Read James 4:14. What crucial point is being made here? Life is uncertain. Every breath is a gift. James 4:14 uses a very rare Greek word (atmis), which is translated as vapor or mist. Like the Hebrew word hebel (breath, vapor), which occurs 38 times in Ecclesiastes and is often translated as vanity, it emphasizes … Continue reading –>
Read James 4:13. (Compare Luke 12:13-21.) How do we balance prudent planning for the future with our need to live each day in expectation of Christ’s imminent coming? How can we avoid the trap of merely building bigger barns? It may seem very reasonable to plan a year in advance or even more. Businesses commonly … Continue reading –>
All the laws of the Old Testament are from Jesus. They are sometimes called the laws of Moses because they were given through him (2 Chron. 33:8, Neh. 10:29), but it was Jesus who led the Israelites through the wilderness and spoke the Ten Commandments to them at Mount Sinai (see 1 Cor. 10:1-4). In … Continue reading –>
“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it” (James 4:11, NIV). How does judging others amount to sitting in judgment of the law? The initial … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: James 4:11-17; Acts 17:11; Heb. 4:15-16; Luke 12:13-21; Eccl. 2:15-19; Titus 2:14. Memory Text: There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? (James 4:12). Our attitude toward law, whether God’s law or human’s, affects how we relate to others and even … Continue reading –>
Vitaliano Marrero Vitaliano hated having a house church next door. He decided that when the songs of the saints floated up to his window, he would turn his radio full volume to rock music. That will teach them, he thought. If I disturb their meetings, they’ll find another place to meet, and I won’t have … Continue reading –>
Further Study: There are many whose hearts are aching under a load of care because they seek to reach the world’s standard. They have chosen its service, accepted its perplexities, adopted its customs. Thus their character is marred, and their life made a weariness. In order to gratify ambition and worldly desires, they wound the … Continue reading –>
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7, NRSV). Notice the order of the commands here. If we try to resist the devil in our own strength, what chance of success do we have? When seven Jewish exorcists tried to get a demon out of a possessed … Continue reading –>
Read James 4:2-4. Why does James call his readers adulterers and adulteresses? See Jer. 3:6-10, Jer. 3:20; Isa. 54:5; Jer. 2:2; Luke 16:13. Alluding to the biblical concept of Israel as God’s bride, James likens believers’ going along with worldly customs and being influenced by worldly attitudes as spiritual adultery. In reality, they are choosing a … Continue reading –>
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? (James 4:1, NKJV; compare Gal. 5:17.) What basic conflict do both of these passages describe? The opening verses of James 4 describe believers torn asunder by internal, bitter strife. There is an … Continue reading –>
