“The mark of a true believer is they are speechless & God speaks through them” -John Wesley. Our words have the power to bring life or death. When your words bear the fruit of the Spirit they breathe life…when we speak anything other than you share death. James mentions our words are like a fire…that can used for good or evil.
GODLYWISDOM(v.14-18)
James sets this up to show us the importance of Godly Wisdom vs. worldly wisdom.
World = it’s all about me & my happiness
God = it’s all about peace
Take Away: Are your words bringing life and edification to your own and other’s lives?
How Can You Live Out Godly Wisdom over worldly wisdom?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
Can you imagine what life would be like if the Jesus wasn’t the sacrifice for our sins? The Bible says ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins’. Before Jesus’ death on the cross, they had to kill specific animals to atone for their sin…constantly! Imagine if we had to do that now? How does James talk about that Grace and what are we to do with it?
Remember James audience is the Church scattered by Saul through the Roman world outside of Israel. The Romans were used to “looking the part” so much so that some even rented gold rings to look like a higher status than they were (sound familiar social media?). At this time the assembly would have been divided from Jew and Gentile because Christian converts, who were once Jewish, were used to the separation in the Synagogue. The Roman world is soon amazed at the Church and this is what actually grows the Church through tribulation. James is appealing to our sense of judging outward appearance vs. the heart (remember Samuel anointing David?). We are under the law of liberty (Peter alludes to this by not using our freedom for fleshly desires)…which means we have free will but still sit under the authority of the Jesus—who is the fulfillment of the Law. So the law is not useless…in fact it is necessary for us to see the irresistible grace of God. We can’t be so caught up in the Law we are Judges…that’s God’s job! We are not called to convict others…that’s the Holy Spirit’s job! Our job is to LOVE!
FAITHACTUALLYWORKS(v.14-26)
This is HEAVY HITTING! We are saved by faith in receiving Jesus as our Savior and though that faith our works are affirmation of our faith (our works are not the reason of our faith). Many in the religious word have misconstrued this by saying we have to work our way to Jesus…NO! We show Jesus to the world in our actions by how we Love God Love Others (see above Mercy Triumphs). James lived in a time that the Jewish converts felt once they were saved by faith in Christ that they didn’t need to bear fruit but stay comfortable…not so in following Jesus step by step! He reminds them that prayer is not a substitute for action…we are compelled to action through faith & prayer! Many times we have the greatest Scripture quotes but even satan can quote scripture…it’s what you do with the knowledge that matters (remember the Rich Young Ruler). Spurgeon says it best…”the grace that does not change my life will not save my soul”. Our works show our faith!
James 2 reminds me that the only 2 places still segregated in the US is the Church and the Barbershop…we must show unity to the world by not dividing ourselves from the .05% genetic difference we have but instead in the 100% fact we are all sinners in need of a Savior. When we rally around that it’s amazing the work we are committed to do in bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth in we Love God Love Others.
Take Away: Why do we naturally tend to show partiality towards certain people?
What current actions show your faith is alive? Which actions show it is not?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
Of all of the people we get to study in the Bible James would be one of the most unique ones. He is the half brother of Jesus and writing the first book of the New Testament as a letter to the Church who is scattered all over about how to live out faith & facing various trials and persecution throughout all of Rome! James writes a blueprint for living out our faith as Christians! What can we learn from James 1 about living out our faith?
James writes first as a servant of Christ (not His half brother) which shows his humility from the beginning! He speaks of the maturity of the faith in a Christ follower shows in how they respond to adversity…not that we have to fake like everything is okay during the trial but instead that we have faith that God is working this to our good because we know that the Victory is already won in Christ Jesus! Our trials are not to be compared with others but instead to we are to look to God Who does not allow us to go through anything that He can’t redeem, heal and bring to fullness in Him beyond what we could ever ask for imagine. James is showing us that we grow through what we go through!
