Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

James 5:1-6 - Blessed to be a Blessing

Last night I played tennis for a few hours, and it was really apparent the longer matches went on, the less energy I had, and my game was slowing down. I started pretty strong, and by the end of the night, I was pretty sluggish. We are jumping into the final chapter of the Book of James, and James has come out of the gate hot and on fire, and here is what we have to look forward to, James has not lost a step, and he is not out of energy. It might be the fifth set or overtime, but James opens chapter five with some of the strongest, harshest language yet, and he is intense. So get ready for a fastball coming high and inside.

James 4:13-17 - Kill our Pride

James closes out chapter four with a warning about boasting. Reading this chapter headline, Boasting About Tomorrow, just drives home the reality that God despises pride. There are countless verse all through the Old and New Testament, and the Profit Isaiah said this;

“For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted.” - ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭2:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

James 4:1-12 - Posture not Position

Robin and I have been married for over twenty-two years. She is the joy of my life, and I can not imagine doing life without her. But along the way, our relationship has had many ups and many downs. We have grown a lot, and honestly, we have many battle scars to show for it. One thing we have learned in our marriage is posture is more important than position. Let me unpack that for you. Our marriage was not improved by position, or how close we were physically with each other. There were many times we were together a lot, but we acted more like roommates than husband and wife. Our proximity or our position was close, but the reality was we were miles apart from one another.

James 3:13-18 - Meekness

I have to say, meekness is not a word I use very often, if at all. I am not even sure that I like the word, it kind of rubs me the wrong way, and I transfer meekness into weakness. I think this very issue I struggle with, with the word meekness and the concept in general, is an issue in our culture and society today. We have seen the word used less and less in the English language, now hovering above what looks like a near-zero percentage. You know, I believe the problem here is we see meekness as weakness, and not truly what it is.

James 3:1-12 - Oil and Water

I eat a lot of salads. Typically this is my way of trying to stay healthy and keep my weight under control. So many lessons I could unpack with my journey with weight and eating, but that will take me down another rabbit trail. Today’s rabbit trail has more to do with the oil and water or the salad dressing of vinegar and oil. They do not mix! When those two ingredients are in a jar together, you can see how they separate an will not blend. You also see it on your salad if you add them individually, they come in contact with each other, and then separate. This is the visual I have while reading today's passage from James. Let me start at the end of today's reading and work my way backward.

James 2:14-26 - Empty Words

Words are powerful! Anyone who is married or in a relationship understands the power of words. Too many times, I have lost this understanding and not been careful enough with my words. This quote rings true and speaks volumes.

"Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten." -Unknown

James 2: 1-13 - Sin of Favoritism

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”—Malcolm S. Forbes.

Have you ever stopped to inspect how you treat different types of people? The extremes may not help this example, for most can overlook the examples like treating a celebrity vs. the homeless. Really inspect this concept and apply it to your workplace, your neighbors, the local market, your shop, or the service station you fill up your car. Think about how you treat someone…

James 1:19-27 - Stop Talking, Texting and Tweeting

We live in a day and age where everyone is a publisher and writer. Think about it for a moment, if you are my age or older you remember a day before the Internet and Social Media if you wanted to get your message out you had to write a book, or get your message in a newspaper or have something media worthy to get on TV. But today, everything is different; we are all able to publisher our thoughts, content and distribute our message to the world, instantly.

James - 1:12-18 35,000 Decisions 

When I was growing up, I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books. Apparently, during the 80’s and 90s, these books were one of the most popular children’s book series, selling more than 250 million copies. I would have been on the front side of that curve, devouring them in the early 80s. If you are not familiar with the books, they would suck you in, and you, as the reader, would take the role of the main character, a race car driver, spy, doctor, or mountain climber, etc. As the story progresses, you would be faced with two or three options, each leading to more choices that are then lead to one of many endings. You would choose your own adventure as you progressed in the story.

James - Rich or Poor

The next section and topic, James dives into, is worldly wealth. And in a very James fashion, he comes out of the gate with a bit of a mind-bender. You will also notice that James shifts the topic pretty radically here, arising out of trials, wisdom and Godly insight into riches, wealth, and earthly possessions. This is where it’s good to remember this is not really a letter like other books of the Bible, and this is more like Proverbs, where there will be some bouncing around from topic to topic.