These troubles and distresses that you go through in these waters are no sign that God hath forsaken you, but are sent to try you whether you will call to mind that which heretofore you have received of his goodness, and live upon him in your distresses.
—John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress
Divine Promise (James 4:13-17)
“Neither the nature of any created thing,… nor the weakness of the flesh, can prevail against the will of God. For God is not subject to created things, but created things to God; and all things yield obedience to his will.” —Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.5.2.
Living in Peace (James 4:1-12)
Nietzsche says that the illusion of willpower rests on our tendency to identify with the part of our soul that commands, not the part that obeys. On one hand, the will is desire. On the other, the will is necessary only when you need to act against your desires. The will is both problem and solution, and to fight will with will is to end up even more entangled.
—Meghan O’Gieblyn
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. … Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
—Romans 7
Earthly Wisdom vs Wisdom From Above (James 3:13-18)
“Love for our neighbors, then, like love for ourselves, involves something vastly more significant than the meeting of individual needs. It involves God’s reaching out in us and through us to build a kingdom, a sphere of rulership, in which his will is done in the fallen world as it is in the sinless heavens; in which cruelty and disorder and the distortion caused by sin are supplanted by love, order, and righteousness. Loving obedience to God produces much more than individual goodness, respectability and the alleviation of suffering. It builds the kingdom of heaven.”
-Richard Lovelace, Renewal as a Way of Life
Definition of Living Faith (James 2:14-26)
If you want to give a hungry man a tract, wrap it up in a sandwich. — Charles H Spurgeon
Thirst for Justice (Habakkuk 2:1-20)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
— Romans 1:16-17
Mercy Over Judgement (James 2:1-13)
“Mercy is the highest art and the shield of those who practice it. It is the friend of God, standing always next to him and freely blessing whatever he wishes. It must not be despised by us. For in its purity it grants great liberty to those who respond to it in kind. It must be shown to those who have quarreled with us, as well as to those who have sinned against us, so great is its power. It breaks chains, dispels darkness, extinguishes fire, kills the worm and takes away the gnashing of teeth. By it the gates of heaven open with the greatest of ease. In short, mercy is a queen which makes men like God.”— John Chrysostom
Seeking His Face (James 1:19-27)
“Give me the grace to be impatient for the time when I shall see You face to face and need no stimulus than that to adore You.”
— Flannery O’Connor, A Prayer Journal
Blessing of the New Birth (James 1:12-18)
Nicodemus: “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”
Jesus: You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”
Nicodemus: “How can anyone be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”
Jesus: “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.” - The Message
James: Portrait of a Living Faith (James 1:1-11)
“Put away doubting and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord. Do not say to yourself: ‘How can I ask of the Lord and receive from him, seeing that I have sinned so much against him?’ Do not reason with yourself like this, but turn to the Lord with all your heart and ask of him without doubting, and you will know the multitude of his tender mercies, that he will never leave you but fulfi ll the request of your soul.”
— Shepherd of Hermas, 2nd century
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