CONVICTIONONANOTHERLEVEL (v.19-27)
This almost seems like a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). James is showing us that our words have the power to build up or destroy. In our social media world it is easy to make statements without thinking about the impact it has on others…yet that seems to be the first place we go with our words. And just like our words have impact on others, the Word of God has an impact on us when we hear it. In our world we think that Christianity is about saying a prayer, attending Church, and reading the Word…but we are compelled to act when we hear Truth! We are compelled to act as God calls (even if that acting is Him telling us to stay still we in obedience act by staying still)…being a light a dark world!
Take Away: What is your default response to trials and trying times? How can you change your perspective and respond with joy?
In which area(s) of your life do you need to embrace the Word and align yourself with it?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
If you’ve ever played a team sport or been in competition you know the importance of a water bottle. Man to have that during completely changes how you perform…it’s perfectly there when you need it. Amirite? Yet, so many times we treat our walk with Jesus the same way instead of trusting that in the midst of battle He has already dug an everlasting well in us that won’t run dry! Yet, we still try to fill it with the stuff of this world don’t we?
The Samaritan woman is in the place called Sychar (the place of the liar and the drunkard). Jesus came to rest there waiting on her to come the to well…just like He does with each of us. She probably thought if she could just fill her jar up one more day to get through she would be okay (sound like what the bar down the street promises us?). Yet…right where she was located was the Valley of Beersheba (more on that later).
This is where we get stuck! We all carry our jar hoping to fill it ourselves to just get through the day…but we have to go to the source. Many of us say “if my jar was just bigger, I would carry more”, “if I get the most pure water it will last longer”, “if I run out I at least know the well is down the road from me”…but we miss the point that it really isn’t about the jar but is about the well we are standing at. Some of us stand at the well of: relationships, physical appearances, careers, or homes…and pursue changes only in those areas as if our joy is contingent on that instead of the finished work of Jesus on the Cross!
THERIGHTWELL
Last week we got to talk about the Valley of Beersheba (or the Valley of the Well)…this is where Jacob’s well is located. The Samaritan woman knew of the Messiah and knew that He was to come but didn’t realize she had stepped into the Valley of Oath (the Valley God made His promise to Abraham and Jacob dug his well) to see the Promise of God fulfilled right in front of her. The woman believed in Jesus, left her bucket, and ran to tell everyone she could about Jesus! When we come to the well of Jesus, God digs a well in us that flows to others.
This is where we can get pulled away…there were 7 wells to chose from and I wonder is some of us keep going to the wrong well instead of seeking the one True Well! Jesus never asked the woman to change meet Him at the well (just like He doesn’t ask us to)…and yet we try! What if instead of worrying about carrying our jar we stood at the right well to be filled! I wonder how much different our hope would look?
Take Away: What is the difference between a jar and a well? How do you move from trying to fill a jar from an external source to tapping into the well of Jesus that flows internally?
How does Christ in you create a well in your heart? How will this well produce your hope?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
Have you ever been so stressed out and fearful that you are just through? Even when you are doing what God calls you too it’s like you are from the Mountaintop to the Valley in an instant. In the midst of that have you ever just stopped and listened to God? Little did Elijah know that God was leading him straight through the Valley of the Oath (Beersheba) where Abraham and Isaac both dug wells to have covenant of peace…and the place of Jacob’s well where Jesus met the Samaritan woman. What if God is leading through the valley to the place of the oath…will you stop and listen to hear Him or instead stay in your self alone? If you look for God in the big places you will miss where meets you in the still, small place! Elijah finally hears God’s voice when he gets past himself.
EXPECTATION (v.13-18)
When Elijah hears God’s voice he obediently follows the Lord with expectation. Often in the Valley we can get stuck that we are in the valley…but would we trust God that He is leading us to something greater? When Elijah had expectation that God would do what only He could do & he, Elijah, would be obedient as only he could then something GREATER was on the other side of that! Would we believe that on the other side of our obedience is something GREATER than the valley we may currently find ourselves in?
