The truth is, we are ok with a message of love, a sermon of peace, and the hope of prosperity, but a man’s welcome quickly fades when he preaches repentance and obedience.
My beloved friends, please open your hearts. We have been given new lives in Christ. We have been forgiven our sins and called righteous in the sight of God. So then, how can light and dark exist together? For darkness is only the absence of light. Christ has given His children freedom from the shackles of sin so that we may be transformed not His likeness and bear His fruit. Therefore, we must lay aside the former things of our lives, including all our filthiness and the wickedness we have walked in, for when something perishes, it is buried or disposed of and is no longer acceptable for use or handling. In the same way, our old selves have perished, being crucified with Christ and we are raised in newness of life! Let us now, with new ears, not just hear, but receive the implanted word of Christ, for it is able to save our souls in the land of the living, just as in believing, it has saved us already from the pits of Hell. James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” To define receiving the word, James tells us we must act on it. The implanted word must bud forth and cause transformation; it must cause our hands to work, our feet to move, and our mouths to speak, otherwise we see that in hearing, even with eagerness, we have deceived ourselves. For a sower only rejoices if the seed he plants buds forth into something to be cultivated and in due time bear fruit. James 1:23-24, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” We become deceived by Satan in the very root of our faith and identity. Romans 1:17 says, “For the just shall live by faith.” In understand who our God is, what Christ did on our behalf and what it means for us in every aspect of our life, our faith saves us, and we are accepted as children of God. That acceptance becomes then, our new identity. As we hear and read the word, the Lord speaks to our hearts and tells us, “this is who you are.” So as we walk in Him who bought us, our purpose is fulfilled and we are secure in our identify as saved, loved, and welcomed children of God. Yet to see what should be in our life, and to view God’s commands and purpose, but not let it dictate our actions is to say either, "I don't believe, or “I don’t know who I am.” We have looked into our own reflection and turned away only to lose that image of ourselves as God portrays us, and so we lose our identity. But to walk faithfully and to grow in the Lord, is to see that image and fully grasp it; it is to etch the image of who we are through Christ into the very fabric of our minds that we may call on it every time the world and Satan tells you otherwise. When, by the grace of God, you are able to clearly see yourself as a son of God, then grab a hold of that picture and never let it go. For when we look to the world to fulfill our desires and let our temptations overcome us, surely we have looked into the mirror and forgotten our faces, not understanding that Christ is in us and has set us free. James 1:25, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” But when we see the perfect liberty walking in the Spirit through obedience to the father and in the love that He pours out for us, we will be blessed. In not simply hearing the word, but in living it, we see God respond in power to fulfill His word, and we experience His presence and transforming grace in our lives. Then the Circumstance of the world must bow down, because when we walk in our new image through Christ, the world begins to see not us, but the Lord Jesus who dwells with us. Go, and be blessed.
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Love is such a thing that should be a discernible quality of our ever-present character, and love should always put others above ourselves. In this guiding force of love, James writes that we should be swift to hear.
To digest such a statement is to say that when others have a concern, a joy, or a word to express, our ears should quickly become attentive. Our tendency should be to give our full attention to, and to engage ourselves in understanding, not only what someone is saying, but what motivates them to say it; we must look into the heart of others. This is simply an act of genuine love. To express to an individual that they are cherished and worthy enough for you to give them your time and focus, and that hearing them, just that they may be heard, edifies them in love, and reinforces their intrinsic value as God’s child; a value frequently attacked by Satan. 1:19b, “slow to speak,” In further demonstration of our love, we must be slow to speak. Primarily for these two reasons:
Speaking just to speak is rarely a desirable quality. Our speech is best when articulated with careful thought, and when equally measured by response within a conversation. Beyond the act of authentically caring for others, being swift to hear and slow to speak also builds a patient and successful character needed to exercise our final command of this verse, which is to be “slow to wrath.” 1:19c, “slow to wrath;” If we cannot control our own tongue, and if patience is found so far from us that we cannot bear in silence for the sake of others, then surely to restrain our wrath is a daunting task. But, we must be reminded of, and edified by, the very character of God, who being endlessly blasphemed and offended by the frailest of His creation, through love, endures in patience with our sin that His mercy and kindness might lead us to repentance. For why we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), that He might express His love, and demonstrate our value. In the same way, we must bear with others to show that we indeed have some comprehension of God’s mercy, and demonstrate it that others too may experience the Lord’s mercy for themselves. 1:20, “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” While God in His infinite patience and justice may pour out His wrath and be found guiltless, we are much more susceptible to error, to sin, and to ultimately destructive tendencies. Therefore, the wrath of man cannot produce the righteousness of God, for such would require perfect judgment, and to be righteous is to be “in right standing with” those whom righteousness is in relationship with. While God does at times use man to execute His wrath for the sake of liberation, to act on our own accord or to be anything less than “slow” to wrath, in a very conservative understanding, is to fall on dangerous ground. Rather, the Lord in His right to speak, to dismiss, and to let His wrath fall upon us in our sin, spent the blood of His own Son to shows us “a more excellent way” (1 Co. 12:31 preparing for chapter 13). May we then walk in the love of God and render each not their right or just due, but the affection and affirmation that belongs to beloved children of God, and let us safeguard ourselves from being stolen, as tools, into the hands of the enemy. Go, and be blessed. |
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Darrin MillerWorking for the Lord. Archives
October 2016
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