Faith That Works: Doers

None of us can deny the reality of our physical appearance.  When I look in a mirror I know for a FACT that I have brown hair, blue eyes, my nose is kind of crooked, and my pupils are different sizes.  If I walked away and completely forgot those FACTS and said/believed/”lived like” I had black hair, green eyes, and perfectly normal pupils I’d be crazy.  Similarly, none of us who are believers in Christ can deny the reality of the attitudes, actions, and words that God expects in our lives.  If we “say” we are a Christian and don’t live our lives according to His standard of right and wrong we are like someone who looks into a mirror and forgets what we look like. 

READ:  James 1:19-27

As a Christian what in the world are we supposed to be DOING?  The command in verse 22 is that we must be a doer of the word.  We have to ask, “what is the ‘word’ we are to be doing?”  In verse 23-24 James negatively says that those who hear and don’t do the WORD are like a person who looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what they look like.  In verse 25 James positively affirms that those who look into the PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY and persevere are those who are doers.  Therefore, the “word” we are to be doing are the perfect standards of right and wrong that God has revealed to us in the law (cf James 2:8, 10).

Does God expect us to live perfectly according to the law?  God is more than a perfectionist, He IS perfect.  And God expects us to be perfect as well (cf James 2:8-13)!  In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, “you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (cf 1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 2:5-6, 4:12).  In His Word (perfect law, law of liberty), God has established and revealed to us a perfect godly “moral reflection” that He wants us to look at (hear), compare ourselves to, and remember (do).  There is no getting around the fact that God expects all of us to live according to each and everyone one of His standards.  Being a doer of the word is simply allowing God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to “groom” our attitudes, actions, and words into conformity with His good, acceptable, and perfect will.

What are some characteristics of someone who is a doer of the word?

1.  Being a doer of the word begins with being a good HEARER (vs 19, 22) – Jesus often told his listeners, “he who has ears, let him hear” (cf. Matthew 13:1-23). The type of hearing that Jesus is calling for is an attentiveness and readiness to respond with obedience and action to what is heard.  Before we hear from any other source (friends, parents, teacher, etc), we must first be attentive and ready listeners and allow God to express His will and desire for our lives through His written word and the Holy Spirit.

2.  Being a doer of the word requires understanding and being attentive to GOD’S STANDARDS (vs 25) – We are called to do more than just good or even better things, we are called to do the right and BEST (perfect) things.  God’s written word has given us many standards that we can be clear and confident that we should be doing.  The issues where God’s standard in His written word are not so clear, we must be sensitive to the “word” that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit (cf Romans 8:1-11).  The key is knowing that God has a standard, genuinely wanting to discerning/discovering it (hear), and doing it!

3.  Being a doer of the word involves caring for the HELPLESS and the VULNERABLE (vs 26-27) – We can be confident that we have heard God’s voice and are doing the right and best thing when we are lead to care and be compassionate toward those who are in need.  The most pure acts of worship we can express to God are when we meet the most helpless and hopeless in the midst of their poverty and serve and share Christ with them.

God has created each and every one of us to live according to His standards of right and wrong.  Every time our attitudes, actions, or words agrees with God’s standard of right and wrong we will experience a blessing.

Faith That Works: Joy in Trials

READ:  James 1:1-18
It is possible to be joyful during trials as long as we recognize that God has a PURPOSE for them!

What are the purposes of the trials that we go through in life?  2 Corinthians 4:16-17 says, “so we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison.”  James reveals to us that God allows the various trials that we go through in life as the first tiny (insignificant) domino in a process that moves us toward spiritual maturity.

1.  Trials are a TEST of the genuineness of our faith (vs 3) – A weight lifter cannot simply say with his mouth, “yeah I can lift that”, and NEVER display it, his actions must express themselves in the reality of actually being able to lift the bar!  Every trial (physical, emotional, relational suffering) we encounter, big or small, is a test to see if we are actually using our faith in God to live our lives! Every challenge we face is a test to see if our faith is real or just an external facade.  Every difficulty we go through is an opportunity for us to display our trust in God through our attitudes, actions, and words.

2.  The testing of our faith produces STEADFASTNESS (vs 4a) – Just like a weight lifter intentionally places weight on his muscles in order to develop physical strength, so God places trials in our lives in order to develop a growing capacity to allow our faith in God to lead our actions.  As we respond to trials with joy, we will gain an increasingly greater ability to respond in the right way to all life circumstances.

3.  Steadfastness moves us toward SPIRITUAL WHOLENESS (vs 4b) – As we live out our faith in the reality of life we get closer to the final product that God desires for us (cf. 1:25, 2:10, 22, 3:2).  We will be, “perfect and complete, lacking nothing” on the day that we live every aspect of our lives according to God’s righteous standard.  This is something we are continually striving toward, but never fully achieving until heaven.

CONCLUSION

God is not as concerned about our happiness as He is our holiness.  We can experience joy in the midst of trial if we remember that God is using our circumstances to produce within us something of far greater eternal meaning and significant.  Be encouraged, all of us who remain steadfast under trial will “receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12)