Take Away: How has the faithfulness of God in your past strengthened your faith today?
How are you embracing God in the middle of a difficult situation? Or, how would you like to embrace Him?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
There are a few words in our life that we never want to hear…WAIT is one of them. None of us like waiting. All of us realize that we have only been given a certain amount of time on this earth and having to wait is something that doesn’t fit into that picture…but what about when God calls us to something! How do we trust God in the wait?
Instead of focusing on his circumstance David makes God the center of his focus…even while he waits for God to do what only He can do!
This can be the hardest part of our walk with Jesus! When we feel like we are in the waiting room of life waiting on God to do what only He can. And while we wait on God we listen for what He has for us! What if the main reason we are in the waiting room is so that we can hear God more clearly! If you have ever been in a hospital waiting room it’s funny how you don’t care if you the refrigerator is open, the power bill is paid or what that person at work thinks about you…the wait has a way to eliminate the unimportant in life & get us in the right place to focus on Christ Alone!
EXPECTATION (v.5b-12)
David’s expectation is on Christ alone!
During our wait our expectation has to be that God is working all things for His glory and our good! We can pour out ourselves to Christ in expectation that He will fill the space left behind from our circumstance & where the world has left us!
Take Away: What’s it like for you to wait and listen for God to respond to you?
What are waiting on God to do?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
“36 Year Old Father of 3 children, Husband and Church Leader killed by drunk driver less than one mile from his home! Drunk Driver survives with minor injuries” If you saw that headline on the morning news, what emotions invade you? What Questions about God would you have? The year was 1986, and that was my Father who was killed and I was the youngest of those 3 children at 2 years old! Have You Been there…times when you question God? His Goodness? Where Are You God?
No doubt this man has tried just about everything for his son to be healed…without success. He hears of a new remedy that just might be the trick…He just has to get his son to Jesus! On the way there the Father is wondering if this is actually going to work…will His son actually get healed? Is God’s goodness finally going to be revealed?
Some of us are in this season or coming out of it. We’ve been left wondering if God is still good and still a healer! We’ve seen Him heal others in our life but we are still in what seems like this valley with little to no resolution! We are left wondering if God is still who He says he is!
EMBRACE (v.23-24)
Here the man has heard all of the stories of Jesus and the miracles! And yet here he is in the presence of Jesus and asks “If you can”…Jesus responds that anyone with faith can see the healing happen. The Father is honest with Jesus by embracing his unbelief and asks Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief so that his son would be healed!
I wonder how many of us here would have an honest conversation with Jesus like this Father did…would we hype ourselves up with positive affirmations and unrealistic expectations? Or would we just get real with Jesus and say “help me in my unbelief”? How many people can we have a real conversation like this with? That’s why Christian community is so important in our lives because when we get real we get to experience real!
PRAYER (v. 25-29)
I wonder how many of us would have stopped at verse 26 and been upset with God that He “killed” the blessing He gave us? And yet verse 27 shows the miracle happening. More than ever the Father’s unbelief is tested and Jesus does what He said He would do! The boy may have been brought to Jesus but once He experienced Him he walked away with new life!
Many times like the Disciples we wonder why we can’t do miracles like Jesus did, but we miss the point! It wasn’t the Miracle that we should be seeking but the relationship with the Father (prayer)! If we can’t be real with Jesus, how can we grow at all? That’s the house built on sand…but we through faith are built on the rock! And when the winds grow, the waves crash and the storm comes we won’t be defeated because we are in Christ! And to go to Him in prayer is to experience Him in a new way to do a new thing!
We often wrestle with the idea that if we aren’t expectant for God to He won’t…but to get there we have to walk through the Wonder of who He is, Embrace with honesty where we are in our faith and go to Him in Prayer for us to really see where He is…He’s right beside step by step!
Take Away: Describe a time when you found yourself wrestling with God.
