Category: James

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A Good Coach is Essential

Dave is in the process of building a shop. He’s been building on it for the last several weeks. I am amazed by his ability to create the plan in his mind and transfer it to an actual building. He had a couple neighbors come help him set the walls after they were framed, Austin, our son-in-law, came and helped him with the rafters last weekend and Lonny came and helped him do the siding and the windows this weekend. He has been working diligently and it’s really taking shape. I’m so proud of him!

He did ask me to help him stain the wood at the foundation line and also the exposed wood at the roof line. Up and down the ladder I went. I could reach only so far and then would have to move the ladder a few feet, stain the boards, come down, move the ladder and go up again. Let me tell you that was a work out! Not nearly as strenuous as what he was doing each day but it let me know that I was out of shape and needed more exercise.

When you first realize that you “need” to exercise it’s never pleasant. Accepting that you are out of shape and not as healthy as you should be is the first step. So you decide to exercise.

The first few days you have a real commitment or at least that’s what you tell yourself. But then comes day 7 or 8 and it becomes harder to stay committed to the goal. Your muscles hurt, you’re not seeing any results yet, you start making excuses and when you do that you are on your way to failure. I know, I’ve failed many times.

Now think back to your childhood days – exercise wasn’t a bad word. In fact it was called fun. To be outside with your buddies playing ball, running through the yard playing tag or football. Going hiking to your favorite fishing spot or walking the mile to the swimming pool in the afternoon heat (my personal favorite). It was fun and we were in shape.

Now of course you know this is going to have a spiritual correlation.

When we face trials and temptations it is an opportunity to exercise our faith. James tells us to count it joy because we will be developed and end up lacking nothing.

“My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.” James 1:2-4 CEV

Facing trials is like building muscle. At first we see little victories but then to continue to develop a muscle we must increase the weigh, the repetition or both. In walking with the Lord, we’re never left to do this on our own.. We have a great coach who is with us every step. Under His direction and inspiration we come out the winner.

“13 You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations.” I Corinthians 10:13 CEV

Jesus knows what this is all about because He went through every temptation we experience while he was here on earth. Who better to coach us than someone whose been there, down that and emerged as the Champion of Champions!

“We have a great high priest who has gone to live with God in heaven. He is Jesus the Son of God. So let us continue to express our faith in him. 15 Jesus, our high priest, is able to understand our weaknesses. When Jesus lived on earth, he was tempted in every way. He was tempted in the same ways we are tempted, but he never sinned. 16 With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it.” Hebrews 4:14-16 ERV

Thank you Lord for coaching me through life and providing all the help I need to develop and finish a winner!

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Always the Same

I took Glory out this morning and there it was, that big full moon. Yesterday morning I saw it from Rio Rico, this morning I see it in Yuma. Wherever you are I’m know you are seeing it too unless there are too many clouds or your view is obstructed for some reason.

That full moon will rotate in cycle and although it will be gone for a few days, there is no worry but that it will be back again. Same with the sunrise, very shortly the sun will start to crest the horizon and the process of daylight will start again.

Astronomers count on things being the same. We have a calendar built on the sameness of the stars, planets, sun and moon.

Shouldn’t we trust the sameness of our God?

Life brings us changes. It may be leaving an old job and taking a new one; children becoming more independent; neighbors and friends moving on or maybe you are moving; school changes; weddings; funerals. So much can change and our lives always seem to be in a state of flux. However…

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8

Amen!! Have you seen what Jesus did when he walked the earth – He is the same now and He will be the same in our future. Our responsibility is to put our faith in His faithfulness.

The Lord tells us we can put our trust in Him. He is the one who brings good to our lives.

“Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.” James 1:17-18 ERV

Look at what Jesus said about His purpose on earth.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19

Let His faithfulness meet you where you are & make things right.

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Getting a Bumper Crop

Yesterday morning I told you about my garden from years ago. The hard ground and briny water made it difficult to produce a good crop. Any gardener knows that you have to prepare the soil if you want a good harvest. The rocks need to be removed and most of the time the soil needs to be fertilized to restore the nutrients.

Our hearts are the same.

“If you plant goodness, you will harvest faithful love. Plow your ground, and you will harvest with the Lord. He will come, and he will make goodness fall on you like rain.

13 But you planted evil, and you harvested trouble. You ate the fruit of your lies, because you had trusted in your power and your soldiers.” Hosea 10:12-13 ERV

The last few weeks I have been reading through the books of I & II Kings in the Old Testament. Some valuable lessons to be learned from those books…good rulers were replaced by selfish, power hungry, godless rulers who divided the nation and led the Israelites to their defeat and captivity. We can learn from their history.

