Category: James
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Go Get Him – James 5:19, 20
James 5:19, 20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. James ends his letter with a burden, not a benediction. If…
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More Than You Think – James 5:16–18
James 5:16–18 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth…
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Faith That Responds – James 5:15
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up… and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. The prayer of faith is not something we manufacture by emotion. It is not working ourselves into a mood, stirring up a room, or trying to…
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Two Streams, One Healer – James 5:14
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him… anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. James makes an important distinction here. In verse 13, the afflicted person is told to pray. But here in verse 14, the person…
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Pray or Sing – James 5:13
James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.Is any merry? let him sing psalms. James makes this beautifully simple. When life hurts, pray. When life is bright, sing. That sounds almost too plain, but that is exactly why it is so powerful. We complicate everything. When we are afflicted, we want to argue,…
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Plain Words – James 5:12
James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. James brings us back again to the mouth. Why? Because so much damage in life comes out of…
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The End of the Lord – James 5:10, 11
James 5:10, 11 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful,…
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Keep the Big Picture – James 5:9
James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. When people are under pressure, they often start turning on each other. That is what James is warning against here. The righteous are being mistreated, life is unfair, and the temptation is to get sour, bitter,…
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Hold Steady – James 5:7, 8
James 5:7, 8 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Now James…
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The Lord Heard It – James 5:4–6
James 5:4–6 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your…
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Rot in the Closet – James 5:1–3
James 5:1–3 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped…
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Do the Good You Already Know – James 4:17
James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James ends the chapter by making it painfully simple. Sin is not only doing what is wrong. It is also refusing to do what you already know is right. That hits closer than most of us…
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Boasting in the Wrong Thing – James 4:16
James 4:16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. James does not soften this at all. When a man puts his confidence in his own plans, projections, or resources instead of in the Lord, God does not call it merely unwise. He calls it evil. That is strong language. But…
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A Vapor in His Hands – James 4:13–15
James 4:13–15 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for…
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That Is Not Your Job – James 4:12
James 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? James brings us back to a truth that can straighten out a whole life in just a moment: there is one lawgiver. One. Not me. Not you. Not the loudest voice in the room. Not…
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Love Does Not Talk That Way – James 4:11
James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. James brings this down where we live. After talking…
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Tune In – James 4:8–10
James 4:8–10 Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. These verses can sound heavy at first, but James…
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He Comes Close – James 4:8
James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. This is one of the clearest promises in Scripture. It does not say, “Draw near to God, and maybe He will come near.” It does not say, “Draw near, and perhaps if your emotions line up, you will feel something.” It says,…
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Stand Your Ground – James 4:7
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. There is a clear order in this verse. First, submit to God. Then, resist the devil. That matters because real strength does not come from trying harder. It comes from staying yielded to the Lord. When a person is…
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More Grace – James 4:6
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace.Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Those first four words are a pillow for the soul: But he giveth more grace. Not just grace once. Not just grace for the polished version of you. Not just grace for the days when you…
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Jealous for You – James 4:5
James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? That phrase can sound strange to our ears, but the point is simple. The Spirit of God is jealous for us. Not jealous in a petty way. Jealous like a father who sees danger coming…
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At Odds with God – James 4:4
James 4:4 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 does not ease into this one. He comes straight at it, because spiritual compromise is not a small thing. When the…
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The Mercy of God’s No – James 4:3
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James says something here that clears up a lot of confusion about prayer. Sometimes we ask and do not receive, not because God is distant, and not because He does not care, but because we are…
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What the Heart Is Really After – James 4:1–2
James 4:1, 2 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. James has been stripping things…
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What Kind of Wisdom Is This? – James 3:15–18
James 3:15–18 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.…
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True Wisdom Has a Different Spirit – James 3:13–14
James 3:13, 14 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. James is saying, “You want to know who…
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From Bitter to Sweet – James 3:9–12
James 3:9–12 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the…
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The Mouth You Cannot Master Alone – James 3:7–8