During a time that was (or is) difficult, how did you (or do you) continue to embrace God in the middle of the trial?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
When we talk about provision we usually go to our finances right? Where we get to be in America cash is what it’s all about…everything cost something & here we believe that if we pull up our bootstraps & put our head to the grindstone we can accumulate enough cash to get whatever we desire. But what if that’s not enough? What if having everything materially still leaves you empty? That’s where the Miracle of Provision takes shape!
You can’t make this stuff up…Israel started in the Desert of Sin between Elim (which means the place of palms) and Sinai (where the Law (Ten Commandments) were given). This is how God worked Egypt (sin) out of the Israelites! They thought they knew what they needed in wanting to go back to Egypt but God provided for their needs not their wants
All of us start here where Israel is! We have departed the Law and are in search of God’s Promise! The difference is whether or not we believe in God’s provision of His only Son as the way to life! Yet somewhere along the way we get angry with God if we don’t get what we want when we want. Easy to point out folly but all of us are human & have been here or are currently here in at least one area of our life.
God Provides ABUNDANTLYFOR ALLOURNEEDS (v.13-21)
God provides for Israel here bread in the AM and quail in the PM! Yet, some do not heed the words of the Lord that they should only gather enough to last for a day because what they have today will be gone tomorrow and tomorrow will provide for itself as God intends! And yet the Lord provided enough for them all that they were filled daily!
This is where we can get stuck! We see the blessings God has given us—and yet we want more! God is teaching us all that what we have today can/will be gone tomorrow and all we have to do is trust Him for provision and it will come! This doesn’t mean we don’t work hard…it means our hard work is byproduct of our complete dependence that God will provide for all of our needs (not our wants)
God Provides through HISGRACE not OURMERIT (v. 27-30,35)
Israel has some that listen to God’s instruction and some that don’t…but does it stop God from providing? NO! God still provided as He promised so that His plan would be fulfilled!
This is where it’s hard for us as followers of Christ to sit at times! We see others blessed while it seems that they are disobedient and we are still waiting…that’s where we have to remember God’s grace saved us not our works! And if God in is mercy & grace gave us eternal life through the provision of His Son…will he not provide what we need?
Take Away: List some of your needs and some of your wants. What is the main difference between the two?
How have you seen God guide you to a place where He also provided for you?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
Ever just have one of those weeks…I mean like one of those weeks where the only words of comfort you have is “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be”. Many of us have had a week like that, some may say…
“Miracle of Protection”
Ever just have one of those weeks…I mean like one of those weeks where the only words of comfort you have is “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be”. Many of us have had a week like that, some may say “that’s been my year” and other’s say “that’s been my season”, but all of us know what that feels like! So what do we do in those times? How can we find security and confidence in times like this?
Many of us have read this story before time and time again…as a matter of fact it if you have been with me any more than 5 minutes you know I love this story! I love the book of Joshua because this is God telling us “I Keep My Promises” from Genesis to Revelation!
Verses 1-5 reminds us that we can be confident in the Lord to take us into to places we’ve never gone before. Which should tell us that He’s been there before…but we’ll get to that a little later 😉! God has not stopped doing the Amazing among us…the question is if we are looking.
Verses 6-13 remind us that we can be steady in the Lord alone. The flood stage Jordan was no match for what God was going to do for His people to keep His Promise. In the midst of the overwhelming circumstance this world throws at us it is no match for Jesus.