They planted evil and harvested strife – it brought confusion, trouble and cruelty. Kings no longer sought God but did whatever seemed right at the time. One king even said he didn’t want to consult with the Lord’s prophet because he knew that the prophet would disagree with the king’s plan and tell him he was wrong.

We need to learn from their example and plant good seeds so that we have a harvest that honors the Lord.

“13 Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. 14 But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. 15 That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. 16 Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. 18 When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.” James 3:10-18 CEV

Take time today to evaluate what’s growing in your heart’s garden. If need be, plow it under and replant. There’s still plenty of time to bring in a good crop!

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A Gift Called Wisdom

We have a real need in our world today for wisdom – God inspired, God given wisdom! We don’t need intellect or education – that’s knowledge. Knowledge without wisdom is futile.

Good old common sense, isn’t so common anymore.

I was doing a search on wisdom and what I found was really cool. Really it was! Wisdom, the word, is first used in Exodus chapters 28 – 36 when the Lord showed Moses how to make the Tabernacle. It talks about all the workers who were assigned the tasks …of building. It says that they were all filled with a spirit of wisdom.

“I have chosen Bezalel from the Judah tribe to make the sacred tent and its furnishings. 3-5 Not only have I filled him with my Spirit, but I have given him wisdom and made him a skilled craftsman who can create objects of art with gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood.” Exodus 31:2-4

Then it goes on to show that Joshua was filled with wisdom and Solomon had wisdom. Solomon said wisdom was of more value than gold and we should “pursue” it!

Wisdom brings understanding; understanding of God’s ways and the blessings He has given to us as His own children.

“So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all of God’s people.” Ephesians 1:16-18

God has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks – so as you are looking at your day, your occupation, your marriage, your kids… Let God fill you with His wisdom and it will definitely make a much more favorable outcome.

“If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.” James 1:5-6

If you need wisdom today – ask and you will receive it.

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Impatience

Impatience is a destroyer of faith. When we become impatient we begin to try to work things out on our own – we wonder if God is ever going to come through – what’s taking sooooooooooo long? Those kind of thoughts come from doubt and bring fear – fear that it is never going to work out right. Doubt and fear will choke out the promises of God’s word – they can out weigh faith, if we let them. We must stand with confidence in God’s word if we expect to see God’s promised fulfilled.

” But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8

Abram followed God from his home out into the middle of nowhere because God made him a promise. A promise that he would possess great land and be the father of many nations. But Abraham never really took possession of the land he had been promised – he lived the life of a nomad – moving from place to place but all the time he held fast to God’s promise.

What is it that God has promised you? What have you left to follow God? No looking back – keep your eyes on the prize of the high calling of God. Don’t give up – don’t fall back. Move forward – continue to follow in obedience to what God has put in your heart.

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him…By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she[f] considered that the One who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.” Hebrews 11:6, 8-12

Keep going – A friend of ours told us once “If God says go north He will provide, if you go south you’ll think you died”. Follow God and He’ll lead you to your promised land.

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Forgiveness is Important

For over a week now the Lord has really been impressing me with how important forgiveness is. This truth brings me to focus on how much I have been forgiven.

To the Lord, sin is sin. We sometimes refer to the “little white lie” or “one of the big sins” but that’s not how God sees is at all. In fact in James we’re told if we break one we are guilty of all.

“But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.

10 If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all.” James 2:9-10 CEV

This isn’t an indictment to show us how bad we are but it is a revelation that not one of us can earn our own salvation, we all need Jesus!

Bringing us back to forgiveness we must understand that as the Lord forgives everyone of our sins and shortcomings we must also forgive.

This morning I was reading a devotional by Max Lucado and it hit home. I’d like to share it with you.

“A Grace Giver

Forgiveness is not foolishness. Forgiveness, at its core, is choosing to see your offender with different eyes. By the way, how can we grace-recipients do anything less? Dare we ask God for grace when we refuse to give it? This is a huge issue in Scripture! Jesus was tough on sinners who refused to forgive other sinners.
Remember his story in Matthew 18, about the servant freshly forgiven a debt of millions who refused to forgive a debt equal to a few dollars? He stirred the wrath of God. “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt. Shouldn’t you have mercy just as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:32). In the final sum, we give grace because we’ve been given grace. And we’ve been given grace so we can freely give it. See your enemies as God’s child and revenge as God’s job.
From Facing Your Giants”

Each of us will have opportunities today to forgive, I pray we are grace-filled in each situation.

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