A Daily Devotional – James, the epistle – Personal Meditation (1)

A Daily Devotional – James, the epistle – Personal Meditation (1)

Comment: Like Proverbs, the Epistle of James is a “go to book” for the skill to live in the Wisdom of God. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that (we, the mature in Christ) speak the wisdom to God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom of God ordained (predetermined) before the ages (before time, or creation) for our glory. This wisdom is for every child of God to know, to trust and to apply in our daily life as a child of God. That is our faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God – see 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. If we neglect to learn the Wisdom of God we will have no power to speak effectively the wisdom of God as it will remain a mystery to us, as it is to the world around us.

Devotional: The Epistle of James the servant of God and of the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the half-brother of Jesus/Messiah. Jesus had four half-brothers; ‘James, Joseph, Simon and Judas’; see Matthew 13:55. James and Jude are writers of epistles in the New Testament. James is the Greek word for Jacob, just as Judas is the Greek word for Judah. James was written as most believe around 60 A.D. to the Jewish communities that were scattered among the surrounding nations.

Background of the writers of all of the books of the Holy Bible are necessary for every child of God to know and understand. There is much more about James that we will not look at this morning, but if you have a good reference or study Bible I do encourage you to read the information provided in these bibles.

James wrote to the people of his nationality, but this does not mean that we as people of other nations (gentiles) should avoid it. The epistle is written to “Jewish believers in Christ who were dispersed after the death of Stephen”, see Acts 8:1. As Gentile believers in Christ there is much spiritual wisdom to gain from this epistle. It would be knowingly ignorant if we felt that the epistle was not for all believers as it would then be necessary to avoid Proverbs or all of the Old Testament as some people do!

Okay enough preliminary, let’s get started in the epistle! “Greetings Believers” with this opening James does not linger in his introduction but jumps right into the things that the Holy Spirit is directing his attention to. “Consider it” pure joy by brothers when you encounter various trials, “James likes a godly challenge in his faith”, he is saying to every believer that we ought also to consider that the various trials we face are challenges that prove our faith in God, resulting in “joy”. See Psalm 19:8 that reveals that the statutes or precepts of the LORD are designed by God to rejoice our soul.

This epistle will help all of us who struggle from time to time with walking by faith. I hope you will join us as we learn from James that his epistle is designed by God the Holy Spirit to bring us to maturity in Christ by perseverance through faith in God. He alone causes all things to work together for ‘good’ to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. That is good works expressed through faith in God and not works of the human nature that seek to prove to God that we are faithfully good!