Friday 1/2/13

James 5:1-6 ESV

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Above is a long and detailed warning to the rich after they have died. Once a rich man die, the earthly richest that he was so proud of and loved soon reduce to nothing, corroded, moth eaten, wasted away by foolish successors. Storing up treasure even unto our last day is meaningless, and evil. Richest gives us luxury and self-indulgence, none of which are necessary and good for our soul. However, they flattens our heart for the day of our death and judgement.

We all died naked and faced God's judgement naked.  Then all the evil things we did to get money, cheating our labourers, not paying our harvesters, condemn wrongly righteous people... God will count against us. All who are living must take this to heart and avoid those vanities and evils.

Thursday 31/1/13

James 4:17 ESV

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

As human, we usually think that sin is transgressing the human laws, to commit grossly and explicit evils such as murdering, stealing, destroying other people's properties. Indeed they are sin, but only the visible & explicit ones.

God requires us much more than that. In Matthew 5-7, to be angry with a brother is sin, and to say to him "you fool" is worthy of hell. Similarly, to lust after a girl in your heart is already adultery. These things cause strifes and fear in the community, breaking the fellowship & good will among people. Instead, we ought to love (care for) our neighbors as ourself, whatever we like others to do to us, do that to them first. Instead of worrying for our wellbeing (what to eat, drink or cloth), we must seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. They are the things God has created us to do, and He will reward us of all we need. These things bring forth the ideal society where all are brothers and sisters - His Kingdom. That's the basis of heaven.

In summary, sin in God's eyes is as the above verse says: whatever we find we should do, but not do it, is sin. They keep us away from heaven. We must actively do good and make our community a better place.

Wednesday 30/1/13

James 4:13-15 ESV

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

We all take for granted that tomorrow will come, and we will all live until old age. But how many of us will actually live to see our 60? And we all know some people who died suddenly, their tomorrow had never come. Our lives are like a mist that suddenly appears and then vanishes. Our lives are in God's hand. Therefore, boasting about our tomorrow or thinking about our old age without considering His will is vain and evil.

Instead, we ought to consider God in our plan for tomorrow and old age. Worry not, God promises ripe old age for those who love Him and obey His commandments. Indeed, in the Bible most people who love Him lived very long. They only died early if God wanted to take them away so they can rest and avoid the evil days to come. Therefore, we should acknowledge Him, seek His guidance and obey His commandments in all our doings and plannings. That helps us avoid vain thinking, shun evils and give us blessings. God promises to make straight our path.

Tuesday 29/1/13

James 4:11-12 ESV

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. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

God commanded us somewhere in the Bible that we ought to admonish each other in love and gentleness. We can only take disciplinary actions when that person continually reject admonitions, even in the presence of 2-3 witnesses and elders of the church. Therefore, we must not speak evil against each other, for that means we have judged them badly. In doing so, we have violated the above commandment and caused strifes and hostility in the church.

In general, judging other people is a serious action, potentially cause strifes, hostility and unfairness. Only the judges can judge others because they know the necessary procedure to pass correct judgement. They are trained and ordained to do so. They are thoughtful and serious in their job, we are not.

Beside, we are all sinners and we all fall short in many areas. If we judge others on their fault, they can also judge us in our short comings. That causes strifes and hostilities. Love is patient, kind and forgiving. It heals and cover our sins against others. We are called to love and admonish, to exalt others to do what is good, but not to judge.

Ultimately, God is the most high judge, and He judge each person for everything we did. He will judge rightly, we will judge wrongly. As He has forgiven us, we need to forgive others, and commit the judgement and our justification to God

Monday 28/1/13

James 4:9-10 ESV

Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

I don't think God wants us to be wretched, mourn, weep or gloom for no reason nor all the time. I believe these verses exalt us to humble ourselves before God. When we self examine our conducts against God's commandments (such as love God with all we have, love our neighbors as our selves, seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness), we easily find our short coming. When we evaluate how we are doing His commissions (such as fill the earth, harness it, and rule over all animals; or go to all the world, share, baptize and make disciple), we easily recognize that we neither do them well nor focus on doing, as individual or as a whole. These things should make us sober (or weeping and gloomy as above), and humble ourselves as we recognize our shortcomings.

The good thing is God understand our weaknesses, and He is merciful. As we humble ourselves, God will forgive us and help us overcome our shortcomings, one by one. In that way, He will exalt us and enable us to do better things in life.

Friday 25/1/13

James 4:7-8 ESV

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.

"Submit to God" means yielding our wishes and decisions to God, following His way, obeying His commandments instead of the desires of our flesh or the principles of the world. That means distant ourselves from the Devil and the worldly way, but draw near to God and the Godly way. If we resist the Devil's temptation, eventually it will subside and the Devil will flee from us. If we seek God, we will find His presence in our lives and experience His blessings. Eventually this will become our habit, the habit of living rightly and walking with God instead of staying bonded to the flesh and the Devil.

