The LORD Will Provide
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james has done...
Abraham/Isaac
breathing in our Faith; breathing out our faith:
“light the fire!” breathe new life right through me
For James: The spark should be trials of life and recognizing the breath of life that sustains you and makes you whole.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matt 16:24-
Living in God’s Kingdom means turning away the common desires of the world; it means being weird in the world. If we think of the wide gate and the narrow gate, It means fighting against the current of all (culture/society) that is pushing and shoving into the wide gate.
At face value It seems like that’s a really difficult thing for Jesus to ask of us.
But… Depends on your definition of life. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus offers a different life. Red pill; Blue Pill moment. (Matrix)
Bible Camp: What is your definition of the good life?
buying a coke-a-cola.
finding and buying the perfect house using zillow.
driving an audi.
(whatever is newer, whatever is flashier or sexier or faster)
But Jesus speaks of and offers a very different life, right? He talks of an easy yoke and and a light burden. He tells us that in His Life we shouldn’t worry abut what we’ll eat any more than birds do, or what we’ll wear any more than flowers in the fields do.
Why? Because we are images of God and if he feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, how much more so will he take care of us.
But we do have a cross to bear. We have dark valleys to walk.
David writes that we’ll have green pastures and still waters even though we walk through dark valleys.
Paul says that even in prison he found joy and contentment with Christ.
THE LORD WILL PROVIDE
Here is where I’d like t step back in to James at drone level to view this letter as a reinforcement of this core gospel message and a practical application of it as well.
breathing in our Faith; breathing out our faith:
“light the fire!” breathe new life right through me
For James: The spark should be trials of life and recognizing the breath of life that sustains you and makes you whole.
breathing in (strength and encouragement)
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
James 1:2
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
breathe out (love for God; love your neighbor)
count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you kn
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
James 3
Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
(what is the source of our breath used above? Our own trials.)
breathe in
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
James 3:17
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
in
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
breathe out
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
James 4:11
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
James 5:12
oaths…
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
in context here and also in Jesus’ SOMount likely are about Church community relationships. Not legal context.
sense of “do not swear” is manipulation.
as a way to get what you want
In Jesus gives his Kingdom view of serious relational issues among those who would call themselves his disciples:
You have heard it said...
anger
lust
divorce
oaths
retaliation
love for your enemies
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Matt 5:34-37
in context here (James) and also in Jesus’ SOMount, prohibition of oaths are concerning relationships among disciples, the community of believers. Not legal context.
2nd context: putting God “on the spot” (so to speak) to make your will be done. And yet we know that God will not be mocked or made a fool. Swearing by his name is not a valid plan for us to usurp his lordship.
in context here (James) and also in Jesus’ SOMount, prohibition of oaths are concerning relationships among disciples, the community of believers. Not legal context.
sense of “do not swear” command is about manipulation; and specifically using them as a way to get what you want out of your relationship.
as a way to get what you want
For the most innocent version of this verbal manipulation, Consider this scenario: It is dinnertime and your young son or daughter had no intention of eating the lima beans on his/her plate. You say: eat the lima beans or no dessert.
The child then says, if you let me have dessert without eating the lima beans, I’ll eat two helpings vegetables… I PROMISE.
if I don’t you can ground me for a week; you can take away dessert for a month...
Adult versions of these include “as God is my witness… may he strike me dead...”
James is concerned here about relationships in the community of Christ and he sees what Jesus first pointed out - we use oaths evasively and in order to manipulate others, and in the process we also make God look bad.
That’s the opposite of being the salt and light Jesus calls us to earlier in his Mountain sermon...
Violates the kingdom law of loving one another; doing unto them as you would want to be done unto you.
Violates the kingdom law of loving one another; doing unto them as you would want to be done unto you.
Only the oath which contained God’s name was absolutely binding. If one swore by Jerusalem, heaven, or himself, he was not obligated to keep the oath. Thus, evasion became a technicality employed by those who desired to escape the responsibility which had been produced by their oaths. To use God’s name was to support man’s word by the divine, a means of engaging God’s partnership.
But Jesus teaches that one cannot swear by heaven because heaven is God’s throne. The earth cannot become a part of an oath because the earth is God’s footstool. Jerusalem is the city of the King. Man cannot rightly swear by his own head inasmuch as his limitation prohibits his making a hair white or black. In a few sweeping statements Jesus precludes man’s swearing through leaving him nothing by which to swear!