Trials and Temptations: James 1:1-15
James is the least studied book of the New Testament in part, I beleive, because it deals with the responsibilities of Christian Living and many don’t want to be “burdened” with accountability. As I have been led by God to Service in the Law of God’s Love, I am compelled to live by what is taught in James. Over the next few weeks, I hope to cover all of the Book of James but as you who are faithful readers of my site know, I get distracted and deviate from topic to topic.
Consider this to be an extension of the Wholeness Message on Christian Living. James is an important book that ties the Law of the Old Testament to the Living in the Redemptive realm of Chirst. The first thing to remember is that James was writing to the Judean Christians who were scattered about the Roman Empire. His primary target was to give guidelines of how to continue to live by the Law of Moses while embracing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law. As to who James was there is question, most beleive that he was the brother of Jesus while others beleive that he was the brother of John. Since all the Apostles called themselves brothers, much as fraternal groups do today, it is hard to say. What we know from this writing is that he was a good Jew and had a close relationship with Jesus.
The Christian Jews faced persecution from the religious leaders throughout the Roman Empire even before the Rome declared them enemies of the State. The Jewish centers ignored the Gentile Christians but targeted the Jewish followers of the “Way”. Saul of Tarsus who became Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was the worst of the persecutors. It is no wonder that James was very leery of Paul’s conversion.
James tells the people to look at the trials and temptations in the light of Jesus. “Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.” James 1:2 (NLT). That seems to be very hard for us. Whenever we are challenged or mocked, we get defensive or we attack back. But James wants us to endure and grow in our faith. When your faith is tested and you stand firm it is like a tree that is deep rooted in the soil and as the winds and floods tear at it, it hangs on to the ground and eventually becomes stronger. Here in California in the High Sierras grow a small pine tree called the brittle cone pine. Each tree is several hundreds of year old. Many have been growing since before Christ came to earth. But none are very big, yet as the centuries of abuse has torn at them, they still cling to the almost bare rock and continue to endure the winds, snow and the drought that each year brings. Such should be our Faith in the times of trial.
Your Faith is only being tested to make you stronger, more patient and to build your character, to make you ready for anything the world throws at you. It is to let you have the full effect of Christ’s endurance so that you can be perfected in Grace and to be in the Wholeness of God’s Spirit. Jesus endured much more than we can imagine, for He not only suffered in the flesh but took upon Himself the pains of our sins and the torment that we deserved. God lets us endure only a portion of that so that we can learn to be led by Grace, completed and made Whole in Jesus, lacking in nothing Spiritually.
The Trials are not all physical, most are tests of your knowledge of the faith you proclaim. They are the challenges of your understanding of the Word and how you proclaim it in your life. For this you need wisdom. James 1:5 says, “If you need wisdom - if you do not know what God wands you to do - ASK HIM, and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.” (NLT). Just knowing your “verses” and being able to quote the entire Bible is not enough. You need to have understanding and a love of what you know because of God’s grace. Bible verses mean nothing to the non-believer. Can you defend your faith by your walk? Can you use the things of their lives their jobs and their circumstances to explain or defend your faith? For this you need the Wisdom of God, for this you need to go to Him in prayer and ask for understanding and to show you how to address those who question your faith.
One translation reads this verse as, “God…gives freely and ungrudging it will be given to him.” But you must ask in faith fully expecting it to be answered. In our trials of life and the attacks on our spirit, we are not to doubt or to be “double minded”. We are not to be indecisive but firm in faith and in our resolve to withstand the “stones” that come our way. As waves crash upon the shores and cliffs, wearing down the walls of the fortifications, so does doubt wear down our faith. We fortify our walls of faith by prayer and supplication. Take it to God first, let the Spirit of God give you understanding and wisdom.
God blesses those who endure, who stand against the assaults of their faith and who endeavor to live in God’s Way. When we withstand the torments of abuse and remain strong in the Word of God, we are given a crown of life, a victory wreath of gold in the tournament of Righteousness. These Blessings are not temporal, they are everlasting. They are not a thing to be boastful about but things of humility and gratitude. They are blessings that reach into eternity, that angels may sing of in heavenly places. They are the Promise of God to the Faithful.
But when it comes to the temptations, although God allows it, he does not cause it. God does not bring temptation with the trials, our own weakness draws them toward us. As God can not be tempted, He can not tempt us. When running a cross country race, we have to overcome the obstacles that are in our way. Temptations are the obstacles of a Godly Life. We are to overcome them. God allows them because He gave us free will and they are to test our resolve. Most temptations do not come from Satan but from within ourselves. They exist because we are immature and still think in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. Again, this is why we are to go to God in prayer, as did David. The Devil will use our own weaknesses and the the temptations of the flesh to draw us away from our Faith and our Love of God. Satan will tempt us as he tempted Jesus but not to blame Satan for your sins. We are to resist the evil desires of our heart and turn our hearts to Jesus and call upon the Spirit of God to fortify us against our own weaknesses. We are to be firm in the doorway with Jesus at our side to block the devil from entering our minds.
The Jerusalem Bible reads James 1:15 thus, “Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child and the child is death.” Make no mistake. our desires can lead us to the death of our Salvation. Our lust and doubts give birth to sin, and always remember that James is writing to Jews who knew the Law and accepted Jesus as the Christ, the Redeemer. Make no mistake that even tough God is merciful, and does not abandon us, we can choose to abandon Him. By retuning to the carnal life, by rejecting His Grace and by justifying our sins and wrong doing, we succumb to the desires of temptation and turn from Salvation and return to the Devil. We can not serve two masters, We must choose between the Flesh and the Devil,or God and His Grace.
God is good, all that He offers is good or for good purposes. It is man that can turn goodness into evil. All that comes from God and is for the benefit of Mankind. It is not the object that is the temptation but how our minds receives it. The purpose of God was that we are to be complete and whole in His likeness, that we are to be perfected in Christ by the Spirit of God. As each of us are constantly tempted to sin by our lusts and desires, we are to overcome our weaknesses by prayer and by faith. WE are to allow the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, to lift us up and away from the temptations of our flesh. WE are to resist the Devil. resist the temptations and reject that which would lead us away from God’s Grace. But WE are still to be accountable for our failures, because we can only blame ourselves, God did not lead us into temptation but as Jesus said in the Great prayer, lead us away from temptation and into the Grace of Salvation. So as we are faced with trials and temptations, we are to ask God ad he will answer and provide us with what we need to withstand. We are to rely on God but to seek wisdom, understanding and the fortitude to withstand the burdens and the weaknesses of life.
Print This Post Filed under Christian thought, Wholeness/Christ |Similar Posts:
Leave a Reply