The Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise
(ESV) James 4:13 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”— 14 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. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
I am a planner. As a preacher, I planned each service carefully. During both the Lenten and Advent seasons, I followed the Revised Common Lectionary to choose the Scripture and I selected songs that would enhance the service from the UMC Hymnal. The rest of the year I often planned series such as “The Lesser Heroes of the Bible,” and “Living the Beatitudes.” It often seemed my sermons almost wrote themselves and I truly enjoyed this aspect of my ministry.
As much as I like to plan, I fully understand James’ words of caution warning us that such planning can be considered arrogant. Growing up in the South and in church I was aware that many people understood that there were things beyond their control. Whether they were aware of this scripture I do not know, but it was not uncommon to hear the phrase, “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise,” when making plans. I have used this idiom more than once myself, being keenly aware of both its origin and of the cautionary words from James.
James goes on to say it is sin when we know the right thing to do, yet fail to do it. That is a simple enough explanation of sin. Another brief explanation is missing the mark. But I think of sin as, very simply, anything that separates me from God.
We are assured in Romans 8:35 that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Yet we must know instinctively that when we live in sin, our relationship with the One, True and Living God is severed.
May we be so attuned to Jesus, that we recognize if our plans do not align with His, then all we do is in vain. And as I reminded my congregations at the end of each service, “Take the name of Jesus with you, and share Him with all you meet.”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Submit, Resist, and Draw Near
(ESV) James 4:6 Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
Throughout the years, I have heard people quote James 2:7 as a magic formula for avoiding temptation. But if we are relying on this single verse to protect us from the storms of life, then our umbrella has holes in it.
The first step in resisting the devil is to confess our pride, repent, and then God, who is so faithful to forgive, will bestow His grace upon us. It is then and only then, that we can resist, or stand against, the devil.
You see, whatever we do in our strength will never be enough. We have to call on the name of Jesus, taking on His righteousness and putting on the whole armor of God, to stand against the enemy.
Then, and only then, are we ready to resist the devil.
May we determine today and every day to draw near to God, being confident that He will draw near to us. We’re not talking about meeting God in the middle. Scripture shows us that as soon as we begin to move toward God, He is already moving toward us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Putting our Faith to Work.
(ESV) James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 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? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 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.
I am a woman of faith, but I recognized the truth of this scripture before I was even aware of the scripture itself. As Christ followers, we are called to be not just the face of Jesus, but to allow our hands to do the work of Jesus. The spirit most certainly needs the bread of life, but when the body is hungry or cold, should we not take care of the physical needs first?
Faith and works must go hand in hand to accomplish all that we have been given to do. Paul says in Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
James was not trying to replace faith with works, but instead was showing that works were the result of our salvation. If I am asked upon entering heaven why I should be allowed entrance, God forbid that I say anything other than “Jesus.”
It is Christ who came for us, Christ who showed us how to live, Christ who died for us, and Christ who obliges us to live a holy life. In 2 Corinthians 5 we are told to be ambassadors for Christ. Why? Because Christ’s love compels us.
May we live today in the light, or knowledge, we have been given—that a life transformed by salvation will result in putting our faith to work.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Quick to Listen, Slow to Anger
(NIV) James 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
As a child, many of us were told we were given two ears to listen, and one mouth to speak. The wisdom of Proverbs tells us (NIV) 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harshk word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,but their mouth of the fool gushes folly. 3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. 4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
How descriptive are these verses? A wise tongue dispenses knowledge, but a foolish tongue pours out foolishness. I recently had surgery, and while I was being prepped, the nurse asked if there was a responsible party with me to drive me home. I replied, “my husband is with me—does that count?” Dead silence. I could not see her face, but she paused at least 30 seconds and then very curtly replied, “Well, I would hope so.” Thinking to myself, I realized this is not a woman who understands the value of using humor to defuse a tense situation. But then I also thought, a foolish tongue pours out foolishness.
But even worse than a foolish tongue is an angry tongue. I always am reminded of Luke 6:45, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” A person who continually speaks anger is literally drawing from the well of his or her heart. Bitter waters produce bitter words.
It matters little whether such a person is right or wrong. James says human anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Just like one cannot plant apple seeds and reap watermelons, we cannot have a constant stream of negativity and anger proceeding from our mouths and expect the righteousness of God to be the result. Likewise, if our hearts are full of anger, it will be difficult to produce anything other than anger.
May we, regardless of our circumstance, speak joy, speak love, and speak encouragement. May we ask our Father to flood our hearts with His supernatural peace and heal us of the need to respond in anger, giving us instead our Father’s heart.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Stand
(NIV) James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. (NIV) sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
Perseverance: persisting even in the face of conflict. During my life I have heard more than once a person ascribe tragedy as being caused by or brought about by God. In insurance, such an event is often termed an “act of God,” and while some events are covered, others, such as flooding, require a special rider with additional premiums.
The only premium we can pay to successfully traverse the trials of this life is found in a sustaining relationship with Jesus Christ. James clearly lines out in today’s scripture that temptations are not rooted in God, but begin with our own desires.
I often use the example of Eve, who, although she was aware of God’s restrictions upon eating of the fruit from the tree of good and evil, lingered in its vicinity. The more she looked upon the tree, the more she desired it, and when Satan twisted God’s words the hook was set. But James says blessed is the one who perseveres—not the one who wavers, or the one who makes excuses, but the one who holds fast, even in the face of trials.
May we begin each day with the knowledge that we have all we need to be world overcomers.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 