Category: Today’s Truth

“Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor,” James 4:9-10 tells us. When you think about your past, your struggles, and the sin that once riddled your life, how does it make you feel? While we shouldn’t live in the past, there should be a godly sorrow or grief over the sins that were committed toward God.

Sin is rebellion against God, so it should always make us grieve. Think of a child and a parent. If a child and parent have a good relationship, the child will want to please the parent and will have a sense of regret or sorrow when breaking their trust. That is how we should be with the Lord. There should be regret when we go against His Word and choose ourselves and our desires instead.

Only when we begin to grieve over our sin and shame, can our hearts begin to change. We can move past our sin when we acknowledge it. We must admit that there was a problem and want a change. That is what true repentance is- turning away from sin.

James 4:8 says, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” So how do we live this Christian lie in the world but not of the world and focused on God alone?

This first tells exactly what we need to do. Draw near to God. He is always near. He can always be found. Jeremiah 29:13 says that if you search for Him with all your heart you will find Him. Spend some time in prayer and in the Word and you will find Him. You must do this daily so that you do not lose sight of who He is and what He has done. Next, understand who you are as a sinner and what His salvation means for you. When you accepted His gift of salvation, He immediately forgave you of your sins. He purified you. So now you do not have to go on living in your sin anymore. You have freedom in Him and can live in that freedom every single day. If you entertain thoughts of the world or try to live out your own desires, you will only find emptiness.

This verse says that you cannot be divided between God and the world. You must choose. When you are loyal to God, you will find the freedom you need to pursue Him every day. If you devote yourself instead to the world, you will find loneliness and emptiness. This is why we see so many celebrities commit suicide or turn to drugs and other addictions. They look for joy and happiness but cannot find it and are devastated. The only joy that can be found in this world is the joy of Jesus Christ. His joy will sustain us.

Pride is a dangerous thing. It can prevent someone from growing in their walk with the Lord. It can keep someone from repentance. And it can tear apart the body of Christ. This is why God says in James 4:5-6: “Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’.” He opposes the proud. Pride has no place in the kingdom of God because pride focuses on oneself instead of the will of the Lord. Pride focuses on oneself instead of others. Pride focuses on oneself instead of the lost and lowly.

Humility, however, does the opposite. Humility brings people together. Humility repents and seeks restoration. Humility gives to the poor and ministers to the lost before itself. Esther was humble when she sought out good for her people and put them above herself. She was humble when she went before the king (which could lead to death) and interceded for her people. She was humble when she asked him to save her people. She was not afraid of death. She said in Esther 4:16b, “And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” That is humility.

You must ask yourself which you want to govern your life: pride or humility. One leads to blessings and joy and the other leads to emptiness and loneliness.

James 4:1 says, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” This is not a surprise. Where there are people, there will be quarrels. Too many times we allow our human nature to come through and let our desires reign in our relationships. This can especially happen in churches if they do not protect against it. The devil wants nothing more than to destroy your congregation.

When you get too many people together who are governed by their own desires, you will see division begin to happen. That is why it is so important in churches to guard against anything that would lead to division. There have been churches who have split over little things such as music, The business of the church, and leadership. Sometimes, it is even as little as whether to have chairs or pews in the sanctuary. Seems silly, right? Well, this is what happens when people allow themselves to give into their own desires instead of the will of the Lord. Petty arguments can lead to dissension, which can lead to bitterness, and divide churches. It happens in families all the time. As a pastor, my husband sees this sometimes after a loved one has passed away. Their family members began to fight and argue about belongings and inheritance. Before you know it, another family is torn apart.

These things can happen because we are human. This is why we have to think with our spiritual nature instead. We must come together as a body of Christ and pray and ask God for his direction rather than leaning on our own.

What is religion and how does it affect the Christian? The world sees religion as a set of rules used to govern a body. Many times Christianity is seen as no different than other religions, at least in the eyes of society. Merriam-Webster says that religion is the service and worship of God or the supernatural and commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. James 1:27 says that this is what true religion is: “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

Religion is more than anything the world can understand for the Christian. It is a way of life. If you are caring for the lowly, those who are orphaned, and those who have lost their spouse, you are living out your religion. The word religion may seem like a rules based system to the world, but to the Christian it means a lifestyle. Religion is a life with God. Decisions based on who God is and how He loves. Words spoken because of the work God has done in the sinner’s life.