Verses 14-17 reminds us that God is our security. The entire nation crossed on dry land…not mushy muddy land but dry land! God was doing a new thing
Israel is 2.5 million strong and this happens about 500 years (some argue 600 years) after God’s Promise to Abraham that many will come from him…when Abraham is childless! Here we are Moses is dead and Joshua first act as leader is to not drown the whole nation of Israel crossing over the flooded Jordan! Here is where it all comes together…
The ark of the covenant represents Christ Jesus (the wood is man made and the gold is God)…Jesus is fully God fully man! The ark goes first into the Jordan….Colossians 1:18 reminds us that Jesus is the firstborn among the dead. He’s already gone before us to shows us a place we’ve never been before (v. 4). Jesus guarantees He’s already gone before us. John 1:1 reminds us that He was in the beginning and will be to the end! Jesus is with us (v.10)! He is among us wherever we go…not only has He gone before us He is with us step by step through the flood! The ark sets up in the middle of the flooded Jordan (v17)…where Jesus is with us right in the middle! Yet, look at the names of the city the flood is cut off from…the city of Adam (v.16) and it cuts of from the “Dead Sea” (v.16). Jesus has cut off the penalty, shame and guilt of our sin when we receive Him by faith as our Savior. Nothing can overtake us. And the people walked on dry land (v.17)…Jesus reminds us that He called us out of the wandering wilderness just like Israel. The things that overtake us alone are nothing compared to Him! He never made us to cross back over the Jordan to wandering wilderness but to walk deeper into God’s Promise! He is our Protector and in Him alone we can have confidence, steadiness and security!
Take Away: Why do you think it’s sometimes hard to accept that God miraculously intervenes with protection?
What problems and pain are you currently experiencing? What are some ways God could be working them together for your good?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
***PS Sorry for the Sticker over the video…rookie Facebook Live Move***
How many of us have prayed for healing from God? How many of us have experienced that healing? How many have had those prayers not be answered? This can be one of the hardest struggles to walk through as a Christian! When Jesus doesn’t answer our prayer we can be confused, disappointed and have doubts! So how do we manage that tension? How did Jesus handle it?
Jesus didn’t walk around pridefully saying He was the one to heal the woman who was bleeding or the little girl who was dead. Instead He just moved with compassion to do it. There is nothing wrong with God revealing Himself to be who He says He is and yet Jesus in both instances was made fun of (with the Little Girl) & even mocked by the Disciples (when the woman is healed). This is a foreshadowing of what is to come for Jesus as He is mocked and beaten as the Son of God on the Cross and laughed at when He says He will rise again on the 3rd day (when everyone is wailing for His death He is alive).
We can get stuck here right? We often pray “God if You Are Who You Say You Are Move”! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck in my unbelief here asking God to move on my behalf instead of His Will be done!
Jesus DOESN’T Heal Where There ISNOFAITH
Both times He heals Jesus tells the woman “her faith has made her well” and to “just believe” that the little girl is sleeping. It took the faith of the woman knowing Jesus is only One who could heal her to stop her bleeding & it took the faith of the Jarius to come to Jesus to heal his daughter that it happened! Both instances required faith!
In our lives we can get stuck here…we treat Jesus like a genie in a lamp instead of our Lord and Savior! We think if we pray the right way or say the right phrase it will unlock supernatural healing on our lives! It isn’t the prayer but the faith that saves (just like our Salvation story). When we start with Faith that only Jesus can heal it completely changes our outcome on what happens. Regardless of whether Jesus healed these 2 or not their faith that He alone could move is what made all of the difference…because even if He didn’t move the people knew exactly who Jesus is by faith! Our faith isn’t based on what God does but instead Who God Is!
Spoiler Alert…even when these folks asked for healing from Christ they still experienced physical death. So the physical healing was only temporary but the forgiveness of sins through Christ is eternal! What if we prayed changed from healing to “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”! When we have forgiveness of sins by accepting Christ…sin, death and the grave no longer have power over us & our prayer for healing is turned to prayer for Jesus to do what only He can do!
Take Away: Is it easy or hard for you to believe God still heals? How have you come to think this way?’
What is the state of your faith? How is it healthy? How can it grow?
Interested in More About Our Thursday Greenhouse Gathering: CLICK HERE
Find Out How You Play a Part to #JoinSpartanburg: CLICK HERE
Tyler West 