James 3:7–8 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James says something here that is almost humbling enough to make you laugh.…
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What Your Tongue Steers – James 3:3–6
James 3:3–6 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.Even so the tongue is…
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When Words Multiply, So Do Dangers – James 3:1–2
James 3:1–2 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. James has just told us that works matter, that living faith…
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Faith That Gets Up and Walks – James 2:14–26
James 2:14–26 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not…
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Mercy Comes Back Around – James 2:12–13
James 2:12–13 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. James says your mouth and your life should both remember one thing: you are going to be measured by a…
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One Crack Grounds the Whole Shuttle – James 2:10–11
James 2:10–11 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. We like grading ourselves on…
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Love Does Not Bow to Status – James 2:5–9
James 2:5–9 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?But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?Do not they blaspheme that worthy…
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Stop Chasing the Shiny People – James 2:1–4
James 2:1–4 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;And ye have respect to him that weareth the…
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Religion That Gets Its Hands Dirty – James 1:27
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. A lot of people think religion lives in words. In what you say.In how long you pray.In how much you know.In how spiritual you sound.…
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A Loose Tongue Makes Empty Religion – James 1:26
James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. James has a way of taking a man right past his image and down to what is real. A person may appear religious. He may know the language, attend…
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The Mirror Is Not the Finish Line – James 1:22–25
James 1:22–25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of…
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Clear the Static – James 1:21
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Sometimes the problem is not that God is silent. Sometimes the problem is that we are full. Full of noise.Full of clutter.Full of sin.Full of our own plans. James says…
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Hot Anger Never Builds Anything Right – James 1:20
James 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. James could hardly say it more plainly. Human anger does not produce God’s kind of result. That is worth underlining, circling, and remembering, because most of us still act at times as though being worked up, irritated, and hot under the collar…
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Hush Long Enough to Hear – James 1:19
James 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Pressure makes people loud. When life hurts, when persecution closes in, when a trial will not let up, the tongue usually wants to run first. We want to explain, protest, defend, vent, argue, complain, or demand…
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The God Who Does Not Have Bad Days – James 1:17–18
James 1:17–18 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. We are up and…
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Do Not Be Fooled – James 1:16
James 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. James stops and says, in effect, “Do not get this wrong.” That little sentence is short, but it carries weight. He has just traced the path of lust, sin, and death. Then he pauses and gives this loving warning: Do not err. Do not wander in your…
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What Sin Always Brings – James 1:14–15
James 1:14–15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Sin never shows up telling the truth about itself. It does not knock on the door looking ugly and deadly.…
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Do Not Blame God for the Bait – James 1:13
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. A man under pressure can start thinking crooked. He hits a hard trial, feels the pull of temptation, and before long he starts blending the two together. He…
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The Crown After the Trial – James 1:12
James 1:12 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. Most people do not think much about crowns right now. We think about getting through the week. Paying bills. Making it through the trial…
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The Philistine of Finances – James 1:9–11
James 1:9–11 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth,…
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When You Do Not Know What to Do – James 1:5–8
You are in the middle of a trial, and the hardest part is not always the pain. Sometimes the hardest part is not knowing what to do next. Do I speak or stay quiet?Do I move or wait?Do I confront it or endure it?Do I hold on or let go?That is where James meets us.…
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What the Fire Produces – James 1:3–4
A blacksmith does not throw metal into the fire because he hates it. He does it because he sees what it can become. That is the picture James gives us here. Trials are not pointless heat. They are part of God’s shaping work. James 1:3–4 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.…
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The Same Storm, Two Purposes – James 1:2
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. James opens this letter with a line that sounds almost impossible at first hearing. Joy? In the middle of trials? That does not feel natural. It does not even feel reasonable. Most of us would have written, “Endure it,” or, “Survive…
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No Name Dropping – James 1:1
Some people cannot introduce themselves without polishing the brass a little. They find a way to mention who they know, where they have been, what they have done, or why you should be impressed. It is almost an art form. Just enough humility to sound spiritual, but still enough detail to make sure everybody catches…
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Background to James
James was written by James, the half brother of Jesus, not James the brother of John. That alone makes the book remarkable. He grew up in the same household as Jesus, yet during Jesus’ earthly ministry, His brothers did not believe in Him. After the Resurrection, however, everything changed. James became fully convinced that Jesus truly…