Religion becomes real for you when you are serving God in such a way that He is your life. Your words and actions are based on your love for Him.

Controlling the tongue is the most important way you can show your faith to the world. James 1:26 says, “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” The tongue can bring joy or condemnation.

James is notorious for speaking about the tongue and the consequences of using the tongue to tear others apart. He begins to talk about the tongue in this verse by exposing the hypocrisy of those who say they are religious but cannot control the tongue. I see this everywhere. I have been around many people who claim God and religion when it works for them, but then use their tongue to curse and tear others down. It seems that their tongue ruins any kind of witness they had. James talks more about this in 3:7-10: “People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.” With our mouths we can bless and curse. We have to be careful and make sure we are blessing and encouraging others.

I know I am not innocent from living this way from time to time. I think we are all guilty of this. However, we must be careful to make sure that we are always seeking to speak with grace and love rather than tearing others down.

James 1:25 says, “But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” Jesus Christ came, not to do away with the law, but to fulfill the law. The law was meant to bring about an understanding of sin. It exposes who we are as sinners. It shows us that we are in need of a Savior.

So how can we find freedom in the law as this verse says? When we see ourselves in light of the law, we see how desperate we are without Christ. In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was needed for each type of sin. The people had to keep the law and offer sacrifices to bring about restoration. This was a never ending task. When Christ came, He became the sacrifice that would clean man of His sins once for all. He freed man from the law. In that freedom, man could serve God without worrying about sin and the penalty of sin.

As a Christian, you need to understand the depths of your sin, so you understand your need for Jesus. Through that need, you can find freedom to serve God. He has set you free and there are no limits to the freedom God gives.

My husband is a pastor and every Sunday he preaches and feels the life drain out of Him. It is his honor and blessing to serve the Lord, but when he preaches he allows the Spirit to speak through him, and that can often feel weary. When he finishes preaching, he will usually hear, “Good job, Pastor,” or “I liked your sermon today,” or even, “You really stepped on my toes today.” There are even people who think he knew something about them when he preached (he doesn’t preach that way, but the Holy Spirit always knows the hearts of His people). What brings him the most joy is when he sees a life changed. They didn’t just hear the Word, but they put it in action as James 1:22-24 states: “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.”

As Christians, it is not enough to listen to the words the pastor preaches, or podcasts, or Bible teachers. We must put those words into actions. We must take the words of God to heart and hide them in our hearts as Mary did as she pondered everything about the miracles God had done. Then, we must allow those words to change our lives.

As the author of Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” When we hide his word in our hearts, it changes us from the inside out so that we no longer want to sin. May we let His word change us today and everyday.

When you were saved (if you have accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ), something beautiful happened at the moment of regeneration. God gave you the Holy Spirit and planted His Word deep in your heart. James 1:21 says, “So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” With that comes the promise of Heaven. That promise lives inside of you and will someday come to fruition. This Word is the Word that revives your soul when you become weary, continuously speaks truth into your heart, and guides you with the Holy Spirit.

You must do everything you can to protect your soul since it belongs to the Holy Spirit. You need to get rid of all filth and evil in your life as this verse says. Sin and holiness cannot exist together. If you are striving to live in God’s holiness, then you need to get rid of the sin in your life. God has already forgiven you for your past, present, and future sins, but that does not mean you go on sinning! It means that you strive to push forward and live a better, more holy life. You cannot do this on your own. You need to trust the Word that lives and grows inside of you.

God will continuously bless you and lead you when you give your heart to Him and allow His Word to flourish inside of you. Take some time today to thank Him for His salvation, and ask Him to protect your heart from the enemy.

In this world there are very few who are quick to listen. Instead, we interrupt with our own stories or thoughts, lose focus on what is being said, or are quick to become angry and say things we will regret. James 1:19-20 tells us, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” How can we be like Jesus and be better communicators?

Maybe someone you know comes to mind when you think of a person who exemplifies this verse. My father-in-law comes to mind when I hear this verse. He does not say much. In fact, I wasn’t sure that he talked at all, but the longer I have known him, the more I have seen this verse play out in his life. He is a man of few words who speaks when he has something to say, and when he does, it is graced with the wisdom from the Bible and years of experience. We should all strive to be like this. If we are quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry, imagine what our relationships will be like! Imagine what our families will be like!

We can be good examples for both the Christian community and the lost when we choose to live in this way. But it is a choice. We must choose the things we say and do very carefully so we can reflect God’s love.