I have never felt further from God in my spiritual walk. I am working hard to get back on track, but mentally it has been a massive struggle of late. I feel like I can no longer hear God's voice or His call in my life.

Genesis, chapter 4

This week ends on a down note as we get the story of Cain & Abel. It is really the final story in the Bible that relates directly to the creation. It is a story of bitterness and jealousy, two emotions that probably came into this world as a result of the Original Sin. They are also emotions that have caused untold pain and suffering for thousands of years. I know they have caused me untold problems personally.

It was such emotions that led to the first murder in this chapter when Cain killed his brother Abel. Both were asked to give a small sacrifice to God. Abel gave the best he could give, while Cain simply gave because he had to. God found Abel’s gift more pleasing because he knew it came from the heart instead of being based in an obligation. How does this relate to us in the present day? It tells us that God wants the best thing possible from all of us.

3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." – Genesis 4:3-7

I often wonder if I am doing what is right when God remains silent as I push through this world. Cain was unable to do what is right, and that is devote himself fully to the Lord. It is part of the nature of being human. We have a choice to follow whatever we believe in. Since Cain was unable to master sin by devoting himself fully to the Lord he had to suffer the consequences.

Genesis, chapter 3

The fall of man. The introduction of sin into the world corrupted mankind forever. I sometimes wonder if it was simply bound to happen since we couldn’t even make it long after the Creation before screwing things up. We were warned though. Adam and Eve were specifically told what not to do, yet they still did it. Like any child that disobeys, there has to be consequences.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

¹⁰ He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

¹¹ And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

¹² The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." –Genesis 3:8-12

I find it interesting that this original sin immediately led to a second sin. Instead of immediately confessing the truth, Adam denied himself from being in God’s presence and tried to deflect the blame totally on to Eve. He couldn’t even face up to his own mistake, so he blamed someone else for his shortcomings. He should have known better, too, after walking with God for a longer period of time.

There is hope in this, however. This is the ultimate example of God’s love because it set in motion his ultimate plan for salvation. It is a plan that has been thousands of years in the making, but is still being carried out today. It is because of His love that we have hope, yet, like any parent, He must maintain a firm hand of discipline on us.

Genesis, chapter 2

Yesterday we created the Universe. That was a fun sentence to write. In fact, you really can’t top it in any way. As we discussed, in six “days” (depending on your definition of a day) God created everything that currently exists today. When you think about that it blows your mind, doesn’t it. All of the vast, intricate systems that we see int eh natural world were painstakingly created by God. In reality, all he had to do was think and it came to pass. Today, in Genesis 2, we will touch on His greatest creation, mankind.

This chapter of the Bible represents the only chapter where mankind exists that we did not have separation from god because of sin. I guess it is in our nature to screw things up from the beginning. It is not like we developed civilization and then fell from grace. It started right at the beginning. Still, there was an idyllic time where mankind lived in perfect harmony with God.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." – Genesis 2:15-17

God knew that mankind would fall short of the glory, but we were still given a choice as we see here. I think this is more of a representation of what lies ahead rather than a story of what we have lost. It is clear that God wants us to live in harmony with Him in paradise. That is what the Garden of Eden was. Still, by our own choice, we fell out of grace and man was cast out of the garden. God still wants this paradise for us this day, but it comes at a price. We are now born into sin and must be redeemed through the blood of His Son in order to gain this reward. It is not an instant reward, either. We must toil in this hard life and receive it at the end, living in faith that it is there.