So where to start? The Bible gives us the practical advices: "Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." It means stop doing what is wrong, and stop thinking what is evil. Instead, we seek God and practice His righteousness. While it is difficult at first and we will stumble from time to time, eventually the bond of the flesh and the worldly principles will get weakened, while our new habits will become stronger as we pray and exercise Godly living. God will forgive us from our stumbling, give us strength and work in our heart as well as our life to liberate us.

Thursday 24/1/13

James 4:6 ESV

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God.

The proud thinks highly of himself and follows his way. As human nature is of the flesh and worldly, naturally the proud who follows his way will follow the flesh and the worldly way, and becomes an enemy of God. Therefore God opposes him.

On the other hand, the humble does not think highly of himself. As a result, he is more listening and considers carefully other's suggestions. Most importantly, he studies God's word and keeps to Godly way, as he knows God gives the wisest instructions and God's way is peace, enduring wealth and joy with no hidden cost.

So the humble submits himself to God and follows God's way. By this, he receives God's grace, His shepherding, guidance and blessing. As God is the all mighty and all knowing God, a simple and humble person who follows God eventually lives a better life than a smart yet proud person, who is opposed by God, and by other smarter men.

Wednesday 23/1/13

James 4:4-5 ESV

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. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"?

Being a friend of the world, following the worldliness way, will make us an enemy of God. The world here does not mean the people, but the power, the order, the principles, and the rules of this world. Take God's commandment - love your neighbor as yourself. Many people were persecuted, even killed, when they tried to shelter the Jews from Hitler's persecution. Or another - love your enemies and do good to those that hate you. Many were persecuted when they did not show the hatred to the other side (like the Jews and Samaritans). Obeying God sometime means disobeying the rules of the world, thus attracting its persecution.

Inversely, follow Godly way, although may make us an enemy of the world, makes us a friend of God. God is jealous for our soul and our affections. So our love gor Him and His way, despite the world's persecution, gives Him joy and draws us closer. And as the almighty God, our Lord and God, He can richly reward our affection, from our daily providence, to giving joy in our heart, the song in the night in the midst of difficulties, to eternal life.

Tuesday 22/1/12

James 4:1-3 ESV

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

In these verses, God warns us of our worldly desires and passions, which are at war within us. When we desire but cannot have, covet but cannot obtain, then we fight and quarrel, become angry and envious. That's a dangerous temptation that destroys peace and fellowship.

Our worldly desires and passions interfere with our relationship with God, too. We can ask of God anything in prayers, but if we ask only to satisfy our selfish desires, for things to spend on our passions, then God will not give, for they will ruin us in a long run. Therefore, we must be careful of what we are asking.

Instead, we better seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto us.  As we seek to do what is right and what is good to His kingdom, God will bless us richly with skills and resources, which also satisfy our needs abundantly.

Monday 21/1/13

James 3:16-18 ESV

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

In this passage, the Bible explains and contrasts wisdom from above and wisdom of this world. Wisdom of this world is full of envy, jealousy, and selfish ambitions. Thus it sows many disorders and vile practices, and reaps the same.

On the other hand,  the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. It sows righteousness, and reaps peace. Like a sheep, while it's not as competitive as the other, it's peaceful and likeable. And its Lord God will shepherd and ensure its providence and safety.

Friday 8/1/13

James 3:13-15 ESV

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

In this passage, the Bible contrasts Godly wisdom (the wisdom from above) and earthly, even demonic, wisdom. Godly wisdom is meek and humble, but is full of good conducts. Earthly wisdom is full of bitter jealousy and selfish ambitions, and boastful. Just a simple comparison, we can see what wisdom attracts more peace, joy, and love... and what wisdom attracts hostility, discontent, and hatred.

Monday 14/1/13

James 3:3-5 ESV

If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 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!

We must watch our tongue, supervise it closely as we supervise the horse's bit or the ship's rudder; otherwise, things can go very wrong. Paul also advised us to "quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger". It's wise to hear everything others have to say, think, acknowledge, then we can speak. Whatever we don't need to say, we better keep silent. And always be as gracious and humble as possible, for boasting can set a forest aflame.

Friday 11/1/13

James 3:1 ESV

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

The church and the society need good teachers, but only a few should become teachers. A teacher must be very careful of his teaching and conduct, otherwise he will lead many astray with his wrong teaching and bad sample. Therefore, be careful & responsible when you teach, for God will judge those who teach with greater strictness.

This advice also applies when we do informal teaching such as telling others what to do and what is right or wrong. We need to be responsible and careful with our tongue to avoid spreading falsehoods.

Thursday 10/1/13

James 2:24-26 ESV

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

If a person says believe in God, but do the things contradict to his/her belief, then either words are cheap, or that person believes in other things a lot more. Rahab believed in God enough to she took risk and acted, thus she saved her family. She feared God more than her countrymen, believed in God more than her country gods. Her action was the proof of her faith.

Faith to works is like the spirit to the body - the unseen animating force that direct and decide its actions. Faith aparts from work cannot be seen, thus cannot prove to be present. Works aparts from faith is just a show for people to see (and praise) and tend to be hypocrite. As the body aparts from the spirit is dead, so is faith aparts from works, or works apart from faith. They must go together.

Wednesday 9/1/13

James 2:19-20, 23 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"—and he was called a friend of God.

The demons believe in God, and they believe enough to shudder in fear. Abraham believed in God. He believed enough to go to the land God showed him, and lived there as a foreigner all his life, and even offered Isaac as God commanded, believing all will be well. For both Abraham and the devils, their belief produced some corresponding works.

The Bible praised Abraham not for his works, but for his faith. And God also  counted Abraham as righteous for his belief, not his works. So we are saved by faith, not by works. But we must act out our belief in our decisions and actions, and avoid doing the contradictions.

Tuesday 8/1/13

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Can we demonstrate our faith apart from our works? Can we believe in one thing but do things contradict to that belief? Something must be wrong with our belief. The Bible calls it dead faith.

Our works are expressions of our inner faith. Works without faith are just for showing and gaining approval of men, that is hypocrisy. But faith without works is dead faith. The correct direction is to have faith, and express it with corresponding works. Our works then confirm our faith, and the sweet fruit of our works will in turn strengthen our faith.

Monday 7/1/13

James 2:14-17 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Our faith in God must manifest in works and deeds that demonstrate the faith. If we say we believe in God, but do not do God's commandments, such as helping and supporting our brothers and sisters in Christ, or loving our neighbors, our faith is dead faith. Such faith cannot save us as we do not live by our faith.

A living faith will prove itself by its many works. That faith will save us.

Saturday 5/1/13

James 2:12-13 ESV

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

As Christians, we are to be judged under the law of liberty. Liberty means to be free, immune and exempted, probably from our sins and the consequences of not keeping the laws of Moses by our faith in the blood of Christ. Instead of showing us judgement, God has shown us mercy in Christ, giving us that liberty, freedom, immunity and exemption.

As God has shown us mercy instead of judgement, we are to show mercy instead of judgement also. If we show no mercy, God's judgement will also be without mercy. Our flesh and the worldly thinking cry in anger for judgement whenever we feel hurt, unfair, or angry without knowing we also hurt, be unfair and do many wrong things. In our limited wisdom and sinful nature, our judgement of each other cause further hurt, unfair, and angry. In the end, the hurt, unfair and anger will never be stopped by judgement.

In God, mercy is much more important and desirable than judgement. And mercy triumphs over judgement, because it can stop the hurt and anger.

Mercy can also help us to forgive unfairness, what is fair anyway? Are we envying others and desire what we don't have? Are all come from God, allocated by God according to His will and our ability? Are we all have the daily bread, water and clothing for our need? It's better to be contended with our lot and what we have. And we must not envy sinners for God will destroy them in His time.

But with mercy comes correction. While showing us mercy, God also wants us to acknowledge our sin, turn from our wrong way and learn to do what is right. He also won't leave us alone in our struggle. As we pray and seek His help, He will work in us and in our circumstances to give us the necessary strength, mentality and skills to do right. It takes time but God is patient.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

In the same way, we need to show mercy to each other, correct each other and help each other to do what is right. It takes time and we must all be patient, to each other.

Friday 4/1/13

James 2:10-11 ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

God is holy, so all those who want to stand before Him must be pure and blameless, never transgress any moral law of His. Just failing one point, we already become sinner who cannot live with Him forever in heaven. This includes the forbidding laws such as "do not lie", 'do not murder", "do not angry" to the requiring laws such as "love the Lord your God with all your hear, mind, and soul", to "love your neighbors as yourself". And none of us can keep consistently, i.e. live forever without sin from the heart. At best we can keep some grossly visible laws (like "do not murder"). More often, we tone down the requirement, mark some visible signs and keep them like the Pharisees kept their Sabbath, while living the meaty and spiritual part undone. Keeping the visible part makes us quite hypocrisy, do it not from the heart but mainly for show.

So by the laws no one can be justified before God. We just sin more or less, but the results are all the same: We cannot live forever with Him in heaven. Only seeking God's forgiveness in Christ that we are justified and can come to God and stay in His presence forever.

Thursday 3/1/13

James 2:8-9 ESV

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Here Paul gave another reason why we need to treat everyone as equal and be gracious to all. God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we have only oneself. If we show partiality, high regard to the rich & powerful while disregarding the poor, we have sinned and transgressed the royal law of God, one of the most important law. Therefore we must show the same respect and honor to everyone.

Wednesday 2/1/13

James 2:5-7 ESV

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

Here the Bible gives us a strong reason to honor the poor: they are rich in faith and are close to God. Meanwhile, some rich people (not all) are poor toward Him, some even persecute the church and blaspheme His name. When the spiritual and physical aspects are both taken, we ought to be gracious and show honor to all. Eventually, all are equal before God and all Christians are brothers and sisters. We are different parts of the body of Christ. We have different functions, different strengths and weaknesses, but all play an important role for the body.